Home sellers save big money by staging properties themselves

TORONTO — When Farah Al-Harazi and her husband were selling their Toronto condo, they asked real estate agents they were considering if they should hire a “stager” to beautify their home in order to fetch top dollar — an increasingly popular practice, but one the agents agreed wasn’t necessary.

Farah, an accountant with an eye for design, kept their two-bedroom condo in such pristine condition that all the couple had to do for showings was stow items from their overflowing closets with family and neighbours and hide their baby’s toys to help prospective buyers envision the home as a more adult space.

Realtors say staging is becoming increasingly popular as more Canadians move toward browsing properties online, where a well-designed home can stand out in photos, entice buyers and earn sellers more.

The Real Estate Staging Association has said that homes across North America spent 90 per cent less time on the market in 2016, selling within an average of 23 days in comparison to unstaged homes, which took an average of 184 days to sell.

Marie Whittaker, who runs Couture Staging in the Greater Toronto Area, said if you can’t stomach the cost, which many stagers say averages around $2,000 but fluctuates depending on the size of the home, she suggests hiring a stager to do an assessment.

For those who insist on doing it themselves, Whittaker said to declutter your home and remove personalized items that will distract buyers from picturing themselves living in your place.

Give away or move around awkward or big pieces of furniture to make rooms look bigger or transform spaces used for storage into an office or another bedroom, said Meray Mansour, a realtor who owns a staging company.

She stressed self-stagers should “keep it simple” by making their place look lived in, but by someone who is neat.

“I find sometimes when people do it themselves they bring in too many things,” she said. “It doesn’t need to look like an Ikea catalogue.”

If you need to bring in furniture, but don’t want to spend a lot, Mansour suggested renting it. If you need to stow items, she said to shop around for a storage company.

Whittaker and Mansour also suggested painting anything aging the home or looking worn, such as cupboards, doorways and windows.

“Only spend according to what you think is going to come back to you from it,” Mansour said.