Time is money and when it comes to selling your home the Days on Market or DOM can make a big difference to your pocket book. Staging helps minimize the DOM to maximize your profit.
National statistics by RESA, the Real Estate Staging Association, show that homes staged prior to being listed spent an average of 23 days on market. Homes that were listed without staging and then staged in an effort to expedite a sale, spent an average of 184 days before staging and 41 days once staged, for a total of 225 days on market. This RESA statistic not only shows the importance of staging, but the impact of doing so prior to listing.
Here's an example to follow to compute your potential personal savings by utilizing home staging when selling. If your mortgage is $2,000 per month and your direct expenses (HOA, taxes, insurance, lawn and grounds maintenance, etc.) are $500 per month, your total carrying cost per month is $2,500. If you decide to forgo staging, list your home for sale, and then stage it after 184 days on the market potentially selling 41 days later, after a total of 225 days on the market, you would pay $18,750 in carrying costs. If you staged first and your home spent just 23 days on the market, your carrying costs during that time would be only $1,917. By staging first you could save $16,833 according to this statistical average! And, these numbers are assuming you do eventually stage your home. What if you never utilized staging? Your home could be on the market for more than half a year as your holding costs continue to accrue.
In this example, the cost of 'not staging' is nearly $20,000!
Staging typically costs less than one month's carrying costs with home sellers spending an average of $1,800 to stage a home (Kiplinger). When you're thinking of selling, compute the potential personal savings staging can offer for your situation. Staging doesn't have to mean renting expensive furnishings or buying all kinds of trendy props. Use what you already own or make inexpensive upgrades. For a couple hundred dollars and some elbow grease, you could be well on your way to a sold home.
For specific instruction so you know how to prepare your home for market, Get Started today with a custom Staging Service available in any location with a smartphone video call.