What is a home stager?

Natalie at Cullum Design is an experienced home stager, but what is a home stager?

I sometimes get asked by clients selling their properties – do you do interior design as I need an interior designer. The answer is that by the time the property has been refurbished, as it has usually been with my developer clients, its an interior stylist that is needed.

A home stager is an interior stylist that specialises within working with the property market, and especially for property that is on the market for sales or lettings and preparing it to look its best for property presentation. We would supply all the furniture and items that are used for the top layer styling – e.g sofas and cushions, rugs and coffee tables, decorative items, artwork, basically anything that can be removed. We do not supply overhead lighting e.g ceiling pendants though we can if required, but generally these will be in place. Also, we do not supply window dressing though again we can recommend people who make up curtains and blinds. Its not always necessary to have these depending on the property and Natalie can advise.

If I feel that the property could benefit from some decorating prior to dressing then I can recommend decorators to assist with this. It’s worth making sure that the property is looking its best prior to installing furniture, and fresh paint and freshly cleaned carpets and upholstery are usually recommended for any property that has been lived in for a while.

Along with professional property presentation we strongly advise a professional photographer and can recommend some fantastic interior photographers from those who’s work are in editorial to property magazines. Strong images are essential for online listings to engage people at the outset.

The Association of Home Staging has outlined the benefits of professional property presentation and here are some of their results.

The below before and after I hope demonstrate the importance of property dressing and presentation.

 

Still not sure whether to home stage your property?

If numbers are your thing, here is part of a report compiled by the Association for Home Staging.

Natalie is a member of the Home Staging Association and will be on a panel at an upcoming event for home staging to discuss the industry and its role in the UK. Please do come along and purchase a ticket via their website.

62% of property professionals cited that home staging has great effect on the buyers’ view of the property, followed by 33% that cited it has some effect, and 5% that cited that it does not have much effect.

95% of interviewed samples cited that staged homes sell faster than non-staged ones.

100% of real estate agents and property developers cited that home staging makes it easier for a buyer to visualise the property as their future home.

67% of real estate agents cited that the reception room is the most important room to be staged for sale, followed by 14% that cited it to be the kitchen, and 14% the master bedroom.

23% of the properties that were sold had the reception room staged, followed by 22% of properties that had the master bedroom staged.

35% of estate agents cited that staging increased the offer value in up to 3%, followed by 35% who cited the increase to have been from 4-6%.

46% of property developers cited that staging increased the offer value above 10%, followed by 56% that cited it increased the offer value between 1-3%.

76% of interviewed samples cited that the seller pays for the staging before listing the property.

67% of interviewed samples cited that the seller hires a staging company to stage a property.

The seller can be either a home owner or a property developer. 19% cited that the estate agency
hires a staging company/professional.

De-cluttering, professional photography and entire house cleaning are the most recommended services to help sell, being cited by 18%, 16% and 15% respectively.

100% of interviewed professionals have cited that properties with professional photography get more viewings than the ones with low-quality images.

More from their report can be seen HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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