How Staging Helps Sell Homes
Home staging is a marketing technique for selling property which puts the focus on potential buyers. Staging helps sell homes in two ways.
- First, staging generates more traffic.
- Second, staging encourages buyers’ emotional attachment.
Generating traffic is important.
More traffic means more and better offers. If nobody comes to see the property, it is very unlikely it will sell. The more viewers there are, the better the odds of getting a good offer.
Staging generates traffic by improving pictures
Pictures usually provide a buyer’s first impression of a home. 90% of home shoppers start with online searches. The pictures will be their first impression, and how appealing they find the pictures will either eliminate the property or get it onto their short list for a visit. Staging improves visual appeal in those pictures. Staging helps sell homes by increasing the number of tours. 2015 Profile of Home Staging from National Association of Realtors® reports that buyers are more willing to tour homes they saw online which had been staged.
Staging increases visits by getting drive-by’s to come in.
70% of home shoppers will do a drive-by before they book a showing. Good curb appeal will be one of the things that will impress them to request a visit inside. Improving curb appeal is very important in the home staging process, and increases traffic. This is another way staging helps sell homes.
Staging increases visits by arousing curiosity.
When neighbours see that some changes are being made during the staging process, it increases their curiosity which often boosts open house attendance. Although you may consider open house visitors ‘tire kickers’ you can never underestimate the value of word of mouth if they are favourably impressed. People like to choose their neighbours. They may recommend your house to friends or family.
Buyers’ Emotional Connections are Important
Buyers buy based on emotion.
While viewers are getting first impressions through pictures, drive-bys and first visits, they are experiencing emotional reactions, both subconscious and conscious. Brain research shows humans seem to be ‘hard-wired’ to make decisions based on emotions. Initial reactions to a home set the tone for the tour; whether bad or good, visitors are seeking to validate their first impressions. Staging ensures they will be looking for the positives.
Staging targets specific type of buyers to sell a specific lifestyle.
In the early days of staging, stagers sought to create the widest possible appeal. This resulted in making properties look too bland. Nobody could be put off by it, neither could they be totally captivated. Staging today has become much more sophisticated. By analyzing a property to determine a target buyer and knowing as much as possible about that buyer’s preferences, stagers sell lifestyle. They employ all the senses to trigger the right emotions from the people most likely to buy this particular home.
Staging Is Powerful
By getting specific about what appeals, creating maximum interest and evoking the right emotional responses, staging has become a very powerful marketing tool. Better believe it, staging helps sell homes.