Though the concept of home staging is by no means new, not all decorating endeavors have the same impact. According to the National Association of Realtors [1] 2017 Profile of Home Staging, the room that makes the most impact when staged is the living room. If the budget allows it, agents should then focus on the master bedroom, the kitchen, and the yard—in that order. The area that can be skipped if necessary is the guest bedroom.
So what did the profile reveal was the next most important factor in successfully staging? Target the common denominator. Thirty-eight percent of buyers’ agents said staging had the largest impact on the buyer when it matched the buyer’s tastes—so focus on pleasing the majority.
When staged properly, 39 percent of sellers’ agents that NAR polled felt that staging greatly decreases the time the home spends on the market, while 23 percent said it slightly decreases the time spent on market. Overall, two-thirds of responds felt staging helped move their properties.
“Realtors know how important it is for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home and, according to NAR’s most recent report, staging a home makes that process much easier for potential buyers,” said NAR President William E. Brown, a Realtor from Alamo, California and founder of Investment Properties. “While all real estate is local, and many factors play into what a home is worth and how much buyers are will to pay for it, staging can be the extra step sellers take to help sell their home more quickly and for a higher dollar value.”
To read the rest of NAR’s staging insights, click here [2].