Home Staging: From the Client's Perspective

Okay, so I thought I would write a few blog posts from the different perspectives of the people directly involved in the home selling process. This first one is going to be written from the perspective of the sellers - and trust me after talking to many of them and hearing their reactions (good and bad) and knowing how I would feel as a seller, I think I can make this believable. Why am I writing this? Because after listening to both sellers and realtors I realize there is a lot of miscommunication, misunderstandings, and trepidation which shouldn't be there when it comes to home staging! So here we go.

Alright, so you've picked a great realtor, you've discussing pricing and the listing date and you've signed on the dotted line .. and he casually tells you to expect a call from a home stager within the next day or two as home staging is part of his listing services. Blink, blink. Home staging? What's that? Your mind is frantically trying to figure out what he's talking about and when you remember because you just saw "the Stagers" on HGTV the other night, you clue in and look around the room a little wildly. Your gaze hits the small piles of papers your husband left out last night, a few of the kids toys on the floor and think .. I need home staging? You glance over at your husband and see the blank expression on his face and feel panic start to well ..

Your realtor has noticed you glancing around and he clears his throat, not quite meeting your gaze while you try to figure out if you're supposed to be offended or not. So, you decide to ask anyway.

"So you think my house needs home staging?"

Your realtor shifts in his chair, a little flustered at your question and then proceeds to tell you that he offers home staging with every listing and that it has nothing to do with me personally. Great. Doesn't really inspire you about home staging but at least he's not thinking your home is a complete dive. If you're lucky, you'll get to see a brochure about home staging and some background on why he thinks home staging is so important. If you're not lucky then at this point he'll simply point out a few things which should go away and leave the rest for the stagers. You've already noted those things but what you didn't see was that the bookshelves are crammed with books and pictures, that as you look in the kitchen the counters are covered with small appliances, dishes, lots of "rooster" themed figurines which match the rooster clock and plate set hanging on the wall. You don't see it, because to you, your house is perfect - and it is - but you can't see what a home stager could possibly do that you can't do yourself.

The next day, the home stager calls and you talk to her for a few minutes, listening as she introduces herself and chats about the benefits of home staging. She sounds nice, and its part of what your realtor offers, so you book an appointment with her for the following evening at 7pm. You get off the phone and wander around the house, trying to envision what changes you will have to make - and then you start feeling anxious because after seeing "the stagers" and looking up home staging online and seeing all those pictures of those "perfect" homes and you know you simply can't maintain a house which looks like that.

Throughout the course of the next day, prior to the stager arriving, you work tirelessly to clean the house and get it ready for the consultation. Laundry is done, rugs are vacuumed, counters are cleaned and obvious piles of clutter are put away. All great things. Then you start to get even more anxious and wonder if the stager is expecting more from your house so you pull out the candles you have stocked away and create little tableaus on your coffee tables. Still looking for ways to make sure your home impresses, you set the dining room table and kitchen table with plates, stemware, cutlery, napkins with either pretty napkin holders or napkins arranged fussily in wine glasses. Glancing at the time, you realize the home stager will be there at any point and you run around, looking in every room and wishing the consult was over because you think your house looks great and that buyers will love it .. and the doorbell rings.

You rush back downstairs and open the door to greet the home stager who is smiling and offering her hand to you. You shake it and ask her to come in, thinking she doesn't look like any of the stagers on HGTV and wondering if she is going to be getting her own show .. and she pulls you back by telling you what a lovely home you have.

She sits down with you for a few minutes and she asks about your home, listening quietly and then she talks a little about home staging and why its important. She talks knowledgeably about what buyers are looking for and as you listen, you realize that your blood pressure has gone down and you're not feeling quite so anxious. She takes out her portfolio and suggests you take a look at it while she is going through your home .. and then she asks for a tour. Feeling more anxious, you take her through your home, however as you go from room to room, she offers compliments on various items and you begin to feel better because you love your home and are justifiably proud of it. After the tour, she explains that she works alone, going back through your home and making lists of recommendations which will help your home appeal to as many buyers as possible. You retreat to the living room and wait, picking up her portfolio and thumbing through it. You are impressed by her photos and its evident that she knows what she is doing because there are visible transformations with each set of pictures. You read her brochure and even look her up online, feeling more and more impressed because her website is full of great information and is very professional and appealing. You look at more pictures and glance around the room, all of a sudden excited to hear her suggestions for making your home appealing to buyers - because that's the end goal and you'd love to have multiple offers for it.

Once she is done, she comes back and sits down with you and your husband. She offers to walk you and your husband through your home and discuss some of her recommendations. She smiles a lot and compliments several pieces of furniture which makes both of you feel better and then she talks about paring down some of the items in your hutch and buffet. You're unsure, however she talks about how its going to really show off the few items she wants you to showcase and you - seeking reassurance - go and take out everything but your favourite wine glasses and crystal bowl on one side of the buffet. She helps you re-arrange them and when you step back, you see exactly what she means. Next she convinces you that the tables don't need to be set, that a great centerpiece with some bright florals or a candlescape and you start to get into the spirit. Next she takes you in the kitchen and talks about taking down all the rooster accessories, the magnets and pictures on the fridge and keeping the counters clear of almost everything .. and suddenly you see what she is getting at. In the next few rooms, you suggest things and you see her eyes light up and her smile widen as she nods encouragingly. Your husband is looking at you, nodding himself, and then when the consult is over and you're shaking her hand and thanking her, you feel so much lighter. She promises to have the step by step report to you the next day so that you have a checklist to use and you think, this is great .. now we have a plan!

You walk around after she has left, taking down things she discussed and moving furniture to new locations and you think .. wow, she's right! You think back to your original conversation with your realtor about home staging and wonder what got you so concerned. Then you realize .. its because there wasn't really an explanation about home staging, which is why you got so worked up and worried that somehow your home was lacking in some way. You get into bed and talk with your husband about all the different changes, both of you a little excited, and then you go to sleep, eagerly anticipating the report and all the things you can do tomorrow to make your home show its best so it sells fast and for as much money as possible.

I could go on here, but you get the idea. I have been on the seller's end of things and I wish that someone had talked to me about home staging. I knew that my house had to be clean but because it was my home, I never saw my decor items, personal colour choices, everyday clutter as problems. As a professional home stager, I encounter people every day with the same mindset. In the last while, I have gone to quite a few consult appointments which are the result of the realtors we partner with and meet clients who are anxious, on guard and unsure of what to expect. Through the course of conversations, I get the very strong impression that the realtors we work with, while they are offering consults with us, they aren't offering much in the way of information about home staging or about my company in particular. They aren't showing the brochures I had printed up for this very reason or the small photo portfolio we give every one of them. This stuns me. In a lot of situations, our clients are so anxious that they have spent hours staging their homes themselves .. before we get there. Having to tell them to undo what they've done is stressful for us because we can see how proud they are of it.

So, I thought I would write a candid, offbeat and hopefully humourous view of the process to showcase the clients often go through before we get there. I am hoping that by doing this, and then writing of the same process from both the realtor and home stager's points of view that everyone involved can get broader view of the situation. We don't want clients to stress and fret and spend hours staging before we get there. I hope that by writing this, I can get some feedback on things we can all do to help make this experience better for everyone involved. If you are a seller and you are reading this, and your realtor does offer home staging as part of his listing services, we encourage you to ask him about it. If he doesn't offer pictures of information or even a website then ask him to provide it. If your realtor doesn't offer home staging .. maybe you should ask him if he will!