Yikes! Get these sellers a stager!

February 20, 2007

More and more home sellers and Realtors are recognizing the necessity of investing in home staging before placing a property on the market – but apparently not everyone has been clued in! Sometimes people balk at the thought of putting money towards staging, but these pictures of actual properties for sale across the nation prove that it’s an investment well worth making!

elks-lodge.jpg

  • Hmmm… living room or Elks Lodge? The way this room is presented makes you look for the banquet tables!

empty-room.jpg

  • Less is not always more. These sellers would be better off having nothing in the room.

barren-outside.jpg

  • Outdoor spaces need stagers, too! This patio needs staging to show what a great entertaining spot this is.

laundry-and-child.jpg

  • I could write an entire blog about this one (maybe I will!)! Dirty laundry? Child? Seriously, folks, never put children or family members in listing photos.

cluttered-kitchen.jpg

  • Your refrigerator magnets and knickknacks are fine conversation starters while you’re living in your house – but a stager would have told these sellers to lose them for selling. You want potential buyers talking about the house, not your stuff!

And last, but certainly not least…

toy-store.jpg

  • Unless this is a toy store for sale, this room is the perfect example of why sellers need professional stagers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see price tags on the bears!

Comments

8 Responses to “Yikes! Get these sellers a stager!”

  1. Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate on February 20th, 2007 11:05 pm

    You sure picked some winners!

    My favorite staging story took place at this elaborate home in Menlo Park with exquisite staging. In the perfectly presented bedroom there was a bed — in the perfectly correct place — with a perfectly done-up duvet…and a black cat, which was completely and totally still. I sat there looking at it, and after 30 seconds decided that it, too, was part of the staging.

    Then it moved.

  2. Erik Hersman on February 21st, 2007 10:53 am

    LOL… That was great! My favorite picture was the one with the dirty laundry and the kid in it. Wow!

  3. Cynthia Pang on February 21st, 2007 2:02 pm

    Wow! I wrote about what I thought was a bad staging accident a while back, but this one takes the cake!

    Is the dirty laundry hanging on exercise equipment?! Classic!

    The bears and Barbie room is my fav!

    Kevin – I’ve seen the perfectly placed cat too. I spotted it in the pictures and then I went to the house and there it was – same spot on the bed.

  4. larry cragun on February 28th, 2007 4:08 pm

    get them a better agent too.

  5. Ann O'Connell on February 28th, 2007 5:55 pm

    I agree with Cynthia – the “bears and Barbie” room is my favorite, too. The others are relatively forgivable because they don’t even try to pass for staging. But shame on the agents selling these properties!

  6. Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate on March 1st, 2007 4:22 pm

    Are those agents or FSBO’s?

  7. Ann O'Connell on March 1st, 2007 5:45 pm

    There was a healthy mixture of FSBOs and agents. Unfortunately, I don’t have the info on which picture was which any more…

  8. Today’s Palo Alto homes review: Bait ‘n Switch, Bad Staging, Unresponsive Contractors, and Other Rants | 3 Oceans -- The San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Blog on March 2nd, 2007 4:23 pm

    [...] At least three properties were clearly competing for the Solstice Staging “Yikes, get these sellers a stager!” award.  See for yourself the photos of this property: [...]

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