WHAT TO EXPECT WITH A PRO
True staging pros can be expected to run a very smooth operation. Of course, anyone can make mistakes. Here are a few things to keep in mind: Ask around. Don’t just select a random name from online and hire the stager sight unseen. Ask your agent, other agents, and friends about their experiences and ask for a referral. Then, interview several professionals and select the one you believe could provide the best value to you. You get what you pay for. If the price tag is low, it’s probable that the quality of service offered will match that price. If your stager is a well-known expert in the field, your price tag will definitely be considerably higher than someone running a summer gig. Can your potential stager provide references and photos of successful past projects? If so, take a good look and make sure beforehand that you actually like how they set things up—and see if you can get any information about how well those houses sold! They will ask you many questions. Just like a doctor, a staging pro wants as much information from you about your needs as possible. For your part, you also need to ask any questions you can think of during the initial consultation to make sure that this is the stager for you. Ask questions about how they work out their rates, how long they will take, and what you can do on your end to keep the costs down. Ask how many homes they’ve staged, and whether or not they’ll expect anything from you during the process. They are staging pros. Not agents. Not bankers. However, they do need to know enough about real estate to ensure that they know what they’re aiming for in increasing a home’s saleability. Their job is to make your home as appealing as possible to potential buyers, so they will not (and should not) talk to you about negotiating pricing with those buyers.
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