I will be the first to say that staging is important. A home should be tidy, well-kept, and laid out in an sensible way. There are lots of simple things people can do to raise their appeal- scented candles, clearing off kitchen counters, removing unneeded furniture, and TURNING ON THE LIGHTS (pet peeve of mine. Hard to show a dark house). Appearances and first impressions matter.
All that said, some agents take it a little too far. While holding a house open today I noticed that some walls were bare, with nails sticking out. I recalled a passing remark my client made about her old listing agent telling her to take down the family pictures so that buyers would have an easier time envisioning it as "their" house. This agent had the listing for a year and couldn't get the job done. Why were they taking her (ahem) psycho-babble advice?
Some people overdo it; we've all walked through homes where the sellers have their mugs in every room, Mom's portrait above the fireplace, and a family pictures everywhere as if they are afraid that they'll forget what each other look like. Real vanity. This isn't that kind of home. We aren't talking 40 photos, we are talking 5 or 6.
Nothing sells like a happy home. And if a few tasteful wedding portraits and family photos are bad staging, we had better build an ark.
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Hi J.,
Taking down the photos isn't pscho-babble. It's for the client's protection.
You do not want total strangers knowing, for instance, that you have and attractive 14 year old daughter in the house, and you are a single parent, as evidenced by yopurhousehold pictures. Photographs can reveal T.M.I. to "buyers" who may not actually be buyers at all.
You don't want them in the MLS photos or on the walls of your house. It's just smart selling, not psycho staging.
Michelle
Michelle-
I think that is a little much. Anyone walking through a home will know about children/adolescents living there, because of things like swingsets, cribs, bedrooms that clearly belong to teenagers, and closets filled with adolescent clothing, posters, and dresser photos. By that logic the home would have to be "scrubbed" of any evidence of people under 18 living there. That's pretty rough, and I'm a New Yorker.
Wedding pictures of grown ups aren't hazardous, and security wasn't the agent's M.O. We are talking about retirees with grown children who are afraid to hang wedding photos up. MLS photos aren't involved- and your website has family photos up in the pictures! ;-)
Good point.
We are after all trying to sell homes not houses.
Homes have positive vibes, houses are four walls and a roof - I guess it depends on what the buyer wants but I think most will want a home.
That wasn't staging. Staging would have put something else more neutral up in place of the photos taken down (or at least covered the nail holes). I don' think it's bad advice to take personal phtos out. We want to make it the Buyer's home, not keep it the Seller's home.
You must admit that psychology plays a huge role in making an offer on a home. Professional stagers know the psychology of presenting a home it's best -- and prepare a neutral and inviting palate with as few stumbling blocks as possible.
We remove nearly all personal photos, and replace them with beautiful mirrors, art and metal work pieces. This realtor is correct is saying that buyers want to envision themselves in the space, not viewing someone elses personal items. If it is on the market for over a year perhaps there were bigger problems than nails in the walls!
I think there is room for some personal photos but some homes are just over loaded! I tell my clients to leave some photos in the master bedroom or a den that buyers will see farther into the house tour. I do think it can be off putting to buyers to be hit with family photos in first few seconds they enter the home.
Hi again J.,
The family photos on my website are in the "before" pics, and absolutely not in the "after" pics.
I have not disclosed the location of the house with the before photos, unlike the MLS, which gives the exact address, therefore it is safe for all involved. There are other faces in the pics in one of the bathrooms on our testimonials page, but if you pay attention, you will notice that they are black and white glossies of Greta Garbo, Rita Heyworth, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Neutralizing colors and taste are just a portion of what stagers do. Other decisions involve a variety of things, one being the portrayal a lifestyle that the demographics of the area point to as being the target buying audience. "Homey" for a primarily college-town sure is different than "homey" in a rural farming community. Family pictures are wonderful in homes that are not being merchandised. But once a homeowner wants to become a home-seller, the rules of the game shift. photos become a liability when the home goes on the market.
Safety is the number one concern for my clients,above neutrality, or taste, or demographics, and should be for everyone in Real Estate, whether it is staging or selling.
If you are not advising your clients to stage properly, anyone could deduce rather quickly if the seller is elderly, infirm, a single parent, and the ages and sexes of the children in the house. These things are NOT conducive to the sale of a "home", "house", or whatever you choose to call it.
Staging is most assuredly psychological, as Margaret stated above. Rooms should be freed of these types of signs of divorce, illness, and the ages/genders of the children. Posters of certain types in a teen's room, toys all over, a sleep apnea machine by the bed, and no male presence in the closets is far too much information, too distracting from the actual amenities of the house, and above all, dangerous for the seller. Buyers do not need to know those types of details about the family, in addition to learning the layout, whether or not there is an alarm system, and all the other details gleaned from a walk-thru. Some people are stupid enough to have their child's name on the wall in the MLS photos.
If I am a predator, all I need to do is cruise the MLS, find a little boy's room, see "Joshie" painted on the wall of a bedroom, look at other pics of Joshie on the fridge on the photos, see the Family's last name in the photo of the front door that says, "Welcome to the Taylor House," and hang out by the school bus stop near that street and wait for Joshie Taylor to walk by. I already know everything about him from seeing his bedroom and entire house. I know he has a sister, from viewing her bedroom, and her name is Melanie, according to the name on the wall there, too, and I have everything I need to know to lure Joshie into by car.
