Staged homes or not? Are you ready to sell? But I love my gnome collection!  Realtors hear this a lot.  Hired to sell a home that could possibly be a movie set for a 1970s or 1980s show.  It was fabulous then and so comfortable for the current owners.  Absolutely.  We get it.  But here’s the thing, today’s buyers have seen umpteen shows from HGTV on redoing homes.  What’s interesting is that the painted and staged homes may not necessarily have the great bones one truly looks for in a home (or at least what we should be getting). But these are the homes that sell fast and for more money. 

What Are Buyers Looking For?

What, you say?  What ARE buyers looking for?  They want to be able to imagine themselves coming home from work.  Picking up the children and in their minds, have a peaceful, organized and clean home to come home to.  Staging creates that belief in their minds.  Why? Because the whole point is buyers want a new experience.  Staging is like leaving the messy house and walking into a hotel room. The minute one walks through the door, it feels great, smells great, looks great.  We forget that the laundry will be waiting for us when we get home. Remember, Take Me Away Calgon? Now I’m dating myself, lol.

Okay, so 15 minutes later in that marvelous hotel room with ocean view,  there are socks on the floor, bags on the bed, closets left open, noise from running water in the bathroom and trying to figure out where we left the room keys.  Not exactly the perfection we entered into, but at least the first 15 minutes were great.