Deciding to sell your home is a big decision. Sometimes you must, for a job relocation or because of the cost to maintain and keep the home. Sometimes it's a choice, for example wanting to downsize or relocate. Regardless of the reason, it can be a stressful and cumbersome process.
You do not want to put your home on the market before it's ready. This is a mistake! If your home is overpriced, or not looking (or smelling) its best, it will affect the amount of time and ultimate sales price of your property.
Consider this from The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA):
- How Will a do Stager Affect Your Home’s Time on the Market?
- The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) has a staging savings calculator on its website that lets you figure out how much time and money (mortgage payments, carrying costs, etc.) you should save if you stage your home before listing it. Its “Consumers Guide to Real Estate Staging” reports that homes that had not been staged before listing sat on the market an average of 143 days. Once these homes were staged, they sold in 40 days. Homes that were staged pre-listing averaged 23 days on the market. You can expect differences from state to state – in California they sold five times faster, in Oregon seven times faster – but ”faster” is the keyword here.
- How Will Staging Affect the Selling Price?
- According to the NAR report, 52% of buyers’ realtors believe that buyers offer more for staged homes (32% think they offer 1% to 5% more; 16% put the increase at 6% to 10%; 4% put it as high as 20%). Nineteen percent of the realtors didn't feel staging had any impact on a home's selling price. Home Staging Resource, an organization that offers training and resources to stagers, is even more bullish on staging (as you’d expect): Its website states that in a survey of 3,500 staged homes, 46% sold for 10% more than they would have unstaged.
I had a neighbor who used an inexperienced friend who was a Real Estate agent to list her home. They both thought it would be fun to price the house high and see if they got any offers. They did not stage the home, but did install some fresh mulch outside that blew around and made a mess. The realtor never came by the check on it.
Well, that home sat on the market way too long. It was in a desirable area, with good schools, but the home became "tainted" because it was so overpriced, it's almost as if the market got insulted. It came down from $430,000 to $385,000 and finally sold at $378,000. And it took 5 months, where other homes priced right, to begin with, were selling in one month. AND, remember, when a home sits on the market, you are still responsible for the mortgage payments. In my neighbor's situation, she was transferred to Dallas, where she was also paying rent because of corporate relocation. Costs like the mortgage and maintenance on the home must be factored into the profit you would realize on the house when it finally sells.
Your home has to be prepared before being put up for sale. Don't let an agent come in and throw a sign in front of your house. This rush to market can meantime (sometimes lots of time!) and money (sometimes thousands!). Staging and de-cluttering a home is very important and is needed in most cases. It's your agent's job to advise you on the work that has to be done.
Through our years of experience and Sharon's expertise in selling thousands of homes in her nearly 20 years in Real Estate, our "Staged to Sell" process will get the most out of your home in the least amount of time. It's a proven program!
