"Staged" Homes in Utah - Things for Buyers to Consider

"Staging" is essentially what is done to a home to show it off in a better light than it was to begin with. As the word suggests, when you see a "staged" home, you need to realize that what you see is a performance. Staged homes are nice to look at, but homebuyers should be careful not to get caught up in the presentation and lose sight of what is "real" in the home. Unless you are buying the home fully furnished and decorated, you will be buying the same walls and floors and floorplan you would get if the home were vacant.

This is not to suggest that staging in and of itself is bad. In many ways, staging can be helpful for a Buyer.

As an Exclusive Buyers Agent working in Salt Lake City, Utah, I can tell you that home staging in Utah is on the rise. Staged homes are usually easy to spot because the stager has often gone completely overboard. A stager's technique may not necessarily "cover" something, but it may be utilized to strategically distract a Buyer from seeing something. Buyers who know that a home has been staged can then consider WHY the home may have been staged in that way.

I don't mind if a home is clean and things are laid out in a nice way. I don't mind that the moving boxes are in storage, etc. etc. Place settings on the table and nice comforters on the beds don't bother me. I don't mind if the house smells good and they have music playing. It's always nice when someone had the professionalism to suggest that offensive posters be taken down and that the kitchen and bathrooms are clean and tidy. Fake fruit and food isn't enough to bother me, nor do I believe it is enough to convince a Buyer to say, "We MUST buy THIS home!" Furnished or semi-furnished homes are also more enjoyable to look at than completely vacant homes (for both myself and my clients). All these things are nice and good. They help show a home at its best.

It DOES bother me when a stager removes all the dining room chairs or does other things that might artificially make a small area seem large enough for day-to-day use when it isn't. Maybe they use two love seats or a love seat and a recliner to make an area appear large enough to fit a sofa, when it can't. An experienced agent can often tell with ease that furniture has purposely been removed from a room to make it appear larger.

Buyer's need an agent who will step up and make sure that the Buyer's are noticing these things.

The Listing (or Staging) Agent isn't going to tell a prospective buyer at an open house, "You know, this dining area might be a tad too small for you and your 3 kids." Their job is to sell the home. They work for the Seller.

Exclusive Buyers Agents work only for Buyers. Smart consumers make sure they have someone on their side, protecting their interests, throughout their home purchase.

Homebuyer Representation, Inc. is a Real Estate Brokerage that services Salt Lake City, Utah and surrounding areas. Agents are Exclusive Buyer Agents (EBAs) and represent BUYERS ONLY. For Free Reports or a Free Consultation, contact Homebuyer Representation at (801) 969-8989 or click the highlighted links in this paragraph.

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