When a house is up for sale, the goal is for it to dazzle prospective buyers and make
them want to buy it. The better job you do in making buyers feel good about a house,
the faster you will sell it, often at a higher price!
This is a very common scenario: An owner lists their home for what they think it
should be worth, which is higher than the market in their area will support. They are
looking forward to moving on to their new home and do not want to put any time or
money into updating or staging their old one. Buyers visiting the house do not see a
“Wow Factor” or come away with a good feeling, so to them the house is nothing
special and not worth the price. The house stays on the market for months, until
eventually the owner is forced to lower the asking price. It continues to languish, so the
owner lowers the price again, and then again. In the end, selling the house takes
months longer and nets far less money because the owner did not want to spend time
or money properly preparing the house for the market. So, failing to spend one week of
time and $5,000.00 ends up costing them $25,000.00 and six months of frustration!
Here are three of the biggest mistakes sellers make:
- Under-preparation before listing their home.
The fact is, a seller won’t get as much money for a property if they sell it in an
“as-is” condition. It will also take longer to sell. Buyers are looking for move-in
ready homes. They don’t want to have to repair or replace anything, and in a
competitive market, it is all too easy for a buyer to rule out any house that does
not appear to be ready for them. - Stale Listings.
The longer a house stays on the market, the more wary buyers will become. If a
house sits for three months or longer, buyers will approach it with the assumption
that there must be something wrong with it, and will look for reasons NOT to buy
it. - Overpricing.
Of course everyone wants to sell their home for top dollar, but the correct asking
price depends on a lot of factors such as location, condition, and the current
market in the area. Asking too much can be a deadly mistake. On the other had,
houses that are priced appropriately and staged well are often so popular with
buyers that bidding wars will drive the price up, and the seller will end up making
more money than they asked for!
Here are some statistics about Home Staging:
● 81% of buyers say that home staging makes it easier for them to visualize the
property as their future home.
● Non-staged homes to stay on the market an average of 50%-75% longer than
staged homes.
● Buyers are willing to spend up to 10% more on a staged home.
● 46% of buyers say they are more willing to go walk through a home they saw
online if it is staged.
