Home staging can bring quicker sale

Home and Garden

Staging, defined as marketing a house's best features, can help get potential home buyers in the door and convince them to purchase once they are there. Michelle Yackel, an accredited staging professional with Divine Redesigns, shows how making a few changes can make a dramatic difference.

Over 75 percent of buyers see a house for the first time online, so quality listing photos are vital. That is where staging -- the art of preparing a house for sale -- comes in. According to Michelle Yackel, an accredited staging professional with Divine Redesigns, if buyers aren't wowed by the pictures, they won't come see the home. She shows how making a few changes can make a dramatic difference. This room began with oversized furniture that blocked buyers from entering the room.

Removing a few items and rearranging the remaining furniture opens up the space. This house had an offer the first week on the market.

Too many accessories, especially on the top of the cabinets, make this kitchen feel cluttered.

After editing the kitchen's contents, buyers notice the great details, not the sellers' personal things.

Dark paneling and floral fabrics make this family room seem heavy and dated.

Neutral paint and inexpensive slipcovers open up the room.

If you are preparing to put your home on the market, staging your home is crucial. Take for example this bedroom. It's neat and uncluttered, but a bit bland.

Here's the same bedroom after it was staged. See what a difference a coat of paint made, complementing the existing color scheme of the room. The rug adds a nice bold streak of contrasting color. The wall sconce above the bed, which was virtually invisible before, offers a lovely glow.

Be it vacant or occupied, a staged home can sell more than 50 percent faster, according to the Real Estate Staging Association. Empty homes present stagers with a different set of challenges. In this house, buyers would wonder what room it is and how much furniture will fit. Without those visual cues, it appears tiny.

Now buyers can see this is the living room, and it looks more spacious with furniture than it did before.

Before staging, the master bathroom is stark and uninviting.

Simple accessories make the bathroom feel like a luxurious spa.

Buyers thought this room was too small to hold a king-sized bed.

The room easily holds the king bed, plus more furniture.

The wall and floor colors make this living room too dark.

White paint and contemporary furnishings make this space bright and inviting.

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Over 75 percent of buyers see a house for the first time online, so quality listing photos are vital. That is where staging -- the art of preparing a house for sale -- comes in. According to Michelle Yackel, an accredited staging professional with Divine Redesigns, if buyers aren't wowed by the pictures, they won't come see the home. She shows how making a few changes can make a dramatic difference. This room began with oversized furniture that blocked buyers from entering the room.

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