One of the main questions I get from sellers is do I have to stage my house in order to sell it? Or, as one client put it, “Will I have to paint my walls gray?”
The short answer is, no. In this market, a house need not be staged in order to sell. It will sell. The question is, for how much?
Two Parts of Staging
Staging can be fairly easy with the right plan. There are usually two parts to getting a house ready for market.
Part one includes decluttering, minor repairs, and taking care of deferred maintenance, things like painting, window washing, deep cleaning. This usually happens while you’re living in the house and can take a month or more.
Part two is the actual staging, which can be done in a day. After it's staged, it's easiest for seller to leave for a long weekend, say Friday to Monday, while the house is being shown.
Staging Yields Higher Sales Price
A freshly painted, picture-perfect dwelling is likely to attract higher bids and will sell for a higher price – up to 20% higher than an unstaged home, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, many agents make the error of assuming that the paramount issue for a seller is sales price. Often it is not.
Staging Is Not For Everyone
Sometimes there are other considerations that may lead sellers to a different decision.
Some sellers need to get their homes on the market immediately, say for an unforeseen job relocation. In this case, a quick and effortless sale is worth more to them than the extra money.
Other sellers may not have the tolerance to stage. It’s not easy to live in a staged house, particularly with children. Everything is so streamlined, it’s like living in a magazine page. Your chopping knives no longer live conveniently on your counter; there's no place to put your toothbrush.
To Squeezes the Most Equity Out of Your House: Stage!
However, if netting the most money is at the top of the seller’s goal list, I recommend they stage. When it comes to fixing deferred maintenance, the ROI is at least 100% and could be up to 500%. Staging is the most tried and true approach to squeezing the most equity out of your house.
My staging team can provide as much or as little primping as the home needs (or the seller wants). As for me, I consider staging a highly personal choice, and I am always prepared to talk about how the role of staging your home would fit into an overall marketing strategy. If that’s a conversation you’re interested in having, give me a call. My 20+ years of experience can be one of your biggest assets!
Talk or Text: 973-809-5277
