REAL ESTATE & LAND DEVELOPMENT
To Stage or Not to Stage?
According to the National Association of Realtors, 77 percent of buyers’ agents say staging
makes it easier for prospects to visualize living there.
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O P E N E R P H O T O G R A P H B Y M A R K S V E N O LT E D A L E / S H O T S T H AT S E L L | O P P O S I T E P H O T O G R A P H B Y M E G H A N S E P E
W h e n s e l l i n g , y o u wa n t t o m a k e y o u r b e s t f i r s t
impression, so staging to some degree is essential according to Ryan Els-
man of Lila Delman Real Estate. “It needs to be neutral enough that
someone can walk in and get a sense of what it’s like to live there, not so
style-specific that it will deter people,” he says.
Staging could help you sell faster and for more money. “My statistics
show staging sells a home about 75–80 percent faster,” says Shannon Brito
of Premiere Home Staging. “If your home sells in a couple weeks versus
months and months, staging pays for itself when you figure in carrying
costs and price reductions.”
Brandyn Brunelle, chief creative officer at Lila Delman, agrees.
“Properties that are not only staged but priced correctly have fewer days
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on the market and, oftentimes when something is appealing, there are
multiple offers and it becomes a bidding situation,” he says.
The degree of staging needed is different for every home. If your house
is vacant or it’s a new build, you need furniture so people can visualize
the use of each room. If it’s an occupied home, you might just need
decluttering and painting.
Premiere’s most popular service is their written staging consultation. “We
walk through the home with the owner and provide them with a detailed list
of everything we suggest they do, including color recommendations,” Brito
says. “Then they can attack the list at their own pace, or we can do it for
them. If they need furniture, we have a warehouse with enough furniture
for fifty to sixty homes, in every design to match the home’s style.”