Kelly Townsend, CDPE, Realtor

In this economy I can see that people are having a hard time deciding whether to "spend" money on staging. The better question is should you "invest" in staging. Staging is an investment, and an investment that pays you back. According to the most current stats from Stagehomes.com 95.6% of staged homes sell on average in 37 days or less. The non-staged homes averaged 212 days on the market.

What is the typical price to stage a house? That varies widely, depending on whether it is vacant or occupied. If it is an occupied home you can get a staging report for around $150 -$250 that will tell you exactly what you need to do to stage the home yourself. The next step would be having a stager come in and do the actual staging which may range from $250 - $700. On a vacant house the price is higher, but generally $1,000 - $3,000 is a ballpark range.

Prices vary by stager, area and the situation but I think you can see that staging generally costs less than a monthly mortgage payment. Now how many payments are you saving if your house sells in the first month?

Oh, and if your house is sitting on the market for over 3 weeks, what is the first thing your Realtor is going to recommend? A price reduction! With most price reductions starting at $10,000 or more, doesn't it make sense to stage your home in the beginning?

When a client's house is on the market I always ask them to remove their personal photos. A lot of times they aren't receptive at first. But once they understand the why behind it, they are on board. So here are the big three:

1. When a person is shopping for a home, they want to imagine themselves in the home. When there are personal photos throughout the house, it feels like they are in someone else's home and it's much harder to visualize it as their own.

2. Photos are distracting. Home buyers only spend a few minutes touring the home and usually make a decision as to whether they like the home within the first 30 seconds. Do you really want them spending that precious time looking at your photos or would you rather they be looking at the house?

3. For safety reasons it's better not to display your children's photos. You never know who will be touring your house and you can never be too safe when it comes to your kids!

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When your house is on the market it's much better to replace personal photos with more neutral art. Remember, they are shopping for THEIR new dream home, not yours!

Another important safety measure for kids rooms, always remove anything that has your child's name on it!

So when I ask you to remove your photos, remember, IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL!