Home staging tips for speedy, top-price outcomes

Assisting clients to dress their homes for success is a crucial role for agents and property managers alike to ensure the best possible results from their marketing campaigns.

Staging is all about maximising the value of a home. It’s about presenting the property in the best possible light using furnishings and accessories to appeal to as many prospective renters or buyers as possible.

While there isn’t a lot of data on the benefits of home staging in Australian real estate, a survey by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals showed that on average staged homes sell for 17 per cent more than non-staged homes.

Not only do staged homes sell for more, they also sell more quickly. A 2016 report by the Real Estate Staging Association in the US reported pre-listed staged homes spent 90 per cent less time on the market than their non-staged counterparts. So staging is a win-win for agents and their clients, in terms of the payoff and time investment required.

Home staging plays a vital part in attracting clients to inspections, showing them the purposes of different spaces of the property and ultimately getting more competitive offers. Here are our home staging tips to achieve speedy and top-price outcomes.

Embrace greenery

With Greenery named Pantone’s colour of year for 2017, expect to see home staging embracing green in all shapes and forms this year. Introduce fresh rejuvenating hues of green into your client’s home using vases of Granny Smith apples, throws, artwork, rugs, cushions and kitchen utensils. Even suggest clients treat the front door to a refreshing coat of paint in a dark forest green to welcome clients to the home with a bold eyecatching statement.

Take a more literal interpretation of the greenery theme by introducing lush houseplants, foliage and green walls to bring colour and life to dull or neutral spaces around the home. For vacant properties consider using fake plants in your staging to eliminate maintenance issues, so they’re always looking happy and vibrant for inspections.

Less is more

Some clients, especially ones that have lived in their home for many years, will have understandably accumulated a lot of furniture and clutter over the years. Your best advice for clients like these is that they cut down and put non-vital furniture pieces and décor into storage to make spaces feel larger and more open, to allow the house to truly shine in listing photos and inspections.

If sellers are reluctant to remove some items explain that furnishing the home with the right amount of furniture will help buyers more easily connect with and fall in love with the property. Explain that without being distracted by excess furniture and personal decor potential buyers or renters will be better able to understand how they would use each room and start to picture themselves living there, a key first step towards them making an offer or submitting an application.

Styling options

If you’re uncertain whether to play up an industrial, contemporary or country feel in your listing presentation, the results of Brosa designer furniture’s nation-wide survey on Australia’s favourite furniture styles can help shed some light and guide your styling choices.

The survey revealed that what determines effective and appealing home staging will tend to differ from state to state. Results showed that modern and contemporary interior styles were the first preference of respondents in six (VIC, NSW, QLD, NT, ACT and SA) out of the eight states surveyed. Where country decor was the favoured style in WA and TAS.

It’s also important to think about the geographic location of the property when it comes to effective styling. Brosa’s survey suggests that city dwellers love industrial styles but people in rural areas prefer country and cottage decor.

When staging any home think about who your most likely buyer is and how you can best appeal to them. For example, if you’re aiming to appeal to a younger demographic of renters or first home buyers, the survey suggests younger people prefer Scandi and industrial furnishings. Whereas, if your target audience is an older demographic (65 years plus) cottage style is the preferred interior look.

Bring in a pro

If you feel a bit out of your depth when it comes to home staging and you’d prefer less hassle when it comes to preparing your client’s home for inspections and listing photography, why not hire a pro to take over the job for you. That way you can focus on running a killer marketing campaign, prospecting and getting the best result for your client.

A professional home stager can take care of hiring furniture and accessories for both vacant and occupied properties, provide consultation for decluttering and improved traffic flow, and stage homes to maximise space, highlight its best features, add personality and enhance the overall ambiance. They typically will be able to view the home, consult, quote and stage it within a week or so depending on the scale of the job.

We hope these tips guide your approach to the staging of your next listing. For more ways to maximise the presentation of your listings take a look at this agent’s guide to Fen Shui, 7 staging techniques to prep for an inspection, reasons to include people and pets in listing photos and how to stage an entryway.