How to Choose a Home Stager

Hiring a professional home stager can really help you maximize the value of your home. A good stager will ensure that every room is picture perfect, taking advantage of key features, and ensuring your property photographs will showcase your home at its very best.

There are many benefits to using a home stager. They’ll know all the tips and tricks to sell your property quickly and get you the highest returns on your investment. But there are many home stagers out there all vying for your business. Which one should you choose?

Here are some key questions you should bear in mind when choosing a home stager…

Note: As with some of our other staging guides, we’ve picked a theme for the images for this article! The theme is concrete/modern luxury staging

Can they show you examples of their previous work?

A good home stager will be able to show you a portfolio of their work. Take a close look at the results. Do they have experience staging homes that are similar to yours? For example, if their only experience is in staging multi-million dollar mansions, will they have the right skills to stage a more modest home, and vice versa?

Do the images of their staged properties stand out to you? Does it exude a feeling of luxury and high quality? Would you want to take a closer at that property based on the staged images?

It’s likely that your home stager will have a website or a solid social media presence. It can be a good idea to send those links to friends or family whose judgment you trust, to see if they feel the work is good quality and appropriate to your own needs. Second opinions are always worthwhile when you’re making big decisions!

Can they provide testimonials and positive reviews?

Finding out what previous clients thought of the home stager can be incredibly useful, so don’t forget to ask for testimonials. The work of a home stager is not all about the end results, it’s also about the stager themselves. Are they friendly and easy to get along with? Or are they temperamental and highly strung? Do they turn up when they say they will? Or do they make excuses and cause delays?

Do they have facts and figures to back up their claims of success?

Substantiating the value of the results of home staging is difficult. It’s hard to attribute the sale price of a property to the staging of that home as there are so many other factors at play, however, you can gather some valuable insights with figures from previous work.

For example, how many days did it take to sell each property after it was staged? How long had the properties been on the market before the staging took place? What were the average sale prices of the staged properties? Did they sell above the asking price?

Will they stage the entire property, inside and out?

You also need to understand the scope of the stager’s work. If you have extensive outdoor areas, of course, you will want this to be included, but some stagers solely work indoors, so you need to clarify this early on to ensure you’re not left disappointed, with gorgeous interiors let down by poor curb appeal.

Are you aligned with regard to timelines and budget?

When you’ve found a home stager that you’re considering hiring, it’s essential to get into the details pretty quickly. If they’re so busy they can’t stage your home for six months, but you need to sell in three, then there’s no point going forward. Get a good understanding of the process, what they will do, how they will do it, and how long it will take. How much time will they need to spend in your property and how intrusive will the process be if you’re still living in your home?

Many people have a budget in mind when considering a home stager, so you should also discuss the fees and the methods of payment. Will you pay in advance, or after the property has sold? If their prices are higher than other stagers, what extra level do they go to, to justify these extra costs?

Do they have any industry-specific qualifications?

There is no legal requirement for home stagers to hold any qualifications or register with an industry professional body. However, holding membership in such schemes and attaining relevant qualifications shows a certain level of dedication and professionalism. This goes some way towards proving to you that this person is serious about their career and is not simply someone trying their hand at home staging as a hobby.

Do they have the relevant insurance?

Don’t be so busy focusing on the positives of having your home professionally staged, that you forget to prepare for any potential negatives. Accidents can and do happen, so it’s vital that there is insurance in place should your home stager break any valuable items, cause damage to your property, or injure themselves while in your home.

Make your selection with your head and your heart

Our final piece of advice is to weigh up all the facts and information but to also pay attention to how you actually feel about your home stager. You may be working very closely with the stager. If you’re still living in your home during the sale process, then you and your family could well be spending a lot of time with the stager, in your home, as part of your lives.

It’s important that you feel comfortable with your home stager and that you trust them. If you want to be a part of the staging process, you’ll also need to ensure that your ideas are aligned or you could come into conflict. However, it’s usually wise to let the stager get on with their work. At the end of the day, they know what sells, and it’s not going to be you that buys the property! So while the end results are of course the highest priority, it’s also important that you feel positive about your home stager. If they exude enthusiasm and passion for their work, if you like them as a person and feel they have some impressive ideas, the whole process is likely to be a highly positive one.