You don’t need me to tell you that it has been a tough few years for people trying to sell their homes. Properties have stayed on the market for months, and even years, with no buyers. Sellers have been forced to accept far lower than hoped for, often incurring losses on their properties. But if you’re a seller – don’t despair! There are some steps you can take to make your property more eye-catching than the next one, and the science behind this is called Staging, and it’s what CSPs do best! There are countless articles and tips here on my website which you can use to make sure potential buyers remember your home ahead of all others. Here’s a statistic: a potential buyer is 63% more likely to buy a property that is “move-in ready”, so it stands to reason that you, as a seller, should do everything you can to make your property as move-in ready as possible.

Earlier this month, a news story caught my eye, which seems to show that staging houses is not only demonstrably effective, but it may in fact be responsible for an upturn – albeit a slight, gradual upturn – in the housing market.

Realogy Corp. is one of the biggest brokerage firms out there, and it recently announced that its franchising offshoot Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Real Estate has just signed a deal to expand its brand all over Canada.  BHG is another group that believes strongly in the importance of correctly staging a property to improve its chances of being sold, and so it is gratifying to see them expand so strongly. It really shows that the science of House Staging is being taken more and more seriously, and it really emphasizes what I keep telling people: stage, stage, stage!