So, just because I’m a lawyer doesn’t mean I always have to write about legal stuff, right? The inspiration for this latest post comes from a recent experience that resonated with my “stager side.” A few weeks ago, I was in a position to observe a real estate agent explaining to some sellers how the process of selling their home would work. Being clued into the idea of staging, the sellers asked the agent if there were any things they should do to improve the house before it went on the market or if she recommended changing anything.

A little background about the house: the furniture and decor made obvious the age of the person who had lived there. It is a small house, but well-cared for and in a great neighborhood. And, besides the size of the lot the house is on, its best selling point is gorgeous, maple colored hardwood floors. Which, unfortunately, in the living room, happened to be buried under an aqua-green turf-like carpeting.

The agent’s response to the sellers’ inquiry floored me (no pun intended). She replied that since some homes in the area had been sitting on the market for as long as a year and a half that it was not worth doing anything to improve the house for sale. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Here she was with sellers willing and able to make some changes and improvements - including tearing up the heinous carpeting (which would take a minimal amount of time) - and she was telling them that a better investment of their time is to do nothing! The agent then proceeded to take photos for the listing of the house as it was at the moment - trash bags, stacks of papers and miscellaneous items lying around.

Stagers and agents, what’s going on here? I understand that there are situations where there are sellers who are unable or unwilling to do even the basics to make a house look better for selling. But here, where the sellers were open to the idea, it would seem to be basic common sense to do small things which are a zero to small investment of time and money to improve the property. A one-time professional cleaning, perhaps?

Houses staying on the market a long time is no excuse to not stage or put effort into a property. There are still buyers - especially for smaller, entry-level homes like this one. Without a doubt, with a little effort you can improve the marketability of a home, and perhaps capture the perfect buyer who falls in love with the first great impression of the home. Why didn’t this agent understand that with no extra effort on her part, there was no reason why this house should sit on the market for a year and a half??