When and how to set the 'stage' for buyers

In a market that moves so fast, it might seem like staging is an unnecessary time and expense, but it can make a huge difference! Let's take a look at why staging matters, when it's most important, and how it all works.

What is staging, anyway?

Staging is the name for filling a home for sale with decor, furniture, art, and other items that make it appealing to buyers. In new construction, builders often stage a 'model home' for buyers to view, as a way to help them picture what a home will look like once it is not only complete, but 'lived in'. In existing houses, staging helps a listed property appeal to the widest range of buyers possible. By replacing personal items of the current owners with curated elements, stagers hope to create spaces that are easier for buyers to imagine as their own. Many homeowners love the process of personalizing their homes, but once a house is on the market, something as simple as a bold wall color or unusual furniture placement might throw a buyer off or leave them liking the property less than they otherwise would.

If buyers want to picture themselves in a space, why not list it empty?

To stage or not to stage. That is the question.

While buyers want to picture their own furniture and taste in a home, they sometimes need a little help. Walking into a totally empty space can be overwhelming, and the house might feel cold, uninviting, or too small or large for buyers' own items.

For most people, looking at a bare floor and bare walls makes it difficult to tell how their couch or art or bed will fit a space. For that reason, staging can be a useful tool, creating attractive but neutral comparisons. A buyer can walk into a staged home and see how a queen bed fits in a guest room, for instance, or how a floor lamp might fit into a den. It also creates warmth and a sense of coziness that is impossible to achieve in a bare room.

As a seller or listing agent, staging can also be useful to help frame a narrative for a house or lead buyers to appreciate unusual elements. Some houses present challenges with odd layouts, unusually shaped rooms, or small spaces that buyers might not know quite what to do with. Staging can be used to show possibilities for these spaces, creating positive impressions of elements that might otherwise seem like problems.

Is it worth the time and money?

Staged homes often sell faster and for more than those sold empty or with the owners' own belongings inside.

In real estate, as in most things, there aren't any hard and fast rules or easy answers. Sellers sometimes have great results from listing vacant, empty properties or homes with the owners' furniture and items in place. That said, studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that staged homes are often more successful. This is true for a couple of reasons. One is that staged homes present the best use of the space, and that comes across in photographs.

Since contemporary home-buyers are usually looking at listings first by perusing photos online, selling happens with those photos first. Real estate photographs that are able to reflect good use of the space, an inviting atmosphere, and a general idea of the dimensions of the house usually draw more buyers than those that show a vacuous, empty space. Like landscaping for curb appeal and marketing for open houses, staging can show a house in the best possible light, even before potential buyers step inside.

More buyers in the door means more competition, better and more offers, and usually a higher sale price. Houses that are staged well maximize the space and character of the home itself, and often make more than enough to make up for the cost of staging. At the end of the day, if it costs a little more and takes a little longer, but the home sells for more and is off the market faster, the balance is a net positive.