The Best Reason for Hiring a Home Stager

I attended Marie Graham’s home staging workshop this morning at the Ossining Public Library. It was outstanding. While I never disputed the value of stagers, I have gotten into my share of disagreements with them on matters probably not worth arguing about. One is about taking down personal photos. Marie made a good analogy about overdoing the family photo thing. Imagine, she said, you are seated at a crowded restaurant at a table that had not yet been cleared. As you sit, your expectations of a delicious meal are interrupted by a half-eaten fried egg on someone else’s plate. You know that people eat at a table prior to your arrival; you just don’t want to have to share the experience. 

It is a great metaphor, and it wasn’t even her best line. 

Here is the best reason to hire a stager:

You should hire a stager because their fee is a small fraction of what your first price reduction would be if the home does not sell. 

To my mind, that is not something anyone can argue with. Not even me.