This means that removing the clutter and putting on a fresh coat of paint before your agent even begins taking pictures for the listing will almost certainly result in more people being willing to stop looking at your house from Zillow and set up an appointment to view it in person. In fact, a large portion of agents reported in the study that their buyers were more likely to walk through a home if they first viewed it online — assuming, of course, that the photos represented a clean, modern, and overall appealing home. Another positive effect of staging is that buyers are more likely to overlook faults in the property. This was reported by 28% of agents, meaning that a tastefully staged home can lead to a buyer overlooking things, like a smaller backyard, or the lack of the skylight they were hoping for. 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? How much 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,
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