We know that right now is a great time to sell a home.

The housing inventory is at a record low. Showings are up 10.3 percent nationally year over year. Popular homes quickly go off the market.

So with all of the interest and movement, is it still worth it for sellers to pay an average of $836 (per HomeAdvisor) to stage a home?

Most believe yes, according to the “2017 Profile of Home Staging” released earlier this month by the National Association of REALTORS® Research Department.

Sixty-two percent of seller’s agents said staging a home decreases the amount of time it spends on the market, while 77 percent of buyer’s agents said a staged home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home – which, of course, is the main point.

“Realtors know how important it is for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home and, according to NAR’s most recent report, staging a home makes that process much easier for potential buyers,” NAR President William E. Brown, a REALTOR from Alamo, California and founder of Investment Properties, said in the NAR release. “While all real estate is local, and many factors play into what a home is worth and how much buyers are will to pay for it, staging can be the extra step sellers take to help sell their home more quickly and for a higher dollar value.”

A few other highlights from the report include:

  • Fifty-five percent of buyer’s agents cited the living room as a “very important” room to stage, followed by the master bedroom (51 percent) and kitchen (41 percent). That aligned with seller’s agents, who most commonly stage those spaces 83 percent, 76 percent and 69 percent of the time, respectively.
  • About one-third (31 percent) of buyer’s agents said staging a home increased the dollar value offered between 1 and 5 percent compared to similar unstaged properties, while 25 percent said staging had no impact on dollar value. Twenty-six percent said they weren’t sure whether staging had an impact.
  • Thirty-eight percent of seller’s agents said they stage all homes, while 37 percent said they simply suggest the seller declutter/fix property flaws. Fourteen percent said they only stage homes that have proven difficult to sell.
  • Buyer’s agents were relatively split on whether home staging had any effects on buyers. Forty-nine percent said home staging did have an effect on most buyers’ view of the home, while 48 percent said it had some effect, but not always.

You can click here to read the entire report.


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