In an increasingly competitive real estate market, most real estate agents will agree that property staging will help potential buyers visualize how the property will work for them and create an emotional attachment to a place, which in turn, can be a critical key in closing a sale.
The goal in staging a property is for your property to look and feel like a potential buyer’s ‘dream’ home. Styling and staging for sale require more than just good interior fit-out. An understanding of the demographics of potential buyers, an artistic eye for detail, and professional insight will curate the perfect assembly for your home.
Professional styling and property staging can increase the final sale value of your home by 5-10% in a competitive housing market.
How does property styling help in selling a home?
The goal in styling or staging a home is to ultimately increase the sale price by presenting your home to appeal to the greatest number of buyers and to emotionally motivate these buyers which will increase the perceived value of your property.
A potential buyer could walk through a property, and immediately note that the drapes or paint color do not appeal to their personal taste, which can influence their decision on whether to purchase the home. Consider that not everyone shares the same taste in decorating, and you’ll find that most people like to believe their home is decorated beautifully. Decorating comes down to personal taste and style, and it is each to their own with what looks ‘good’, but it’s quite easy to confuse decorating with staging, which is vastly different. Decorating focuses on styling a home to the homeowner’s lifestyle and personal tastes; whereas, staging, on the other hand, focuses on what is alluring to a greater number of potential buyers.
For example, if your house is a mid-century modern home, you may choose to style it so that you have an eclectic mix of furniture with a few nods that lean slightly towards mid-century modern. You may want to depersonalize as much as possible and neutralize the architectural style in order to cater it to different buyer markets.
If your buyer is likely to be a young family, decorate at least one bedroom as a children’s room, playing with some soft shades, a nice play nook with plenty of cushions to appear warm and inviting. For a young couple or for first home buyers, a minimalistic, contemporary modern style with trending colours and patterns is a great go-to. For a luxury home, you would play on opulence through grand beds, textured fabrics, and lots of metallic accessories, and even stimulate the olfactory senses of prospective buyers with carefully selected flower arrangements.
How much does it cost to stage a home?
Depending on how much styling is involved, the size of the property, and the company you use, pricing can vary anywhere between $2500 to $4000 to stage a two-bedroom apartment and upwards of $5000 to up to $15000 for a luxury family home in a competitive big city.
How much value can property styling add to your home?
A well-staged home can encourage potential buyers to visualize their ideal home and determine any work that needs to be done before moving in.
In this process of staging homes, updating the décor in key rooms such as the dining room and kitchen, which is the heart of the home, and bathrooms, could mean the difference between selling quickly for the maximum value; or facing a price slash if the property sits on the market for too long.
You can stage an oddly shaped nook or space underneath the stairs in your home as a small workspace, or built-in shelving, so it has the initial visual impact and makes the space stand out and likely to make the potential buyer develop an emotional attachment to these little spaces of surprise.
People are visual beings, and if they like what they see, they’re likely to spend more time in a styled home for sale than one that isn’t staged. This creates more opportunities for your estate agent to engage with potential buyers!
Individuals may engage a professional buyers to advocate to act on their behalf in attending inspections and in the negotiation process. The impact of a beautifully styled property will have still a positive effect on property professionals in perceived value, however, these professionals will be more objective in their perspective as they are acting on the behalf of buyers, rather than imagining themselves in your home. To style homes to suit a broader range of tastes will be beneficial when buyer’s agents are involved on behalf of clients too.
Lastly, style for your buyer, not for yourself
You want buyers to easily visualize living in your home. We recommend investing in the services of a professional property styler for advice on what styles will resonate with your home’s buyer’s tastes, this will mean customizing it to a broader taste.
Spending a couple of thousands of dollars to stage your property is far more effective in comparison to lowering the property price, and what’s even better is that there is evidence-based data to show that styled homes will achieve the maximum sale value for your house.
Timing is everything. With the current movement in the housing market, homes are going faster than ever. So, make sure you list your home at the right time. And better yet, get the most value from your home by staging it for your ideal buyer as it’s a great time to sell!