Ever walked into a home for sale, or a display or builders show home, and immediately felt that you could live there? Sometimes those homes just feel so welcoming and comfortable, with clean lines and an uncluttered feel. If you have been seduced by properties such as these, chances are that home was professionally staged.
Property staging has become very popular over the last few years and in fact an entire industry has been created around property staging. We have property staging certificates, property staging businesses and property staging experts. On television we have innumerable property shows advising all and sundry how they can get a better price when selling their property with just one or two days work and an entire television crew, most of whom remain behind the scenes.
But of course nothing is ever that easy. You can't renovate or renew a property in a few days. You need to spend far more time to get good results. Often in those cases you need to paint extensively, re-carpet floors and re-tile wet areas. You might also need to renovate bathrooms and kitchens to get the types of results you see on television.
However true property staging is not about renovation, or even redecorating. Home staging is about making your home appeal to the largest market segment by showing it in such a light that the majority of buyers who see it, can envisage themselves living there. The idea is, once they can envisage themselves living in the home they are much more likely to purchase.
You may have seen some property shows on television where buyers are very reluctant to consider a property, even though it fits their brief, because unfortunately they cannot see past the over bearing decor and cluttered appearance. There is a large proportion of the population that have limited imagination and cannot always see the potential of a property. If a property has a very specific personalised decor, then most buyers cannot see past the fact that they are in someone else's home.
This is where property staging comes in. Property staging will not only de-clutter but will de-personalise your property so that all potential buyers can more easily imagine themselves living in the property with all their own furniture and belongings.
You may have heard that property staging is also the way to get a premium price for your property. And in many times and places it can be.
It does depend on what type of property you are trying to sell. If you are selling a property for land value only, then it might be a waste of time and money. If you are selling an investment property, then not only is it difficult if not impossible for you to stage a property that is tenanted, but the buyer will be far more interested in return on investment than in whether they can see themselves living there. Then there are commercial properties and holiday rentals where staging may have little or no effect.
However in today's tough economic times staging may not improve your selling price.
What staging will do in tight market conditions is improve the sale-ability of your home, make it stand out from the crowd and, provided it is priced to meet the market, sell more quickly. And that is the advantage that property staging will give you in a buyer's market. Where some properties have been on the market for a lengthy period of time, well presented properties will sell faster. Although that doesn't put any more money in your pocket up front, having a property on the market for a lengthy period of time can be expensive both emotionally and financially.
So while staging a house to sell may not increase the selling price, it will increase the sale-ability of your home. And that is always a good outcome.
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