If You Want to Sell for Top Dollar:
Why Property Staging is A Must
Home staging can accelerate the sale process by 10% to 50%. Nearly a third of all buyers said their offers were higher because of staging.
(Data from the National Association of REALTORS and HomeLight)
Consider Your Property as a Product—It Needs to Be Prepared and Presented Accordingly.
A skilled stager’s artistry can captivate and attract the best potential buyers on a visual, visceral, and emotional level. While hiring a talented designer and stager to transform your vacant property might seem expensive—after all, couldn’t you just buy a couch yourself?—the reality is that expert staging is essential to achieving a successful sale.
More than just placing furniture, a stager thoughtfully selects and arranges the ideal combination of furniture, rugs, bedding, art, and accessories to create an inviting environment that will harmonize and amplify all our preparation efforts to date.
Staged to Sell
You are leaving money on the table by not staging — How the Look, Touch and Feel of Your Home Are Fundamental to Selling Success
From our experience, staging isn’t just another step in the selling process—it’s the difference-maker. We’ve seen it repeatedly: buyers walk into a thoughtfully staged home and not only visualize living there but feel an immediate emotional connection. When staging sparks that kind of response, offers quickly follow—and they’re often stronger, faster, and higher.
Once we’ve set the overall design direction and preparations are underway, we’ll reach out to our trusted staging partners—some of San Francisco’s absolute best—to gather estimates and reserve a spot on their busy calendars. Each stager brings a distinct style and perspective, and after carefully assessing your home, we’ll recommend the ideal fit, so the final choice aligns seamlessly with your property’s unique character and appeal.
Yes, staging can feel like a significant upfront investment, but trust us, it consistently pays dividends. Homes staged with care don’t just sell faster—they regularly achieve significantly higher prices. Sellers who genuinely don’t benefit from staging are exceedingly rare—and even in those exceptional cases, strategic editing or subtle refinements can still dramatically enhance the emotional impact.
Staging isn’t merely an expense—it’s an investment in your home’s full potential.
“We think of our homes as places of warmth, familarity and love; of shared stories and memories.... There is a timeless simplicity to the pull of home.”
— Queen Elizabeth, II
Staging is about creating a space buyers can imagine themselves living in—and aspire to own
And Raffi is a priceless element of our presentation.
THE PROCESS
How Staging Usually Works
Unless you’re among the rare few who can successfully self-stage (and yes, we’ve had clients who’ve done exactly that), you’ll likely benefit from hiring a professional stager. Here’s how the process typically unfolds:
1. Consult Us First:
Let’s discuss which stagers our clients have used successfully and find the perfect fit for your property.
2. Stager Site Visit:
We’ll arrange quick, convenient site visits (typically 10–30 minutes) for stagers to evaluate your home. We can coordinate this step entirely for you.
3. Review Estimates:
Once estimates are in, we strongly encourage viewing properties they’ve staged previously so you can see their work in action.
4. Make Your Choice:
After choosing your stager, you’ll sign their contract and submit a deposit (usually around 80%).
5. Prepare the Property:
Ensure the home is ready and vacant before staging begins. If additional cleaning, painting, or window washing is required, ask us—we have trusted vendors who can handle these tasks without the markup some stagers add.
6. Staging in Progress:
With keys, parking permits, and any necessary building permissions secured, the staging usually takes 1–3 days. Stagers carefully protect surfaces with moving paper and pad furniture as needed.
7. Staging Complete:
Once staging is done, your home is ready for professional photography and showings. The remaining balance of the staging fee is typically due now.
8. Maintenance During Showings:
After open houses begin, stagers return periodically to refresh flowers, water plants, and make subtle furniture adjustments if needed.
9. Breakdown:
Once the sale is certain, stagers will remove everything within 1–3 days, leaving the home in broom-clean condition.
10. Final Touches:
Stagers will patch holes left from hanging art, though paint touch-ups typically aren’t included unless specifically arranged. Keys are returned, and your home is officially ready for its new owners.
Important Notes About Home Staging and Preparation
1. Staging is Worth the Investment:
Think of staging as dressing your home for its big debut—it’s an investment that consistently leads to higher offers and quicker sales. We’ll expertly coordinate styling, staging, and marketing, significantly increasing your home’s appeal and your ROI.
