Why you should have your home professionally staged.
Did you know?
- Only 10% of buyers can visualize their belongings in a vacant home, that means 90% can't.
- The longer a buyer lingers in a home the better, the average for a vacant home is 5 minutes opposed to 40 minutes for a staged property.
- A home that is staged gives the buyer an emotional connection to that home, and purchasing a home is one of life's largest emotional purchases.
- The longer a home sits on the market, the less it will be shown and will be considered a stale listing.
- Buyers interest in homes is in the first few weeks, if it's vacant, what positive attributes will they take away or remember?
- Buyers can view 20 houses a weekend. Will they remember your vacant home over a staged one down the street?
- Appraisers, will see that staged homes are well taken care of and chances are your list price will be full-value or more.
- There is no frame of reference in a vacant home. Buyers will not get a feeling of the scale or size of rooms without seeing furnishings in them.
- Staging vacant rooms shows a buyer how furniture will look in a home, especially unusual configured rooms or awkward floor plans.
- Highlights and accenuates a homes positive attributes.
- Vacant homes don't photograph well compared to staged ones. 90% of buyers are using the Internet for their search of homes listed on the mls. They won't even make it to the front door, if the photos are generic and not appealing.
- A vacant homes tells buyer's the seller is probably desperate and must sell, because they are carrying two mortgages, or there is a divorce situation, and the seller needs to get out.
- Real Estate agents realize the benefits of vacant staging, and they are considered"hot"properties resulting in more showings.
- Builders have known for years that model homes are the most effective marketing tool when selling homes. People love model homes, because they want to envision themselves and their family living there. That's exactly, what staging does.
- A 2010 Real Estate Staging Association survey shows vacant homes that were staged averaged 40.5 Days on the Market.
Bottom line, a vacant home is cold, empty and sterile. A staged home evokes a warm and inviting atmosphere. Don't let your biggest investment linger on the market, get it staged now, before you are forced to take a price reduction.
© 2010 Cindy Bryant, Redesign Etc., Inc.
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© Redesign Etc.,Inc. 2006-2012. All Rights Reserved.
Redesign Etc. of Houston is a Full-Service real estate staging company. We stage vacant, occupied, builders specs, condos, townhomes, vacation rentals and commercial property. We offer furniture & accessory rentals at competitive rates. Insured & Incorporated with the State of TX.
Owner, Cindy Bryant has earned the RESA-PROTM designation, holding professional home stagers to the highest industry standards, ethics, integrity and proficiency in staging techniques while protecting Homeowners and Real Estate Agents.
Please visit our portfolio of before and afters and website for more information. Check out our profile page too! Check out our sister sites for the Houston Bay Area League City Home Staging and Galveston Home Staging. Please contact Cindy Bryant for more information or call 281-748-2170.
Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.
Good points about staging. Only one that worries me is looking at 20 homes in a weekend. Sounds like work.
Randy-I know when I look, I'm a power home shopper, I can walk in and walk right back out. That's usually because there were no photos on the mls, so sometimes the outside looks promising, but the inside is terrible.
Preach on Cindy! Post this on every site you blog on (just change up a word or two =) to get the google juice)
Great list, Cindy! You hit all the major reasons, especially the "hot new listing" factor.
Wonderful post! Excellent idea! Staging do work!
Thank you very much for sharing.
Adam
Karen-Ha! We'll get it out there eventually!
Deena-Hope so, I might of missed a few?
Adam-Thanks, for being a supporter of home staging, you're right it does work!
Cindy -- that's interesting how the average viewing time in a vacant home is only 5 minutes -- wow that's a fast in-and-out. The staged homes average 40 minutes -- there's more for buyers to see about the home itself, since staging highlights its best features. That alone would be a great reason to stage -- but your other 14 reasons are good ones too!
Hi Cindy, All great reasons and so true! I have another one to add: a staged home gives the real estate agent a place to sit when holding an open house. No more lonely folding chair in the corner! One time I visited an open house at a vacant home we had staged to say hello to the agent. He was actually asleep on the sofa! Maybe we made that home a little bit too comfortable and welcoming :)
Hi Cindy, I was a Power Home Buyer too and if there was nothing in the house to "hold" me, I was out of there. What a good list of reasons. Let's hope the word gets out.
Hey I just became a fan on your facebook page
hope you are a fan of mine?
your friend in Charlottesville Virginia
Maureen-It does makes sense, doesn't it? I know, as a buyer, I would always be more interested in a home with furnishings than empty. There was nothing in a vacant home to see except emptiness.
Diana-Ha, funny, that's true, I actually saw the head imprint in a pillow one time, guess they were catching a quick nap too!
Kathy-I definitely fit into that category, I shop that way too!
Charles-Thanks, If I'm not I will be now!
I truly believer some potential buyers spend more time waiting at the front door for the agent to unlock the door than they do in some homes so the front door better look pretty awesome!!! Great post as always Cindy!
Great list of reasons to stage, Cindy. Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm always amazed we have to keep beating this drum to educate the public. Your list is accurate and to the point.
Cindy - what a great reminder to anyone not completely sold on the idea of staging. Great post!
Cathy-So true, I just told a home seller last night, how important that area is. Unfortunately here, the doors get beat to death by the heat and humidity, and so the the door handles and doorbells. The lifetime anti-tarnish doesn't work here!
Michelle-Me too! But I still run across people that don't quite understand the premise.
Wanda-Thanks, I hope sellers will take something away from it.