Having a home stand out above the rest is key in capturing buyers’ attention. Staging maximizes perceived positives of a home to help buyers fall in love with it. This emotional connection for buyers not only makes it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as their future home, but will yield higher offers. Let’s dive into the top five ways professional staging can make a difference in the home selling process.
1. Helps Buyers Emotionally Connect
Staging helps buyers visualize whether they can see themselves in a property and what the potential for the space is. A 2021 National Association of Realtors study on home staging reported that 82% of buyers’ agents said staging a home helped their clients visualize the property as a future home. Properly staged homes showcase a move-in ready home by highlighting the best features and appealing to the broadest audience of buyers. Updating décor with neutral, on-trend styles, as well as de-cluttering and de-personalizing, provide the backdrop for buyers to create an emotional connection to a home. Emotionally connected buyers may be more committed to a property and subsequently, more likely to give a higher offer or not request concessions.
2. Increases Perceived Value
A beautifully staged home puts less weight on needed minor repairs or renovations by accentuating the positives of a property. In fact, 27% of buyers are more willing to overlook property faults if a home is staged, according to the National Association of Realtor’s 2021 Profile of Home Staging. By highlighting these positives, you allow a home to make the best first impression and increase its perceived value. Buyers are often more comfortable spending on the higher side of their budget when they feel their purchase is worth its value.
3. Helps Buyers Focus on the Potential of a Property
Believe it or not, staged homes feel larger than those left vacant. Staging professionals use furniture and accessories that are to scale with the room, providing the impression that the space is actually larger than it is. Staging instantly helps buyers visualize their furniture laid out so they can imagine not only how they’d use the space, but how they would live their life in it. A buyer who can envision themselves in a home and see its potential is more likely to want to purchase it.
4. Makes the Best First Impression
Almost all – 99% – millennial homebuyers start their search online, according to the National Association of Realtors. Staging helps make a home camera-ready so it presents itself best in online images and video. If a buyer isn’t impressed with their first glimpse of a home online, they probably won’t make the trip to see it in person.
5. Stats Show Staging is Worth the Investment
Staging is an investment that helps maximize the rate of return on the sale of a property. A recent survey from the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) shows that staging a home helps it sell 3-30 times faster than the non-staged competition, and can increase the sale price by up to 20%. This same IAHSP survey also showed that the average price reduction on a home when unstaged was 5-20 times more than what the staging investment would have been.
Homeownership is often the largest investment people make in their lifetime. Staging creates spaces that buyers fall in love with and helps keep the negotiating power on the side of the seller throughout the purchasing process. It’s a simple investment that is well worth the return!
Check Out These Before and After Photos:
