Home staging is not intended to cover real flaws

I have heard people suggest that home staging is actually a deceptive practice because it is intended to disguise real problems, but this is not the case. Home staging is about letting a home’s best features shine through, without hiding serious issues that need to be addressed.

The entrance to this home says “repair-superior” because of all the trash on the porch, overgrown hedges, and peeling paint. But it’s actually a solid property that only needs a little care to change the first impression from “top repairman” to “welcome home.”

However, there are cases where home staging is sought as a band-aid solution to much larger problems.

With certain properties, it makes more sense for owners to invest in repairs before staging and “home staging with integrity” means the organizer will point this out.

When a home is truly restorative and has a long list of structural problems and obvious defects, no amount of paint or new furniture will hide the problems.

If you are asked to organize such a house, suggest that the owners fix what is wrong before organizing it because any problems will be revealed on the home inspection anyway.

There is a big difference between repairing cracked plaster and repainting after a leaky ceiling has been repaired, and doing the same to hide the fact that it is leaking.

Roof issues will be uncovered in a home inspection, so the seller of the home will not be there later and can actually see the deal fall apart when it could have gone through if they had addressed the issue in the first place.

As an organizer, you should emphasize the need to repair the leak and why, and suggest once this is done that the wall be repaired and painted. Of course, you will choose the color, but that does not eliminate the responsibility of pointing out the steps that need to be taken before the painting is placed on the wall.

I once refused to build a dilapidated house that had been on the market for months without an offer. Instead of calling me, the supplier should have called a contractor first.

I advised the client to lower his price significantly and sell the house as a ‘knockdown’ for the land value, or to take it off the market for the summer, fix all the problems, and then call me to get it ready for the actual fall. real-estate market.

As a professional set designer, you don’t want your home staging business to be associated with troublesome properties disguised as nice paint and furniture.

There are many solid homes that cry out for cosmetic changes that can make a difference in a real estate sale. Let your talents as a home stager shine on them. Don’t waste your time or reputation staging obvious takedowns, instead keep marketing your business and more customers will follow!