There are so many decisions you’ll need to make when selling a home like what price to set, when to list the house, what real estate agent to hire, and so on. One of the things that make selling a home inherently stressful is preparing it for potential buyers.
There has been an ongoing debate as to whether it’s better to stage or sell your home empty. Well, the answer here is it depends as there are pros and cons to each option as explained below. Keep reading so you can make an informed decision!
What Is Home Staging?
It involves filling a home for sale with beautiful and fashionable interior decor to make it more appealing. You can bring in furniture, lighting, plants, paintings, appliances, curtains, and any other thing you need to create a specific look for a particular client.
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Benefits of Staging a Home for Sale
Makes it easier for potential buyers to imagine living in it
Creating a move-in ready look transforms an empty house into a more welcoming and attractive environment, making it feel like home. Being able to visualise where they will put their furniture and fit other belongings will also help them make a buying decision.
Makes the house look spacious
Empty rooms tend to appear smaller than they actually are. Let’s face it; buyers can’t distinguish between a 12×10 and a 14×12 feet room. And even if they could measure the space, it’ll still be difficult for them to intuitively know that their furniture will fit into space or even how they should make the most of the space available. When you furnish the room, you show potential buyers that they can actually utilise the space.
An empty room easily shows its flaws
No home for sale is perfect. With a staged house, buyers will focus more on how they can maximise the space. Staging also allows you to show the usefulness of small or oddly shaped rooms. However, if there’s nothing to look at, buyers will keenly scrutinise every part of the house, checking the paint, plug sockets, doors, and so on.
Aesthetically appealing
Most homebuyers begin their search online and listing photos are the first impression they have of your home. Naturally, you want to ensure they look great, and a staged home will look more aesthetically appealing compared to an empty one.
Cons of Selling a Staged Home
There are two major disadvantages of a staged home for sale. For starters, it costs a lot of money. Depending on what you want to be added, this process can set you back several thousands of dollars. Staging a home usually requires specific pieces of furniture and decorations.
Of course, professional stagers will try and work with what you have but this is usually not enough to get the job done. Secondly, the process is time-consuming. It will take days to stage the house and the removal of these materials also takes time.
That being said, real estate agents believe that a well-staged environment increase value on your property as it features several qualities that could be deemed buyable. This makes it a worthwhile investment.
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Selling an Empty Home
The biggest advantage of leaving your home empty is surprisingly the same as staging a house for sale. Some buyers cannot envision a house that’s occupied/staged as staging limits the room for creativity. To some cash house buyers, it seems too generic or specific. If the staging is not done well, buyers may be turned off by your house thinking that their own setting will look like crap.
It also takes less time and effort to prepare an empty house for sale. Whenever a potential buyer wants to visit the house on sale, you can schedule an appointment immediately.
On the cons side, an empty house is the opposite of what a staged house offers. It usually comes across as cold and lifeless, defects often stand out, not aesthetically pleasing, and buyers will perceive that they can buy it for less than the market value.
Conclusion
Whether you stage a home for sale or leave it empty will depend on a number of factors such as what is normal in your area, what is required in the current real estate market, and the cost involved, just to name a few.
Now that you know the pros and cons of selling a staged home or an empty one, consider the most convenient option for you and one that will get you the best price for your property.
