How Can I Stage Smarter, Faster and Better?

Part 3: How Much or Little Do I Stage?

A well-planned strategy for selling vacant properties is imperative in all markets—sluggish or hot.  Creating an inviting environment may not always require fully furnishing every room in the home, but it does require a keen assessment as to the best way to get prospective buyers to emotionally connect with the property and to envision themselves living there.

If buyers aren’t impressed with a home, their reasons can vary from feeling the property lacks personality, to poor lighting, unappealing color, distracting ornamentation, or a myriad of other reasons depending on the individual buyers.

It should be noted that in most cases, buyers will not take the time or make the effort to figure out how to overcome these issues.  Instead, they move on to the next listing.

What Areas to Stage: Identifying the ‘Zones of Influence’

Even though buyers look at every square inch of a house, there are certain areas that are of particular interest and more important than others to them.  These are the rooms where most of their time will be spent.

The four primary areas that are top priority are:

• Family room/living room/great room
• Kitchen
• Master bedroom
• Bathrooms

When consulting with sellers and agents as to the extent of staging, make those rooms a priority as well as addressing the following areas:

• Curbside: view from the street
• Porch and front entry
• Rooms visible upon first entering the house
• Problem or confusing rooms (with regard to function, furniture layout, etc.)

After touring the property and taking the ‘zones of influence’ and any confusing areas into consideration, start formulating a plan of action for staging the vacant house.

It is advisable to take photos of particular areas that will need special attention, such as niches and alcoves that dictate a specific furnishing size or shape.  Having photos from which to reference will help you when shopping for inventory items that you will use for the project.

Next, identify what furnishings, accessories, artwork, greenery, etc. you will recommend leasing for the rooms or areas you identified as the zones of influence.

It is cost prohibitive in many cases to stage an entire house and also unnecessary if furniture layout is easy to determine in rooms.  For instance secondary bedrooms, offices, dining rooms are oftentimes left empty and staging is done in the rooms that are seen first, used most or that might be confusing to buyers.

Always remember to keep the budget of the seller in mind when staging and inform them that you can do as little or as much as they can afford.

© 2009 The StagingTutor.com Blog.