When is Home Staging Necessary?

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When is Staging Necessary?

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When is Staging Necessary?

Studies have shown that the typical home buyer decides if they are attracted to a room in the first eight seconds. This is a very short amount of time to make a positive first impression, so creating a space that is immediately inviting to potential buyers is crucial.

Vacant homes with empty rooms should be staged in order to give the buyer a sense of the home's potential. In rooms staged with furniture and accessories, it is easier for buyers to get a sense of proportion, scale, and to imagine their own furniture and belongings in the space. Furniture and rugs help reduce the echo that is typically found in an empty room -- this is very important because a room that echoes feels stark and cold instead of warm and inviting. Rental furnishings can be an economical and even cost-saving way to furnish a vacant home, as a home that is properly staged (and priced-correctly for the market) will typically sell more quickly than a vacant home, reducing the time the home sits on the market and thereby reducing the amount of taxes, utility bills, association dues, and so forth, that must come out of the seller's pocket.

A home that is currently occupied should be staged to maximize spaciousness and light. If a home feels small, dark, or cramped but is in actuality quite spacious, then staging is definitely in order. Reducing amount of furniture and accessories in the home and properly arranging what remains can open up rooms and allow more light to enter. Good light and a feeling of spaciousness will have a positive impact on buyers and enable them to envision the room's potential.

Homes with outdated decorations and fixtures should also be staged to draw the eye to the room's potential instead of to the outdated elements. Without renovation, this can be quite challenging, but it is possible to take a room from "outdated" to "charming" with the right combination of furniture and accessories. Sometimes the best solution to seriously outdated fixtures is to totally remove them from the space. For example, an outdated hanging light fixture could be removed and an attractive floor lamp substituted. Unattractive or damaged window blinds could be removed to let in light and let buyers focus on the light and the view -- chances are, buyers will update the window treatments anyway.

Depersonalization of a space is a necessary step in home staging. Personal photos, cultural items, and religious items should be removed in order to make the home more appealing to a wider audience. This can be a difficult step for some sellers, as these items usually have deep significance, but remember -- the object of home staging is to sell a home, not to impose your decorating tastes or personal beliefs upon the buyer. The faster a home can be sold, the more quickly the seller can move on to a new space which can be personalized to their heart's content.