If you’re considering putting your home up on the market, you may be wondering whether it’s worth it to have it professionally staged. The truth is, home staging is still considered a relatively undervalued design service. Some sellers will assume it isn’t necessary – but in doing so, they’re overlooking its overwhelming benefits.
In reality, however, it’s a proven fact that a staged home sells better! Not only will it help secure a buyer in a shorter amount of time, it can even increase the profit made from the sale.
Why is this the case? Let’s have a look!
Home staging is the aesthetic preparation of a living space, in order to help it sell on the real estate market. The ultimate goal is to make the home look as appealing as possible, to the largest audience. The more people who can picture themselves within the living space, the better your chances are of finding a buyer!
Some typical things a home stager will do within the home include:
- Positioning and rearranging furniture
- Acquiring new furniture, in the event that the existing furniture can’t (or shouldn’t) be used
- Acquiring décor and placing it throughout the home
- Collaborating with a color consultant, painters, etc. to repaint the walls within the home
- And much more!
Professional staging extends to the outside of the home as well! When selling your home, curb appeal also needs to be factored into the equation. After all, if the outside property is ugly, it could prevent a potential buyer from wanting to step inside the home at all.
A stager will assist you in creating the best possible first impression – which will only get better once you step inside!
Why Home Staging Works
As we mentioned above, the potential for a home to sell on the market is heavily influenced by its ability to appeal to as many people as possible. If the home is set up in a way where it only panders to a small audience, it’ll be a lot harder for anyone else to be able to imagine themselves occupying the space.
Let’s look at an example together. Let’s say the seller in question is in their mid-to-late 60s. Much of their furniture and décor is either an antique, or otherwise dated-looking. The walls are covered in floral wallpaper, and the window coverings offer very little lighting into the home.
Who do you think this home will appeal to? Does this sound like a place that appeals to the majority? To illustrate this point: could you envision a young Millennial living there?
Probably not.
But the magic of professional home staging can turn this home right around! Stagers have the know-how, the training, and the resources needed to remodel the interior so that it offers a more neutral starting point for the buyer.
It shouldn’t matter the age, race, or gender of the potential buyer. Ideally, anyone should be able to walk into the home and be able to find something that resonates with them – even if it’s only one room. If a prospective buyer can leave the home thinking to themselves, I can see this being MY home, then you’re increasing your chances of a sale.
Time and time again, home staging has proven to be the most effective method of achieving this.
Here are the Facts
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) conducted a study back in 2019. The results showed that staged homes not only sell faster; it’s statistically proven that they’re often sold ABOVE the asking price!
In particular, 83% of buyers’ agents stated that a staged home improved a buyer’s ability to see themselves living with the home. 40% of these agents also commented on how positively a staged home shaped the buyer’s overall impression of the property.
HomeLight also did research of their own on the benefits of home staging. Their study, conducted from a survey of 900 top real estate agents, revealed the following:
- A whopping 92% of agents agree that a staged home improves the overall sale
- 67% of agents claimed that a staged home increased the sale price, resulting in a higher profit for the seller
- Over 50% reported that home staging betters the home’s overall value by as much as 10%
- Even if a staged home doesn’t necessarily affect the property value, 25% of top real estate agents argue that it still improves the likelihood for an offer (since it still attracts a larger audience)
It was also concluded that staged homes undoubtedly sell faster than un-staged homes, according to 83% of these agents poled. To put this into perspective: during prime market conditions, the average home sells in approximately 65 days. Over 21% of real estate agents claim that home staging typically increases the selling time from anywhere between 6% to 10%.
This means that getting your home professionally staged can help it sell approximately 4 to 7 days faster!
Fun fact: In some cases, agents have even found that a staged home has a better chance of selling BEFORE it officially hits the open market!
Are YOU interested in being a home stager?
Maybe you’ve read up to this point and are now thinking: this sounds like it’d be a really exciting and rewarding career!
Well, you’d be right! So, what’s the best way to get started?
The best way to start a career in home staging is to get educated! An accredited design school provides the perfect opportunity to:
- Train you
- Build up/refine your skills
- Arm you with a professional certification
With the right education, you’ll be ready to enter the industry as soon as you graduate!