6 Home Staging Misconceptions Costing You Money

Feb 13, 2024

Home staging started with Barb Schwarz in 1972, when she made the decision to start staging real estate listings after leaving the interior design business. Initially, she faced some challenges in preparing homes for sale simply because of the home staging misconceptions she encountered.

Soon, she realized that homes that were better presented sold faster and for more money. She began suggesting to the owners that they ‘stage the home’ for their potential buyers. Because of her background in theater, the phrase “Staging a home for sale” came to life. The concept of Home Staging was born.

In the late 2000s, Barbara’s methods gained tremendous popularity as the recession turned real estate into a buyer’s market. Everyone started looking for efficient ways to set their homes apart from the rest, and home staging slowly made its place in the real estate industry.

Only in 1990 Stage® was named a Federally Registered Trademark with the US Government and the Canadian Government in 2004. Barb then developed the ASP® Accredited Staging Professional® Course through StagedHomes.com Staging University for industry professionals so they could earn the ASP® designation, the ONLY nationally recognized designation for Home Staging.

The current market is still a buyer’s market, and most potential buyers are looking for a home that they can move into without the struggle of interior design, reconstruction, and so on. Also, not all buyers have extra funds to renovate their new house.

And yet, why do homeowners complicate the selling process for themselves by not staging their property to make the best impression? Here are some misconceptions that sellers have about home staging.

Home Staging Misconception #1: Our Home is Already Professionally Decorated

Sure, let’s agree to that for a second. However, professional interior designers decorate the home according to the owner’s preference. This doesn’t necessarily make the home attractive or welcoming for new buyers. An accredited home stager has the experience to objectively prepare a home for mass appeal in the current marketplace to engage as many buyers as possible, no matter their personal style.

Home Staging Misconception #2: Home Staging is too expensive.

Staging is an investment that you want to reap profits from. We’ve seen that staged houses sell faster than unstaged ones, and buyers are also prepared to offer up to 17% more than the selling price.

The cost of staging is far less than the carrying costs of a home that is laggard on the market (monthly mortgage, utilities, landscaping/snow removal, etc.).

Home Staging Misconception #3: We Can Stage Our Home Ourselves

Vacant homes are not the only ones with the scope of staging. Even occupied homes are staged and a professional stager can provide homeowners with tips on how to increase the appeal of the house. For example, keeping the home show-ready while the home is on the market — and still feel comfortable in their own home.

Home Staging Misconception #5: We can Declutter and Clean Without Spending Money.

Cleaning and decluttering are things we do daily, so why hire someone to do them for us? Well, how about the emotional impact on the seller while staging and de-personalizing? Having lived in the house for a long time, years of personal belongings have accumulated, making it even more difficult to part away. An accredited stager will provide a detailed action plan to neutralize and remove any items that will distract from the home’s features to get the house sold.

Home Staging Misconception #6: We can Stage Later if Needed.

The popular phrase “Today is always better than tomorrow” is true. You will inevitably lose time and money if you don’t stage before you list. Be prepared for the buyer.

If you’re looking for a home staging partner in the Fort Worth and Dallas areas, our team would be happy to help you make your home stand out. We specialize in staging vacant homes and short-term rental properties, making properties more marketable and sellable. Get started by viewing our portfolio or getting a free quote for your staging project today.