We home stagers are fond of reminding folks of a couple of advantages to be attained by having a home staged before placing it on the market. We mention that homes which have been staged usually sell in a shorter amount of time than the competition which has not had the advantage of staging. And, home stagers talk of the monetary gain to be had by home sellers who take advantage of the opportunity to hire a professional home stager to assist with preparation of merchandising the seller’s property.                                              

Let me explain these principles a bit further. There are certain ranges of price which any given property may be able to be sold within. Say that house A is within the $250,000 to $275,000 range. For comparison sake we will assume that house B is also within the exact same range. All things being equal, if house A is staged and house B is sold “as is” then it is more likely that house A will sell more quickly and closer to the $275,000 mark. With house B left unstaged it may take longer to sell and the very real possibility remains that chasing the price downward with length of time on market will place house B in a different price range. It could be after months on the market the acceptable price range for house B would now be lowered to $225,000 to $250,000.

Another part of the listing price principle during this buyer’s market phase in the real estate world is that no matter how good the staging or how poorly a house shows neither house A nor house B above is likely to sell for $300,000.

As a home stager, my job is to improve the marketability of the property owned by my clients. What that translates to is that if your house is in the $250,000 to $275,000 after staging your property moves up the range. What is important to keep in mind is that no matter how good the staging is, in today’s market there is not much chance the window of the pricing possibilities will be exceeded.

Bottom line, if your agent shows you the comparables and brings her knowledge and experience of the real estate market to your listing appointment, tells you the range you are likely to be able to sell your house within, advises you of ways to best show your property and you still choose to list above the likely selling limits then home staging will not be of much (if any) help to you.

Even if you followed all the suggestions, recommendations and directions given you by your home stager of choice there wouldn’t be much chance of selling if you choose to ignore the advice of your real estate agent when it comes to price.

If it is time for you to join in the game of “Sell This House,” then you must remember that you can’t even get to first base if your merchandise (your house) is overpriced.

Information provided by Yvonne Root of rooms b.y. root. Find the home staging team from rooms b.y. root helping to prepare properties for sale in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Mayer, Cordes Lakes, New River, Black Canyon City, Anthem, and surrounding communities in Yavapai County.