If you’re thinking of listing your home for sale, you might be considering the concept of home staging for your property. For some, the idea is completely new - they haven’t staged before or don’t really know anyone who has done so in the past. Inevitably the questions start to arise. How much will it cost me? Will I get the return on investment? Will it make the process of selling easier or faster? How does the process work?
Not to fear, we are here to break these questions down for you so you can make an informed decision about whether staging is right for you and your property.
Let’s start with the basics - what is home staging exactly?
The textbook definition of home staging is the preparation of a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. Home staging works alongside sellers, agents, and developers to make properties shine! There are two different kinds of home staging-vacant and occupied.
Vacant Home Staging is when the sellers have vacated the home, leaving it completely empty. Furniture and décor is then rented out to market the home. Vacant staging ensures the home is showcased without personal preference and in a style that suits the house and the potential buyer. Vacant staging is quite a bit more expensive as it entails monthly rentals of large furniture, movers, design, and needs to cover the large overhead that vacant stagers have due to warehousing, trucks, and furniture depreciation.
Occupied Home Staging uses the seller’s existing furniture and décor to stage the home. This is done when the sellers are still residing in the home during the sale. Additional pieces may be rented or purchased to fill voids or to make the home feel more complete if needed. Although occupied staging uses a client’s existing furniture, many personal items will be packed and stored so potential buyers can picture themselves in the home.
Why would someone choose to have their property staged? Particularly in a thriving real estate market?
It’s simple! Most people are notoriously bad at visualizing a space differently from how it actually looks. In fact, 90% of potential buyers are not able to visualize the full potential of a vacant property. They need to be shown. With nothing in the home potential buyers walk through it faster and tend to focus on all of the negatives they see which leads to lower or no offers on the property.
Home staging ensures your property sells for more. With your home looking top notch, you can be sure of an effective marketing campaign. By appealing to the masses of buyers, there will be multiple people interested in your home, which leads to bidding wars.
Home staging helps your property sell faster. With multiple interested parties, buyers then need to act fast if they want to secure the property, especially in our current market conditions.
Home staging showcases your home to its full potential. As professional home stagers, we strategically lay out the floor plan of a property to showcase its main features, drawing potential buyers’ attention to all the right places. Not only does this highlight the important parts of the home, but it also gives potential buyers a better idea of how the home could look when they move in and helps them create a connection to the home.
How is home staging different from an interior designer?
There is an extremely strategic aspect involved in real estate staging that makes it very different to interior design. We study the real estate market and consumer trends when styling a property for sale, to ensure that our target demographic of buyers is hit. Interior designers are creating spaces around one specific client's personal taste and needs for the home.
Is real estate staging obvious to buyers?
A professional, well-styled home should never look staged nor obvious. However because staged homes are not personalized to one particular person or family they are void of many items like photos or extra clutter that comes with living in a home which could tip of some buyers of it being staged. However, in general the idea we like to achieve with our staging is a warm home that is not "lived in".
How will you pick furniture for my property?
Our styling choices are based on the availability of furniture, artwork and décor from our warehouse that fit the style and demographic of your property. We always try to bring together a consistent styling theme throughout the property, taking into consideration the current market trends, the architectural features of your property, and the potential buyer’s preferences. We like to walk the property to create a concept for each room and get measurements to ensure the piece we pick work for each space.
Can Staging 2 Sell It just stage a few rooms of my property?
We believe that a unified styling and marketing approach is best. It ensures we add the most value. Therefore a completely vacant property is always preferred. As we own all of our own inventory we do not allow people to live in the home if we are staging it, but we do work with a furniture rental company for properties that need complete staging while they are being lived in where we are still able to hand pick quality pieces that will fit your property.
As for how many rooms need to be staged we have two basic packages that can be customized to fit your needs. This is why we like to view the property in person to give you a personalized quote as not every home is the same.
Am I able to use some of my existing furniture?
For an occupied stage most definitely. For a vacant stage unfortunately, no. When we take on your property, we request removal of all furniture to give us a clean, fresh canvas to work with. How much time in advance do I need to book to have my property staged?
Typically, we work at a lead time of around 7-14 days but, in peak selling season, it wouldn’t be surprising if we are booked out three weeks in advance. We need to allow ourselves enough time to plan the design of your property and book our professional movers as we own our furnishings and décor. The actual staging of the property will take between 1-2 days depending on the size of the home and how many rooms are being staged. If you’d like more information about our staging packages or to receive an obligation free quotation, please contact Debra Hippler at debra@staging2sellit.com or fill out our Contact Form today!