Over the years, home staging has become a big buzzword for anyone preparing their house for sale and listing agents.
Home staging is the crux of many of HGTV’s buy-and-flip or renovation programs.
You don’t see Chip and Joanna Gaines presenting a vacant home to the lucky new owners of a house they renovate.
Each home they design has the decor carefully crafted to showcase each of their creations in the best possible light. And in case you didn’t know, the furniture is removed after the reveal. It is not kept by the homeowner.
But those beautifully staged homes are not presented vacant for a reason.
It is all about presentation. And it is the icing on the cake.
Homes that fly off the market, even in a seller’s market, will often have some level of staging involved. A perception of value is created and the home becomes a hot commodity among the buyers.
Let’s delve into what home staging is, what is not and if it is worth the effort. has the
Home staging is the process of preparing a house for sale by enhancing its visual appeal and functionality.
It involves decluttering, cleaning, depersonalizing and arranging furniture and other accessories in a way that makes the house look more attractive and presents options to potential buyers.
In essence, home staging is about showcasing the best features of a property while minimizing its flaws. We want to highlight features of the home and not your personal belongings.
For example, we want to highlight your hardwood floors and not your Oriental carpets,
or…
your large floor-to-ceiling windows flooding the space with natural light and not your custom drapes.
Effective home staging can help a property sell faster and for a higher price. It can also help buyers visualize themselves living in the house, making it more likely that they will make an offer.
Many home sellers go into the home selling process thinking a well-decorated home is a staged home. While a piece of the home staging process is about decor, it is far from being about a well-decorated home.
Often even the most beautifully decorated homes can benefit from a home staging consultation.
We aren’t selling your home for them to make it theirs.
When you stage your home we are creating a space where homebuyers can mentally take possesion of your house as their new home. And, often that means removing some of the personality out of your house that makes it your home.
I know from my experience listing home over the past 20+ years is staging provides many benefits to the home seller.
And with the data provided by NAR, it reinforces home staging can reduce market time, increase buyer appeal and have a significant return on investment.
Homebuyers today have much higher expectations than home buyers of the past.
Reality TV shows create a discrepancy between beautifully staged homes that are shown on the show and what homes look like in person. There often is nothing real about reality home shows.
And love-it-or-hate-it reality house-hunting shows create unrealistic expectations. An expectation is that homes for sale all have been expertly staged and look their best.
Reality TV is shaping today’s home buyers’ expectations. And perfectly prepared homes are one of the big expectations that are set.
If a homeowner decides to DIY their home staging many articles can be found to assist in the staging of their home. The downside of DIY home staging is not fully understanding the concepts of home staging and trends that attract current buyers.
It is also possible that your listing agent provides home staging services themselves. An experienced agent will spend time in classes on home staging and be up on home buyers’ expectations of homes for sale in the marketplace.
The last option is for the seller or agent to hire a professional home stager. A professional home stager is usually certified and spends every day staging homes in preparation for a sale. The best result usually comes from a professional home staging consultation.
The cost of staging your home can vary significantly depending on the services needed.
A quick walk-through from a home stager pointing out key tasks with no written report can run as little as $200- $250. A more comprehensive staging consultation can run $400 to $600 with a written report. The expectation is you complete the taks on your own.
If you are looking for the stager to spend time doing some of the rearranging and bringing in design elements the cost can climb to $800 to $2000.
If your home stager is bringing in furniture to stage entire rooms you can expect the initial set up to run $1000 to $1500 a room (includes furniture rental for one month). Then furniture rental on an ongoing monthly basis can run $800 to $1200 a room.
The average cost of home staging is approximately $400. With a comprehensive consultation with a report being the service most often requested.
know from my experience listing home over the past 20+ years is staging provides many benefits to the home seller.
And with the data provided by NAR, it reinforces home staging can reduce market time, increase buyer appeal and have a significant return on investment.
A recent trend is to have vacant rooms or entire homes virtually staged by digitally enhancing photos of vacant rooms. Virtually staged photographs will have furniture, carpets, curtains and decor items added.
A virtually staged room will accurately depict the size of the furniture to help give a sense of scale, the intended use and visual appeal to the room.
The one downside of virtually staged homes is buyers will often be confused and disappointed when they arrive for their showing to find a vacant home. It is a good practice to call out that the home has been digitally staged so buyers are not disappointed when they arrive.
