Stage your home to gain advantage

Q: I’m getting ready to put my house on the market and my broker is encouraging me to stage the house. I am moving but she wants me to leave a lot of my furniture for the staging while it sells. Does it make sense to do this? I don’t want to move without all of my stuff. What should I do?

A: I know we’ve talked about staging before, but it warrants talking about it again. If you are in a position to stage your house — do it — even if it means living without your furniture for a while. You don’t have to leave all of it. Just leave enough so the house feels warm and welcoming and so prospective buyers can see how everything will fit. If you really can’t stand the idea of leaving any of your belongings, then are some other options: buy some decent, but used and cheap furniture for the staging; rent furniture by the month; leave very few pieces behind when you move.

The above three options allow you to keep more of your personal belongings while still making your house look as good as possible. But the first two options will cost you more money. If you’re lucky, you’re real estate broker has some staging materials and can contribute to the cause. But you’re still going to have to spend some money or leave some belongings behind.

What about not staging at all, you ask? Well, it’s always an option, but zit’s not the best one. Even just a little bit of staging goes a long way in making your home stand out from the crowd and make you more likely to garner showings and hopefully an offer.

Don’t forget, we’re still in a buyer’s market and unless you happen to have a house in one of the few areas without a lot of competition, you’re going to need to do whatever you can to sell your house, including some staging.

Talia Freedman is a Realtor with Signature Southwest Properties
— This article appeared on page 07 of the Albuquerque Journal