2. Sellers Usually Handle Staging Fees:
Traditionally, sellers pay for staging—if left to agents, the choices might lean toward budget-friendly rather than impactful. Not because we’re cheap, but because this is a seller expense. Bonus: There are typically tax benefits to covering this cost yourself.
3. Staging Contracts and Deposits:
Most staging agreements require a 60-day minimum, with about 80% of the fee due upfront to secure your staging dates. The balance is paid once staging is complete. Booking well in advance (and paying promptly) helps us secure priority scheduling during busy seasons.
4. Additional Service Fees and Markups:
Stagers may add 10–30% markups if asked to coordinate extra services like cleaning or repairs. To save you money, we’re happy to refer trusted vendors who often offer more competitive pricing.
5. Furniture is for Display Only:
Stagers’ furniture is strictly for display purposes. It looks inviting, but it’s not suitable for everyday use (yes, that might even be an air mattress under the bedding!). Raffi gets special permission, of course!
6. Extensions (More Time Needed?):
Need to extend staging beyond the initial agreement? Extensions typically cost less than the original fee, but keep in mind: if your home sells quickly, pro-rated refunds are usually not offered.
7. Partial Staging—Possible, But Not Always Cost-Effective:
While using your furniture or partially staging your home can occasionally make sense, it’s rare. Often, you won’t save much in the long run due to additional moving costs once your home sells. It’s worth carefully considering before choosing this route.
8. Love What You See? You Can Sometimes Buy It:
Occasionally, staging items are available for purchase. If something catches your eye—furniture, art, or even fixtures—just ask. We’ve had clients frequently buy staged items, especially favorite lighting fixtures, for their new homes. Many vendors and stagers even extend exclusive client discounts for these purchases.
9. Tax-Friendly Bonus:
Staging fees are often classified as advertising expenses for tax purposes, potentially helping reduce your capital gains tax. Consult your CPA for specifics, or check out IRS Publication 523 online (just Google it!) for the latest guidelines on eligible sales expenses.
The Stagers We Use.
We partner with the best stagers because we understand the immense value that thoughtful design brings—and our results consistently reflect this commitment. Staging isn’t merely about placing furniture; it’s about creating an emotional connection with buyers. We take that a step further by personally styling each property after the initial staging is complete. Our meticulous approach includes thoughtful touches like fresh cut flowers, scented candles, and high-end accessories, ensuring every home feels uniquely special and inviting.
This uncompromising level of care ensures our listings consistently stand out, attract the strongest offers, and maximize market value. For us, cutting corners isn’t an option—we always present your home at its absolute best.
San Francisco has many talented staging companies—here are a few trusted favorites who’ve consistently helped our clients succeed.
Coy and Company
Sayde Mark Designs
Birch & Tailor
JV Staging
88 Staging
Visual Cues: Accentuating the Positives, or Focusing on the Negatives?
Everyone has a critical eye to varying degrees. But with an empty space, a minor flaw can easily become a »concern« if there is nothing else to look at or that will contextualize. Contrasted to fully furnished, styled and aspirational living areas providing positive purchasing vibes. As a seller, which do you prefer?
People Will Focus on the Flaws if There is Nothing to Look at
Coy & Company
Luxury, high-end and in-demand, Coy & Company is the successor company to celebrated designer and stager Arthur McLaughlin who retired to Wine Country after helping so many agents and sellers with their properties. The quality is high, the outcomes are extraordinary. Being able to have a stager who can track the designs we help create without fuss or edits is worth its weight in gold.
Sayde Mark Designs
High-end and in-demand, Heather and Steve run Sayde Mark and they have been our go-to stagers for the past few years. The quality is high, the outcomes are strong. Being able to have a stager who can track the designs we help create (with Raffi included) is worth it.
JV Staging
High-end, consistent, hard-working, friendly. Woman-owned team of Valerie and Jane. has helped us prepare everything from lofts, single-family houses, Victorian flats, Mutli-unit buildings, SOMA studios, large houses and more.
