If you are selling your home right now, you have the good fortune to be part of a seller’s market that is sweeping America coast to coast. But you can’t ride on a good market alone to sell your home. Naturally, you want to give yourself every advantage you can to get a good price and swift offers on your property. To that end, you may have arrived at the question, is it better to leave my home vacant or stage it? Staging, of course, is a real estate industry term for using furniture and decor to make a home look as attractive as possible. The quick answer to the question is, “stage it… most of the time.”
Even if you have moved out of your home, leaving some furniture and home accessories in place can be strategic. First of all, doing so helps potential buyers get a sense of the size of the rooms in a way that mere measurements on a floorplan cannot. Is their sectional going to fit in that corner of the living room? Will there be space for each kid to have a twin bed in the second bedroom, or are they going to have to buy bunk beds? It’s much easier to suss this out when there is already furniture in place.
?Secondly, leaving furniture in a home sends a powerful psychological message: we’re still here. According to the Washington Post, prospective buyers who see a vacant home may get the subtle impression that you don’t care anymore, and that the house may have been poorly maintained or fallen into disrepair in your absence. Also, if you aren’t living there anymore, it may make an impression that you are eager to sell and willing to negotiate on price and terms. Overall, this can lead to lowball offers.
On the other hand, if your furniture is dated or unattractive and you don’t have the money or desire to spring for new stuff, maybe it’s better to have your home professionally staged or to leave it vacant. Pro staging costs money, but it is proven to have a high rate of return on the sale price of your home.
There’s nothing saying that you can’t stage your own home, even if you aren’t living there. Visit other open houses in your neighborhood to get a look at the competition, and check out HGTV for a sense of what feels current and modern. Staging can mean a bit of work and money, but it will all be worth it if you can get top dollar for your home.
