How to Increase Your Home Value: 6 Reasons Why You Need to Stage Your Home for Sale
My job as a luxury real estate agent is to get my clients listing their home for sale the maximum amount of money, in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of hassles. There are 4 factors that will control the sale of property, one of which is your home's condition. Here are 6 reasons why, unless your home could grace the pages of a magazine, you need to consider some level of staging for your home:
Condition of your home truly impacts price, which is why painting, deep cleaning and other fixes are so important. Furniture is another one of these "fixes" that visually helps tell people "this home is loved and in great condition" even though it actually has nothing to do with the condition of your home.
We only get 1 chance to launch your home to the market. Staging weeks after your home goes on the market tells buyers that your home isn't selling so you are changing your plan to get it to sell. Unfortunately most if any of the buyers won't come back to see it again or even look at your new photos of your home beautifully furnished, because they already have seen it and made a decision they didn't want to buy it. Your home doesn't show up in their searches any more; they've eliminated it from their favorites list. Although your mortgage isn't expensive, every month you pay it and don't live there will cost you money. We will have to wait for new buyers to come to the market to see it since we missed our window with the active buyers that are currently in the market that have walked away already.
Buyers are educated, and they're seeing homes in your price range staged. They will ask "why didn't these people stage their home"?
Buying a home is an emotional decision. An empty home tells a buyer: "we've moved out and we no longer live here". A staged home tells a buyer about a life they want to live: "come stretch out on this sofa with a glass of wine and relax when you get home from work. this is the perfect playroom for kids. curl up in this beautiful, comfortable master bed watching your favorite show.".
People are visual and need to see how they can live when shopping for a home, which is why the staging industry exists. Sample 3 exact same homes - one with good furniture, one with bad furniture, one with no furniture... are they going to sell at the same price? Our knowledge tells us 'No'. It's why we want to see clothes on models before we are willing to buy them. We want to see a photo of a meal before we decide to cook it. Suggestive selling works.
Without furniture, our visual marketing elements are limited. Our photography will show photos of [very nice] empty rooms, without dimension or the viewer's knowledge of what to use the room for. Video won't help empty rooms, so we lose that marketing vehicle also.
Staging is a critical part of preparing your home for market. The good news: staging is an investment and you will get your money back, plus interest, when we close escrow. My staging partners estimate a $4 return on every $1 invested in staging.
I take my clients through a proprietary Market Preparation Checklist developed with one of the most sought-after luxury realtors in the country, that leaves no stone unturned. Staging is just one of the dozens of considerations we discuss. Please contact me if you are interested in a complimentary Market Preparation Consultation for your property.
