The importance of home staging

More than 80 percent of buyers’ agents said that staging a home helps their clients picture the home as theirs.

According to NAR’s Profile of Home Staging, 47 percent of buyers’ agents said the living room is the most important part of the home to be staged. And sellers’ agents agreed, as 93 percent of them had the room staged for showings. Buyers’ agents also reported that staging the master bedroom and the kitchen are the other rooms that are most important to their clients. Sellers’ agents, in addition to the living room, reported it was most important to stage the kitchen (84 percent), the master bedroom (78 percent) and the dining room (72 percent).

All that work matters. Nearly half of buyers’ agents said that home staging did impact how their buyers felt about the property. In fact, 43 percent of agents said that staging a home increased the value of the home at least 1 percent.

But only 28 percent of sellers’ agents stage all of their properties. Thirteen percent said they only stage homes that aren’t selling, and 7 percent only stage higher-priced homes. However, 45 percent of Realtors® encourage their clients to cut back on clutter and fix up the home. Of those that stage, 26 percent stage the home themselves, while 18 percent have the seller pay a professional before the home goes on the market.

Does it work? More than half of Realtors® said that staging decreased the time the property was on the market.

For those who are looking for their dream home, the majority, 82 percent, knew where they wanted to live, while 74 percent knew what kind of house they wanted, according to their agents.

And don’t discount those HGTV shows. Thirty-eight percent of Realtors® said that TV shows about house hunting had an effect on their business. In fact, 34 percent of Realtors® staged homes as they would see them on television.