To stage or not to stage..

[Jo Faraday]

We have a rental property that I’ve renovated top to bottom (Texas, 3br, loft, office, 2.5ba, 2200sqft) in order to sell. 

It’s immaculately clean, paint/trim is fresh, new appliances, new fixtures, new carpet/floors. However, the house is empty. Now I prefer to look at homes empty, but as a designer (computer, but designer nonetheless), I can visualize things better than some I suppose. 

Is it really necessary to stage this home? There’s nothing really negative to focus on, like dirt or cracks or holes or whatever. The house isn’t huge so I feel like it being empty, and clean, makes it feel bigger. Seeing as how we lived here a few years I feel like I know how it feels with furniture (and I’m pretty minimalist). I know this market is pretty hot and I get a lot of ooohs and aaahs from people in the neighborhood that have wanted to come in and see what I’m working on, but I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot and have a house sitting on the market longer than necessary. 

Edit to say - could I maybe do some mini staging? I have bathrooms setup with basics (toilet paper, nice towels, soap, etc). Would it be preferable to maybe place a big piece of art on the mantel, fresh flowers on the island? And maybe I could do some digital staging for listing photos?