Staging Your Chicago Home to Make Prospects Comfortable

As an abstract notion, staging your Chicago home to prepare for listing photo shoots, open houses and showings is a non-controversial business procedure. It’s like preparing any other “product” you might want to sell—to maximize its value, you try to make it as appealing as possible.

Yet when you actually begin to roll up your sleeves to begin to stage your own home, the process might not be as agreeable as you’d imagined. In reality, staging for showings can feel like you're changing more than your style—it’s like changing your history. Since most Chicago homeowners will continue to live in their homes while it’s on the market, daily living might also feel somewhat awkward—as if you’re living in somebody else’s home.

 Experienced Chicago sellers who recognize feelings like those would probably agree on one reaction: good! Successful staging is a process whereby a current owner transforms their property from a personal expression of their own taste and history into a fresh canvas that welcomes future owners’ own embellishments. The value added when you succeed in that transformation is material—in fact, professionals point to the Real Estate Staging Association's statistics that show staging can cut time on market by up to 90%.

For Chicago homeowners staging their own properties, keeping the goal in mind should take any sting out of the process. Boxing up the old photos, taking down the humorous signs from the family room, and packing away vacation memorabilia are absolute necessities when the object is to make buyers feel less like intruders in someone else’s bailiwick.

In the end, staging can be thought of as a process of removing obstacles to prospects’ being able to project themselves as owners. When staging works, prospective buyers feel comfortable sticking around longer, asking more questions—and ultimately, making an offer that says, “I know I’ll be comfortable living here.”
​
Whether you rely on professional Chicago staging or take on the project yourself, making it an important part of the plan for selling your home makes good sense. Call me to help put all the parts into action!