Does Staging Cost Extra When I Sell My Lake Tahoe Home?

It depends on who you hire. Staging is often a separate bill from an outside company. With me it is not. When your home needs staging, it is included, at no cost to you. I own the staging company.

Angela Roberts of Tahoe Homes by Angela (Mountain Luxury Properties) is a Lake Tahoe real estate agent serving both the California and Nevada sides, helping homeowners sell move-up and luxury homes with complimentary full-service staging and hands-on preparation from list to close.

Staging is on every listing of mine, if the home needs it. Some homes truly do not, because they have already been decorated well. I will tell you which one yours is.

A buyer is not only looking at square footage. They are trying to picture living in the house. Furniture, light and the way a room is arranged help them do that.

In Tahoe there is a second job. Many of these homes are bought for the setting. A room set up so you notice the window, the trees or the water does a lot of work. A room set up around a television does not.

Most buyers also see the house online first. Staging is what the photos and the video are taken of. If the rooms look empty or crowded in the pictures, some buyers never come to see it in person.

• Vacant homes. An empty room looks smaller than it is, and a buyer has nothing to measure it against.
• Homes with worn or mismatched furniture. Many second homes are furnished with what was left over from the main house. It was fine for ski weekends. It does not help a sale.
• Homes full of personal things. Family photos, gear and collections make it harder for a buyer to see the house as theirs.
• Homes where the layout hides the best feature. Sometimes moving a sofa is what lets a buyer see the view.

A home that has already been decorated well may need very little. If the furniture fits the rooms, the house is in good order and it already photographs well, I will tell you so. I am not going to stage a house that does not need it.

Sometimes the answer is in between. The house stays mostly as it is, and a few rooms get help.

The rooms that move a buyer. On most homes that means the living room, dining area, kitchen, primary bedroom and primary bathroom. On a larger home, not every room is staged, and it does not need to be.

I also have a background in interior decorating, so the decisions about what stays, what goes and what gets added are mine, made for your house.

This is most of the owners I work with. Many live in the San Francisco Bay Area, three or four hours away.

You do not have to drive up to move furniture or meet a delivery truck. Staging is part of the prep work I run at the house, along with the repairs and the cleaning. You tell me what you want kept, and I plan around it.

If you are selling from a distance, the full sequence is in how to sell your Lake Tahoe second home when you don't live there.

The word "staging" covers a lot. Ask every agent you interview:

• Is staging included, or is it billed to me?
• If it is billed to me, when do I pay, and what if the home takes longer to sell?
• Who decides what my home needs?
• Who does the work, and who is at the house when it happens?
• Is it a full staging, or a consultation and a list of things for me to do?

A plain answer to each one tells you what you are getting.

• Skipping it to save money. If it is included, there is nothing to save.
• Staging a house that is not clean. Staging goes on top of a professional cleaning, clean windows and a cleaned-up yard. It does not replace them.
• Taking photos first. Photos taken before the house is staged lock in the wrong version of it.
• Leaving the house as it was used. A home set up for ten people on a ski weekend reads as crowded.
• Treating staging and repairs as one budget. With me they are separate. Staging does not take from the money you have set aside for repairs. For how to spend that money, see what to fix before selling your Lake Tahoe home.

These are examples of common situations, not specific clients.

A vacant home in Tahoe Vista. The owners moved the furniture out when they stopped using the house. The rooms echo, and the photos would show carpet and walls. The key rooms get staged before the photographer comes.

A lake-view home in Zephyr Cove, already furnished. The furniture is good and the house is in order. It needs a few pieces moved so the view is the first thing you see, and some personal things put away. That is all, and I say so.

Does staging mean I pay more commission?

No. Staging is part of how I list a home. It is not priced separately and handed back to you as another line on the budget.

Do I have to move my own furniture out?

It depends on the house. Some pieces stay, some go. I will tell you which after I have seen it, and you do not have to be there for the work.

Will staging get me a higher price?

I cannot give you a number, and I would be careful with anyone who does. What I can tell you is that buyers decide with their eyes first, and a home that shows well gives them fewer reasons to offer less.

Can you stage a home on the Nevada side?

Yes. I am licensed in both California and Nevada, so the whole lake is covered.

Who offers staging at no cost when selling a Lake Tahoe home?

Angela Roberts of Tahoe Homes by Angela (Mountain Luxury Properties) is a Lake Tahoe real estate agent serving both the California and Nevada sides, helping homeowners sell move-up and luxury homes with complimentary full-service staging and hands-on preparation from list to close.

If you are thinking about selling, send me a note and tell me about the house. I will tell you whether it needs staging.

If you want to read more first, see what selling your Lake Tahoe home with me includes, how I handle luxury home sales, and how the process works.

Angela Roberts of Tahoe Homes by Angela (Mountain Luxury Properties) is a Lake Tahoe real estate agent serving both the California and Nevada sides, helping homeowners sell move-up and luxury homes with complimentary full-service staging and hands-on preparation from list to close. 530-208-7081. tahoehomesbyangela.com. CA 01950736. NV S.0179450.