Selling Your Home? A small investment in Home Staging can reap big rewards!
It’s hard for sellers to invest money into a home they are selling. However, leaving a home vacant isn’t a good financial move. It doesn’t make the potential buyer feel “I want to live there”. Why?
One reason is if your home is not in perfect condition, a home without furnishings will accentuate every imperfection. Hence, the buyers have only the flaws to focus on in the room. Damaged walls, floors, or worn carpets, can become unsavory focal points. That’s not really the image you want to project when selling your home.
Another reason is the sterile and cold feel of an empty home. Furniture placement becomes a visual challenge in a home buyer’s mind. Accordingly, the room feels much smaller without furniture. Therefore, it’s a difficult concept for the potential buyer to grasp if their furniture will fit in the room. You are making the homebuyer work too hard to consider your home as their potential new home.
For a seller, there may be a misconception of the cost of staging a vacant home. However, if you weigh the savings (Use the RESA® Home Staging Calculator to find your potential savings) of not carrying the mortgage and monthly carrying costs of a home lingering on the market. Along with multiple price reductions against the investment in staging a vacant home, the cost of staging is always the clear winner on ROI (Return on Investment). A realistic home seller understands that for a small investment relative to the size and list price of the home. It will bring solid returns back to the seller. NAR reports that an investment in staging of 1-3% of the list price of your home can bring an ROI of 8-10%. Many studies and statistics go much higher on the return end.
Selling a home requires the buyers to first become emotionally attached to a home. Buyers need to envision themselves living in the home before they even consider making a financial offer to purchase. What better way to present a home to the real estate market than to make it appealing to potential buyers?
Next time you know someone has to sell their home vacant, consider calling a Professional Home Stager to showcase that vacant home. You might be surprised at how a reasonable and cost-effective minor investment in staging can reap big returns in regards to time on the market, saving monthly carrying costs and yielding a higher sale price in the end!
