Home Staging From a Buyer’s Perspective

The ultimate purpose of home staging is to showcase your home as the best it can possibly be. This has a lot of benefits when looking at it from the perspective of a potential buyer. For starters, only 10% of people can picture themselves living in an un-staged home. That means that the other 90% of home buyers see a vacant or un-staged property and have absolutely no idea what to do with it. They can’t picture their family, or their furniture, there.

The beauty of home stagers is that the right ones are incredibly dedicated to their profession. They know the market trends, they know the design trends, they know what will look great in your home… see where I’m going with this? They know how to stage a home that the other 90% will picture themselves living in.

On top of that, home staging helps you justify your listing price. Fairly priced or not, buyers will always be looking for a deal (it’s a huge investment, can you blame them?). However, when your home is staged, buyers are less likely to try to negotiate down your asking price. This is because home staging showcases your home as the best it can possibly be. When buyers walk into a well-staged home, they perceive it as walking into a well-maintained home.

An un-staged home does exactly the opposite. Buyers will see a home that needs a lot of work before move-in day, and in turn they will see a smaller price tag. You want to get ahead of buyer expectations when you’re selling your home so that you can be in charge of the selling process. This means helping your home put its best foot forward, and staging is the best way to do so.

Home Staging From a Seller’s Perspective

First of all, professional home staging helps you stand out from the competition. This is especially important if you live in a hot area with a lot of homes that are similar in size and layout to your own. It can be difficult to stand out, and helping buyers see the value in your home specifically is the best way to do it.

Staging your home also helps you justify your home’s listing price. Remember what I just said about the perception of a well-maintained home? When buyers walk into an un-staged home they see all the flaws, when they walk into a staged home they see all the benefits. This is because you’re working with an industry professional who knows how to highlight all of your home’s best features and minimize all the flaws.

In a hot market, home staging increases your chances of ending up in a bidding war (which is a good very good thing), and in a lukewarm market, it increases your chances of selling your home quickly, which is crucial when other homes in your area have been lingering on the market.

Home staging might seem costly, but when looking at how home staging works from a big picture perspective, it costs a lot less than accepting a bid under your asking price or waiting for half of a year before you even see an offer.

Home Staging Statistics

You don’t have to just take it from me- home staging works, and the proof is in the 2020 statistics.

RESA’s (Real Estate Staging Association) 2020 Consumer Guide surveyed 13,000 staged homes and found that…

• 85% of staged homes sold for more than asking price.
• 75% of sellers saw a return of 5-15% on their investment in home staging.
• Staged homes averaged just 23 days on the market.