Imagine you are looking to buy a house that you can finally call your home. Your realtor shows you a listing, that on paper is exactly what you have been looking for, only to view it and not connect with it. Instead of envisioning your own life in this property, you are fixated on the current family’s cherished memories that have been defined and expressed in every corner of the house. Rather, not only do you not picture your own life in this house, you also feel you are infringing onto their own life.
Home staging comes in to refine this false narrative by broadening the appeal and acting as a non-biased party that views this valuable property through the lens of the prospective buyer. Trained in all things home appeal and specifically to highlight the homes best features and downplay the faults – a home stager is elemental in the selling process. A home stager will be more critical of setting up the home to perfection than the potential buyer can imagine and ensure that each room is well defined and styled to allow the buyer to envision the home as the dream home. Moreover, the buyer will be more likely to make a competitive offer. 82% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home.
Buyers can only see so much beyond what is right in front of their eyes, whether it’s a vacant property or one that is furnished in a way that may deter a buyer with false perceptions. Several elements can falsely come off inaccurately such as the perceived value, size or condition due to the sellers current home set up. For example, if there is excess clutter or incorrect sizing and placement of furniture or displeasing wall paint – those will all play a unifying hand in decreasing the perceived size by acting as ‘equity eaters’. In fact, vacant rooms will appear smaller than properly styled rooms.
Staging is a combination of decorating, marketing and psychology. It is the art of sensibly showcasing the home to its best potential, and in return allowing it to gain an edge over its competition. This in return yields you the highest value possible. It is the ultimate way to market your property – backed by credible research, it has proven to be the best tool in making your property appeal to the wide majority, stand out and sell fast!
