5 Common Home Staging Misconceptions Demystified

June 14, 2015

Selling your home soon? Are you thinking of home staging but not clear about it and how it works? Do not let this staging misconceptions prevent you from showcasing your home at its best and getting the best offer out there!

 1. Home staging is expensive

Home staging is less expensive than selling your home unstaged. On the average, staged homes sell faster and for more money. Consequently, you won’t be strapped with mortgage payments, insurance costs, association fees, taxes, and utility bills that you would have to pay if the home stays on the market for a few months.  Home stagers can prevent you from making costly home updates that you may not need. The price of home staging is much less high than the cost of continuing to live in a home you don’t want.

2. It can be done with a flick of a finger

The actual staging or furniture setup can be done in one day. However,  all the preparations before this, to make sure that the house is staged properly to make your buyers bite will take days, sometimes even weeks depending on the home’s condition. A trained home stager will not only stage your home but will also give you recommendations on any quick updates, repairs or cosmetic changes that are needed inside and out to create a positive buyer’s first impression. All this cannot magically happen in 24 hours.

3. It’s only for vacant homes

While vacant homes need to be staged to give the buyers an idea of how to arrange their furnishings and make them feel at home, occupied homes must also reflect this purpose. If your home has unappealing colors, need cosmetic work, needs some updating, or has too much furniture, you may not sell your home. Your home still needs to look spacious and show the intended function of each room. For example, having a pool table in a dining room is something that may not bother you, but it can confuse a potential buyer as to the actual purpose of the room.

 4. It is just a trend

According to real estate mogul, Barbara Corcoran, “Home Staging use to be a ‘maybe,’ now it’s a ‘must.’” Preparing a home to appeal to home buyers is here to stay. With the busy work schedule, the stress of daily chores,  looking for a new home can be overwhelming for most buyers. This is why home staging works because the idea is already served in silver a platter, buyers don’t have to think or imagine, the house is the move in ready. Not to mention that many home buyers watch home improvement and home decorating television shows,  they have an expectation in their minds of what they want to call home.

5. It’s Just Decorating and Furnishing

The objectives of decorating and staging homes are almost the opposite. Staging depersonalizes and neutralizes the space and arranges it to suggest a lifestyle appealing to the greatest possible number of potential buyers while decorating process personalizes the home to reflect the tastes of its occupants and to accommodate their lifestyle.  When decorating your home for sale, looking at your home in a buyer’s perspective is a MUST to achieve success in landing a great offer on your table.

Red Barrinuevo | Your Toronto Home Stager

Is a Canadian Certified Staging Professional. His professional affiliations include the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) and the CSP. He is the recipient of numerous home staging awards and was picked as RESA’s Top Professional Stager of Canada for 2016. He has worked with hundreds of Real Estate Brokers, Investors, Real Estate Agents, and has helped homeowners showcase their homes at its best when it is time to sell. 

Our passion is staging homes!  We are here to guide you every step of the way in merchandising your home for a successful sale in the Toronto, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, and GTA areas. Contact us today at 416.871.3128 to schedule a consultation.