Lisa,

We will disagree with Irina, it's PARTICULARLY important to stage in a buyers market when competition abounds! As Linda noted, most buyers can't visualize beyond what is actually in the home, so you need to help them see how the home lives. remember that an empty room/house looks smaller than one with furnishing, so From your question, it appears that you are thinking of a complete staging the home like a model home that builder might have. This is much more expensive and can actually work against you if buyers don't like the style of furnishing. What I would suggest is to lightly stage the more important rooms to give a sense of the size and functionality of the space, front entrance, kitchen, dining & living room, master bedroom and baths. As for the window treatments, I highly recommend that you move forward with some nice, but inexpensive rods, sheers & drapes to help finish off the house. Please remeber that in the Regional Contract in Northern Virginia the hardware for the window treatment convey with the home.

The recommendation to stage comes only after you have made sure that the walls are freshly painted, carpets cleaned, any smells removed and the entire home cleaned/scrubbed to within an inch of its life. It you don't do this first, the staging will appear as if your putting "lipstick on a pig" and won't be of value. We agree with Irina on the importance of taking care of the yard, as this is the first that any buyer will see and if they subconsciously get a negative impression before they even open the door, you will have tough sledding ahead of you. Seasonal color with kale & pansies should work along with fresh mulch, to help with that image.

You can check with some stagers for what their charge will be, if it includes furniture or if that is extra. What we do is we have an inventory of materials that we use in our listings at no additional charge.

Best of luck to you and please let us know what you decide and how it turns out!

Staging in the buyer's market is not a very efficient tool, in my opinion. The buyers are price-focused and aggressive pricing and marketing strategies attract more prospect buyers than placing the pieces of furniture in an empty house. If the house has a good curb appeal, looks clean inside, well-maintained and has neutral colors throughout it will show no worse than the staged home. Make sure the yard is taken care of, no sign of distress, no bugs - this is important to make a welcoming impression.

The problem with a vacant house is that most buyers do not have the imagination to figure out what the vision for the house could be. It is better to show them! Presenting a house furnished gives the buyers an idea of how each space can be used and how their own furniture will fit. It also feels warmer and more inviting. Unless you have a real eye for pullin a room together with appropriate furniture and accessories that will appeal to your targeted buyer, you are better off leaving it to a professional. If cost is a concern, you can always stage limited rooms in the house. I often do key rooms on the first floor and the master bedroom as opposed to an entire house. Window treatments can give a room a more finished look and can often be purchased inexpensively at Target, Marshalls, Home Goods and the like. As Pat suggested, consult a stager in your area. Most will provide a free proposal for staging costs after viewing your property. You need to look at the cost as an investment in getting the house sold. Staged homes often sell faster and for greater profit than comparable un-staged homes. Best of luck!

I have had ecellent results (shorter list time and higher net) with my listings that I have staged by a professional ASP (Accredited Staging Professional). I do not possess the skills, nor talent, for staging a home. My stager has full inventory (not all do) and can totally transform a home- vacant or occupied. My listings, if priced correctly, usually sell to one of the first few buyers who them.

I do not know the cost in NOVA, but in HR, the costs to stage a vacant home for 45 days would be somewhere around $1300-1600. The stager will come in for free & give you an estimate. I think it is well worth the investment- so do my sellers. BTW- they pay for this themselves.

You can check out my stager's web site for general info on staging at http://www.stager2sellvirginia.com. Good luck to you.

Pat