Can Staging Your Palm Springs Home Pay Off When You Sell?

One of my main goals as a realtor is to represent my clients in a way that obtains the best results for them.

For clients who hire me to sell their home, that often means advising them how to make their home “show ready”, to garner the most interest from buyers. “Show ready” homes generally get the best offers.

So, what does “Show ready” mean? An empty house, I would argue, is definitely not show ready, and will often not fetch the highest and best offer (other than major fixers). If your home is empty, the cost of staging could very well be worth the investment. Many people have a hard time envisioning where furniture goes, or how the house “lives” and flows. If they can’t “feel” it, they can’t see themselves living in the house. A good stager will furnish and decorate the home in a fashion that will allow people to see (or even dream about) themselves living in the home. Certain decorations, or how they’re placed will trigger an emotion, perhaps even sub conscientiously. Emotion, whether we admit it or not, often influences the decisions around a purchase.

Unfurnished and with “worn”paint - not “show-ready” to obtain the best price.

Freshly painted and “updated” with new lighting, “cottage cheese” removed, and professionally staged. Sold within three days on market for attractive price. Staging by Habitat Staging, SarahAlice Doss.

On the flip side, a house that is furnished can also present issues. Perhaps there’s too much furniture, or it’s not ideally placed for the space. I had a listing years ago that was a vacation rental, which, as you may know, is extremely common in Palm Springs. The house was “fun”, furnished in a casual fashion, which included a pool table in the dining room. I can’t tell you how many folks through the open houses couldn’t see there was a dining room. I heard many conversations, “where do we put the dining room table?”. There was a happy ending for the sellers (and the buyers), but many couldn’t see what the home truly offered. Our job, especially in today’s market, is to appeal to the audience…to get the best price.

This article from Inman is a good one covering the basics of “staging”, but there’s often a lot more to it, and sometimes a professional really is in order to obtain the best results.

I pride myself, however, on the advice and work I provide to my clients in helping to get their homes prepped for market. For me, it’s one of the funnest and rewarding parts of representing a client selling their home, all done with the goal of getting the best for them.

Russell Hill / 760.898.8399 / russell@poolsidewithrussell.com / dre 1427657 / homesmart