The Benefits of Staging a Home for Sale
Staging a home has become very popular in today's real estate market, but many prospective sellers are resistant to the idea and balk at both the cost and the inconvenience that are part of the process. Although each house is unique and no two transactions are identical, if you are interested in selling your home at a higher price in as short as time as possible, statistically, it would be wise to hire a professional home stager.
The Numbers
According to a survey conducted by Coldwell Banker:
- . A staged home will be on the market for half the time a comparable non-staged home will be
- . A staged home will sell for six percent more than a comparable non-staged home
Additionally, you, the seller, will get your money back. A National Association of Realtors survey found that with a staging budget of between one and three percent of the home's asking price, the average final sales price included between an eight and ten percent return on that staging investment.
Time and money are important to any seller, but part of the reluctance seems to be the emotional attachment many have to their home. However, if you have ultimately decided that selling the home and moving are in your best interests, now is a good time to sever the ties to the old home.
Declutter and Depersonalize
The two most important things a seller can do to prepare the house for sale is to remove all unnecessary items and remove the personal touches. Unnecessary clutter can make the house seem crowded and suggest a lack of storage. While the house and its style may speak to you, the goal is to create broad appeal and evoke an emotional response in a buyer so that he or she must have the home. Buyers must see themselves in the house; don't distract them with your things.
Online Presence
In conjunction with a professional home stager, professional photographs of the home are taken as a promotional tool. Buyers are overwhelmingly employing the internet as their primary source for narrowing their home search, and a staged home shows far better online than a non-staged comparable.
Other Benefits
In the end, you have to pack your things anyway; getting a jump on that task with the decluttering/depersonalizing stage gives you an advantage. Additionally, many people learn some lifestyle lessons from the home staging experience and use those tips to make their new home more functional. In the end, if you sell your home without staging, you may just be leaving money on the table.
- Home Staging Warehouse
