Staging a Home for Sale

First let’s talk about what staging a home means. Staging a home is the process of decluttering and arranging furnishings and décor to allow your home to show its best and most spacious while up for sale. This can include things such as putting some of your things in storage to declutter, arranging furniture and possibly removing some, or it could include moving most of your furniture and décor out and renting furniture and décor to stage your home.

This can all seem like a daunting task, but the stats don’t lie, staging your home can significantly increase your chance of a faster sale and for top dollar. A 2019 study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that 40% of buyers’ agents cited that home staging influenced most buyers’ view of the home. While 83% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. Another 25% of buyers’ agents said that staging a home increased the dollar value offered by 1% - 5%, compared to other similar homes on the market that were not staged. Of selling agents’, 25% stated that staging greatly decreased the time spent on market.

So now we know that staging a home can be an important part of the process, where in the home do you start? According to the same 2019 NAR study, the most common rooms to be staged included the living room (93%), the kitchen (84%), master bedroom (78%), followed by the dinning room (72%). Although those are the most common rooms staged, 47% of buyers stated the living room was the most important, next was the master bedroom (42%), followed by the kitchen (35%) as being the most important to them.

A couple of the biggest staging tips I would suggest, are purging and cleaning. You want to declutter and remove personal knickknacks to depersonalize and to make the home look as big as possible. The would-be buyer should be able to visualize themselves and their family in the home, not see all the memories you and your family have made in the home. Seeing your memories can cloud their imagination of the memories they will make in the home.

Now that you’ve decluttered and rearranged your furniture to make your home look as big as possible, it’s time to do a deep clean; no one wants to see spiderwebs in the top corners of your walls, nor do they want to see dusty light fixtures. Sometimes the easiest way to accomplish this is to hire a professional cleaner. This can save you tons of time and headache. If a buyer can see dusty light fixtures or cobwebs in the corner of your walls, it makes it appear that the home has not been well taken care of over the years.

Last, but certainly not least, curb appeal. All this talk about the interior of the home, we can’t forget the exterior. Curb appeal is crucial. This is the first thing buyers’ see when they pull up. I can’t count how many times I’ve pulled up to a home with clients, only to leave immediately as my clients didn’t even want to see the inside after seeing the front yard. This can include things such as tidying up your lawn and making sure it’s cut and maintained. Cut back any overgrown hedges/bushes and cut out dead parts. Ensure there are no ripped screens visible from the street. If you have a RV or a boat, possibly putting them in storage to show how big the yard is. If your front door looks weathered or beat up, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders!

Generally speaking, this can all be done on a small budget. The same 2019 NAR study states the median price spent on home staging was $400.

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback, so drop me a comment in the comment section below.