Home Staging Sells Homes Faster and For More, 2023 Report

We are all familiar with the integral role the internet plays in real estate transactions today. When the first stop for many potential buyers is to browse online home listings, up-to-date information and current photos are essential to success in selling your home. High-quality online photos, and now professional 3D home tours, have become the expectation for potential buyers previewing homes from their computer or laptop, and they can make the difference between your home ultimately being sold or sitting on the market longer as buyers flock to homes with beautiful online photography. As a seller, you may wonder how you can achieve the best possible photos of your home that will lead to the ideal sales price.

The answer: professional staging. (Also see virtual staging and interior design consultations (working with your current possessions instead of removing them first). Both of which we always provide free of charge to our selling clients (professional staging is negotiable and depends on the home’s situation).

Professional staging grew in popularity as a response to the pandemic. Using multiple online photos and 3D systems, staging allowed sellers to provide a clear sense of the structure of the home and the spaces within it, often alleviating the need for in-person visits.

We wanted to take a look at how staging has impacted home sales, and to gain some insight, we consulted the 2023 Profile of Home Staging from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR polls Realtors rather than surveying professional home stagers, ensuring a lack of bias (I imagine every staging professional would insist that home staging is essential). Here is what we learned about the most recent home staging trends in 2023.

How Does Home Staging Affect Home Sale Prices?

Deciding to sell your home is a major consideration, and finances play a major role in the decision-making process. You may wonder about the cost of professional home staging and whether you’ll see a noticeable return on your investment. Because a successful home sale is influenced by many factors from the time of year you sell to the current climate of the real estate market, it can be difficult to predict how staging alone will affect the final sale of your home. What you can rely on, however, is the knowledge of an experienced Realtor. Capable agents are skilled at assessing neighborhoods and providing you with a good idea of how your home compares to others in your area. As a result of their day-to-day immersion in it, Realtors see both the big picture and small snapshots of the real estate market, giving them the knowledge and experience to guide their clients.

According to the NAR poll, 44% of buyer’s agents and 44% of seller’s agents reported that staging increased the dollar value of a sale. While those may not seem like strong numbers, only 34% of buyers’ and sellers’ agents felt that staging had no impact, while the rest were “unsure.” So, if you were to contrast the two, the case for staging helping homes sell for more would be stronger than not staging them at all.

For those agents in favor of staging, most estimated the final sale price increased between 1-5%. We create a report every year on average home staging costs and found that staging a 2,000 square foot home in Portland is likely to run around $2,000. If your home is valued at $500,000 and sells for one percent more, you will earn an additional $5000 on the sale – and the profits could only increase from there. When you consider the financial return, the cost of home staging is a worthwhile investment.

How Does Home Staging Affect Number of Days on the Market?

An important factor to take into account when determining whether to stage your home is your ideal turnaround time from initial listing to final sale. In their 2023 report, the NAR found that based on their experience, 48% of sellers’ agents believe that staging reduces a home’s time on the market. And 21% of the agents emphasized that staging “greatly decreases” that window. Only 15% of seller’s agents felt that home staging had no impact on the speed of a sale.

While the real estate market in Portland has been working in favor of sellers for quite some time, ideal conditions inevitably won’t last forever. If you are hoping to list your home on the market in the near future, it would be worthwhile to consider whether a faster sale would be beneficial. Market shifts are currently pointing toward a more buyer-friendly housing market.

Do Home Buyers Expect to View Staged Homes?

While buyers may not express a desire to see staged homes, the NAR found that the majority of them do respond positively to staging. The survey of buyer’s agents revealed that 58% believed staging has an affect on most buyers and 31% found it had an affect on some buyers, but not all. Only 9% of the buyer’s agents surveyed thought that staging had no affect on prospective buyers.

It is clear that media and reality home shows play a role in consumer expectations, and interestingly, the survey had mixed results. When it came to expectations, 55% of Realtors responded that their buyers wanted to see television-worthy homes, yet only 24% said it affected the actual home-buying process. An experienced buyer’s agent can help their clients to balance ideals and realistic expectations.

The statistics reveal that buyers are positively influenced by home staging. What this means for sellers is that they can take advantage of a range of staging possibilities within a range of budgets for a financially rewarding return on the sale of their home.

Should You Stage Your Home?

The results of the NAR study show us that staging is effective and may even shorten the duration of your home’s time on the market. This conclusion has also held steady over the last few years, with the polls consistently showing a larger percentage of Realtors reporting that staged homes sold at higher prices.

Here are some helpful questions to consider when deciding whether to stage your home:

• What is My Budget? Staging can be a big investment, but there are many options that can have an impact without going beyond your means. For example, you can choose to stage a limited number of rooms, try much less expensive virtual staging, or use a combination of both.
• How Large Is My Space? Grand rooms and open floor plans especially benefit from staging because it helps potential buyers imagine themselves living in the home. Conversely, leaving small spaces empty can have the effect of making them appear more spacious.
• What is My Agent’s Opinion? When unsure, it is wise to go with your trusted agent’s advice. In fact, we will pay for an interior design consult or virtual staging for a client who requests one. Their recommendations can be invaluable for creating the most attractive presentation of your home, even while you are still living there.

Ready to Put Your Home on the Market?

If so, we’d love to be a part of your team. Our top 1% sellers agents are highly experienced in helping people sell their homes quickly and efficiently. With lower-than-average commission rates and our client-first approach, we’re confident we can help you sell your home for the best possible price. Give our office a call at 503-714-1111 or chat with the bot on this site. We can’t wait to get started today!