Should you Stage your home to sell?

Home Staging is one of the steps to prepare a home to sell or rent. The goal of staging is to increase the appeal of a home in order to sell the home more quickly and for a higher price.

For vacant homes, staging often involves bringing in furniture, artwork and accessories to help highlight the best features of a home or to give buyers an idea of how difficult spaces might be utilized. For homes that are occupied, staging often involves "decluttering" a home to open up spaces, or changing out colors or materials to brighten spaces.

Here are some examples of Home Staging in a small waterfront rental property I recently sold (these also show the benefits of using a professional Photographer - all after shots are done professionally, before shots are done by me):

BEFORE: Kitchen & Dining Nook - new carpet and paint, but still feels kind of drab:

AFTER: Kitchen & Dining Nook - added a small dining table, some accessories and art to add color, and a professional photographer to get the lighting correct.

BEFORE: Living Room looking out to the waterfront - new carpet and paint but the room still looks boring and you can't help notice the older features like popcorn ceilings, track lighting, and vertical blinds.

AFTER: Living Room looking out to the waterfront - Some furniture and accessories added to provide color, but not too much furniture that would emphasize the small size. Additional lighting and use of professional photos improve the color and a hint of the unobstructed water view that awaits.

What do you think? Does the staging help improve your impression of these two spaces?