A Good Home Stager Should Know the Market

It’s all well and good for a home stager to make a house look pretty, but a good home stager needs to know the market. Now I don’t mean that they need to know it inside and out: after all, that’s an agent’s expertise. They should, however, have an understanding of what’s going on the in the areas that they serve. Is it an up and coming trendy area? What are the asking prices of similar homes in the neighbourhood? Is there a visible trend to who’s buying in that area? Is the house they’re staging sitting amongst a sea of rebuilds?
    A home stager worth any value, needs to consider these points before they even go in and do a consultation. Why? The answer is obvious; you don’t show up at a hoedown in a tuxedo! There is no need to ‘over stage’ a property.
Staging is not just making a house look pretty; it’s got to be relevant to the buyer. If the neighbourhood is full of totally remodeled homes, then you can’t recommend to a homeowner that they replace the carpet or the kitchen countertop. Chances are that the buyer will be going in and doing a remodel and these changes just aren’t going to cut it. It would be wasted money, so you need to show the home in a way that shows it’s best features and hints at what it could become.
    With that being said, you can’t go into a home where neighbouring properties are going for  $500,000 and try to divert a buyer’s eye from the futon in the living room with a vase of fresh flowers on the coffee table. There would definitely be a suggestion to rent some up to date furniture here.
There is a fine balance as to how much, and how little, staging should be done to a home to get it to show well. Don’t assume that all staging is a complete overhaul of the existing house; you’d be surprised at what a fresh coat of paint and new peel and stick tiles can do for a tired bathroom. You also shouldn’t assume that home staging is a just a practice in de-cluttering. A good home stager will understand the return on investment and recommend accordingly.
    The bottom line is, a home stager definitely needs to know the market, the buyer and the seller! If you are hiring a home stager and they don’t ask the questions to get the appropriate information, make a point of telling them.

Written By Erin Eno
Owner/Operator of Room Revival Home Staging and Interior Decorating
www.roomrevival.ca