Angela Gillespie

1. Your home will see the most action in the first two weeks after it is listed. That’s when it gets the most buzz among Realtors and when you typically get the most showings. Don’t waste this golden opportunity by not putting your home’s best foot forward from the beginning.

2. Great photos of your staged home will attract more people to tour your home. 85% of buyers pre-shop on the internet before physically visiting homes for sale. Make sure you don’t turn them off with lousy pictures. Too few pictures will send a red flag to buyers that there must be something wrong with the house if you don’t show all the rooms.

3. That old saying is true: “You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.” If buyers tour your house and find it cramped, cluttered or dated looking they will never come back, even if you subsequently clean it up, stage it or even remodel it.

4. Time is NOT on your side. The longer your house sits on the market, the lower the selling price. So you want to improve your odds of getting an offer right out of the gate by staging your home.

5. Staging before you list will force you to deal with your clutter and cast-offs sooner rather than later. The moving process will be much more organized and less stressful.