4 Reasons to Consider Staging Your Home Before Selling
Forget what your teachers and parents told you about not judging a book by its cover. As we learn more about how the brain operates, it’s becoming abundantly clear: people care about first impressions.
How much do people care? Studies show that it takes only 50 milliseconds for people to make a judgement based on visual cues. And, what’s more, first impressions are difficult to reverse.
That’s why it’s so important to ensure your home is in tip-top shape before putting it on the market. That’s where home staging comes in. Home staging increases your property’s aesthetic and gives your house a competitive edge in the market. Ultimately, staging helps your home make a strong first impression to entice potential buyers.
1. Novelty Is King
Attraction to novelty is hardwired into our brains. Why? It could be an evolutionary quirk. Maybe it's due to social media overload. Or perhaps it's because novelty is a positive neurotransmitter, kind of like dopamine.
Whatever the reason, it's clear: human beings are attracted to newness.
As potential buyers move through your home, you don't want them to see tattered couches or that creepy oil painting you inherited from your great-uncle. You want buyers to enter your home and feel inspired and energized; you want them to walk into your home and never want to leave.
When you hire professionals to stage your property, they make your home look like new. A stager will revamp your rooms with trendy furniture and fresh design palettes to brighten your space and bolster your interior design to craft an inviting, warm household.
2. The Power of Optical Illusions
Perception is a powerful tool. When wielded correctly, it can transform even the smallest room into a space that feels large and roomy. But when perception is off, it can make your home feel unnecessarily small and claustrophobic.
Home stagers strategically select décor to make the rooms in your home appear larger than they are. This way, buyers can better imagine filling your house with all their belongings.
The flip side can be a problem, too. Spaces that are too cavernous can make your home seem isolating and cold. If your house feels excessively large, a home stager will select furniture that increases the coziness factor and spreads warmth throughout your home.
Worried about those less-than-attractive stains that you can't seem to get out of your walls no matter how hard you try? Home staging can also be used to hide your home’s flaws. Curated designs pull attention away from potential eyesores and instead highlight the features that make your house special.
3. Targeted Marketing Leads to Faster Sales
Not every home is right for every buyer. A four-bedroom Victorian in an affluent suburb will attract a much different buyer than a chic downtown loft surrounded by nightclubs and trendy coffee shops.
Understanding your home’s buyer demographic is an effective tool to increase demand and offers. As a result, home stagers curate designs based on specific, tailored demographics to target buyers, which, in turn, boosts sale potential.
4. First Impressions Matter
Positive first impressions lead to homes spending less time on the market and receiving higher offers.
Staging a home is about creating an assertive emotional connection via strategic furniture placement, enhanced design, and capitalizing on other senses like smell.
If you're about to put your home on the market (or are unhappy with how long it's been on the market), consider using home staging to bolster traffic and help potential buyers see the potential of your home.
