I had a fascinating radio interview this morning with Walt Sorg on AM Lansing 1320 WILS on the topic of staging homes for sale. Walt wanted my reaction on an article from the Lansing State Journal published February 19th titled “Staging: Invest a little to sell a vacant home faster“. I have some big concerns about the depth of the article that I’ll address today. If you have a home for sale in the Lansing area or are thinking about selling your home, listen up.

Staging has become a popular real estate marketing tactic thanks to HGTV’s “Designed to Sell“, but the difference between those shows and reality is that a) Clive Pearse isn’t trolling your neighborhood, b) hunky, well-trained, agreeable carpenters can’t pull off a remodel on that scale in 48 hours, and c) said carpenters and other skilled laborers aren’t free. While the $2000 budget seems reasonable enough for most homeowners to spend on staging, the reality is that the labor cost for all the work performed on the show will double that budget.

So what’s a weary homeowner to do? If you’re ready to sell your home, remember the big rule: the moment you list your house for sale, it’s NO LONGER YOUR HOME. It’s an ITEM FOR SALE. Removing all emotion from the transaction will go a long way in allowing you to look at the property objectively. Once you’ve conquered the emotional break, then you’re ready for the primary process: a little sumpin’ sumpin’ I call the trifecta. The trifecta is the 3-step process to prepare your home for staging. I’ll talk about those steps in this blog, and move on to staging in the next one. Step 1: clean. Clean like your mother-in-law is coming. Clean with an old toothbrush. Clean like you’ve never bothered to clean before, and I guarantee it’ll pay off.

Step 2: de-stink. That’s right, folks, your house probably smells like you (and your pets, and your teenage offspring, and your food…..) and you’ll need an unbiased nose to tell you how much de-stinking you’ll need to do. Please, please, don’t oust the place up with flowery, perfumey, olfactorily insulting sprays. Address the specific issues that the unbiased nose gives you and take care of the source rather than just covering it up.

Step 3: pare down. Do you have any idea how much stuff you’ve accumulated over the years in your home? Yikes! Set an intention to minimize closets and cabinets by at least 40%, and furniture by 30%. Your house will look and feel bigger if the potential buyer can see more of the house and less of the stuff. And yes, those looky-loo buyers WILL open every door, drawer, and cabinet in your house. If the task seems too daunting, remember that the work you do now will make moving day and resettling in your new digs even easier.
Up next: the staging dichotomy.
Hear the interview

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