Even more important is the amount of time spent on the market. According to RESA, a home adequately staged prior to being listed will sell in an average of 42 days. A home listed without being staged can spend as much as six months on the market. For anyone who has ever tried to sell a home, any time that can be saved in this stressful process (some say it’s more stressful than divorce!) is precious time indeed. What about the money? Howmuch more can going through the effort and expense of staging really gain a seller? The responses vary, but according to NAR, most Realtors® say that staging yields higher selling prices, ranging from 1% (29% of the time) of the value of the home, all the way up 20% (3% of the time). On average, for an investment of 1-3% of the home’s value, a seller can expect a Return on Investment (ROI) of 8-10%. Then, there is the faster sale. Time is money. As stated above, if you’re able to sell your home in a mere six weeks instead of a massive six months, that’s likely to be thousands of dollars in mortgage, utility, and insurance payment money that doesn’t have to be spent on a house you no longer think of as a home. Even if you happen to live in an area that’s currently enjoying a seller’s market, staging is still critical, ranging on imperative. Staging your house —making your home more appealing in the buyer’s eyes — is the factor that can positively affect the would-be buyers and possibly lead to a bidding war between them. That means a higher selling price for you; it also would make a quick sale even more likely. The facts are clear: staging your home prior to listing is almost guaranteed to bring you a higher price, and to get you out of your old house into a new dream home in as little time as possible, making staging a more than worthwhile investment. WHERE TO SPEND? By now, you might be convinced that staging your home is an important part of the home-sale process and worth doing. And while we’ve touched on it briefly, the nagging question remains: “Howmuch does this all cost?”
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