You want to sell your home fast and for as much money as possible, that’s a given. But you might be wondering if it’s really worth it to invest in staging your home before selling it. After all, isn’t that just more money you’re spending? We’re going to show you why most real estate agents across greater Washington D.C. recommend their clients hire certified home stagers, and how it saves them time, stress, and most importantly, money. Read on for TACTIC’s top 8 reasons home-staging is worth it.
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You get more money
Hiring a certified home stager is the second-best investment you can make during the home selling process. The statistics don’t lie: staged homes sell at an average of 6.32% over the list price, while un-staged homes sell at a mere 1.6% over the list price. For a home listed at $500,000, that’s a difference of nearly $24,000!
You sell your home faster
It may seem obvious, but it’s true: the longer your home stays on the market, the less it eventually sells for. The National Association of Realtors surveyed and found that homes that sold in the first 4 weeks averaged 1% more than the list price, but at 4 to 12 weeks, the buying price averaged 5% less than the list price…. and by the time your home’s been on the market for 24 weeks, statistics say that it will probably have dropped more than 10% lower than list price. Staging your home could cut the time it spends on the market in half—garnering you thousands of dollars more.
You get a huge return on investment
Home staging costs between a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand, depending on the size of the property. But when you’re talking about an average ROI of 586% (yes, you read that right, 586%!), the initial payout is miniscule.
You leverage what buyers want to see
Home staging companies like TACTIC always have their finger on the pulse of the real estate market. We know what motivates a sale. Most home sellers don’t. For one thing, it’s hard to see your home objectively after you’ve spent years building a life there. For another, most home sellers aren’t interior designers. Hiring a certified home stager with expert knowledge in both interior design and real estate is the most effective way to ensure that each room in your home is packaged for maximum appeal to the greatest pool of buyers.
You tap into the online market
Did you know that 95% of home buyers look at homes online before they decide to visit? You should. Having professional photographs of your home to post online (think: Zillow, or Trulia) is an incredible way to boost traffic to your property. TACTIC includes professional photographs of staged rooms with our packages, and so do many home staging companies. You’ll have potential buyers drooling over your well-lit, airy, impeccably designed place before they even step foot inside.
You undercut the competition from the get-go
The real estate market is notoriously competitive. Staging your apartment or home before selling is the simplest way to set your property apart. Successful agents know that the key to competing is professional staging, because it creates compelling online presentations, drives buyer traffic to the home, and turns prospects into buyers.
You don’t have to be a salesperson
“So, what is that room for? …. Er, the flow from the kitchen to the living room seems a little odd… Oh, we’d have to repaint all these walls, I guess.” If you’ve ever sold a home before, these sorts of comments probably sound eerily familiar, and the people making them are not exactly pumped up about your house. In fact, only 10% of home buyers are able to visualize the potential of a home when it’s empty, which means they’re going need a top-notch salesperson to ‘help’ them imagine it. However, if your property is strategically staged to highlight the best of each room, you won’t have to answer to comments like these—your home will do it for you.
You can relax, at least a little
Selling your home is stressful. It can be a huge relief to have expert home stagers like TACTIC actively working to prepare your home to sell, so it’s not all on you. At TACTIC, we manage the home staging process from start to finish (or you can opt for our do-it-yourself option), so you can focus on finding your new home, instead of worrying if you’ve done everything you can to prepare your house or apartment to sell.