Is Home Staging Right for You?
What many sellers don’t realize is that there is a proven strategy which only requires a small investment that, on average, helps a home sell in 11 days or less and for 17% more (according to StagedHomes.com). HGTV even says that one of the biggest mistakes homebuyers can make is NOT taking advantage of it.
That strategy is home staging.
Essentially, home staging is the art of highlighting a home’s best features and, in many cases, temporarily decorating a property with the intent to sell in today’s market. Besides just decorating, it includes marketing, real estate, and set design all rolled together to help your home stand out from the competition. It’s all about speaking to a buyer’s psychology.
The bottom line is that home staging increases the appeal of your home to prospective buyers, allowing you to sell more quickly and for higher prices.
Every homeowner is unique, so here are three questions to ask yourself to determine if home staging is right for you.
How to determine if home staging is right for you:
1) Do you want to sell your home quickly? For most sellers, time is of the essence. Whether you are moving across the country or simply across town, many families and individuals need the profit from their home sale in order to get situated in their new home. Others have specific deadlines, such as the beginning of a new school year or semester, by which they must have their home sold. And many buyers still simply want to be able to move on to their next home and be past the stress of having their house shown on a regular basis.
If you’re in any of these situations, home staging can be the solution. There are many reasons buyers could be struggling to connect with a property, but all too often it’s because of simple cosmetic details and an inability to envision what the house could look like with their own furniture inside. Home staging addresses all of these common issues. It takes away the guesswork from buyers by decluttering, neutralizing, and then adding desirable finishing touches to make the home feel more inviting. It’s kind of like packaging a product. Home staging takes away unnecessary distractions and ensures buyers will be focused on the best features of the home.
By creating an irresistible appeal, home staging is proven to dramatically speed the process of selling. If you’re in a rush, home staging can help you meet your deadline.
2) Do you want to stand out from the competition? Most homebuyers look at several homes before putting in an offer on one. According to Realtor.com, 9 out of 10 homebuyers today look at homes on the internet before touring them in person. That gives them the chance to swiftly click past homes that don’t grab their attention immediately from photographs and move on to the next one.
When you stage your home, you are effectively positioning your house to stand out from your competition. A professional home stager knows exactly how to position each unique home in the market in order to appeal to a broad audience of buyers. Leaving it “as is,” however, will give comparable homes a big advantage.
3) Do you want to get your asking price or above? When a buyer tours a home, they are calculating in their minds each thing that will cost them money after the sale in order to make the home livable for them. Small repairs, removing wallpaper, painting walls and changing worn-out flooring are just a few of the things buyers will be on the look-out for. The more money they perceive as having to put into the house, the less they will want pay at closing. This leads to offers that are lower than asking price.
While professional home staging does require a small investment, that investment is well worth the outcome. On average, staged homes sell for 17% more than a home that isn’t staged. Home staging creates a higher perceived value to homebuyers that is reflected in their offers. We have seen countless instances where a home sat on the market for months until they invested in home staging, and suddenly they were presented with offers higher than their asking price.
Contact us today to learn more about our wide range of professional home staging services. We have something to fit every budget. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you choose the best strategy for your home!