Peering through her glasses at the gray, mid-century-style sofa positioned slightly on the oversized ivory rug, Melissa Marro is making final adjustments to her latest project.
Marro knows proper furniture placement can make a room feel more inviting and the right rug can pull an entire area together.
She also knows an object placed perfectly in an adjoining room will catch the attention of potential buyers, causing them to transition from room to room the way a house will show best.
“Many people believe that home staging is just about putting furniture in an empty house,” stated Marro, of Keller Williams First Coast Realty and owner of Rave ReViews Home Staging. “That is a terrible misconception.”
Agents and professional stagers use previous work examples to show how staging can usually help a home sell faster and for a higher price, offering a larger return on the investment.
Often times, homeowners don’t see the benefits of investing in decorating a property they will soon be selling. Some Realtors make staging more affordable for people selling their homes.
“Our team knows firsthand the incredible benefits of home staging,” said Jaime Tejera, broker associate for The Edge Group at Keller Williams Realty. “To encourage our clients to stage their homes, we will give them a discounted rate on listing their home after staging.”
In a survey from the National Association of Realtors, 37 percent of sellers’ agents said staging raises the value of the property up to 5 percent.
But nearly a quarter — 22 percent — put the gain somewhere in the 6-10 percent range. And 12 percent said the dollar value of a staged home jumps 11-20 percent.
According to Accredited Home Staging, which teaches staging courses, 95 percent of staged houses sell, on average, in 11 days or less, compared to 90 days for non-staged properties.
The company also says professionally staged houses sell for 17 percent more than other homes.
“After we’ve been in and staged a home, interest in the house increases tenfold,” said Marro. “We’ve had staged homes sell in as little as an hour-and-a-half after hitting the market.”
Sometimes, staging efforts extended to the outside of the home,
“I’ve had to tell clients that I wouldn’t come back to stage the interior until they cleaned up the exterior,” said Marro. “If you can’t see the front of a house, it won’t sell.”
A house that “shows” well and is priced well will sell quickly.
Today’s buyers view internet listings before visiting a home, making pictures a key aspect to selling.
Using furniture that matches the charm of a home will catch a buyer’s eye. Almost half of the agents NAR surveyed — 46 percent — said buyers who see a house online are more likely to visit if it is staged.
Many people think an empty room lets potential buyers see what the room could look like, but empty rooms actually make the space look smaller.
And, according to the NAR survey, 81 percent of buyers said it was easier to visualize the staged property as a future home.
Staging a vacant home also has proven to be a deterrent to crime.
“Having furniture in a home also works as a security feature,” said Tejera. “After staging, it looks like someone is living there, which discourages criminals.”
The cost of professional staging can bring a great return on investment for sellers.
Marro, whose cost to stage a home is 1 percent of the list price, has seen as much as a $25,000 price increase on a home she has staged, more than covering her fee.
“In the end, it costs more not to stage,” said Marro. “The cost of staging a home is usually less than the first price reduction.”