FAQs

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." ~ John Maynard Keynes

Q: What Is Home Staging?

A: Home Staging allows you to market your home to the largest audience possible by maximizing your home’s potential while minimizing the flaws. This can be as simple as reducing clutter and reorganizing the space, or as complex as bringing in all new furniture and accessories, or may fall somewhere in between. Each home is unique and will require a different variety of services.

Q: What is included in the Home Staging Consultation?

A: With the home staging consultation, you will receive a full home evaluation, including all notes regarding the suggested updates, repairs, furniture arrangements, paint colours, and decorating suggestions. In addition, BTSH will return prior to photographing for "finishing touches", to ensure that the photos show off the home at it's best.

Q: Is Home Staging a way to fool the buyer?

A: Absolutely not! As a homeowner, you are still required to disclose any major flaws of the home that you are aware of. Home Staging does help to minimize minor flaws by drawing the focus to the features of the home.

Q: Will you bring in all new furniture?

A: I try to work with what a homeowner already has as much as possible, but I offer a large inventory of furniture, artwork, linens, and accessories if these are required to achieve the best results.

Q: How long does staging take?

A: Amount of time required for staging will depend on the project, but generally it can be done within 1 day maximum, provided that repairs and painting are not required.

Q: Why does Home Staging work?

A: Did you know that only 10% of people can visualize a space? By neutralizing the space and clearing out the clutter, potential buyers can better visualize themselves in your house. If your home is filled with personal items, clutter, and bold colours, buyers are often distracted and fail to see the potential of the space. Home staging is simply a tool that helps them to see this.

Q: What is Redesign?

A: Redesign uses the same techniques as home staging to help to freshen up your home. Working with what you have, redesign can mean will breathe new life into a room without the expense of a full makeover.

Q: Do you offer any other services?

A: BTSH offers a variety of services from home staging, to colour consultations, to decorating and design. For a full list of services and pricing, please visit the Services page.

Q: Why should I paint my home before I list it, if the new homeowner is just likely to change it?

A: This is probably the number one question that I get from my clients. I understand that it might seem like a waste if the new homeowner might just change it, but there are a few reasons why this makes sense to do:

If the colours you’ve chosen are bold, it will distract potential buyers from being able to see the potential of the rooms
A fresh, neutral paint means the new homeowner doesn’t have to paint right away, and gives the home that “move-in ready” look
It is one of the least expensive updates you can do to your home, with one of the greatest returns on your investment

Q: Why should I spend money on a house I am selling?

A: Your home is generally your biggest investment. Investing in home staging will help to maximize your return on your largest investment. A few dollars on home staging will go a long way by ensuring that you sell your home faster, and for more money. All statistics show that the investment in staging your home is always less than your first price reduction.

Q: Should I stage before listing my home?

A: Definitely. While it may sound cliché, you only get one chance to make a first impression. When your home is listed, you want to be sure that it is ready to show at it’s best, both in pictures and for showings.

Q: Where do you rent your furniture?

A: All furniture, artwork, linens, and accessories rented by BTSH are the property of Beyond The Stage Homes. This allows flexibility with style, availability, rental period and pricing.

Q: How do I know if I should rent?

A: Here are just a few examples of why to rent:

Have you removed personal photos from your walls? Avoid leaving the walls bear, and with exposed holes. Artwork rental pieces start as low as $10/piece.
Do you have old, outdated furniture and/or décor? Give your home an instant update by renting the pieces you need to update the look of your home.
Do you have vacant rooms? It’s always a good idea to show every room in your home furnished. This allows potential buyers to visualize the best use of space in each room. You can rent it all from BTSH - furniture, artwork, and accessories.

Q: Why should I stage a vacant house? Doesn't the house look bigger when the rooms are empty?

A: Staging a vacant home helps to define the space for buyers. Each room has a purpose, and staging helps to clearly identify this to potential buyers. Empty rooms actually tend to look smaller, and can leave buyers questioning whether or not their own furniture will fit in these rooms. By setting up a room properly, not only can they see that the furniture fits but it will give them the ideal placement, as well as inspire them with the decorative touches. Check out this video to see how staging can transform your vacant home to a sold home.

Q: How much does home staging cost?

A: It varies depending on the how much or how little your home requires. A comprehensive consultation starts at $200. For more information on the services available, as well as pricing, see the Services page

Q: My real estate agent says they can do the staging, so why should I spend any more money?

A: If your real estate agent is a qualified home stager that includes this service as a part of their fees, there may not be a need to hire an outside stager. However your realtor is busy listing and marketing your home, which is why most choose to work with a trained Home Stager, in order to allow each professional to focus of their areas of expertise.

Q: How do I choose a Home Stager?

A: Well, of course the easy answer is if you’re looking at this site, it’s safe to say you already found your Home Staging Professional! But if you’re still not sure, research your local stagers. Check out their portfolio and reviews. If you have hired a realtor, ask if they have a home stager that they prefer to work with. Most stagers offer similar pricing, and you should never base your decision on price. Remember that Home Staging is an investment, and saving a few dollars could mean several thousand on the return of your home.

Q: Do you have trades workers/suppliers that you can suggest?

A: BTSH has found top professionals in your area to assist you with your needs in getting your property “sell-ready”. Please visit Preferred Vendors for a list of many of these. If you don’t see the service you’re looking, please contact us and we would be happy to provide this information to you at no charge. BTSH is happy to contact, schedule, and manage these on your behalf for an additional fee.

Q: When/How do you get paid?

A: BTSH offers NET 15 terms for all services (excluding subcontractor services), however a deposit may be required prior to the start of work for some projects. Our first priority is to get your house listing ready for buyers, and we understand the time and effort that may be involved with this. Offering these terms helps you to concentrate on the needs of your house first.

Q: Will BTSH be available when I need them to be?

A: BTSH strives to avoid over-booking in order to accommodate all of our clients needs. This is a full-time/full-service company, and we will do our best to meet your time-frame, budget, and needs, but thinking of home staging FIRST allows us the time necessary to address all of your home’s needs.

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