Are you selling your home? Is the house now vacant and empty of furniture?
Well, majority of home buyers struggle to imagine how they would best use an open space. So, staging could be the right decision to market your home to these kinds of buyers.
However, before you decide on the need for staging, you need to consider some factors to see if the need for staging can be justified with the cost. In addition to the cost, selection of staging vendor, furniture and other fixtures can be time consuming.
The 1st criteria most sellers consider is cost of staging. To estimate the cost of staging you need to estimate the Average Marketing Time for the “KIND” of property you are selling. For instance, in a tech fueled housing market of Silicon Valley, there is literally no need to stage homes that are priced under $1M. After all these homes are selling in one weekend with multiple offer.
Here are some factors to consider before you decide to stage or not:
1) Competition: Will your home be in competition with mostly new or remodeled homes? If the answer is yes, then you need to seriously consider staging since your home will leave the wrong 1st impression without being staged.
2) Size: How big is your home? Is your home size has more than 2,000 sqft of living space? If your home is smaller than 2,000 sqft, then the need to stage is not as critical as larger homes.
3) Vacant Rooms: If you are leaving more than 3 bedrooms vacant, then you might be taking chances with your showing. So, consider staging if you have more than 3 bedrooms.
4) Staging Cost: Can you afford to spend $1,000-3,000 per month on Staging costs? If you could justify the cost based on the marketing window you have, then you should consider it seriously. We even staged a Bank-Owned (REO) home for a national lender in Los Gatos at the cost of $1,500 per month since the bank was convinced the higher sales price justify it.
5) Curb Appeal: Does the home have any curb appeal? What will the 1st impression of the New buyers will be when they drive by?
If the answer to these questions is a resounding Yes, then you might want to consult a Home Staging Company to get estimates on how much it would cost to stage your home during the marketing period.
But it never hurts to start with a Free eBook on your Home Value before you list since you might not need staging after all.