Home staging is one of the most exciting and effective marketing tools to sell a home. However, some sellers are not aware of staging and how effective it can be. It is often a REALTOR®’s job to show them how it is worth the small investment when they put their home on the market. When part of your marketing plan, staging is another tool to prove to your seller that you are the best broker to sell their home.
There is a higher perceived value in the buyers’ eyes when a home looks well put together compared to the competition at the same price point. According the National Association of REALTORS® 2015 Profile in Home Staging, 32 percent of buyers’ brokers believe staging homes increases what buyers are willing to offer by one percent to five percent.
When your home looks its best and outshines the competition, buyers will flock to it. The home needs to be priced correctly for this to work, however. According to a survey by the Real Estate Staging Association, professionally staged homes spend 72 percent less time on the market and they are less likely to undergo price reductions.
When a home is cluttered and has personal items everywhere, buyers get distracted, and they may feel like they are intruding on your space. Staging inspires home buyers to envision the home as theirs.
According to the National Association of REALTORS® 92 percent of buyers use the internet in their home search. Clutter and too much furniture make a home look too small in online pictures. Empty rooms make it hard to see proportional space and identify a room’s purpose. Professional pictures of staged homes draw buyers to them.
It is nearly impossible to be objective about how your own home looks to outsiders. We have created emotions and memories in our homes that get in the way of truly letting go of the house. A professional third party observer’s advice is important to ready the home for sale so its features stand out rather than the memories.
When a home is completely empty, all its flaws show and there is little to demonstrate its potential to buyers. Staging helps to keep the eye moving around the home, gives it a homey feel and draws attention to its features, down playing the flaws.
Moving is one of the most stressful things we do in life. Staging helps a seller pack the memories, leaving only the essentials behind. The moving is much easier because they will be well on their way towards the big move.
Many successful REALTORS® tell stories about homes that have lingered unsold on the market for months, but are sold within weeks, or even days, once they are home staged. Help your client sell their home for its best price by having it professionally staged.
Competition in the real estate market can be tough. The smart thing to do is to hire a professional staging company that will make your house outshine the others. And remember, the investment in staging is always less than the first price reduction.
UPDATE: The author has been unable to appropriately source the statistic previously quoted: U.S. Housing and Urban Development says a staged home, on average, sells 17 percent higher than an unstaged home.
The statistic has been removed and replaced with a sourced statistic: According the National Association of REALTORS® 2015 Profile in Home Staging, 32 percent of buyers’ brokers believe staging homes increases what buyers are willing to offer by one percent to five percent.
As featured in RE Magazine, Winter 2016 edition.
Lisa Poundstone, PhD, is the owner of Design Smart Home Staging & Redesign, LLC. She is an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP®) and was the 2013 and 2014 Winner of the Best of South Sound for Interior Design. Contact her at (360) 480-5810.