Home Staging is a valuable service that helps you get the best value from the sale of your home. So when you’re ready to sell, it’s important to choose the right home staging professional.
But there are so many factors to consider when choosing your Home Stager.
So how do you choose the best Home Stager for your needs?
Let’s go over a few of the things you should think about when preparing to stage your home with the help of a professional.
Price
If you’re preparing to sell your home, you are probably on a strict budget. You will want to be sure to find a Home Stager whose pricing structure fits that budget!
But you should also consider that when it comes to Home Staging, you absolutely do get what you pay for.
When you choose your Home Staging professional, it is important to prioritize quality over price. There are some wonderful stagers out there who are able to keep their prices low, but for the most part, price is a good starting indicator.
A Home Stager’s low pricing could suggest that the quality of their work is lower. For most, this is because they are early in their careers and still learning–or that their inventory of furnishings is lower quality. This isn’t a bad thing, and everyone has to start somewhere! If all you can afford is the cheapest home staging option, then hire that Home Stager. But be aware that you will likely get a lower quality result.
Low priced Home Staging services could also indicate that the Home Stager has a limited inventory of furniture and decor. A talented Home Stager can make the most of what furnishings are available to them, but a bigger inventory allows your staging professional to customize your Home Staging to the specifics of your home and the demands of the local market.
Portfolio
A Home Stager’s portfolio is the best way to truly understand whether they are the right fit to stage your home. It’s how you get to know their style!
A stager’s portfolio will tell you what kind of furnishings they have at their disposal, and give you an idea of what the end result will look like.
The more photos the better. If they have video footage, even better! Don’t just look at the end result: compare it to their ‘before’ photos. At Emmantee, we have loads of before-and-after photos available for potential clients to look through and get a sense of our work.
Certification
Your Home Stager should have education, experience, and the desire to learn and improve. There are many ways to showcase this to potential clients, but one of the signs we recommend looking for in a Home Stager is certifications.
There are a few reputable certifications that Home Stagers can pursue to show their clients that they are trustworthy professionals. Emmantee’s Home Stager, Molly Hennon, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and is Home Staging Resource (HSR) certified. She has gone through extensive training to ensure she can provide the best service possible to our clients.
Reviews
Don’t forget to check the reviews!
A professional, trustworthy Home Stager should have online profiles that allow clients to leave reviews. Whether it’s a Google Business Profile, Yelp, or a Facebook business page, look at what others have said in their reviews.
Many Home Stagers will also have testimonials on their websites. While these are probably hand-picked from their happiest clients, these reviews are usually more personalized, allowing you to get a sense of what to expect when you work with them.
Personality
You’re going to be spending some time working with your Home Stager, so it’s always a good idea to make sure you get along with them.
You don’t need to have the exact same personality type, but we all have an easier time communicating with certain types of personalities than others.
If you’re a Type B person who prefers to have someone organized steering the ship, find a super organized Type A Home Stager. But if you’re a Type B person who prefers to work with another Type B person–someone who is ‘on your wavelength’ and has a similar work style to your own–find the Home Stager with that personality type.
Contract
A contract can tell you a lot about your Home Stager.
Good contract terms protect both your staging professional and you. They ensure that if anything goes wrong, everyone knows what the procedure will be to take care of the issue.
There is nothing wrong with asking about the terms of a Home Stager’s contracts during the initial consultation process. The sooner you know what to expect, the better!
Make sure you ask about the expected timeline for your project. Find out how long the stager expects each part of the process to take, and what your role will be in each stage.
Find out if the pricing and contract terms include install and de-staging–and how they handle those processes. Make sure you know in advance if there is any part of install or de-staging that you will be responsible, and whether there are pre- and post-staging tasks that you will need to complete.
You should also find out what the renewal terms will be for your staging contract. In some instances, you will need to extend or renew your contract for continued staging, so find out upfront what that would look like.
It’s Time to Find Your Home Stager!
We hope these tips help you find a Home Stager who is the right fit for your needs. Selling a home is a stressful process, but having the right team of professionals backing you up will make it so much easier.
If you are a South Carolina property owner seeking an experienced Home Stager, we would be honored to help you. Reach out to us at emmantee.res@gmail.com to get started.