Birch & Tailor
Luxury, high-end, edgy, chic, stylized, frenetic, fabulous and friendly. Chris Miniello and his team has helped us prepare properties from the start with a wide range of capabilities from houses, condos and more. Expect a curated/bespoke approach.
88 Staging
Practical. Quality. New. Hard-working. Determined. We've just started working with 88 Staging and you can tell they have drive and determination as they start out in this tough field.
What the Studies Show
According to Bankrate.com, various studies have shown home staging can be a worthwhile investment.
Investing just 1 percent of a home’s value in staging, 75 percent of sellers who stage their homes professionally saw a return between 5 percent and 15 percent.
Eighty-five percent of staged homes fetched offers between 5 percent and 23 percent over list price, according to 2020 data from the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)
Similarly, 23 percent of buyer’s agents in the NAR report indicated staging helped increase offer amounts anywhere from 1 percent to 5 percent.
The adage of time is money applies here, too: According to HomeAdvisor, staged homes spend between 33 percent and 50 percent less time on the market.
Tried and True: Harrowing Stories of Staging and Non-Staging
We are hand’s on agents for sure when it comes to property preparation and presentation as we are always looking out for our clients’ interests. Sometimes you can only do so much and sometimes what you do can mean so much
MIRANDA PRIESTLY WOULD BE PROUD — WHEN THE STAGERS NEED A REALTY CHECK K+J ARE THERE
Even the best stagers can have an ‘off-day.’ This is why we are here to make sure those days are few and far between.
One of our more memorable sales that set a high-water mark for Noe Valley was also one where we had a tight two-day timeline to have the stagers complete a 2-month preparation process with their furniture, art and accessories. We had just 2 days before Vanguard Properties’ noted photographer was due to shoot the property for our marketing collateral and property photos.
It was a firm deadline.
After handing over the keys to the stagers on the first morning, we came back later that day to see the process, we saw that something was awry.
Our stager's usual aesthetic — stylish, sophisticated and polished — was replaced by something that resembled a New Mexico-sunset-style pueblo jamboree with few chairs or any items with right angles for that matter. Day one’s results weren't pretty. It could have been disaster.
It was late but we took action and politely (but firmly) reminded the stagers that this wasn't the look our properties are known for and that this wasn't up to par. Worse is that this was something that had to be fixed within 24 hours or else we’d miss a critical weekend of open houses (which is when the eventual buyers saw the place).
The sellers, who had overcome a micro-managing streak in the beginning of the process, told us later that they would have panicked as the staging at the end of day 1 was ‘terrible’ but also knew to trust us as they knew we’d handle it.
And that’s what we did as the next morning when we came back there were 4 large trucks and a crew of about 50 people moving moving things to and fro so that by the end of day 2, the property was, well, stunning. Only one piece from day 1 was still there but everything, to the stager’s credit was replaced and sparkling.
After the panic, our photographer came, we put in our touches (flowers, accessories) and Raffi’s property video was shot and we launched right on schedule with a mobbed first weekend of open houses (with one agent saying it was the best he’d seen in 40 years).
But how’d we do sales-wise?
There were seven offers with the winning one being some $300,000 above what the sellers had thought the house was worth, and $200,000 above a pre-emptive offer from a neighbor. Better yet, we also met 4 sets of (eventually successful) buyers from that listing.
A REFORMED SELLER SEES THE LIGHT
“One thing I learned is that there is absolutely no value in using your own furniture to stage a property. I should have listened to you guys sooner.”
— Seller, who eventually sold his property after we advised him to stage in the beginning but didn't. If he had, he would have probably sold for more and done it sooner.
Clients Who Listened To Us, Saw An Over $700,000 gain in the Property in 2 years
“From the beginning stages of brainstorming ideas, to the execution and final sale, Kevin and Jonathan were with us every step of the way. They knew exactly what needed to be done and who to talk to, whether it be design, painting, hiring contractors or staging. They had a wealth of resources, all extremely skilled and competitively priced. I travel all over the country for work and Kevin and Jonathan will actively help you manage your property during the construction process. Kevin himself did work at our place (changing our shower head) and also met me at different stores to pick materials multiple times.”
— Sellers, Lower Haight/Duboce
