Improving your chances at selling your property: Home Staging

While British Columbia’s housing market has been building up for strong favouring sellers in recent years, following in the footsteps of other major markets in the country, trends are beginning to change. In 2022, selling a home successfully will demand careful and intricate planning in order to stand out from the crowd and attract buyers. This includes but is not limited to home staging.

Staging a property for a market entry can benefit the sellers tremendously by becoming more competitive, landing a higher selling price, attracting more buyers, and improving their chances of a quick sale.

When it comes to selling homes, we don’t believe in shortcuts. As a real estate professional for over 20 years, Tad Lake has identified the key points in what makes the difference between an average and optimized listing. Here are a few reasons why staging a property is an indispensable step in the selling process of your home.

What is Staging?

Some sellers who are considering skipping the very important part of the staging process may not always have a complete understanding of how optimizing a listing may impact your success at selling your home.

Let’s clarify a few things first.

In general, staging does not mean going through large-scale renovations or improvement projects. Actually, it usually consists of simply optimizing the existing features of your home to enhance its presentation to potential buyers. Common staging elements include, but are not limited to, cleaning, decluttering, removal, or replacing old furniture, modernizing decor, and in many cases, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders to a home’s first look.

While some homes will require renovations before listing, this is considered separate from staging. Sellers should discuss with their real estate professional first to determine if larger upgrades should be made before they list the home on the market.

New Market Trends

During the last ten years, real estate in Southern British Columbia slowly became increasingly competitive for families wanting to purchase a new home. A high demand combined with an overall lack of inventory led the market to become sellers dominated in most areas across the province. Bidding wars became increasingly common, and properties could sell above the asking price within the first days of being listed.

Today, the market is beginning to balance out and giving a bit more power to the buyers. Despite the market trends of recent years, sellers may need to give up a bit of their expectations in 2022. While listing prices haven’t lowered dramatically just yet, homes are spending more time on the market than they used to two years ago. With this in mind, sellers and their real estate agents should be ready to put in the extra effort to ensure their listing stands out and is irresistible from others. Staging is a great way to achieve that.

First Impressions Matter

In a balanced market, buyers would have more inventory to pick from. As a result, sellers will have more fierce competition to go against when placing their properties on the market. Of course, staging can make a home look great to buyers during private showings, but selling a home isn’t only done by a private showing.

This year, most buyers will discover their new home online through a real estate agent’s website. With several listings just a click away, it’s very important for sellers to ensure their homes look great both online and in person. A good first impression can be responsible for a sale in many cases. Make sure your first five images and your featured image of your listing are impeccable and inviting.

Staged Homes Sell Faster

Making a strong first impression on potential buyers can have its benefits. When a home look is optimized, a greater number of potential buyers will be interested in visiting and maybe making an offer. Consequently, staged homes typically spend a lesser amount of time on the market compared to a regular listing.

In 2020, the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) did a study that showed promising results by analyzing 13,000 for-sale residential properties and noting how long each listing took to sell. The result was that staged homes spent over 70% less time on the market compared to those that weren’t.

Upfront Cost vs. Final Selling Price

Some sellers may feel some concerns about the upfront costs of staging a home. While staging does involve the seller spending a certain amount, they can feel confident that strong returns can be expected in most, if not all, cases. If a seller contributes $12,000 towards staging, they could expect an approximately $36,000 increase in the value of their home, as most staged homes see a 3x return on their investments.

Beyond these numbers, a 2020 study also performed by RESA indicated that staged homes can increase their selling prices. Each market is unique. However, the results of RESA’s study showed that staged homes sell for, on average, 15% more than their unstaged counterparts.

Preparing to sell your home? Get in touch with Tad Lake Realtor today!