Home staging is the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. Staging techniques focus on improving a property’s appeal by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive product that anyone might want. People usually use wall art, painting, accessories, lights, greenery, and carpet to stage the home, to give potential buyers a more attractive first impression of the property.

Home staging is one of the most powerful and effective marketing strategies to sell your home fast and for top dollar. Depending on your needs, there are multiple ways for a Certified Home Stager to help you. From completely staging a vacant property to accessorizing and fluffing your existing furnishings to improve the overall look of the rooms. Home staging doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you just hire a certified home stager to give you detailed advice on what to do on your own. This is what’s known as a Home Staging Consultation. Once you’ve decided to invest in staging your home, it all starts with a consultation. But what exactly does that mean?

Maison de Campagne as an HSR Certified Home Stager and Redesigner offers what is known as the “Walk and Talk” Consultation as well as a variety of additional staging packages to help homeowners maximize the appeal of their home to potential buyers.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from a home staging consultation with Maison de Campagne. 

Initial Inquiry/Discussion and Research

It all starts with a phone call or by filling out our contact form to schedule an initial discussion with our certified stager/designer (a.k.a ME!). During this initial phone conversation, I will gather some basic information about the property you’re trying to sell:

•  Size of the home?
• Is there any furniture present?
• Has it been listed already and if not how much time before going to market?
• Other pertinent information

Once I have all the general information gathered and answer all the potential customer’s questions a date will be set for an in-house visit.

Prior to the in-house visit, I will perform thorough research of the neighborhood where the property is located and make notes on initial impressions of the house and any architectural features that stand out. I also look into the demographics of the area and look at comparable homes and recent sales in the area. This will help me better prepare for the in-house consultation and start developing a plan before I even set a foot on the property.

In-Home Walk-through

Upon arrival to the property we’ll go through friendly introductions and afterwards I like doing a quick initial walk-through of the home just to have a better idea of the layout of the house. After that quick walk-through I will sit down with the homeowner to discuss the rest of the process and get a signed release to take photos of the property for incorporation into either a written Staging Report or for inclusion into our portfolio. Once all of that is out of the way, we perform the formal walk-through with the homeowner.

During this walk-through, the owner and I will go through each room in the home, taking notes along the way. This is our chance to take a walk in the buyer’s shoes to see what kind of first impression the home would give them and observe what changes need to be made to make it more appealing to a critical buyer. I will also ask the seller questions along the way. The whole process should take about 1 ½ to 2-hour during which we address the following:

• Curb Appeal – Remember first impressions mean everything and the curb appeal will be the first impressions the buyers have of your home.
• Improving the flow and function of all rooms
• Eliminating excess clutter and unnecessary furniture pieces
• Closet Organization
• Recommended or Deferred maintenance needed
• Paint color recommendations (if needed)
• Lighting recommendations

After Consultation and Follow-Up

Once we have completed our walk through, I will verbally review our findings with the homeowner before leaving. Depending on the findings and whether any repairs are needed I can provide a list of trade workers either we or previous customers have used in the past.

A comprehensive Home Staging Report will be issued electronically the following day summarizing everything discussed during the “Walk and Talk”. This report contains photos, recommendations for items needing attention, specific paint colors, best furniture layout for each room, items to remove or “hide” for staging purposes, along with suggestions for items to be purchased. This may include bedding or towels which will, of course, go to your new location once your house is sold. With this report, the homeowner will be able to follow the recommendations provided and stage their home successfully.

If after the “Walk and Talk”, the homeowner decides that they can’t or don’t want to stage the home themselves and need additional staging services; we can prepare a proposal based upon your home’s needs, your budget, and your time constraints. At this time, we may decide to make a more thorough examination of the home and take additional photos that will help with further staging plans. Our additional Occupied Staging package descriptions can be found here.

In addition, we offer accessory rentals to our clients who need to supplement decor items throughout their home. We will create a customized rental package based on your home’s needs with easy rental terms.

Our proposals are broken out by the staging fee or labor costs, the monthly rental accessory fee, which allows you to rent accessories from our company. If additional pieces of furniture are needed to complement or complete the staging, we will include a rental fee for these pieces as well in the proposal.

Remember home staging is a necessity when it comes to showcasing your home properly. Stand out among your competition on the market and schedule a home staging consultation with us today.