Hiring a Home Stager with Maximum Impact

East Bay home prices are still well into the stratosphere, but there’s been a notable change in home sales. “It’s not fully a buyer’s market, but it is definitely more of a buyer’s market,” says Tess Pierson, owner of home staging and redesign company Magnolia and Maple.

In other words, sellers need to start paying attention. There is more to be done than putting a sign on the lawn and waiting for the bids (all well above asking price) to roll in.

Staging a home – creating a setting that is most appealing to a potential buyer through the careful use of furniture and accessories – is one of those things. “In order to get top dollar, it is important to stage your home,” Pierson explains.

Indeed, staging has become a wise investment for any home seller. Staging professionals estimate that home sellers can expect a staged home to sell for thousands, and often tens of thousands, more than its untouched counterpart.
But choosing a stager can be difficult. As with every other real estate-related profession, the number of people calling themselves home stagers has exploded in the last five years.

Pierson suggests a handful of questions can help you choose the right home stager.

First, Pierson says, ask the stager if they have their own furniture. “You want the home to look as if the buyer’s family really wants to live there,” she explains. Brand new furniture and/or rental furniture don’t really send the message that the home is being lived in, she explains, but rather, that the setting is definitely artificial.

“You want the home to look gorgeous, but lived in. You don’t want it to come across as being too prepared, too cold. Rented or brand-new furniture gives the message that ‘I’m being handled’,” Pierson notes.

“You also want to ask if they do this full time,” she says, explaining that many people stage homes as an adjunct to their other work. They aren’t as likely to have the experience behind them, however, as someone who relies on home staging for their sole source of income and works at it full time.

Pierson also urges home sellers to eschew home staging prima donnas. No matter their reputation, there is someone else out there who will do as good a job without the attitude.

“Don’t hire anyone who isn’t easy to work with.” Pierson explains that, when she stages a home, the client’s peace of mind is important to her. “We aren’t there to denigrate you and tell you that your house is awful and we’ll have to do major surgery,” she explains. “You’re paying us to do a job at a stressful time in your life. I don’t see that that makes it OK to be rude.”

Likewise, Pierson encourages sellers seeking a home stager to ask about the stager’s style. “People tend to have a certain kind of style they use. You want to stay away from people who walk in with a preconceived notion of what your home is going to look like. It should not be a cookie-cutter operation.” In her own business, Pierson explains, “We don’t have a particular look we use. We customize it for the home and the client.”

Pierson says the amount charged usually comes to sellers’ minds, as they often aren’t sure what the usual rate is. “For an average three bedroom, two bath home, you may pay anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000,” she notes. “But for $1,500, you won’t get a full staging, but a few vignettes, corners with a table, pillows, and maybe a plant.” On the other hand, a $15,000 job should provide extraordinary service. Most likely, the staging estimate should fall in the middle of the range, $4,000 to $10,000.

As part of that estimate, they should be able to work in an organized manner. “Whatever the item, they should be able to touch it once,” Pierson explains, rather than moving or rearranging the same piece of furniture or accessories repeatedly.
Pierson also encourages home sellers to ask stagers for pictures of prior work. “You don’t need 100 pictures, or even 20,” she says, but you should be able to see a few pictures of work that indicate the stager’s style. Pierson also suggests that clients ask how recent the photos are as well. If none of the photos are from recent work (within the past 6 to 12 months), it might be an indication that the stager has not done many homes. The stager should also have “before” and “after” photos, so you can see what they actually did.

Along with the photos, ask for a few references from happy sellers, whom the stager helped and who then sold their home at a significant price.

Overall, Pierson says, the stager should be aligned with your goals. “They should want to create a home a buyer will fall in love with, mad passionately in love with,” she concludes.