Top 4 Reasons to Stage a Home...NUMBERS

So….most agents understand the benefits of  Styling to Sell. Over the course of the past several years the staging industry has done a fairly good job of educating agents and brokers about these benefits. The Before/After pics and of course HGTV along with colleague anecdotes have all contributed to the majority of realtors recognizing the tremendous transformation a stager can give a home. Especially when the stager really understands the market.

But how do realtors share their knowledge and help sell our staging services to a skeptical and emotional vendor….numbers.

The numbers don’t lie.

Here are 4 number based facts to help you sell staging to your vendor.

#1.  Staged homes spend 78% less time on the market

#2. 95% of Professionally Staged Homes sell on average in 23 days or less

#3.  Staged homes realized on average a 6.4% increase over the list price

#4. 63% of buyers will pay more for move-in-ready homes

Here's an extra one....

According to Better Homes and Garden: BFGrealestate .com

90% of buyers look on line first

and 84% value photos the most (over property information, agent contact information or interactive maps)

And we all know that on-line pictures and print ads look much better when a home has been staged. This means that staged homes are really talking the language of huge percentage of home buyers. 

I think its truly what they want to see. 

They don't want to see clutter, they don't want to see dated furniture or mismatched paraphernalia or even an empty space. 

Why do model homes look so fabulous? What have builders known for years that the average agent is just getting and many vendors don't get yet?

* RESA Real Estate Staging Association

** Survey conducted by International Association of Staging Professionals and Staged.com

*** Coldwell Banker on 2772 homes in 8 cities

**** Survey conducted by Maritz International

Staging a home is like....

Often agents want to stage their vendor’s home but they face obstacles in ‘selling’ our services. Vendors don’t always understand that staged homes show better, look better on line and in ads and leave a better overall first impression on the potential buyers.

Here are 3 of my favourite analogies.

#1. A well-known stager in the US uses this one:

Have you ever bought a piece of Tiffany jewellery? Did you keep the beautiful and well-recognized blue bag? Staging is like the Tiffany wrapping for your home.

#2. This is the one Maddy uses all the time:

Would you go to a job interview in your pajamas? No. You would dress to impress. Staging is like dressing to impress for your home.

#3.Here is a great analogy that an agent recently told me he uses.  (Thanks KC!)

If you were selling your used car, wouldn’t you wash and wax it, vacuum the interior, touch up the paint where needed, perhaps replace the hubcaps and put a nice air freshener in it. Staging is the same concept for your home.

 

We often use these when explaining why we are asking a home owner to remove something or clean a closet out, or why our accessories are more appropriate than theirs. We use the one we feel the client will relate to – I like the Tiffany bag one.

Keep checking back to this blog, Maddy is working on some industry infographics and I am working on a list of Professional Staging VS DIY. I can think of some great stories here!