If you’re selling your home, you probably have two goals, make as much money as possible, and not lose your mind in the process. Hiring a home stager can help you accomplish both of these goals, and you may have found someone who offered you a great, inexpensive price… Should you hire them?
Your home is typically your biggest asset in your life, so it’s crucial that you do everything necessary to protect that asset. If you’re hiring a home stager, you already understand the importance of presenting your home at its absolute best during the sale. Staging your home adds perceived value, and typically results in higher offers and a faster sale AND it can also greatly reduce your stress. But if you go for the cheapest or amateur option, you may actually hurt or prevent your home sale or run in to problems you could have avoided.
Our client Jessica recently called us practically in tears. Her home had been on the market for 6 months already and they had no offers, and it was staged by another stager! She begged us to come take a look at the property, and see if there was anything we could do to help. When we got there we were shocked. This staging had very clearly not been done by a professional, and it actually decreased the perceived value of her home.
After we re-staged her property, it had an offer in 10 days. She was thrilled but still disappointed that she had wasted all of that time, money and stress by hiring the cheapest stager in the beginning. We don’t want you to make that same mistake.
An amateur stager can be described as a hobbyist, or someone who may have interest or skills in interior design and decides they want to try out staging. We know everyone has to get their start somewhere, which brings us to the first reason why you should never work with an amateur home stager…
#1: Amateur stagers have no education and experience in home staging.
Home staging is an unregulated industry, which means anyone can decide to call themselves a home stager and take on clients. Amateur stagers do not have your best interest in mind as they do not value your property enough to in the effort, time and money into getting educated to ensure that you get the most out of your home sale. Would you trust someone to drive you on a road trip who has never driven a car before, has not invested time and money into understanding the rules of the road, or even learning how to drive?
Successful Professional home stagers have invested a lot of time, money and years of experience continuing their education. Working with someone who has knowledge and experience will make a huge difference compared with someone who may be just figuring it out as they go.
#2 Amateur stagers think staging is just making a space look pretty.
Many of the principles of interior design apply in home staging, but there is much more to it than creating a visually pleasing room. Some individuals who are interested in interior design may think that home staging is just the same, and they don’t understand the additional thought that goes into staging a property for sale. Professionals know that staging principles and strategies are based on psychology and capturing the target buyer as well as accentuating the property’s features and architecture, and their work will reflect that.
#3 Amateur stagers have no proven results.
If the person you’re hiring can’t provide you with proven results, testimonials or their own sale statistics, you want to think twice about hiring them. If you work with a Professional, you can feel confident that you will get the same or similar results as their previous clients. You don’t want your home to be the trial run!
#4 Amateurs usually are not insured and often operate without a clear contract.
Selling your home can be a sensitive and stressful process. If you hire individuals who aren’t insured, you can potentially run into big problems, which will add to your stress level. Knowing that the home stager you hired is insured will put your mind at ease.
Professional home stagers are insured and have thorough contracts that clearly outline everything and protect both themselves and the home owner.
We understand that hiring a Professional Home Stager may seem expensive, and we know there is always someone who will do it cheaper. But home staging is an investment, and you want to make sure you get the highest return. We are not aware of any other investment that can give you as high of a return within as short of time like having your home professionally staged – it can be in the hundreds of percentages!
Our staging company, BA Staging & Interiors wants you to walk away wealthier from your home sale. We want you to have the most successful and least stressful home sale possible. Our biggest piece of advice when hiring a home stager is to do your research on the individual or company and don’t be afraid to ask questions. We encourage you to ask the HARD questions. This can save you time, money and stress in the long run.
If you are in the process of selling your home, CLICK HERE to download our Free Home Stager Question Checklist. We guarantee that these questions will help you find a home staging company that you want to work with, will feel comfortable working with, and will be able to trust with your most valuable asset.
