Should I Stage My Vacant Home?
Before
After
Have you ever looked online at vacant homes?
What do you remember about that home?
Did it spark a feeling? Did you know which room you were looking at? Were you intrigued to continue on and look at every picture. Or, did you simply pass up that listing to look at the next home that was furnished and had character! This is Exactly why you need to stage a vacant home.
Vacant homes can all look the same, they are void of style and personality. They are, simply, a house with no character. You see all of the negatives; lighting, space, dated wood, confusing rooms… the list goes on. Vacant homes can amplify negative thoughts and features.
You wonder, “What room Am I looking at”? A staged home defines the space and rooms showing all of their potential. Buyers buy on feelings and emotion. Home Staging creates an emotion that helps the buyers envision their first home, a temporary place they want to call home, or maybe even, their dream home.
I have been in the staging business for over ten years. There are times when an agent asks for an emergency staging before an open house. I ask for all of the photos of that vacant home. (Now remember, I have been in thousands of homes at this point) I look at the pictures, then call the agent, confused! I ask myself , “How many living spaces? Dining spaces? Is that the same room, or a different room?“. Now, if I am an experienced stager and I can’t tell the rooms apart, how can a new potential home buyer!? They Can’t!! So they skip Right Over that MLS listing, and move on to another, with pictures of a more well defined, uncluttered, updated, freshly furnished home.
THAT should be Your home.
A VERY Important thing for you to Know… You have Three chances to sell your home:
- The online listing.
- When they are at the home.
- THE MOST Important! What they can remember of Your Home above anyone else’s!!!
Final Thought…
Will a vacant home leave the buyer with a lasting, positive impression? Definitely NOT.
But a home, simply staged beautiful enough to be in a magazine, WILL!
The National Association of REALTORS 2015 Profile on Home Staging found that 81 percent of buyers find it is easier to visualize a property as a future home when it’s staged.
Kari
