Photo staged by Jodi Kelly, one of the top ten Rising Star Home Stagers of the Year in the Occupied Staging Category North America. Her staging business is based out of Ridgewood, NJ.
No matter the overall market conditions in your client’s neighborhood, you want your listings sold quickly and with as little hassle for your sellers as possible. Successful real estate agents are adding another item to their to-do lists in marketing a property—professional home staging.
They realize that an inviting, move-in-ready home isn’t just a wish list detail, but an integral part of their overall marketing plan.
Consider a RESA Home Stager Your #1 Business Partner When it Comes to Marketing a Property
The most successful real estate agents recognize not only the critical importance of professional staging but that the stagers are best equipped to sell their services directly to the seller. Why is this?
Ryan Marsh, 2022 Treasurer of the RESA Board of Directors, puts it this way:
I wish real estate agents understood the value of having stagers sell their own services directly to homeowners. Far too often, they pass along our bids to the seller, void of context and the expertise to sell staging at a high level. Simply by allowing us to meet with sellers directly, the odds of selling our services and increasing the competitiveness of their listing increase 10-fold.
Homeowners are sort of hard-wired to be skeptical of any additional expenses involved in selling their homes—after all, they’re paying your commissions, probably some closing costs, and may be on the hook for some repairs.
When you bring in a professional home stager to explain in detail how the process works and share their portfolio, the seller has a greater understanding of how using their services will boost their competitive edge in the market and shorten the time to a contract and closing.
Finally, remember that like inspecting and repairs, home staging is not your area of expertise. Leave it to the pros.
Staged by Hometenders Home Staging & Design in St. Louis, MO – One of the Top Ten Professional Home Staging Teams of the Year in the Vacant Staging Category North America
Marketing a Property – Do You Really Need Staging, Even if Your Market is Still Hot?
It may seem counterintuitive, but you need staging even in markets where multiple offers are the norm. You know that market conditions can turn on a dime, so you owe it to your sellers to present any listing in its best possible light, regardless of the temperature when they sign the listing contract, or you go live in MLS. When there’s a decline in the market, staged homes are more likely to generate interest—for one thing, a staged home looks much more inviting and move-in ready.
Staging Transfers Online Interest to Showings
It’s not unheard of these days for a buyer to complete a home purchase without ever setting foot in the home. It’s imperative that your listings stand out in home searches, and the best way to make that happen is for a professional stager to design the rooms so that natural lighting is enhanced, the spaces appear to be generously sized, and prospective buyers can visualize themselves living in that home. If your photos don’t inspire a showing, you’re not fulfilling your duties to your client—getting the highest price in the shortest amount of time.
Staged by Jeanne Kappler Poehner, one of the top ten Professional Stagers of the Year in the Occupied Staging Category United States, based out of Bernardsville, NJ.
How Staging Benefits Agents
When you partner with a professional home stager, you’re building your brand in ways that will boost your profile as an agent who gets good results in all kinds of markets—the hallmark of a truly successful real estate agent. Working with a professional stager also takes the stress of managing the pre-listing declutter and spruce-up process off your shoulders, so you can focus on things besides begging your sellers to take the Peloton out of the dining room.
Staging By the Numbers
Still not convinced you need a professional RESA stager to work with your sellers directly? How about some hard numbers that show why staging is necessary when marketing a property?
- A 2021 RESA survey of 4,600 properties found that staged homes sold for an average of $40,000 more, and an average of nine days faster, than unstaged homes.
- A 1.3% investment in staging yielded an average of 7.1% in over-list returns.
- The National Association of REALTORS® shared that only 7% of buyers said that home staging had no effect on the their view of the home.
Convinced Staging is Necessary To Market a Home?
Download the Consumer’s Guide to Real Estate Staging, produced by RESA® and include it in your listing presentation as a way to education your next seller on the importance of home staging, how to hire a home stager and more.
Felicia has a background in production design and studied at Academy Of Art University where she had a focus in Motion Pictures And Television. In her free time you can find her reading about the latest marketing trends or hanging out with her husband in Disneyland.
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