Home staging, the practice of setting up your home to maximize its appeal to buyers, is not a new concept.
In the early 1970s Barb Schwarz, who went on to become a legend in the staging industry, decided to switch things up and leave her job in interior designing to start a career in real estate. Once there she realized there was value in preparing homes to be more attractive to buyers. She coined the phrase, “staging,” as it relates to real estate, and helped establish the industry.
In today’s real estate world, staging is an extremely common, if not essential, practice. Whether its a simple as arranging existing furniture or more complicated like removing old wallpaper and painting; staging is a key part of selling your home.
When staging first took hold in Toronto real estate, it was often challenging to make suggestions to clients on how to change things around their home without offending them. Most now understand that changing things around is less about their personal decor choice and more about making the home attractive to as many buyers as possible.
Most also understand that well-presented homes often sell faster and at a greater value.
So is that true? Does home staging work?
According to studies, yes it does. A survey from the International Association of Home Staging Professionals shows that staging helps sell homes three to 30 times faster than the nonstaged competition. Further, staging can help increase the sale price by up to 20% on average.
Should you stage your home?
It’s a simple answer. Yes. It is definitely going to help make your property more appealing to buyers.
So how do you stage your home?
It is not just about decorating, staging also needs to include an understanding of how to find the equity in that home and property and where the real estate market is for that home, in that neighborhood. Comparable houses for sale on the market in the area also needs to be considered to know how to stage the home so it sells quickly and for more money.
You do have choices when it comes to staging. You can do it yourself or hire a separate company to come in and stage. There are costs involved in these scenarios – the stager, painters, garbage removal and rental items just to name a few.
When you hire my team to market and sell your home, the cost of staging is included. My team moves in, prepares your home and then stages it at no extra cost.
It really is just that simple. If you’d like more information about how my team can help you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.