Folks have been selling their homes quickly, easily, and for the highest price over the last two years. With the market beginning to settle down, sellers who waited are frustrated and frightened. There is no need to panic; we just need to go back to basics. Several factors impact a home’s sale price in a typical market, one of which is staging. According to Forbes.com, staged homes sell 87% faster than non-staged or vacant homes and sell for 17% more.
Home staging involves arranging furniture, art, and accessories to make your home look its best and help buyers see themselves living there. Proper home staging can transform a space from outdated and lived-in to new and trendy. If you stage your home well, it will shine on the market, and there’s a good chance of selling it quickly and at a reasonable price. Many may be asking, should I stage my home?
The Goal
The purpose of home staging is to help potential buyers see the home rather than the homeowner. Buyers want to see decor that is not personal but instead on trend and crisp. You want your home to look well maintained and cared for, so buyers see potential rather than problems. Staging will showcase the best features of the house. Staging typically includes the kitchen, primary bedroom, and living room. Nowadays, many sellers opt to stage a spare room as a home office for remote workers.
- Remove Personal Photos. If you want top dollar for your home, you have to depersonalize. Buyers can’t always see beyond your things. Put the interior space on neutral ground so that buyers can visualize their lives in the home.
- Create Space. Take out overstuffed furniture to make the rooms look larger. Put that old recliner that only you love in storage. You don’t want wall-to-wall furniture that buyers have to walk around. The space needs to be airy and fresh. It needs to look like a model home for folks to consider it their “new home.” Proper staging won’t just help a buyer visualize their life in the house; it can also help a home appear newer and in better condition.
- Declutter. Take half of your decor off of shelving and rearrange it. Put your personal knick knacks and souvenirs in storage. Clean off your kitchen and bathroom countertops. Not only will this help you pack, but it will also help your space stand out. Less is more when it comes to home staging.
The primary goal of staging is to clean up the space, make it feel open and new, and make it stand above the competition in the listing photos.
Why Staging Works
Some older homes have awkward floorplans, and you need to help prospective buyers visualize the space to figure out where to put a sofa or a TV. It might not be where you put your furniture, but it shows the buyers how to work the space around what’s important to them.
Other homes that may need minor repairs or that have less-than-ideal structural features benefit from staging by showcasing the positive features first. Showcasing does not mean hiding holes in walls or significant issues that will be discovered during the home inspection, however. You never want to be dishonest or attempt to cover things up. You simply want to showcase the best parts of your home first so that buyers fall in love with the good and, in turn, may not be so dismayed about the less-than-ideal.
Staging results in both selling a property faster and at a better price.
What’s The Cost
Depending on what they do, working with a professional staging service will cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. A crew will come in and either suggest new layouts or stage the home’s main rooms for you. If the home is vacant, a staging crew will typically bring the furniture in for 45 to 90 days, depending on your contract.
An occupied home might be easier to stage yourself. The cost of staging yourself could be as simple as purchasing a few new light fixtures and cabinet knobs to refresh the bathrooms and kitchen. A few new fixtures, knobs, and drawer pulls are much less expensive than an entire kitchen upgrade, though, so sometimes you have to spend money to make it.
If you’re wondering whether your home could benefit from staging, I am here to answer your questions or concerns. You don’t have to go through this complicated process yourself. Call me at (830) 305-5248 or email me at krista@bloomrealtytx.com, and we’ll get your home sold for the best price!