Scroll through any real estate sites and you see that many of the homes have professional photography of well-staged homes. If you scroll up and look at the statistics above a staged home will have a 40% more chance of a home buyer scheduling a showing.
That is a significant increase.
Combine professional real estate photography with a professionally staged home and have an exceptional online marketing strategy and you have a winning combination.
I always tell sellers their first showings are online. It is is critically important to have your home staged a professionally photographed to grab potential buyers attention.w
Deep clean every corner of your home. A spotless home will certainly impress buyers and make them overlook other areas of the home that may not be perfect for them.
I’ll say it again, we want your potential home buyers to see the home as it works for them. It is hard when you have family photos and highly personalized art or decor.
Neutralize your home’s decor so homebuyers can take mental possession of your house as their home.
Buyers don’t always have the vision. Lead them where they need to go and don’t leave much to the imagination.
Make that fourth bedroom ab bedroom instead of a yoga studio. Or convert your dining room back to a dining room instead of using it as a playroom.
When staging a room we talk about editing a room. We often accumulate more stuff than we need. This could be furniture, personal items and decor.
Pair down and curate just what is needed to define a room.
You don’t want furniture jam-packed into a room. Make sure there is a proper flow in and out of a room, as well as around the furniture.
When staging your home less is more. For example, we all have appliances and items on our kitchen counters we rarely use.
Get rid of them and show you have plenty of workspaces.
Buyers will get distracted and react to your collections.
Ditch the Snow Babies in your curio cabinet, or the Hummels on your top shelf and the beer mug of every sports team in America.
The worst thing that can happen is if they remember the 100 Snow Babies instead of the large kitchen island.
Don’t keep shades drawn and drapes closed. You want your spaces to be bright and airy. Consider removing heavy drapes completely or replace with sheers.
If need be add lighting so buyers are not milling around in the dark.
Prioritize what areas need to be done. Topping the list is Living Room, Master Bedroom, Kitchen, Dining Room and Bathrooms.
Yes, you love your home and you probably love how you decorated it. But maintain your objectivity.
Neutralize the decor and pair down your belongings. Let the buyers see the features of the house and how they will use it. Not how YOU use it.
Some of the best money spent when staging and preparing a home is fresh paint. Repaint any highly stylized paint colors with neutral paint colors.
Plus, your paint job may be old and tired. Nothing can revitalize a space like a fresh coat of paint.
Most buyers want in move in ready homes. Try to get your home as close to move in ready as possible.
Do you want your buyers starting their showings excited this might be the one or UGH, this is adump.
Home staging is essentially the process of preparing a property for sale by making it more attractive and appealing to potential buyers. This can involve a wide range of tasks, from cleaning and decluttering to rearranging furniture and adding decorative elements.
he goal of home staging is to help potential buyers see the property’s full potential and imagine themselves living in the space. This can be especially important in competitive real estate markets.
Studies have shown that staged homes tend to sell faster and for higher prices than unstaged homes. Additionally, home staging can help reduce the need for price reductions and can make a property stand out in a crowded market.
In short, investing in home staging can help sellers get the most value out of their properties and maximize their chances of a successful sale.
Home staging is not just about making a property look pretty. Rather, it’s about creating a space that will appeal to a wide range of buyers and allow them to envision themselves living there. This may involve neutralizing certain elements of the property to make it more universally appealing, such as removing personal photos or minimizing bold paint colors. It may also involve adding certain elements, such as lighting or furniture, to enhance the space’s functionality and create a more inviting atmosphere.
In conclusion, home staging is a crucial aspect of the home-selling process that can help sellers maximize their profits and speed up the sales process.
By creating an attractive and inviting space that appeals to a wide range of buyers, sellers can increase their chances of a successful transaction and get the most value out of their property. While home staging may require an investment of time and money, it can ultimately pay off in the form of a faster, more profitable sale.
Kevin Vitali is a local Massachusetts REALTOR. Kevin has over 22 years expereince in residential real estate. In that time, Kevin has taken his experience and written extensive blog articles on many aspects involving buying a home, selling a home, mortgages and more….
If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, call Kevin at 978-360-0422 to get the most relevant information to help you with your real estate goals.
cell phone: (978) 360-0422
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