A recent Real Estate Staging Association® (RESA®) study shows 174 homeowners had their property on the market on average of 156 days before they decided to stage. Those properties didn’t sell for over 5 months!
When those same homes were staged by a professional they sold in 42 days on average after staging. This study suggests that the homes would have spent 73% less time on the market.
Consider what that might mean to you, how much money you might save by having your home properly staged.
– If your mortgage is $1200.00
– If your utilities, insurance, and other monthly expenses are $450.00
– Your carrying cost per month for those items is $1,650.00
As noted, the study shows home owners had their unstaged property on the market for an average of just over 5 months. Using these numbers as an example, the total carrying cost for the time those homes remained unsold would have been $8,250.00.
Had those homeowners staged first, their time spent awaiting the sale would probably have been cut by about 114 days (just under 4 months) on average. They would have paid slightly more than one month’s carrying cost vs. five months.
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Staging their homes at the very beginning of the process would likely have saved them $6,600.00. That’s an 80% savings on the monthly carrying cost.
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I want to make it clear that these numbers are simply an example based on one study intended to show the dramatic difference a professional staging of your home to sell more quickly can make when the sale is completed.
Your monthly mortgage will be a different amount and your expenses may even be much greater all things considered, but the comparison is one you should consider.
For your own situation you can use this simple example as a guide to determine how much you will likely save by staging your home before putting it on the market.
Add your mortgage and monthly expenses (utilities, insurance, etc.) to get your total monthly carrying expenses
Multiply the monthly carrying expenses X 5 months (avg. time unstaged) = an estimate of the cost to list your home unstaged
Then multiply the monthly carrying expenses again, but this time by only 3.5 months (average reduced time on market). There you’ll have the suggested savings if you stage your home first!
* NOTE: Staging costs will reduce the total savings somewhat, but they are typically minimal for most homes. We’ll have a better handle on that when I meet with you for an initial consultation.
And one more thing to consider not covered in this simple example. What will the additional costs be in terms of a possible price reduction if your home stays on the market for an extended period of time? Will you be forced to reduce your asking price? If you do, that adds to the carrying cost, perhaps considerably.
This all leads to the inescapable conclusion that you should seriously consider staging your home to sell right from the start. Your realtor and others’ realtors will be more enthusiastic about showing your home to prespective buyers, and those prospective buyers will almost certainly see your home in its best light the first time they walk in the door.
Call me, Sandra Millis, Southern Comfort Redesign & Home Staging, 904-710-1428, today!
I can help you save time and money!!