Can Home Staging Help to Sell your Home Faster?
Home staging was once an idea that only those sellers who were trying to
sell luxury and high-end homes used to attract buyers, but over the past
few years it has become increasingly common in the real estate market.
As the market continues to experience a downturn, an increasing number
of middle of the road sellers are taking advantage of home staging in order
to stand out from the increasing competition and lure buyers into
considering their homes.
Although many elements can be involved in home staging, the heart of the
process involves making a home seem as beautiful and interesting as
possible. The main goal behind home staging is to provide buyers with the
opportunity to visualize themselves living in the home. As professional
stagers point out, once buyers are able to make that connection, it
brings them that much closer to making an offer on the home.
Staging home also makes it possible to camouflage drawbacks of the home and
make even flaws in the home seem attractive. The level of home staging
involved often depends upon the home itself and can very from home to
another. In many cases, rented accent pieces and even furnishings are
used within the home to create a design theme that is completely
cohesive. The total cost for the staging of the home is dependent upon
the project's scope, but it is not unusual for staging to cost a minimum
of $1,000 and go up to as much as $10,000 or even more. The average cost
of staging a home is somewhere in the middle, costing a few thousand dollars.
For the homeowner who is reluctant to spend that much money on staging
their home, it is important to realize that staging is typically seen by
real estate agents as well as homeowners who rely on the process as an
investment. In fact, in some cases, homeowners have been able to realize
a lager sales price after staging their home, making the investment well
worth it.
Home staging is used for a variety of different purposes, but the two most
common reasons are to prepare a home for an open house, when it will be
exposed to numerous potential buyers, as well as when taking photographs
of the home for posting online. Professional staging can help a home to
show up much better in photographs, particularly when they are to be
posted online.
Home staging is also commonly used to make a home that is currently vacant
more attractive. Many homeowners have found that selling a vacant home
is harder than they thought. This is because it is difficult for
prospective buyers to visualize themselves living in the home when it is
completely empty.
Homeowners who do still live in their home and who are considering using
home staging to increase their sales prospects, should understand that the
staging process can sometimes be difficult. This is particularly true of
homeowners who have spent significant time and energy decorating their
home because their own choices are typically replaced with a look that
is meant to be more mainstream. Ultimately, homeowners should remember
that the goal of the staging process is to help the home sell and should
be prepared to let go of their own décor choices in favor of those the
professional stager recommends.
Most homeowners who use staging to sell their home hire professional
home stagers, but there are a few brave souls who attempt to stage their home
on their home. For those homeowners, it is recommended that they first
try to de-clutter their home and remove any obvious personal belongings.
Second, it is important to make an effort to repair any defects in the
home that would be obvious such as the leaky kitchen faucet or a crack
in the wall. In some cases, it is a good idea to remove furniture from
the home so that the home looks more spacious as well as to provide the
buyer with the opportunity to imagine how their own furnishings will
look in the space. This is an excellent opportunity for the homeowner to
go ahead and get started on the packing process. Renting a storage unit
is a good choice for storing excess items that need to be removed from
the home when staging it.
While there is no guarantee that staging will help a home to sell faster
or sell for more money, many homeowners who have decided to use this
method have seen good results with it. As those homeowners point out, in
the current real estate market, it certainly won't hurt to provide
buyers with extra incentive.
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