Thank you to affiliate, Staged Ryte for submitting this article about the benefits of Home Staging!
As stagers we are often asked by skeptical clients whether home staging is worth the investment. With one foot out the door already, and having spent money on earlier renovations, these owners are not happy about the prospect of spending more. Plus, most homeowners love their space and think everyone else will immediately feel the same. It’s left to us to tell them the unvarnished truth: Most people who see their home are not going to immediately feel as attached to it as they do.
Twenty years ago, staging a home listing was rare. At that time, you could get away with scrubbing your floor and hiding the kitty litter before listing the home for sale. Now, thanks to the internet and the popularity of HGTV shows, people are used to images of impeccably designed homes. They expect homes they see in real life to have the same sort of high-level polish they see on TV.
Still, we understand clients’ reluctance to pay for something they perceive as “extra.” But today staging is the norm. And we know it works. Our task as realtors and stagers is to help home sellers understand that a 50K drop is more than a 5K spend. Let us tell you what and how sellers gain from staging their homes…
Show how people can live their best lives ASAP
Today approximately 95% of home buyers search online, according to the NAR report Real Estate in a Digital Age, and a listing’s photos are likely the first thing they see. There’s no question that staged homes photograph better than unstaged homes. The same goes double for videos. According to Redfin’s blog, “Photos are your home’s currency online, and the more appealing they are, the more views your listing will receive. A new listing gets three times more views in its first week on the market than at any time after that, so first impressions really matter.”
Conversely, if the photos aren’t immediately pleasing, searchers click away to other homes that look better. This is the reality today. You have a few seconds to grab the buyer’s interest. Many potential buyers use the photos to decide whether or not they want to see the home. So if the home doesn’t look good in the photo it translates into fewer in-person visits.
Make a home look bigger, brighter, better
Staging is about more than preparing a house for sale by cleaning and decluttering a space, although those are crucially important. Staging is about the effective use of furnishings, color, artwork, and accessories to make the home look larger, brighter, cleaner, and more welcoming. And bigger, brighter, cleaner, and more welcoming means a higher price and a faster sale.
Staging is also about creating a convincing story that encourages buyers to imagine what it would be like to live in that home. Many people simply cannot visualize how the house would work for them, so we create a narrative. Research has shown that staging is very effective in that respect. According to the 2019 Profile on Home Staging published by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 83% percent of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home.
You can see some of our Berkshire County stagings here.
How do these benefits translate into dollars and cents?
Simple: Staging makes a home look/show better; a better looking home makes a better visual image; the visual image drives the number of views and visits; the more visits, the higher likelihood of a quick sale at a higher price.
Can we prove it? According to the NAR report on staging, “22 percent of sellers’ agents reported an increase of one to five percent of the dollar value offered by buyers, in comparison to similar homes. Seventeen percent of respondents stated that staging a home increased the dollar value of the home between six and 10 percent.” That means on a $500,000 sale, you could potentially reap an additional $5,000 to $50,000 if it is staged.
Give us your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you. Contact us or follow us on any of our social media accounts and comment there: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.
Staged Ryte is a boutique home staging and design firm powered by two women who understand design and business. We create homes where buyers see themselves in the story we create – living their ideal lives. Our attention to detail and ability to understand what buyers want is unmatched. And no two spaces ever look alike because of our extensive inventory of unique curated pieces. Our goal is to Wow! home buyers and make homeowners – and real estate agents – VERY happy with faster-than-expected sales at the best price. Staged Ryte specializes in home staging and design in the Berkshires, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Eastern New York State, and Western Massachusetts. www.stagedryte.com