Have you ever considered home staging your Park City, or Salt Lake City house before selling it? If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should do it for yourself, there may be some things you should consider that could make the decision much easier.

Staging a home has been known to help homes sell faster and higher. What you spend in staging your home, you could get back in more revenue for your home. Staging every room in your home isn’t necessary; instead, consider staging the most important areas for an optimal first impression.

Here are some things you should know about staging your home.

How Staging Your Home Works

Staging your home is simple: make your home look as lovely as possible. If you can do this with your own furniture, all the better!

However, If you’re like most people, the furniture and decor you have around your home is a collection of personal items and comfy furniture you have been collecting and breaking in for years. Not all of it looks new, but it feels like home.

Unfortunately, sentimental value doesn’t translate well into pictures. Use furniture and decor that looks new and cohesive for the best staging of your home. A staging company like Stage 7 can rent you furniture for a nominal price, and stage your home to make it look its best.

To Most People, Value Is About Perception

Years ago, the shoe store Payless ran an experiment to see if they could convince people their products were actually luxury shoes.

They rebranded one of their stores and redesigned it to look like a designer brand store. At its grand opening, executives invited local influencers and high-profile individuals to check out the store’s merchandise.

Payless succeeded. All the shoes they sold with prices ranging from $600 and more, and people were willing to pay the price. You can imagine the shock everyone felt when they discovered the same shoes they’d be willing to pay $600 for were actually discount shoes they could snag for a couple of bucks.

The fact is, we are quick to assign value to things that are well packaged, regardless of what the actual price is. Staging your home can help increase the perceived value of your home.

Staging Increases People’s Desire To Buy

Staging your home can help you make money, according to a survey conducted by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.

This study showed that staged homes sold three to 30 times faster than nonstaged homes and resulted in an average price increase of around 20%! The housing market is showing signs of cooling. As this continues to happen, the chances your home is locked in a bidding war that exponentially increases your revenue drops.

If you could make a small investment that has the potential to increase your home’s purchase price by around 20%, would you do it?

Staging Helps Your Curb Appeal

When considering buying, people like to picture whether they could see themselves living in the home they are looking at. If you have a roll of photos you’re going to list with your home, ask yourself, “Would these pictures help someone see themselves living here?”

A supermajority of buyers’ agents agrees that staging a home makes it easier for buyers to visualize a house they are touring or looking at as their own future home. Staging acts like a type of storytelling, showing potential buyers what their life could be like if they moved into the home you are selling.

Staging your home helps with curb appeal. You can hide many imperfections in your house behind a good first impression. If someone likes a place right off, they will be more likely to forgive a less desirable location, smaller yard, or other things that may make your house seem less appealing.

Focusing your efforts on that first impression can help you overcome other difficulties in selling your home.

Why Pictures Are So Important

It’s time to sell your home. In all the things you’re juggling, maybe settling a deal on a new home or finding a place to stay while you’re selling your current home, you’re probably not thinking about what your home will look like to buyers.

We live in a golden age of information, a time when everyone has access to all the information they can wrap their minds around. One of our preferred way to consume information is through visuals.

If you want to see what something looks like, it’s a Google search away. Because information is so prevalent, more people in the United States know what famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower look like without ever having seen them in person.

If someone is buying a property, they want to know what it looks like to see if they can imagine themselves living there. Pictures are essential for helping potential buyers sell themselves on living in your home.

You need photos of your home, and you need them to be compelling.

You Don’t Need to Stage the Entire House

If you don’t want to spend a large amount of money on staging your home, you can focus on the most important parts.

Only some rooms in your home need to be staged and shown to prospective buyers. Not every room is of equal importance. Instead, focus on these areas of your home:

Entryway – first impression
The living room – Cozy home living feel
Kitchen
Primary bedroom
Dining room
Bathrooms
Outdoor Spaces

These are the rooms that people are most interested in seeing. The most important areas to stage are the entry way — for the sake of first impressions — and the living/family room. The kitchen/dining area and Primary Bedroom are also very important. These are the areas that will likely impress buyers the most.

Staging additional rooms can be helpful; if you have the budget, it won’t hurt!

Reimagine Your Home With Stage 7 Design

If you want assistance with all the small details of staging your Park City, Salt Lake or Utah County home, we can help you with everything you need!