Is it worth 'staging' my house for sale?

[Level75]

Has anyone done this, whether through a company or just on your own? Do you think it was worth it?

Specifically do you think a set dining table is a bit try hard or worth it?

Well everyone has different tastes on tableware, it could go either way in terms of a good impression or not.

I think try hard. Just have it clean and clutter free.

Never laid a dining table. We did used to get rid of visible clutter, and painted the rooms back to magnolia walls though. Apparently it helps a buyer to see themselves living there, rather than too much of the current owner's personality imprinted on it.

Do not have your house staged, it just looks so contrived and too American. Just to what others have suggested i.e. make it neutral, de-clutter and clean, clean, clean. Some fresh flowers help and get rid of any lingering smells but not with those chemical plug ins.

If a house were too staged then I’d worry about what they were trying to hide. Neat and tidy good but that’s about it I think

Try hard. Clean and clutter free is fine.
I don’t need to see the table laid up as if I’m interrupting a family about to have their lunch.

Thanks, this is all confirming my thoughts about it.

We did a mass declutter. Sold it for more than asking price 1st day on the market (desirable area)

I sold a house in America.

It was immaculate, clutter free - nothing on counters, no knick knacks anywhere, family photos put away, smelled fresh and polished, paint touched up, bathrooms gleaming, bedrooms clean as a whistle, garden front and back trimmed, neat, weeded.

I didn't paint it all beige - touched up a few spots in the colours I had already. I bought new white bedspreads for all the beds, put some healthy looking houseplants here and there, strategically, and when I had a viewing booked I left the real estate fact sheet out on the kitchen table along with defrosted lemon drizzle cake 😁 that I kept in the freezer.

I left for viewings. The DCs and I would sit in the car down the street until we saw viewers had left with their agents. The cat was apparently very uncharacteristically friendly.

Don't forget the stunt pineapple...

The first few viewings we had I pulled out all the stops, made the house smell of fresh coffee, artfully draped throws and bedspreads, fresh flowers on every surface. 3 months later we sold to someone that our estate agent forgot to tell us was having a viewing so we'd gone to work leaving breakfast plates all over the side and half dead flowers in a vase. Plus when the EA called me to give feedback on the viewing we didn't know about he told me that our cat had thrown up in the middle of our bed. They offered full asking price the next day

Don't overthink it - people won't buy your house because you laid the table! Make sure it's clean (especially carpet), tidy and offer viewers a drink and a biscuit (ideally homemade but cheat and buy ready to bake cookies).

Rather like Fettfrett the person that bought our flat did so on the second viewing that Id turned down because I hadn’t picked up my undies from the bedroom floor. DP told the agent to go ahead anyway, but to warn him that as we weren’t expecting a viewing the flat wasn’t pristine.
I would keep it clean, and keep surfaces as clear as you can. Too much other stuff is just distracting.

I think it depends on what’s normal procedure in your area, in your price range. You don’t want to be the only place not staging, if everyone else is?

Where I live you wouldn’t dream of not staging, at least for the first few weeks of the selling campaign. But I’ve never seen a table set. You’d have to continually wipe the settings for dust, which’d be a big hassle.

Staging has a handy effect of reimagining the spaces in your house- bedrooms turned into study, or study into nursery for example- that match it better to the kinds of needs buyers in your area have. Mind you, I’ve seen some garish stylings and some crazy ‘artwork’ that made me suspect my attention was being drawn away from some serious problem in the room! Keep it calm, neutral colours, nothing too cutting edge.

I once bought a house and basically replicated the styled furniture in 3 rooms, it looked that good.

Don't stage, but put away as much clutter / bits and bobs as you can. A nice clean, clear space will sell.

I am looking to buy at the moment. What I look for / what gives a great impression: very modern bathroom and kitchen, good lighting throughout, clean carpets or flooring, low-maintenance garden, neutral bedrooms with white bedlinen and minimal personal effects, lots of storage.

You don't need to stage but you can rearrange your furniture to show off good features, or minimise something offputting. You can use plants and things like big vases of twigs and pebbley shit to draw the eye in a direction you want it drawn.

You should get really excellent photos done with a wide angle lens, and turn on all lights for this. It's worth whatever this costs. Also worth sprucing up your front garden and front door area.

Pop a hot cross bun in the toaster just before they arrive ( you can eat it quickly). Makes the kitchen smell lovely.
I used to keep a bag of them in the freezer especially.
Oh and everything clean, tidy and in good repair.

I hid our normal toiletries in the bathroom and put out the posh set that brother had given me for my birthday a few weeks before. Also had some fresh flowers and a couple of nice house plants in the empty spots where clutter and photographs etc. were before. Sold within a week. It was clearly the posh shower gel wot dunnit

@Youseethethingis dont worry the viewers will have opened all your cupboards and seen everything.😱

As a buyer, i have been put off lovely houses because I cannot see where coats would go (no obvious hooks, no coats anywhere) - nowhere to put down a cup of tea - no personal belongings - excessive room scent.
That level of staging makes me think that you would be forever putting things away as there was little storage, and never be able to relax

@Hollowvictory not my first time at the fun fair - they didn’t get loooking in the boot of my car (or my brothers spare room where all manner of crap is currently being stored )

NCTo, why on earth would somebody else's white bed linen influence you? You wouldn't be buying their beds or bedlinen!

Clean, tidy, uncluttered - and looking well cared-for - is enough for most people. A dd bought a house which although very dated, was all of those, and had evidently been very well loved.

OP, I'd have thought a nice vase of flowers or a bowl of fruit on the dining table would be fine, and not look as if you're trying too hard.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER
Because white bed linen is neutral and generic, it doesn't make the room feel like someone's else's. So I can imagine myself it the room better.
A bedroom with lots of stuff, colours or (often un-tasteful) personal style is very off putting to me and I would be less likely to feel positive about potentially putting an offer in.

Not everything American is a bad thing. Light staging, such as a deep clean and tidy is a great idea. You might not notice your cobwebs but others will. People tend to want houses that are loved.

Our EA pointed at our old battered sofa and told us to put a throw over it, as well as hiding as much clutter in the larder as possible. £50 well spent for the throw - it improved the living room immediately and still use it years later. Fixing small things that look like reasons not to buy, likely to be more effective for most people.