repairs.
Your goal is to gain the highest return on investment when your house sells. If you believe you can achieve this by staging on your own, go for it. Otherwise, trade your time investment for spending money on a professional upfront to reap the benefits at the sale.
WHAT TO EXPECT WITH A PRO
There are a few issues to keep in mind in selecting and using a professional stager or staging firm. • Ask around. Do not simply go to Craig’s List or other online service for a random name and hire the stager. Ask your agent, other Realtors®, and friends about their experiences. Ask for referrals, interview several prospects, and select the one who will provide the best value to you. • You get what you pay for. Do not shop on price alone. If the price is markedly lower than other bids, it is probable that the quality of service will match the price. Can your potential stager provide references and photos of successful projects? They ask you many questions — do the same. The staging pro wants as much information from you about your needs as possible. On your part, you also need to ask many questions during the initial consultation to make sure that this is the stager for you. Ask questions like how they work out their rates, how long they will take, what you might do on your end to keep the costs down, and whether or not they expect anything from you during the process. • They are staging pros. Their job is to make your home as appealing as possible to potential buyers, so they will not
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