Please watch HGTV prior to having an Open House

Paying a stager cost $2500-$3500, and although I believe they will sell faster the better price assertion seems to be very weak post Great Recession. Also, with as poorly as homes are selling the person who is in so much a hurry that they are willing to spend that much money to move the process along is already displaying weakness.....it advertises that you are in a hurry and that a lowball offer has a good chance of success. There are only two reasons to sell now, one is that you can wait out the sales process ( the carry time does not hurt you financially) to get something near the price you want, or you have no choice so you understand that you will be forced to sell cheap no matter how you go about this. Spending the money for a stager makes no sense for the situation that most people are in who are on the market now find themselves in. Like doing major repair work, it is usually money that you did not need to spend that you will never get back.

If a stager is good, the possible buyer will never know they were set-up. A good stager knows how to make a home look clean, gently lived in and well maintained. A good stager never makes the place look like a movie set or as if a crew of any kind just left.

Housing prices are still hot here, as I believe they are in most of Canada. Stagers also do very good business here and are worth the price. A lot of people are just clueless when it comes to their collections, crap and colour choices.
A few years ago I went to an open house. Somebody in that household was entirely lost when it came to the skill of painting and had painted every visible piece of wall, but had unfortunately NOT taken the pictures or moved the furniture away from said walls, and had instead painted around then all... OMG!!
I had an acquaintance who painted the entire house in garish colours. The walls and trim were all painted in one go. She couldn`t figure out why the house didn`t sell. The real estate agent had tried in vain to get her to hire a Stager or a painter but she balked at the cost. She was paying two mortgages for months on end, it nearly broke her. Finally, my friends and I took the bull by the horns and took her out to see other houses in the neighbourhood, pointing out how nice these other houses were painted/decorated. It finally dawned on her that not everyone wants floor to ceiling orange and purple rooms... and that trim looks good defined as, well, trim.

I agree about getting a stager if your taste is not going to appeal to your market. I staged the second house I sold and it was in a bidding war due to that. I had it priced a bit high for the area, too, so I believe it was how it looked. I also made sure the outdoor areas (porch, patio and gardens) were immaculate and freshly stained or painted. I believe I spent about $7000 and netted over $20K for those efforts.

It's how the house looks and feels that gets you offers.

Hawkeye - you seem to be presenting yourself as an expert in real estate - is that what you do for a living?

Does MA pay for public education primarily through property taxes? If so, be sure that you're looking at the property taxes on the houses you're looking at. Our award-winning public schools come funded by 5-digit annual property tax bills. My monthly property tax payment (I escrow my taxes) is higher than my mortgage payment.

Like green witch I've been involved with design of peoples' homes and gardens, not usually in my case as a means of sale, but general improvement while dealing with clients' needs.
I'm pretty biased re detrimental "improvements", and usually come down on attention to the nature of the house itself and the nature around it. If the house has no inherent 'nature' - and it usually does, then I can see neutral style. And at least clean.

On the other hand, I spent a lot of years hating a certain white paint, navaho white. Anything but navaho white... anything.

That is one of the reasons we chose the 3 towns that we did. Reasonable tax rates and highly rated schools. Some of the other surrounding towns, the property taxes were almost double.

We were told by one professional - you have great colors "pottery barn colors" which is what everyone is looking for. Not that I would want my home classified as pottery barn colors, but for short money - painting, if it appeals to the masses, then fine.

No joke - just saw this today...

http://www.boston.com/realestate/specials/springhousehunt/2011/share_your_open_house_horror_stories/#/item-52296

"Hide the meds" is interesting! Never would've thought of that one.