When it’s a Seller’s Market, Do I Need to Stage My Home?

When discussing staging, a frequent question I get from clients is, “If we’re in a seller’s market, does staging matter?” Our answer is always that it depends on the following factors: the original appearance of a home, the desire to increase value, and if the house will be empty during the home showing process.

Reason to Still Stage Your Home

In 2021, the National Associate of Realtors released a survey on the Power of Staging from sellers and buyers’ agents. The survey found that 49% of buyers’ agents saw some increase in home value attributed to staging. Just because your home will sell on the market doesn’t mean you shouldn’t position yourself to receive top dollar. Staging can help show clients the potential of your property and give it a boost in comparison to other similar listings in the quad cities area.

Furthermore, a seller’s market does not guarantee that every property will sell quickly. Homes that are extremely dated and need numerous updates can still sit on the market. Staging can help improve the appeal of such properties (along with a few minor repairs, which we can also help with). People need to be able to visualize their life in your space, and something that feels like it will take a lot of work or will feel dark and old will not create the necessary appeal. This fact is also why we recommend staging empty homes.

While a vacant house may feel more extensive and more open, it can also feel cavernous and dull to prospective buyers. Staging can help give your home an anonymous story. It’s beautiful, clean, and trendy, but without specific personal effects that can distract a buyer from imagining it as their future home.

Reasons to Skip the Staging

The truth is, many homes in this market don’t need help selling. Staging is often a way to help increase the value of a space by making it one of the more appealing properties listed. If your home is clean, has recent updates like new appliances or floors, and is well furnished (a couch that has been in your family for 45 years does not count), staging could be completely unnecessary. Discuss with your agent whether they would recommend staging your space.

Times when Staging has the Biggest impact

If you decide staging is the route to go, here are the two times staging has the most significant impact.

Listing Photos

Did you know that a whopping 83% of buyers’ agents reported that having good photos for a listing is important? This fact is not surprising considering that people view properties digitally first, meaning a home’s first impression is through its photographs or video tours. Stagers know how to rearrange the space to feel open, welcoming, and updated, ensuring you get the best photos possible. The manufactured aesthetic will help attract more buyers to view the property in person and, hopefully, help sellers receive higher offers due to the competitive nature of the listing.

Open Houses

If you’re going through the energy to host an open house, you need to make sure everything is spotlessly perfect. Not a pillow should be out of place since there will be such a large concentration of viewers at one time. It needs to feel open and accommodating. Staging helps ensure that your space doesn’t feel cluttered or tight while also helping your home stand out in a litany of other homes potential buyers will likely be seeing. Staging is like taking the age hold hack of baking cookies on a showing day, but on steroids (imagine the power of baking cookies and staging).

Regardless of if it is a seller’s or buyer’s market, whether you need to dress your home up or want to increase the value of your listing, staging is a viable option. However, in a seller’s market, there is less need to help create a hook for potential buyers. Whereas in a buyer’s market, staging becomes an essential tool to help get your home the price it deserves. Whichever route you choose, work with Emilie Lawrence to succeed in your home buying and selling needs.

Finding the Best Time to Sell Your Home

When you start thinking about listing your home, it helps to know the best time to sell. If you’re not in a rush, positioning your home to be put on the market during the hottest selling season can help ensure you receive the highest dollar while also closing quickly.

What is the Best Season to List Your Home?

It is common knowledge in the industry that spring is the best time to sell your home. We can go even further and say that May is often regarded as the ideal month to list your home. Due to warmer weather and a general feeling of new possibilities, there is an uptick in buyers during this season, making the buying market more competitive, often resulting in higher values for listed homes. The warm weather can help encourage people to get out of their homes and attend open houses or seek out showings a little easier. It is also the ideal timeline for families who can close in late spring and move mid-summer to help ensure their kids get settled and easily enrolled in a new school. The larger pool of buyers means you will likely receive more offers, and more offers mean buyers will be asking for fewer concessions but probably still offering top dollar.

This pro-seller market often continues throughout summer, as many families rush to lock in a home before the new school year begins. This rushed timeline can lead to quicker closing dates as buyers start to panic and rush. At the same time, summer means sellers have to contend with high heat and vacations, which can often be a deterrent for people looking to buy.

When is the Worst Time to Sell a Home?

Have you ever experienced an Iowa winter? If you have, it comes as no surprise why this is the worst season to sell your home. While warmer climates, such as California or Florida, see a healthy seller’s market throughout the year, in places like the midwest, where winter can feel endless, there is a slight dip in selling during that season. Not only do frigid temperatures keep people from braving potential inclement weather, but usually, by wintertime, people are securely settled into the rhythm of their life. For families, listing their home in the winter would mean changing schools, which is often avoided.

Suppose, however, you are considering selling your home. In that case, the winter season can be valuable for doing work such as updating flooring, painting walls, or finally getting to that list of repairs. Those updates will make your home market-ready for when spring finally blooms!

Why this May Not Matter

Ultimately, selling your home comes down to one thing: you. While getting top dollar is often the goal, if you have a job change, want to downsize to cut costs, or need more space, you should list your home when you are ready. While there are advantages to a spring/summer listing, that doesn’t mean it is impossible to sell in the off-season. In fact, seasons matter less if it is nationally considered a seller’s market.

Ready to list you home today? Contact Emilie Lawrence to get started.