Home staging is key to attracting home shoppers, and maybe even more so in an era where consumers are used to watching TV home-makeover shows, according to the newly released 2019 Profile of Home Staging report from the National Association of REALTORS®.
Eighty-three percent of buyers’ agents say that staging a home makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home. More than half of sellers’ agents say that staging a home decreases the amount of time it spends on the market.
Staging may also offer a higher sales price too, according to the report, which is based on a survey of about 2,000 real estate pros. Forty-four percent of buyers’ agents say that staging a home increases its value. Twenty-five percent say staging can increase the home’s value by 1 to 5 percent, and 12 percent say it increases the value by 6 to 10 percent. Twenty-nine percent of buyers’ agent say that staging had no impact on the value of the home.
Television shows about home buying may increasingly be influencing buyers’ expectations when it comes to the appearance of a home for sale. A median of twenty percent of buyers were disappointed by how homes they visit look compared with homes they see in television shows, according to the survey. Ten percent of real estate professionals surveyed said that their buyers felt homes should look the way they do on TV.
“Buying a house is more than a financial decision; it is an emotional decision as well,” says NAR President John Smaby. “Buyers aren’t just making an investment in a property, they are purchasing a place to call home; to raise their children; to begin a new chapter; or to retire to a new season of life. While every REALTOR® doesn’t use staging in every situation, the potential value it brings is clear to both home buyers and sellers.”
The real estate pros surveyed reported that the living room is the most important room in a home to stage (47 percent), followed by the master bedroom (42 percent), and then the kitchen (35 percent). Home sellers, however, agree those rooms are the most important to stage but in reverse order—citing kitchen, master bedroom, and living room for staging priorities.
Twenty-eight percent of sellers’ agents surveyed say they stage all of their clients’ homes prior to listing them. Thirteen percent of agents say they only stage homes that are difficult to sell, 7 percent stage only the homes in the higher price brackets, while 45 percent of sellers’ agents say they do not stage homes prior to listing them, according to the survey.
For those who do stage, who pays for it? The sellers’ agent most often does, according to the survey. Twenty-six percent of sellers’ agents say they pay the costs to stage a home; 18 percent of sellers will pay for staging themselves. Seventeen percent of agents say they offer home staging services themselves.
For more staging tips, visit REALTOR® Magazine’s Styled, Staged & Sold blog.
Source: “2019 Profile of Home Staging,” National Association of REALTORS® (March 14, 2019)
