The Importance of Staging: 5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Staging for Your Listings
Staging, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the practice of organizing or decluttering a listing to make it more visually appealing for prospective buyers. The practice has been around for over 50 years, originally created by Barb Schwarz, a realtor in Washington with a background in theater, who began to arrange her listings to make them more visually appealing. Schwarz found that arranging the houses like they were sets on a Broadway stage made her open houses more popular and her listings sold faster.
What started off as realtors simply decluttering their clients’ homes has transformed into a massive industry, with companies now offering the sole service of home staging. Especially with the rise of home-improvement TV shows and digital listings, prospective buyers want and expect staged properties.
They’re more inclined to tour a property if it’s been decluttered and depersonalized. In today’s market, buyers have an abundance of options. To stand out against the competition, utilize staging and help prospective buyers see themselves living in the homes you sell.
Let’s look at the top five reasons to invest in staging to get the most out of your listings.
5 Reasons Why You Should Stage Your Listings
1. Receive the Highest Bid Possible
The biggest reason why you should stage your properties is because it can help you get the most out of your listings. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) published a report on the effects of home staging, published in March of 2019. The report revealed that 22% of seller’s agents reported a 1-5% increase in the dollar value offered by buyers for staged houses, compared to non-staged properties. 17% of seller’s agents stated that the dollar value increased by 6-10% because of staging.
By utilizing staging to make homes more presentable, more buyers will be interested in the listing and tour it. The busier the open house, the more likely the home will be sold quickly and for a higher cost. Adding staging to your business plan will help you land listings and close them for the best price possible.
2. Help the Buyers Visualize the Space as Their Own
No buyer wants to feel like they’re moving into someone else’s home. When an agent effectively stages a home, interested buyers will be able to visualize the space as their own, instead of someone else’s home. Staging should accentuate the features of the home, as well as keep the space open, well-lit, and neutral in terms of design.
The NAR report also revealed that 83% of buyer’s agents said staging made it easier for their client to envision the space as their own future home. If a buyer feels connected to a space and can imagine themselves living in the property, they’re more likely to pursue a serious offer on it.
3. Sell the Home Faster
Not only will you sell the home for a higher price, but you’ll do it faster as well! It’s common knowledge that the longer a home is on the market, the more difficult it will be to sell. 53% of the agents who responded to the NAR report claimed that staging decreased the amount of time the listing spent on the market.
By putting work into the property before putting it on the market, prospective buyers will be more inclined to tour, and possibly put an offer, on the listing. Additionally, if you advertise staging as a part of your services as an agent and communicate to prospective clients its proven benefits, you’ll be more likely to earn their business. Staging is a beneficial practice for both sellers and agents alike.
4. Refer Clients to Colleagues
If referrals are a major part of your marketing plan, especially referrals you exchange with other businesses, working with a staging company can be a great tactic. It’s particularly effective if you do not offer staging services yourself. Professional stagers have dedicated their careers to becoming experts in their field. Consider forming a business relationship with a staging company or individual who offers staging services.
Refer all your interested clients to them for their staging needs and expect the staging business to refer you out to anyone looking for an agent. This is an excellent technique for any agent who does not do staging themselves but is still looking for a way to benefit from a seller’s need for staging.
5. Make the Most of your Listings
The real estate industry has been transformed by technology and digitization in the past twenty years. The future in real estate is here, with more and more people buying and selling homes online. Staging, for a long time, has felt like one aspect of real estate that didn’t have a digital solution.
Agents found themselves often spending hundreds of dollars on staging, with the NAR reporting the median cost of staging was $400. The other option is by using staging companies, whose services can cost thousands of dollars and be unaffordable for many.
Staging will forever be transformed with Listing3D’s newest feature, making it both easy and digital. Now with Listing3D’s 3D Staging, homes can be staged using virtual reality. You can present exceptionally staged listings with gorgeous furniture and art displayed, without the cost or hassle. Prospective buyers can accurately understand the space and can toggle between viewing the apartment with or without furniture, making it even easier to visualize making the space their own.
Listing3D’s program also allows furniture and artwork used in the listing to be purchased by viewers. If a prospective buyer loves an apartment and wants the bed featured in the staging, they can purchase it! This program opens doors to new business opportunities between realtors and retailers and transforms staging as we know it.
Listing3D is tech-oriented, forward-thinking, and offers technological solutions to the real estate industry. Listing3D connects agents around the country, fostering business connections and relationships between like-minded professionals. Listings3D also offers exclusive marketing packages, containing the most up-to-date marketing technology, which best advertises your listings in the digital age.
Included are immersive virtual tours (created using 3D cameras), video teasers of the property, a 3D Flyer with a scannable QR code, and a landing webpage with all of your contact information, helping future clients easily contact you. With your talent and our technology, we’ll advertise your listings far and wide to help you sell your properties faster and more efficiently.
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