I recently visited Vintage Home, a furniture and décor shop in Paoli, and took pictures of their wonderfully staged displays. While Vintage Home sells merchandise and doesn’t do professional staging, the images give you an idea of what your home could look like if you choose to have it staged. Click here to visit their Facebook page.
When selling your home, you might be given the option to have your home professionally staged. If this is your first time selling a home, you might be wondering, what does this mean? Professional stagers arrange furniture and decorate your home in ways that will increase its visual appeal for potential buyers. However, you might not be sold on spending the extra money for something you think you could probably do on your own. Costs for staging a house can vary, but on average can cost about $500. You are probably wondering, is it worth it? As a realtor who has been in the business for over 30 years, I believe it is!
In my experience, I’ve seen that staged homes typically sell faster than homes that are not staged. Kathy Kosciewicz, Founder and CEO of Brandywine Staging and Design, says, “Most of the time, I see staged homes sell 80-85% faster than homes not staged.” Why is this? Professional stagers have an eye for design. They view your home with fresh eyes and can arrange it in ways you might not have considered. This makes for more appealing photos that will be displayed online for any potential buyers. The way a house is staged and photographed can greatly influence someone who sees pictures online to schedule a showing, which is one step closer to selling your home! Staging gives potential buyers an idea of what it could be like to live in your home.
Not only do houses sell faster, but staging also increases the value of your home, just due to the visual appeal. According to Forbes, “A staged home will sell for 17% more on average than a non-staged home.” This is a great margin and really proves that staging is worth it!
Finally, moving is hectic! Allowing someone to stage your home takes away any stress or insecurities that sellers may feel about having their living space open for public viewing. Stagers may use items that you already have in your home or they may bring their own props to decorate. It might be a bit of an adjustment seeing your home space become depersonalized through staging, but this is part of the moving process and it may even help you to let go.
