Home Selling Guide: Is Staging Your Home Necessary?

There's a lot that goes into the home selling process. One thing that many homeowners wonder is whether it's necessary to stage their home when preparing to sell. While staging a home isn't required, it's certainly beneficial when it comes to increasing your home's value, selling quickly, and getting the most possible money for your home. 

Read on to learn the benefits of staging your home and staging tips you can implement right now.

4 Benefits of Home Staging

Before discussing the benefits of home staging, let's discuss what home staging actually is. Simply put, home staging is the process of curating and preparing a home to put it on the market to sell. The goal of staging a home is to increase the homeowner's chances of making the home sell and receiving top dollar for it. Here are 4 benefits of home staging.

1. Increase Home Selling Price

To begin with, staging your home can add a quick boost to the selling price. Agents that represent sellers put a higher price tag on homes that are staged versus those that aren't. This is because staging makes a home more appealing, which means that those in the buying market are more likely to increase their perceived value of the home.

According to the National Association of Realtors Research Group, in 2019, 38 percent of buyers were more willing to walk through a home they saw online and 38 percent of buyers' agents identified that staging would positively impact the home value if the home is decorated to the buyer's taste.

2. Decrease Time on the Market

The time that a home spends sitting on the market can be unpredictable. Some homes can sell within a matter of weeks while other homes can take months. Staging your home is one of the best ways to decrease the time it spends on the market. 

Home staging not only makes it stand out among other homes on the market, but it helps potential homebuyers better visualize themselves in your home.

3. Better Visualization

A staged home is likely to make a potential homebuyer act before an un-staged home does. Purchasing a home is a big investment, which means that it's in your best interest to help potential homebuyers visualize themselves inside the home.

This is because a staged home helps potential buyers get a sense of functionality and space. For example, empty homes tend to make a space look smaller than it actually is. Not only does this depict an inaccurate depiction of a home's size but it can actually deter someone from purchasing a home.

A staged home allows potential buyers to get a good idea of the kind of furniture that can fit comfortably in the space. Additionally, a professionally staged home with excellent design features is more aesthetically pleasing, making the home more desirable.

4. Stand Out Among the Crowd

With today's home buying options for consumers, making your home stand out among other home listings can be discouraging. There are so many apps and online sites dedicated to connecting home buyers with their potential dream home. This means that home sellers have to work hard to get their home to stand out among the crowd.

This is where home staging comes in. Staging your home automatically makes a home more attractive to potential buyers. Effective staging brings life to the living space and will aid in buyers forging an emotional connection to the home. 

Staging Tips to Increase your Home's Value

Now that you've learned the benefits of staging your home, let's take a look at 4 staging tips to help you increase your home's value. 

1. Declutter

One of the most important things to do when staging your home is to declutter. Clutter serves as a distraction that won't just deter potential buyers from viewing your home but can decrease your home's perceived value.

This is because clutter takes away from your home's best features. In addition to this, too much clutter can make your home appear smaller than what it actually is. Buyers will assume the home doesn't have enough storage space. Not only that, but it will be difficult for buyers to get an accurate sense of space.

2. Lighting

Lighting might be the last thing you think about when it comes to home staging. But, it is a crucial part of the process. Lighting illuminates the room to help potential buyers get full details of the home's features. Even more, lighting provides depth and texture, making the home more enticing.

Ultimately, good lighting will make your home more friendly and inviting. It's a good idea for homeowners to play around with their lighting to emphasize the best features of their home. For instance, if you've just installed a new island in the kitchen, adding additional light in that direction can help draw the viewer's eye to that home feature.

With lighting, it's important that you strive to have an overhead light along with other sources of light such as a lamp to create the best lighting setup. 

3. Furniture

Furniture is certainly an effective way to add some personality to your home. However, it's important for homeowners to ensure their furniture is the appropriate size for the room.

If your furniture is too big and bulky, it can easily make a room feel smaller than it actually is. At the same time, furniture that is too small can make a room feel cold and isolated. Your goal should be to create a room that feels both warm and spacious to get the attention of potential buyers.

4.  Stage With Buyers in Mind

Things like furniture and lighting add personality to a home. But keep in mind that you should remove your personality from the home and think with the buyer in mind.

With that said, don't forget to remove personal items such as family photos or your children's toys during the staging process. Your goal is to get the buyer to envision themselves inside the home. Personal items may be too distracting and can take away from the overall appeal. 

Home staging poses various benefits for homeowners looking to sell their home. A staged home is more appealing and increases the value of the home, which ultimately leads to less time on the market at a higher selling price. 

At FlashHouse, we offer a stress-free way to sell your home with our streamlined process. If staging isn't your thing, don't worry. We provide staging services so you can focus on the sale. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with your selling journey.