THE IMPORTANCE OF STAGING YOUR HOME

You’ve probably heard the term “first impressions are everything” or “a picture’s worth a thousand words”, well, these statements hold true and can be especially important to remember when buying or selling a home.

There are many benefits to staging when preparing your home for sale. Nowadays, most people begin their search online, even before their first initial contact with a Real Estate Agent. In this case, the well-known phrase increases its value from “a thousand words” to “thousands of dollars”. As the trusted individuals selling your home, a Listing Agent’s goal is to ensure that the home’s beauty, uniqueness, and design stands out above the competition to potential Buyers. As a result, selling your home faster and for a higher return on your investment.

Here are the 3 major benefits of staging your home when preparing it for sale:

1. Stand out from your competition
The Toronto Real Estate market is well known for its competitive conditions. Whether the market is saturated with inventory or the market is sparse with new listings to choose from. Regardless of the circumstances, it is always equally as important for a home seller to have their house stand out from the competition. A properly staged home offers potential home buyers a better first impression as a nicely staged home photographs much nicer than a property with no staging at all, this can immediately become more appealing to the buyers beginning their search online. Staging a home helps neutralize the space in order for prospective buyers to easily envision themselves living in the space which can make the house instantly more appealing. “Turn-Key” is a common phrase that buyers use as criteria for their house-hunt when buyers can visualize the use of a space (especially a vacant home) this can result in substantial added consideration when deciding.

2. Amplifies the Space
Do we really ever have enough space in our homes? Are our homes ever really big enough? The importance placed on the size of a home is proven to be one of the home buyer’s top 3 search criteria when house-hunting. Staging can help dramatically maximize the space in your home as well as utilizing it in a way that appeals to the masses. If you’re insecure about your home’s square footage, a stager can help prospective buyers visualize the openness of your home as well as showcase a clear purpose for each room rather than leaving it up to a buyer’s imagination. When buyers are easily able to envision how space can be used, they are more likely to ignore a smaller floor plan or unusual layout which overall increases their willingness to fall in love with your home.

3. Higher Return on Your Investment
One of a sellers’ biggest reservations when deciding whether to stage their home is that they do not want to accrue any more costs when selling their home. However, properly staging a home often proves a larger return on investment compared to the homes that choose to forgo staging. Vacant homes tend to lose offers when a home is vacant, the minor imperfections are more apparent and are more likely to stand out. The correlation between staging and final selling price isn’t entirely clear, but staged homes do create more buyer interest, which is more likely to result in higher offers than little interest is.

Home staging has become a vital part of the home selling process, especially within the Toronto Real Estate market. Contact us today to see how your home might benefit from the art of staging resulting in a potential increase in the speed and dollar amount of the sale of your home.