Yes, the house is staged. Don't hold it against the seller, thank them!

As a stager, I occasionally hear people will avoid a staged house when buying, because they feel the 'wow' factor of a staged home is to keep them from looking at the condition of the house.

This is absolutely not true. While there will always be some who's intent is questionable, these individuals are few and far between.

Staging a home is to showcase the features of the house not to distract one from poor quality or workmanship of the house. Often people living in a home forget about or lose the features of their homes through everyday living. Too much furniture, too many photos, kids toys, collectibles all become distracting to buyers. My goal as a stager is to unearth the lost features; a home's archaeologist you could say!

How many of you:

• currently have your T.V as the feature of your family-room, with all the furniture facing it rather than the fireplace or view out a window?


• place a couch or love-seat directly in front of the fireplace?


• bought your current house because of a feature you've forgotten about through day-to-day living?


• painted every room in your favorite colours: teal, raspberry, peach etc?


• not painted since the seventies or eighties?

You love the colours, but unless the colours are up to date and 'on trend', likely no one else will.

If only 1 out of 100 potential buyers likes your colour scheme, why list without painting to appeal to the maximum number of buyers? Who knows, that 1 potential buyer who would like your colours may not even be in the market for a house.

We all want the best odds of selling fast and getting asking.

Without preparing a house to sell, it is guaranteed, buyers will be complaining about the work to complete before they can move in.

You don't want potential buyers starting a list of negatives. If they do, forget about an offer, or lower your expectations because the offer will take into consideration the cost to have a professional make repairs/repaint.

So when a stager goes to a house to stage it and has it repaired, painted, faucets updated, extraneous furniture removed, opens all the curtains, adds paintings and accent pieces that complement and create a nice flow...are we trying to dazzle you into not seeing potential issues in the house?

No! In fact, we are making it easier for you to notice them if they exist, or repairing them so they are no longer an issue. Staged houses should be bright, airy, spacious and welcoming and repairs should be complete. Stagers are making it ready for you to move right in and get on with your life!

You spend more time in our staged houses then if they weren't staged.
Can we help it if buyers are so in love with the house they don't rush through quickly complaining about how dark and small it is and how they could never live there?

If you are a home seller and agree call a stager. They will get the work done quickly, professionally, and it will cost much less then a price reduction.

If you are a buyer don't avoid a staged house for fear you might love it; go see it because you're sure to love it!

Home stagers are here to take the stress out of selling and buying a house.