Before and After Home Staging
Staging can make a tremendous difference in how quickly you sell your home. According to last year's Profile of Home Staging from the National Association of REALTORS, 39% of sellers' agents said that staging a home greatly decreases the amount of time it's on the market.
A perfect example of the impact home staging has on the speed of a sale is this beautiful Vista townhome. At almost 1500 square feet, this home was spacious, fully upgraded, and flooded with natural light. It was initially presented to potential buyers completely empty and then it sat on the market for two months. Once our team at BlueGrape staged it, though, the home was in escrow within 10 short days.
Why does home staging matter?
So much of the home-buying process is based on emotional response. When a potential buyer walks into an open house, they'll ask themselves: Does this feel like home? A vacant house usually feels barren and cold, and people who don't have a natural eye for design may have a hard time visualizing how the space would look with furniture. An empty house doesn't feel like a home. That's where staging comes in.
Home staging techniques used
To help potential buyers envision themselves living in this Vista townhome, we used a few key staging techniques to create a warm, welcoming space.
Highlight the functionality of each room: Determining furniture placement isn't always easy, especially in open floor plans like this one. To ease the burden on buyers, we shopped our expansive selection of on-trend inventory to demonstrate a comfortable, homey living room and dining room combo.
Make the most of awkward spaces: Empty alcoves and oddly shaped corners can throw potential buyers for a loop, but staging can help bring out the beauty of awkward spaces so they seem less like quirks and more like cool design features. With a few accessories and the right lighting, we transformed a bare, vacant recessed area in the living room wall into an attractive nook.
Break up space on walls and floors: Open floor plans are fantastic for promoting movement and communication throughout a home, but the large-scale walls and continuous floors can sometimes seem a bit formal. To achieve a sense of intimacy and develop a cozier feeling, we placed rugs and wall-hangings strategically around the home. Aside from introducing visually interesting colors, patterns, and textures, the artwork and floor-coverings break up the large space and bring the room to life.
Create the illusion of a lived-in home: The smallest details can have a significant impact on creating that lived-in feel: a towel hanging on the bathroom hook; an open book on the coffee table; an array of place settings in the dining room; a throw blanket draped across an armchair. All these touches create visual cues to the buyer that this is a place they can call home.
A slow housing market requires quick thinking for home sellers: Right now, the housing market has started to become stagnant, and it's poised for a potential downturn. According to the San Diego Association of REALTORS, new listings have increased 10% from this time last year, while closings have dropped by over 20%. To command the best price for your home in this competitive buyer's market, it's important to make sure you're presenting the best possible version of your home, and staging is the key. According to the Profile of Home Staging, a third of buyer's agents said home staging increased the value dollar of offers between one and five percent, as compared to homes that weren't staged.
BlueGrape: Premiere home stagers in San Diego
At BlueGrape Staging and Design, we understand the fast-paced, ever-changing San Diego real estate market. With over 15 years of relevant experience, we've created personalized staging plans for hundreds of clients, helping to play up the unique features of their spaces so they get better offers and quicker sales.
Give us a call at (858) 652-3007, and let's talk about how we can help minimize the number of days your home is on the market, and maximize the price you get for it.