Congrats! You are ready to sell your home but now comes the even bigger question you need to ask yourself,
“Should I stage my home?”
Staging is the most impactful decision you can make when listing your house for sale. It helps highlight the home’s best features to generate the most interest, and draw attention away from areas that may detract from value. Staging is an investment, no question. But that investment can add between 10 – 20% ROI on the sale price, especially to a vacant property (in occupied listings we estimate between 3-5%). Staging is a marketing tool as it plants the seeds for the lifestyle buyers want, engaging an emotional response from your target buyers. Empty rooms simply don’t get that same emotional response nor do they attract the online interest, showings, or offers that a staged property will attract.
But, what type of staging should you use?
Occupied Home Staging
Occupied Home Staging uses the seller’s existing furniture and decor to stage the home. This is done when the sellers are still residing in the home during the sale. Additional pieces may be rented to fill voids or to make the home feel more complete, but generally, only smaller furniture and accessories can be moved by 1 person and in an SUV or truck. Although occupied staging uses a client’s existing furniture, all personal items (family photos, urns, eclectic memorabilia) need to be packed and stored so potential buyers can picture themselves in the home.
Before After
Vacant Home Staging
A Vacant Home Staging is when the sellers have vacated the home while it is on the market, leaving it completely empty. Vacant stagers carry their own supply of furniture and decor to rent out to sellers and realtors to fill the home with modern trendy furnishings. This ensures the home is showcased without personal preference and in a style that suits the house and the potential buyer. Vacant staging is quite a bit more expensive as it entails monthly rentals of large furniture, movers, design, and needs to cover the large overhead that vacant stagers have due to warehousing, trucks, and furniture depreciation.
Virtual Home Staging
Virtual staging quite simply takes images of unfurnished rooms and virtually (digitally) stages them by adding furniture and design elements to each room. Virtual staging allows potential buyers to see what a home can look like with furniture when browsing online (through MLS or other real estate websites). Virtually staged photos can also be used to create a virtual tour of the listing online. Virtual staging can show the possibilities which may be hidden behind a poor wall color or paint job, or ill-fitted furniture and room layout.
The two major drawbacks to virtual home staging are:
- When buyers are interested in booking a showing, they will have to compare rooms to the digital version, as the rooms will be empty when they show up. This makes it very difficult for them to picture themselves living there and really engaging with the space.
- Some consider virtual staging to be suspicious and deceiving, especially when colours have been changed. Most rooms are virtually staged with high end furniture and accessories that may not be realistic for the buyers.
For Sale? SOLD!
First impressions are lasting impressions. That’s one reason why home staging is so important. Our mission here at Unshelf Design is to get our clients the most money for their home in the least amount of time. We do this by creating neutral, spacious atmospheres that appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers, paired with our background in marketing for identifying that ideal target buyer who will connect most with the space and pay the highest price.
Whether you are a realtor or a private seller, contact us for a home staging consultation. We specialize in Occupied staging but have partners to support us with Vacant staging if required. Let’s work together to sell your home for more money, faster.