While having an empty house or office for sale might seem like a good move for clean freaks and other buyers who don’t want the place to be furnished, the truth is, staging pays off.
According to Cathy Creamer with Staging Spaces and More ” Staging a home before listing is a very Smart decision! Staged homes spend approx. 70% less time on the market than non-staged homes. Per the National Association of Realtors, 81% of buyers surveyed said that they could visualize the ?staged? home as their next home. Staging Works! I have staged properties that sat for several months with little to no traffic?after staging, a serious offer was accepted within ?3? weeks! I have staged vacant properties that received multiple offers within the 1st week. Staging a property is not only a smart decision but it can be the silver bullet that sells the property!”
The phrase “staging” simply means strategically arranging the furniture and decor in a house in a way that makes it look best to buyers. Household movers can assist you with staging your home.
The term is often confused with “decorating,” which may be the reason many sellers reject the idea. But that mix-up might keep you from selling your house quickly and at the highest possible price. HGTV’s Kris Berg describes the seller’s emotional state this way:
I see many home sellers confuse staging with decorating and consequently resisting the process and the recommendations of the staging professional. But the reality is that the moment you commit to marketing your home for sale, you need to commit to transforming your home into a place that potential buyers can easily picture as their home.
The same goes for staging commercial properties like offices, or even the backyard if needed to sell your property quickly at the price you’d like. Still not convinced? Here are four top reasons staging is a great idea for sellers:
Staging lets your property speak to buyers, instead of reflecting the seller’s taste.
Yes, the home or maybe the office you’re selling reflect years or even decades of personal purchases and design choices. But when you’re selling, it’s the structure buyers want to see, not your sense of style or nostalgic mementos. So even though your home is what Berg calls “a life-size memory book” of the time you spent there, you want to present the property in a way that will help potential buyers envision making their own memories. You want to show off your home or office’s potential, not the stuff you’ve accumulated in your time there.
Staging helps you attach a label that sells to your property.
It’s an open secret in the real estate industry that buyers refer to the places they’re viewing with a label. If you don’t stage, you run the risk of that phrase being, “the house with the Hummel collection” instead of “the one with all the great natural light.” Any time you can help simplify a potential buyer’s positive perception of your real estate offering, you’re way ahead of the game.
Staging cancels out clutter.
In reality, your buyers probably have just as many cute coffee cups on the kitchen counter as you do, and maybe even just as many golf clubs in the foyer closet and CDs on the television stand. But here’s the thing. When someone is buying, they don’t want to think about clutter, much less see it. So when you stage a property that’s immaculate, they can see the structure and the space–and maybe dream a little about how they’ll live a clutter-free lifestyle in this new house. All those positive possibilities set you up to stay very close to your asking price, and get the best offers from potential buyers.
Staging now paves the way for a smooth relocation later.
Particularly if you’ve used the services of a packing, freighting and crating company to move or store most of the furniture and art you want to keep for your next home, staging now takes some of the stress out of packing up to move later. When you’ve already cleared out the stuff of memories, you can assure a buyer who’s ready to move in right away (and pay more for the privilege) that you can be out quickly–and mean it.
Staging’s a Pain, But It Pays Off.
A professional stager worthy of the name may make your life a little miserable for a while, what with all the rearranging, reallocating, and yes, personal remarks that go into the process. HGTV’s Berg sums it up honestly this way:
Make no mistake — professional staging is an inconvenience. Your daily routine will be turned, at least temporarily, on its head. And it can be unsettling as you watch your life rearranged to suit the tastes of others. But if selling your home in the shortest amount of time and for the most money is your goal, it is precisely those ‘others’ who should be your focus.
Just a few of the staging steps might include not-so-fun tasks like storing every one of your personal photos, painting interior rooms and maybe the front door, stashing away all your lawn furniture and even avoiding cooking “smelly” foods on showing days. No more bacon for breakfast!
You, or the staging professional you hire, will also need to minimize your furniture and arrange it for traffic flow and to show off your square footage. Your pup’s favorite chair? The butcher block table blocking the breakfast nook? Gotta go. You may even need to rent more streamlined furniture until your house sells.
Yes, it can be annoying and tiring. But the gains are so very worth it, right? Since you know you, your memories, and your stuff aren’t going to be at this house ever again, might as well get the best price from whoever moves in next.
And if you want to ease the process a bit, we’re here for you. Contact us today to find out how we help sellers during staging, while their house is for sale, and for after-the-closing moves.