Who is utilizing staging in their listing and how? What affect does staging have on buyers?
Is staging being utilized more or less?
Nar Profile of home staging 2023
I’ve been reading a recent publication from the National Association of Realtors about Home Staging. There are some interesting statistics in there, but one that is missing is the one people ask me the most.
If I stage my home, home much more,
on average, will it sell for?
No one can say for certain, as even what it means to stage your home is subjective. That said, agents quote somewhere between 1-5% higher than homes that are not staged.
There is so much to share here!
How does staging affect buyers?
Because it is difficult to quantify, NAR polls agents about how staging affects their buyers, sellers and results. I learned some interesting things!
One important thing to note is that staging is defined differently among agents. Some only consider a home “staged” if the seller moved out completely and had the home furnished and decorated by a professional stager or designer with new, trendy furniture and décor. While this is usually the most effective (and expensive) type of staging, it is not the only way to “stage” a home!
Homeowners can stage their own homes!
Homeowners can and do effectively stage their own homes, using their own furniture and décor. They can get counsel and direction from a professional stager or a Realtor but there is an abundance of resources found all over the internet as well. In fact, you can even purchase an eBook from me with actionable advice on how to stage your own home!
Looking at what buyers and sellers are saying about staging gives us valuable insight into the growing importance of staging on the marketing of residential real estate.
How do buyers respond to Home Staging?
81% of buyer’s agents said that home staging makes it easier for buyers to imagine themselves living in the home. It is important to note the significance of this and how it works!
When buyers view a home that is not staged, they get distracted by the seller’s personal belongings or decorations and never emotionally connect to the home. This lack of excitement leaves buyers longing without even knowing why.
When buyers view a home that is not staged, they cannot figure out how their furniture would work in a space leaving them wondering if the home is too small or if the layout will work.
When buyers view a home that is not staged, they are unable to focus on the home’s best features and they fail to see the value in the home versus the other homes they visit.
40% of buyer’s agents said that home staging makes buyers more willing to visit a home they viewed online.
When making decisions on how best to stage a home, it is imperative to consider how a home will be viewed in photographs online, not just how the buyer will see it in person.
Professional photography has become a necessity to properly market a home. As good as an iPhone camera it is, nothing beats professional lighting and lenses when highlighting a home in marketing photos.
39% of buyer’s agents said the living room was the most important room to stage, followed by the primary bedroom at 36%. 30% said the kitchen was also important.
Showing buyers how to use the most important areas of the home can make or break the deal for them. If they cannot envision where things go or what will fit a buyer will walk away from a home.
A clean, modern kitchen might not need any staging but one that is dated or does not function will also be a reason to reject a home that might otherwise be priced right and fit all other buyer criteria.
58% of buyer’s agents said that physical staging of a home is important.
This means that a vacant home is more difficult to show and sell.
Utilizing the seller’s furniture and décor or a professional stager’s rented furniture and décor (or some combination) will make a big difference in how a home is perceived by the buyer.
Only 18% of buyer’s agents thought that virtual staging was important. This newer, inexpensive way of mocking up photographs to give the look of a furnished home might get buyers in to view the home but does nothing to effectively sell the home once they are inside.
44% of buyer’s agents say that staging increases the dollar value of an offer on a home, with most (20%) saying the amount is only 1-5%.
The actual dollar value of staging is difficult to determine but if staging increases the offer by 5% on a $500,000 home, it is worth an additional $25,000.
If a home does not sell in the first couple of weeks, it may be necessary to drop the list price. Price reductions are rarely less than 2-3%.
How do seller’s agents utilize Home Staging?
23% of agents stage all of their listings.
Yeah!! for these agents who are offering the highest level of service to their clients by recommending staging to all of their seller clients.
15% of agents do not recommend any changes to their clients.
My opinion is that this is a failure of an agent’s fiduciary duty to their clients.
50% of agents recommend decluttering and making repairs, but do not stage their listings.
These recommendations will make a difference but will not impact the value of the seller’s homes as much as additional staging recommendations will.
5% of agents only stage their most expensive listings.
I would argue that first time home buyers will be the most affected by good staging as they are inexperienced in owning a home.
48% of agents reported that staging reduced the days on market for their listings.
12% of agents reported that staging increased the days on market. That seems dumb and I don’t believe them!
14% of agents reported that the seller paid for home staging.
The cost may be why so many agents do not recommend staging. Whether the seller pays or the agent pays, the result more money for the seller and more success for the agent.
Surprises in the stats.
Here’s something I didn’t really expect!
55% of buyers think homes should look like they were staged on TV shows and 64% of buyers were disappointed that homes do not look like those staged on TV!
That’s a pretty high bar since most homes do not look like Joanna Gaines stopped by to help. Proper staging will help buyers see the value in a home, help them envision themselves living there and get homes sold faster and for more money, even without staging that looks like reality TV.
Lastly, the report says there has been a 51% increase in the number of homeowners who plan to remodel their homes in the past 5 years.
This is a reflection of those TV renovations shows, buyer expectations and of course the lack of housing inventory as homeowners opt to renovate rather than move.
One last interesting item to note is that the statistics I’ve quoted here haven’t changed much over the past 5 years with individual items going up or down about 5% or less. Fewer Realtors are recommending staging as reported in 2023 vs 2019 but that may be a reflection of the skyrocketing housing prices and a reduced need for staging in 2021-2022. Perhaps that number will go back up this year as the days on market increases and prices remain relatively flat.
Do you stage every listing? Most listings? Only the hard ones?
If not, how would employing staging at some level improve your business?
UpStaging Designs will be offering some new services for Realtors later this year. We are excited about what we have planned and look forward to sharing! If you would like to be in the know, be sure to sign up below. Don’t worry, we won’t spam you or email you too much! #nobodygottimeforthat
