What Does Staging A Home Mean?
Staging a home means to prepare a house to be sold.
So, in the broadest of terms, replacing light bulbs and painting would be considered elements of home staging since those two improvements would make a home look better. But a home stager is obviously not handling those things.
What Does A Home Stager Do?
The home stager’s main focus is to use furniture to make a house look great.
And when we say great, we mean that the house needs to look great for marketing puroses (photos and video) and for walkthroughs by propspective buyers.
Does Home Staging Require A Vacant House?
In a perfect world, a vacant home is the easiest to stage because it’s a blank slate and it allows for a 100% cohesive vision by the stager.
However, since so may homes being sold are owner occupied, it is essential that a stager is able to work with existing furniture as well.
For example, the stager may recommend moving certain pieces of homeowner furniture from one part of the house to another, so that the staging furniture can be strategically placed for maximum effect.
What Is Virtual Staging?
Virtual staging is a computer generated program that inserts images of furniture into photographs.
The downside of utilizing virtual staging is two-fold.
First, when a buyer looks at a home online that has been virtually staged, and then they see that home in person (without the furniture), it is usually quite a disappointment to them.
Secondly, virtual staging often doesn’t consider scale and size of the furniture used in a photograph. This can lead to confusion for the home buyer when they think a piece of furniture would go great in the living room, for example, but in the actual house it doesn’t fit.
How Long Does It Take To Stage A Home?
The staging process usually takes a week from the time the stager first visits the house to the end when the furniture is delivered and placed in the home.
The main steps in the process are:
- The stager comes to the house and takes photos and notes.
- Within 24 hours the stager provides a plan and pricing estimate.
- Once all is agreed to, the stager works with their team to pull the appropriate furniture that will fulfill the vision of that plan.
- The staging team delivers the furniture to the house and places it according to the creative plan.
- Most houses will take a 3 to 5 hours to set-up. However, a large estate can sometimes take a full day or two.