More and more clients are timing the liquidation of their property contents around home staging. They call us because either the Realtor or the stager said they needed to significantly reduce the furniture and decor in the house so the stager can bring in newer pieces from places like Home Goods.
Enhancing your home with staging seems like a no brainer. The idea is that the cost of staging will be eclipsed by higher offers from buyers. And it may very well make sense for your situation. I advise that my clients do a cost/benefit analysis before committing to staging. As of this writing, inventory for new homes is extremely low. It is very much a seller’s market here in New England, and as such, you don’t need to do much to stand out from the competition because there’s very little of it to begin with. I note that the cost of home ownership has risen considerably, and I can appreciate that staging can help make that cost more palatable to buyers. They might feel like they are getting more value for the money. That has a limit in terms of actual dollars and cents. And in some cases, staging can put a monkey wrench in other parts of the moving process.
I generally advise clients to schedule their estate sale for when the house is under agreement. That avoids one perennial problem with staging, which is that you have items you are not planning to take with you, but kept for purposes of the real estate photos. If you hold an estate sale prior to staging, you are stuck with those items, plus all of the things you decide you don’t need now that packing has started in earnest. Typically there isn’t enough at that point for us to come back and do a second sale. That’s not a hard and fast rule – we have certainly done more than one sale for clients. We can discuss that when we come for the initial site preview if you think two rounds would make more sense.
Another common issue with staging is timing. Your Realtor may be in rush mode to get your property listed. That means you have very little time to find a home for all of the things taking up space in the dining room, living room, bedrooms and other spaces where a stager might be working. If they are trying to get the stager to come in within the next few weeks, you will likely not be able to utilize estate sale services. Most companies book several weeks or even months in advance. You’ll be cobbling together a piecemeal solution for all the stuff. In a best case scenario, you can put extra items in rooms that are not being used temporarily, then proceed with the estate sale at a later date. If that is not an option, you may be juggling storage units, consignment shops, donations and junk removal, all of which come with a cost, whether it be time or money. I had a client who spent $1100 in junk removal fees, which we could have reduced or eliminated with our estate auction services, not to mention actually putting money in their pocket!
It is for sure true that the majority of the value you are going to get from a home sale is from the property itself, not the stuff inside. And it is also true that the stuff inside is of personal significance, might hold a lot of memories and can be difficult to sort through. Adding extra hardship in finding new homes for the things that won’t be moving to your new place may not square with your needs in the home sale process. My advice is to speak up if the timing feels too rushed – you get to decide when to list. I’d also consider whether the costs associated with home staging will be worth it in the end. An offer for a few extra thousand dollars isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, not when your stress level and mental state are considered. And that’s money you can also gain through our estate auction services (with considerably less work and no up front costs on your end).
To sum, staging makes sense for certain situations and higher end markets. It may not be worth the extra hassle and cost if you’re managing a lot of stuff that needs to go. Having to get rid of a large number of items in a short amount of time will cost you money in removal fees or time in the form of countless trips to a thrift store or transfer station. Staging in that case will have diminishing returns. My best advice is to hire a Realtor who isn’t rushing you and who understands the enormity of selling years of possessions. There are lots of great ones out there! We’re happy to send recommendations if you need them.
It’s also worth knowing that staging comes in many forms. You can target specific rooms, you can hire someone who will refresh your space but keep most of the furnishings, you can even do digital staging in some cases. Happy mediums do exist, and it’s okay to hit the pause button to ensure you are getting what you need out of the home sale process.
