As a home stager I’m often asked “Does home staging really work?” The answer is yes! I can speak from my own experience as a home stager in the Halifax market. I’ve staged homes that have been on the market for over a year and after staging them they receive multiple offers in the first week, others are sold in the same day they’ve gone on the market after staging. Some have sold for as much as 10, 200 to 32,100 over asking. The majority of the homes we stage sell within 15 days on the market. The average time on market is approximately 94 days (Sept 1, 2015 – Sept 1, 2016) depending on the area within HRM (MLS data). We’re always busy with de-stagings as well due to how quickly our staged properties get offers! Here’s just a few examples:
This Hammonds Plains property was on the market vacant for 6 months prior to us being called in to stage the home. They immediately received an offer, with a few other people waiting to offer in the case that the first offer didn’t go through. We’re happy to say they were officially sold within a week, and we had to de-stage them quickly as the deal went through and the new owners wanted in quickly!
These homeowners were relocating and weren’t going to take the chance, they staged before listing and sold in 3 days!
This client was preparing his rental property for sale. We worked with him to make recommendations to update and freshen up the property and then we staged it. It sold in 4 days!
These home owners had outgrown their home and had moved something larger. They put finishing touches on the home to get it ready for market and enlisted us to stage the property. It sold in 7 days!
This property had been on the market for 139 days with no offers when we staged it. They immediately started getting viewings and received multiple offers within 22 days and sold for $2000 over asking!
This client bought the property to flip and then called us in to stage it. We were so happy when it sold in 3 days!
This condo listed for under $130,000 needed to sell. The realtor convinced their client to stage and after only 13 days – and on the first viewing they had an accepted offer!
This client had moved to their new property leaving this one vacant. We staged the property and it sold in 1 day!
These homeowners started looking for a home stager after their home had been on the market for approximately a month with few viewings and no offers. They had a steady stream of viewings right after staging and an accepted offer within 15 days of staging!
These guys decided to bring a stager before listing. They didn’t regret their decision. They received multiple offers and had an accepted offer within 6 days of listing!
These home owners had been on and off the market for almost a year before securing the services of a home stager. We staged this vacant property and they had an accepted offer in less than 24 hours of being on the market this time around.
This home owner called us very frustrated that they had been on the market for almost 3 months with no offers. We staged the vacant propety and they had an accepted offer in 13 days!
This property listed just under $1 million was vacant for almost 6 months before we staged it. The owners had an accepted offer within 14 days of staging the property!
This propety had been on the market vacant for a year when the home owners contacted us. We were so excited when they sold within the first week and had mutliple offers!
Below are some results of national survey’s and reports that give a broader view on the results of staging. Don’t fool yourself, house staging
is for low priced homes to million dollar homes!
Want to sell Your Home Quicker?
Homes that are staged before listing spend considerably less time on the market before garnering a sale, no matter what the price range. Consider these statistics from the Real Estate Staging Association study conducted in the U.S.A. in 2013:
HOMES IN EXCESS OF $1 MILLION
- Of a total of 82 homes in this category 62 were staged prior to entering the market and sold on average within 38 days.
- The remaining 13 homes, not staged, sat on the market an average of 97 days.
HOMES PRICED BETWEEN $500,000 and $999,999
- 139 staged homes in this group sold within 21 days on average.
- 24 non-staged homes took an average of 140 days to sell.
HOMES PRICED BETWEEN $300,000 and $499,999
- 170 staged homes took an average of 22 days to sell.
- 25 homes not staged sold, on average, at 125 days.
HOMES PRICED BETWEEN $100,000 and $299,999
- 137 staged homes sold within an average of 19 days.
- 20 homes not staged took an average of 127 days to sell.
What Real Estate Agents think about home Staging
In a recent study by the National Association of Realtors® 2015 Profile Wonder if it’s really worth it to stage your home? Undoubtly it is!of Home Staging, 49% of surveyed realtors who work with buyers believe that staging usually has an effect on the buyer’s view of the home. Realtors on the buyers side that took part in the study believe that staging makes an impact in several ways:
- 81% said staging helps buyers visualize the property as a future home
- 46% said it makes prospective buyers more willing to walk through a home they saw online
- 45% said a home decorated to a buyer’s tastes positively impacts its value
- 10% said a home decorated against a buyer’s taste could negatively impact the home’s value.
Top producing realtors understand the importance of a home looking great in order to market it more effectively and to bring in offers quickly. Many realtors that I work with provide a home staging consultation for every listing, as well as suggesting staging to their clients. In the study the majority of realtors that work with sellers were found to utilize staging as a marketing tool in at least some of the instances, with 34% utilizing staging on all homes.
Want to read more of the survey results? Visit to learn more or visit Realtor.org to download the full pdf.
