Jan 10, 2022

Home Staging Tips to Help Your Home Sell Faster & for More Money

 

light and bright living room space

 

Looking for some home staging tips to help your home sell faster & for more money? You’re in the right place.

Staging a home is by far one the most important factors when selling a home. Don’t take our word for it? Check out some stats below from the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) report on home staging. We combed through the report ourselves and pulled out some of the most staggering figures.

Namely, 82%(!) of buyers reported home staging makes it easier for them to visualize the property as a future home. And that 41% are more willing to walk through a home they saw online first (more on staging photos later).

 

bar graph stating the impact of buyers viewing a staged home

Sourced from NAR Report on Home Staging (2021)

 

That being known, let’s dive into some more specifics.

Home Staging Tips: Home Improvement 

The most common home improvement items agents recommended to sellers were decluttering the home (93%), entire home cleaning (85%), removing pets during showings (81%), and improving curb appeal (78%).

 

horizontal bar graph showing recommended home improvement items

Sourced from NAR Report on Home Staging (2021)

 

The numbers speak for themselves, but there’s a few areas we want to touch on.

Improving Curb Appeal

Most of us only consider the outside of the home when we think about curb appeal, but curb appeal also refers to the interior entryway of the home; it’s the first thing potential buyers will see when they enter the home, so you want to make sure you pay special attention to this area.

Depersonalizing the Home

When considering depersonalizing the home, we must go beyond just removing photos, accolades, collectibles, electronics and other personal items.

Personal items also refer to specifics like toothbrushes, hair brushes, used bars of soap, and shaving supplies among other things. Point blank, most buyers don’t want to imagine other people inhabiting the home they’re considering purchasing, so be sure you do your due diligence in removing these items as well, paying specific attention to areas like the bathroom!

Which Other Areas Should You Focus On?

According to the NAR report, staging the living room was found to be very important for buyers (46%), followed by staging the owners’ bedroom (43%), and staging the kitchen (35%).

 

stacked, horizontal bar graph showing the importance of particular staged rooms for buyers

Sourced from NAR Report on Home Staging (2021)

 

The Importance of Listing Photos 

Among buyers’ agents, having photos (83%), videos (74%), and virtual tours (73%) available for their listings has proved to be more important since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So in addition to actually staging the home, you want to make sure you communicate that effectively through marketing materials like listing photos.

 

stacked, horizontal bar graph showing the importance of staging photos, videos, and virtual tours for listings

Sourced from NAR Report on Home Staging (2021)

Other Home Staging Tips?

We’ve got tons.

Lighting, Lighting, Lighting

Some other items of importance include making the home appear as light and bright as possible. While natural lighting is always best, if the home is lacking in this area, utilize any and all light fixtures, lamps, and mirrors to amp it up! 

Accentuate the Positive & Distract from the Negative

Does your home have amazing kitchen countertops? Declutter and emphasize them!

A killer fireplace in the living room? Jazz it the heck up! OR no fireplace? Organize the room in a way to draw attention away from this. Perhaps the living room has a large window or another feature you can focus on.

Small closets? Remove any bulky items and store them elsewhere to give the impression of more space. Some other things you can do specifically for closets, change out the light bulbs to make them as light and bright as possible. No lights in the closet? See about adding some simple, non-invasive lighting options. 

When it comes to selling a home, it’s all about the positioning. 

Need Some Help With Your Home Staging?

Selling your home can feel overwhelming at times. If you’re in the DC Metro area, we’d love to help you achieve your goals! 

The Jennifer Young Homes Team is ranked as one of the Top 150 teams in sales volume by the Wall Street Journal. Jennifer has also been previously ranked as the #8 Real Estate Agent in the Washington DC Metro area by MRIS, Inc. 

Jennifer Young Homes is made up of a highly successful team, which operates out of the Chantilly Ventures brokerage in Chantilly, VA and the Alexandria Ventures brokerage in Alexandria, VA (for DC). Check out what some of our clients have to say.

You can reach out to us at (703) 651-5655 or via the contact form below – no strings attached!

Read Next