Staging Your Home to Sell More Quickly

Home staging is not a new term, but for many, staging your home has become a great way to promote your home to potential buyers. Professional home stagers are practiced in the art of preparing a home for resale. They work with the flow of a home, eliminate clutter, edit and arrange furniture, and even assist in enhancing curb-appeal. With the aid of a professional home stager (or by following suggestions for staging your home yourself), staging your home can make a notable first impression on potential home buyers.

HOME STAGING HELPS MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION

Making a good first impression is a key factor in selling your home. According to one real estate expert, a potential buyer will make up their mind about a house ten seconds after they step through the front door. They were already forming an opinion as they pulled into your driveway! That really doesn’t leave too much room for fault.

Home staging is about so much more than just impressing potential home buyers during a showing. Realtor.com estimates more than 90% of home buyers start a home search online. Those home buyers are going to spend just a few seconds looking at each listing, and their first impressions are based mainly on the quality of pictures. Staging your home can make all the difference between a quick sale and a long stint on the market. As a home seller, have you ever considered that the pictures of your house are crucial to your overall success?

VISUAL APPEAL SELLS HOMES FASTER

When potential buyers are looking for a home, photos draw them in. By posting quality photos of your staged property, you create interest. Potential buyers are more likely to click on an MLS listing with gorgeous photography. When you provide pictures that make the home look irresistible, buyers are much more likely to schedule a showing. In fact, CBS News found that homes with quality real estate photos had a 47% higher price per square foot and had an increased likelihood of selling.

A great residential photographer who has all the fanciest cameras won’t make any difference, though, if the home is a mess. That’s where home staging comes in, making those photographs look like they’re straight out of a magazine. And what home buyer would pass by those photos? Once potential buyers enter a perfectly-staged home, they’ll be much more willing to make an offer.

Including quality photographs of your well-staged home, will get you noticed. This gives you the best possible edge as you interact with potential home buyers. By staging your home, you’re investing in the sale of your home by making it easier it will be for prospective buyers to see what your home offers.

Here’s what realtors and buyers say about the importance of home staging. The statistics below speak for themselves:

• 96% of realtors said staging your home has an impact on the buyer
• 81% said buyers find it easier to visualize the property as a future home
• 46% said buyers are more willing to walk through a staged home viewed online
• 45% said staging your home to buyers’ tastes positively impacts home value (compared to only 10% who said it has a negative impact)
• 28% said staging your home could lead to buyers overlooking property faults
• Of realtors surveyed, 52% said staging your home has a positive impact on the dollar value of the home

So put on your home staging hat and dive into some of the suggestions below.

BE DETAIL-ORIENTED IN STAGING YOUR HOME

Buyers notice when you make the extra effort to help them imagine how your house could become their home. Staging a home for sale shows attention to detail and speaks volumes about you as a seller. Those carefully-crafted real estate pictures might be the determining factor for a buyer who’s looking for a great home in their price range.

THE BOTTOM LINE IN STAGING YOUR HOME

Organized and staged homes look better in pictures and on MLS listings. This increases the likelihood of selling your home faster and at a higher price. Using home staging and professional photography as a part of your overall marketing strategy will increase your home’s visibility. All this increased exposure can lead you to potential buyers.

Here are 5 Tips from Martha Stewart on staging your home:

• Evaluate your space
• Set a budget
• Clean, streamline and update
• Rearrange your existing furniture, rent new furniture or update with swap outs like new pillows, adding greenery
• Remove personal items

HOW QUICKLY CAN STAGED HOMES SELL?

Betsy Wilbur, a professional home stager based in Glendale, CA, says that properties she stages sell in 12 days. For reference, the Glendale area average is 56 days on the market.

According to the Real Estate Staging Association‘s national report, staged homes sold much faster than non-staged homes:

• Non-staged homes spent an average of 184 days on the market.
• After staging, previously non-staged homes sold on average in 41 days.
• Homes that were staged prior to going on the market sold on average in 23 days.

Simply put, homes staged before being listed for sale spend 90% less time on the market.

More tips on selling your home