When it comes to selling your home, there are a lot of things to consider. You want your home to sell as quickly as possible for the asking price, or even more if multiple parties are interested. However, great properties can spend months on the market without a second glance from potential buyers if the property isn’t presented well. A common way to try and drum up interest is to invest in home staging and get professional pictures taken.
Home staging is where you work with a professional home stager or staging company to make your home as appealing as possible to buyers. This might mean removing your furniture and replacing it with furniture that will enhance the look of your house. Or, it may simply mean decluttering to make your home more appealing.
If you own a rental property, you can stage it when seeking renters, too. You can hire a property manager to help you with different aspects of renting your home, including providing recommendations for or hiring a reputable home staging company.
This is completely optional, but real estate agents highly recommend it for a quick and efficient sell. Is home staging worth it? Let’s look at the pros and cons so you can decide if it’s the right route for you.
Pros of Home Staging
Potential Buyers Can Imagine Living in Your Home
Home staging can help potential buyers imagine themselves living in your home, where they will place their furniture, how they can utilize certain spaces, etc. When you can see a space for what it can be, it can help convince you to want to move in, start making decorating plans, and even promote simple thoughts such as snuggling on the sofa in your new home.
Staged Homes Sells Faster
Around 77% of real estate agents believe that home staging helps sell the property faster, and according to a study, homes that are home staged will sell faster and for more money.
Home Staging Saves You Money in The Long Run
Listing your property for sale may cost you, and if your home is on the market for some time, this can mount costs quickly. ALthough staging a home costs, too, it doesn’t cost as much as a property sitting on the market waiting to be sold.
According to Investopedia, “Home Staging Resource, an organization that offers training and resources to stagers, is even more bullish on staging (as you’d expect): Its website states that in a survey of 3,500 staged homes, 46% sold for 10% more than they would have unstaged.”
A Good First Impression Matters
Home staging provides a great first impression of your home. If the rooms are empty, potential buyers have to imagine what it would look like with furniture, a challenge for buyers who don’t have a flair for interior design. If the rooms are well decorated, they are able to see how the space can be maximized and then begin to imagine it with their own furniture.
Home Staging Highlights The Best Features and Downplays The Worst
Every home has good and bad features, and sometimes it depends on preference. However, home staging can play on your home’s best characteristics such as plenty of natural light and high ceilings, and hide the worst ones such as quirky floorplan or small living room.
Your Home Will Appear Ready to Live in
Showing potential buyers what the space can look like with furniture will make your home appear like it’s ready to move into. This can encourage buyers into making a decision faster and paying well for your property, simply because they can’t wait to live in it.
Cons of Home Staging
It Can Take Longer to Get on The Market
Planning and executing can take up a fair bit of time due to removal or replacement of furniture, touching up your home to appear better in photos, and also choosing which rooms, if not all of them to show. This can lead to higher costs because of the time it might take to get your home listed, especially if your home doesn’t sell as quickly as you’d hoped it would.
Every Flaw of Your Home Is on Show
While the best features of your home are being shown off to potential buyers, the worst features are too. You may try to downplay these features, but even if you take strategic images to include in your listing, committed buyers will come see the house in person and even hire a home inspector
Home Staging Costs If You Hire A Professional
Home staging is completely possible to do by yourself. However a professional will provide a pristine show of your home and you have a higher chance of it selling. Unfortunately, hiring a professional can cost a decent chunk of money depending on how many rooms you’re showing, whether you’ve got to rent furniture, and also how long your home ends up being on the market. It’s important to set a budget for yourself before choosing to stage your home.
As you can see, there are many pros and cons that should be carefully considered. Hopefully this can help you make an informed decision about whether to home stage or not.
For help with your property management or real estate needs, contact Amanica today.
