A good stager can minimize
a multitude of flaws in a home, from awkward traffic patterns and dark bedrooms to dens without a wall long enough for a full-size
sofa. As home sellers increasingly use staging to market their properties, however, buyers
must learn to look beyond staging’s veneer of polish to see a home’s bones and blemishes.
“Buyers shouldn’t assume that a well-presented home is a well-maintained one,” says Jon
Boyd, GRI, a broker-manager with Home Buyers Agent in Ann Arbor, Mich., and president of the National Association of Exclusive
Buyer Agents.
NAEBA in 2006 surveyed its members and found that 82 percent of respondents said their buyers are
likely to be distracted by staging.
The first time buyers walk through a house, they should concentrate
on fundamental issues such as floor plan and a home’s location rather than on how furniture is arranged.
Here are some tips for buyer’s:
Don’t be dazzled by the light. Halogen lights can make a room seem larger,
Boyd says. The same is true for torchiere-style lamps that reflect light up to ceilings.
Don’t let shimmer hide realities. Mirrors and glass tabletops both make rooms appear
larger. Measure each room to see how big it really is.
Beware of tight spaces. Be sure that the furniture in a room is
appropriate for the room’s use, Boyd says. A bedroom without night stands might prove cramped when you add in a full-size
bedroom set.
Also, look out for love seats. They’re
an easy way to make a room seem larger. Encourage buyers to measure their
furniture so that they’ll know how much room they need.
Staging puts a house’s
best face forward, which is all well and good, but buyers need to look below the surface and think about what really will
be important to them in a new home.
