Is Staging a Home Worth It?

Oh, Lordy!  Where do I begin?  That is like asking if whipped cream on your sundae is worth it, or if  the better seats at your favorite theater production is worth it or, or, well- french fries with your burger, is it worth it? ( Hey- the burger is a cardinal sin anyway.  Might as well enjoy it!).  All of these things are just fine by themselves… but add that something extra and you have a wow factor well beyond the sum of the parts.

In fact, Chilluns, staging is BETTER than worth it.  Staging a home for sale will make you money.

Think about it.  Why in the world do home builders spend hundreds of thousands to stage their model homes?  Why do retail stores have massive merchandising budgets to stage their departments?  What do these spectacularly rich business people know that the average homeowner doesn’t??!!

I will tell you.  Pretty sells.

The American Consumer, by and large, is amazingly unimaginative.  Show them a house with great light, awesome location and smart floor plan and they say, “ho-hum”.  Take that same house and glam it up with the latest colors, trends and design and they go, “How can I buy this spectacular home??!!”

And so it was with my little Streamline Moderne in Los Feliz.  Lovely house.  Nice details, amazing location, awesome lot, excellent mechanical condition.  Aesthetic- a little like Aunt Maude.  Sturdy, serviceable, but hardly a heart stopper.  (I’m sorry Auntie, but you know I speak the truth.  We are solid peasant stock).  Enter Lori and Ron- stagers and magicians. (Transitions Designs- it’s a great website.  Go ahead and click, I’ll wait.)

Let’s take a before and after stroll, shall we? (click to embiggen)

Truthfully- my photographer is very very good, but you can’t get how amazing this is until you see it in person.  It is literally another house.  It went from drab to fab; it went from Aunt Maude to Sistah Viviane.

I think I will get close to $50,000 more for this house now than before it was transformed and here is the kicker- my clients spent less than $5,000 and 10 additional days.  They painted in and out (Lori and Ron picked the colors, neutral yet fabulous), they had a professional cleaner clean and do the windows (all too often the windows are neglected),  a handyman fixed the glaring problems and Lori and Ron did their “thing”, including bringing in all the furniture, window coverings and accessories.

And the buyers- are they being bamboozled into paying more than the house is worth?  Of course not! I am NOT putting lipstick on a pig.   I am just showing the whole world the true value of this home.  A very few savvy buyers would have seen the true value before.  Now the whole world gets a chance.

When can I work this same magic for you?  Call me.  I am ready for my close up.