When you want to sell your home quickly, staging can be one of the most effective ways to make it happen. Staging a home ensures that buyers see it in its very best light, and can help illustrate what a property can offer without requiring a complete makeover. In an industry where making a great first impression is critical, it’s easy to see how staging has become such an integral part of the selling process.

As a seller, you have a lot to gain from making it easier on the buyer to see the true potential of a space—and to do it, you’re going to need to stage. A well-staged home can help buyers envision themselves living in your space and better understand the possibilities for change.

Buyers generally know what they want when searching for a home

Surveys have revealed that 74 percent of real estate agent respondents believe that buyers know what they want in an ideal home before they ever begin searching. 

Staging a home makes it easier for buyers to recognize when a house meets their expectations, while a lack of staging could mean that a buyer is unable to visualize the space—and what it can become—in relation to their vision. 

Forty percent of respondents said that home staging had an effect on most buyers’ views of a home, versus just 6 percent who said it made no difference.

Staging is about showcasing the potential, not the present

Staging a home is a way to make it more appealing to potential buyers, and it’s one of the best ways to get more people into your home while it’s on the market. 

According to 83% of buyers’ agents, staging a home makes it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. Meanwhile, 38% of buyers’ agents say that staging made buyers more likely to go for a showing at a home they saw listed online. 

Considering that half the battle of selling a home is just getting buyers in the door, it makes sense that staging would be a major help. Because while you can’t predict what everyone’s taste is going to be, you can stage your home so that it has much more broad appeal and is more likely to be attractive to potential buyers.

All rooms aren’t created equal

Staging a home is all about prioritizing key spaces. According to a NAR report, buyers’ agents consider the living room to be the most important room in a house to stage, while only 19% of these agents say they think staging bathrooms is important and 8% say they think guest bedrooms need staging. 

This means that if you’re trying to decide where to focus your efforts when it comes time to stage your own home, you should probably focus on the next three most important rooms after living rooms: master bedrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms.

Staging can increase the sale price of your home

If you’re still not convinced that staging a home is crucial, this might be the kicker. One-quarter of buyers’ agents told the NAR that staged homes sell for 1% to 5% more than those that aren’t staged. Among sellers’ agents, 22% say the same and 17% say it actually increased the asking price by 6% to 10%. 

Notably, 0% of sellers’ agents and only 1% of buyers’ agents said that staging had a negative impact on asking price. With nothing to lose and a lot to possibly gain—notably higher profits—it stands to reason that staging is worth the effort. This is likely even more true for homes with unique or highly specific décor.

Staging can speed up the length of time your house is listed

Sellers want to avoid sitting on a stale listing. The longer a home sits on the market, the harder it can be to sell, meaning there’s a lot of incentive to get your home sold in as few days as possible. 28% of sellers’ agents note a slight decrease in days on the market for staged homes, and 25% report a substantial decrease. Only 12% of sellers’ agents reported that staging a home had no effect on days on the market.

The main reason staged homes sell faster is that they allow buyers to envision themselves living in the property and give them an idea of what they can do with the space. This can be a lot more productive than expecting them to do the heavy mental lifting themselves.

What does home staging cost?

Home staging is a cost-effective way to make your home more attractive to buyers. The median price of home staging is just $600, according to the National Association of Realtors® report, and this investment can easily be recouped if it leads to an increase in the home’s value. As for who pays for staging, many sellers’ agents take on the task (and the cost) of staging themselves since it can make their jobs a lot easier in the long run. And in some cases it’s the seller who pays for staging, either putting that money toward hiring a professional staging service or tackling improvements on their own.

Home Staging Checklist:

Declutter:  You gain a lot when you get rid of clutter. Getting rid of clutter opens up space and makes it look bigger and more appealing. When you’re getting ready to sell, pack up everything you don’t need on a day-to-day basis (including seasonal items, papers, and a majority of your home décor) and store it all away for your next home.

De-personalizing:  It can be hard for a buyer to imagine themselves in a home if they see it filled with the personal belongings of its current owners. To create a blank canvas, leave family photos and other personal items out of sight.

Deep Cleaning:  Before you put your home on the market, give it a thorough cleaning. Cleaning is essential to staging since it goes hand-in-hand with the goal of making a positive first impression. And if you don’t have the time to do it right, spend a couple hundred bucks on a professional cleaning service—it will be worth it.

Small Repairs:  Post-inspection negotiations often involve larger repairs, but small fixes—like paint touch-ups and a bit of spackling and caulking—can be addressed during the staging process. These little fixes are quick and cheap to take care of, and can be glaring to buyers if they’re not.

Go Neutral: Staging is one of the best ways to get your home ready to sell. If you have a neutral-colored, minimalist style, then you don’t need to do much to stage your home. However, if your home is painted in bright colors or if you have a very distinct decorating taste, then it may be worth going a step further with your staging by neutralizing the space for buyers. Get rid of garish colors by painting over walls in white, gray, or another standard neutral shade, and consider swapping out bright carpeting for taupe or beige. 

You may also want to rent a storage unit to house bold and/or excess pieces of furniture. It’s a costly endeavor but could have a major impact on how fast a home sells—and for what price. How much (or how little) staging a home requires depends a lot on the current state of both the home and the market. In a seller’s market, for example there might be more leeway in terms of appealing to buyers with less stress put on proper staging. In a competitive buyer’s market though, staging becomes even more crucial since you need any advantage that you can get.

Work with your real estate agent to determine how staging your home will affect the sale. If it means a smoother transaction, it’s worth taking on the task.

How can Ahmad, mortgage specialist at AskAhmad.ca and the Total Mortgage Source 360 Team help you?

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We can offer you some of the most competitive interest rates and mortgage products available because we have access to Canada’s leading lenders, including banks, mortgage firms, trust companies and private lenders. 

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