Here we are at the end of this blog series – The 5 Biggest Mistakes Homeowners Make When Hiring a Home Stager. You now know that when hiring a home stager you shouldn’t focus on price or certifications, but you should look for a stellar portfolio and a practical experience. Hopefully you feel more confident about hiring a home stager and have a better sense of what you should look for, and what you shouldn’t look for!

To finish off the series, I’d like to talk about the importance of hiring someone with current knowledge of the local housing market. You’re not looking for someone who just knows how to decorate. A home stager is as much a part of the real estate industry as a real estate agent, and they should have a good grasp of the market they’re in. If they don’t know what homes usually sell for, you should look for another stager in the area.

That’s partly because as a home stager there is no end to what we can do to a house to make it look better to potential buyers. But there’s a judgment call that has to be made about what’s appropriate given the asking price of the home and how it stacks up to the competition.

There are many things I’ll let slide in a less expensive home that I would insist on changing in a more expensive one. For example, I would change the $1.99 builder light fixtures in a $750,000 home but I’d ignore them in a $250,000 one. That’s one example of how a home stager’s practical experience and real estate knowledge serve you well as a home seller, and why you have to be prepared to invest in the right expertise when buying home staging services.

Because there isn’t an independent organization or association monitoring whether or not a house stager is operating professionally and providing a high quality service, it’s buyer beware.

That concludes this series. If you avoid these five common mistakes as you search for the perfect expert home stager for your needs, you should be pleased with the professional you choose.

Happy House Stager Hunting!