When a home is put on the market, the ultimate goal is to ignite the imagination of a potential buyer, so that when they look at photos or walk through your home, they can envision what a life might look like if lived within its walls. Though not every home, or every room, needs staging, the benefits are many, which means it should at least be a part of the conversation with your real estate agent. First impressions are everything, especially given that these days, most homebuyers are beginning their initial searches online. And, that when it comes to the in-person tour, a buyer will spend an average of just 5 minutes in a vacant home, and upwards of 40 minutes in a staged one.
As UpNest reports, homes that are staged sell more quickly and for more money (which more than makes up for the staging cost and prevents costly price reductions) and they tend to stand apart from the competition. Staging can also “accentuate a home’s best features and downplay its flaws, ensuring it shows well and makes a good first impression on prospective buyers.
How staging impacts a buyer:
· 81% - easier to visualize property as a future home
· 46% - more willing to walk through a home viewed online
· 45% - positively impacts home value if decorated to buyer’s taste
· 28% - overlook home’s faults
A REALTOR magazine article on the subject of staging notes that staging accomplishes four imperative actions that will help prospective buyers:
- It plants the idea that the home could be theirs.
- It helps puts room dimensions into perspective.
- It highlights all of the things that make your home wonderful.
- It helps curb negative presumptions that an empty house may signal, such as divorce or other personal problems.
Even if a home is not vacant, staging can still play an integral role, as too much clutter or too many personal items (such as a wall of family photos) can prohibit buyers from feeling as though they can see their future in the home.