Let's just hope Joshie has been taught all about stranger danger, because he is going to need it to get away from me alive, especially when I tell him Melanie has been hurt and his mom asked me to take him to the hospital to be with them, and to hurry up and get in my car.
Dramatic? Yes. Possible? Absolutely! And with children being harder and harder to abduct thru educational efforts of parents and law enforcement, predators are getting more clever and bold.
Let's hope Realtors are also getting clever enough to prevent so much information from being put on the Internet, and being bold enough to tell their sellers the DANGER of having a house that is too "homey". Or perhaps they will hire a stager to do that dirty work for them, to merchandise their listings as safely and effectively as possible.
~Michelle
Michelle,
Point taken about the before pics. Your before and after pictures are dramatic, but in fairness replacing old panelling with sheetrock isn't staging, it is a rehab. Regardless of the nomenclature, the result is a dramatic improvement.
While I appreciate the security angle, I find it a little out of left field and ... unsettling. The photos I referred to aren't in the MLS photos, so that is sort of a non-issue. And I agree that it is poor judgement to post kid's bedrooms on the MLS. But not posting kid's bedrooms isn't staging. It is common sense. I am referring to the absurdity of an agent advising that bare walls makes a home more saleable than a few tasteful photos. Don't people hire a stager to make their home more appealing to buyers? I am sure a stager can also assist in making sure that disadvantageous things aren't disclosed, like a divorce. Useful stuff. But your graphic detail about how someone is out there lurking on listings to kidnap sons and raping daughters is kind of weird. Where do you draw the line? Removing swingsets? Painting a pink bedroom yellow? We just listed the house, hide the children. And, like I said, I am a NYer and my wife still reflexively locks the door when I go get something from the car in the driveway 10 feet away. Drives me nut but I understand the reflex.
It is very likely that the internet isn't translating us very well. It isn't my intention to argue.
Here is where you and I will agree, I think. The raw removal of photos isn't staging, it is a half baked gimmick. Replacing the photos with something nuetral is fine by me, because I want the house to sell. But removing photos & leaving nails up there and calling it staging does a disserve to the client, the agent, and legitimate staging professionals.
Hi J.,
It isn't sheet-rock, it's just painted paneling.
Removing the 70's vibe from a house and making it acceptable to today's buyer is the entire reason for staging. But you can call it rehab if you'd like, I won't take offense. I often refer to my consultations as interventions, anyway.
My initial reaction to this post is the uninformed remark that removing pictures is a lousy staging tactic and over-the-top.
Lousy staging is not removing the nails and patching holes, and repainting as if no nails were present, after removing anything from any wall. Is that an incomplete rehabbing? Perhaps to you it is. Regardless, removing family pictures is an excellent staging strategy, on many levels. No follow-through with other essential staging concepts is the hallmark of: A. Sellers who think they can stage by reading a few staging tip articles, B. Agents who think they can stage after reading a few tip articles, or C. People who think they are professional stagers after reading a few tip articles.
And I must say, J, in deference to your remark on the bedroom on my website, I am glad you noticed the walls were taken out of the stone age with a $45 gallon of paint. I suppose you simply overlooked the custom-designed recessed lighting and custom-designed fixtures, the custom built-in shelving and a custom built candle-place (it is not a fireplace, it has no chimney), as well as the new hardwood flooring we installed to make the room a "sweet master suite." Why custom? Because we designed and manufactured, and/or installed them with our bare hands, including the art. We save our clients a ton of money that way.
Is that rehabbing, too? That room on my website, to which you referred, is a combination of UPGRADES, for the buyer to enjoy. Staging sadly does not generally take that angle. Our staging company does. The money we save on most of our ideas can then be funneled to actual upgrades for equity-building enhancements.
Regarding the unsettling scenario, it is unsettling because it could happen. I never suggusted not to post a child's room on the MLS. As a stager, I suggest ALL rooms be neutralized and posted. Neutralize the message a room sends. Nothing personal, nothing gender specific, and nothing to pinpoint an age range.
So what do I mean? Pack the Ninja Turtles comforter and the put the Playstation out of sight. Add some non-specific masculine touches, such as a neutral bedspread, student's desk, a globe, a few university pennants. Make it the quintessential student's room. That way, buyers see a tidy, spacious kid's bedroom guest bedroom, or potential office. And wierdos don't get any info. The house gets sold, and the Ninja Turtles get to go up in the new house.
Staging isn't easy. It isn't always easy to sell the concept, execute said concept, or live in the staged environment. But it is merchandising, and if you want to sell something, anything, merchandising is a huge element for attracting buyers regardless of your wares.
And no, removing pictures isn't staging, It's packing.
Nothing is staging, in my opinion, unless it involves the big picture (when buyers arrive at the beginning of your driveway to endeavor to view the property) and the little picture (the use of excellent MLS photos), but I daresay I am an elitist.
~Michelle
You definitely got some really thorough responses to this blog Phil. I commend you for having a knack for getting people to react to your writing.