I’ve been asked a number of questions of late about ‘staging’ a property for sale.

If you’re not aware of this terminology, ‘staging’ is the process of furnishing and decorating the interior of a property so that it is more aesthetically pleasing.

There are numerous options when it comes to ‘staging’ companies and consultants but I’ve found that the best companies to work with are the larger ones that have a wide variety of styles and choices.

Many of these companies will include everything down to the finer details such as towel packs, rugs, lampshades…even cook books and magazines.

The better staging companies that I recommend provide a quote that is completely free and the stylists will visit your property, measure up and prepare a quote that is itemised so that you can trim down certain items should you wish to stick to a particular budget.

Their selections are usually modern but will blend well with your colour schemes or even compliment some of the furniture that you may already have.

A vast majority of their furniture is also quite compact and creates a feeling of space in the rooms that they stage.

Here are some of the most common questions I receive about staging a home for sale…

“How many rooms should you stage?”

I would usually recommend staging at least 2 bedrooms (the master bedroom plus one other), the lounge & dining room (and another living space if the property features more than one living area), the outdoor area and a few ‘knick-knacks’ in the bathrooms and kitchen. Every property is different and we’d certainly recommend a different strategy for various price points but this is a general ‘rule of thumb’ to follow.

“What is the average cost of staging my property?”

To do it properly, the cost usually falls somewhere between $2500 and $4500 depending on the size of the property and number of rooms furnished. Again, there are cheaper alternatives but it’s important to stage your property effectively should you wish to maximise the impact it will have on your property.

“How long will this furniture remain in my property?”

Most staging companies will charge you this rate for a period of 30 days but I try to negotiate an extra couple of weeks at no cost for my clients if I possibly can. Much of their expense is the delivery and set-up and later, the pickup of the furniture…and this cost remains reasonably fixed for them.

“What impact will this have on the final selling price of my property?” …or …”How much extra will my property be worth?”

This is the obvious question. Whilst there are no certainties or guarantees about price, I have plenty of evidence and past results to suggest that a property is worth at least $20,000 – $50,000 more when it is well-staged.

A number of years ago, I listed a number of brand new properties in a townhouse complex for sale and the previous agent had received numerous offers in the ‘mid-to-high’ 300’s at the time…with no sales within the previous 3 months (the highest offer was $370,000).

We had one townhouse staged and brought in our photographer to re-shoot the property…and we sold them all for prices between $390,000 and $395,000 within a reasonably short period of time.

In another example, we took over a listing from a previous agent whereby the property had been on the market for more than six months with no offers at all submitted.

Again, a solid clean, a few paint touch-ups here and there, new carpet, a professional staging and new photos and video (a total cost of approximately $7000) and the result was that we received and negotiated three offers within the first week…and sold the property for $36,000 above the list price – which was the same list price as was advertised with the previous agent.

At the very worst, if your property still doesn’t achieve the price that you want after a professional staging, at least you’ll have the quality photos of the home looking at its’ very best that you can use when you look to re-market the property for sale down the track.

We’ve sold numerous properties down the track in this above scenario but my experience is that it is very likely (in the vast majority of cases) that you’ll sell your home the first time round when it’s staged and well-presented (and when the agent markets it well, employs the best strategy that will give you the best chance of success and negotiates the sale price as hard as they can for you)…that is, unless you’re really looking to achieve a price that’s completely unrealistic.

Until next week…Happy Listing & Happy Selling!