partnership with a qualified real estate agent, they can help advise and support you in this area. The payoff will be worth it. Staging as an Investment: First, you probably want to know what your initial cost might be. A home-staging expenditure might range from 1 to 3% of the listing (asking) price of a home. However, it could result in selling the house for 5 to 10% more. That would be a $6,000 investment on a $200,000 home sale, resulting in a potential increase of $20,000 in the sale price! So, don’t think of staging as a cost; think of it as an investment! Coldwell Banker and the NAR® released the following results of a survey: • Staged homes spent 50% less time on the market than homes that weren’t staged. • Staged homes sold for more than 6% above asking price. • A staging investment of 1% to 3% of the asking price generates an ROI of between 8% and 10%. • Homes staged prior to listing sold 79% faster than homes staged after listing. Start with What You Have: Don’t rush off to hire a stager or buy a bunch of new décor or rent new furniture. Start at the beginning, which is creating space. You can create more space by clearing the clutter — unnecessary items and/or furniture; repainting the rooms with a fresh coat of neutral paint; and making a few repairs. Think about what you already have that could use a few tweaks or upgrades. For example, you might decide that you need to replace flooring and carpets. Do as much as possible with what you have before you invest in new furniture, rent new pieces, and/or hire a stager. After making any necessary functional or cosmetic repairs, the basic steps of home staging are decluttering, cleaning, adjusting 75
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