What Effect Does Home Staging Have? Not Much.

I always wondered how much value could be attributed to home staging. For me, I figured I could see past someone’s furniture, taste in decoration, or inability to keep a clean house. The potential in a home seems easy to see to me. Looking at square footage, bedroom and bathroom count, lot size and view are all the most important to me. I have never needed the benefit of having a home decorated a certain way for me to see its potential.

A Wall Street Journal article

A December 26, 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal, written by Sanette Tanaka, cites:

“While good staging does influence a home buyer’s overall impression of a house, staging alone doesn’t result in buyers willing to pay more for the house. This according to Michael Seiler, professor of real estate and finance at the College of William and Mary. He researched how home buyers responded to six house tours that varied in paint color and furniture quality.”

“His findings show that buyers are willing to pay roughly $204,000 in each of the house examples, regardless of the quality of furnishings or paint color. However, the research subjects believed that other buyers would adjust their pricing based on how the house is staged.”

“Still, Mr. Seiler warns: “All we could test is how much the home would sell for. What we don’t know is whether a well-staged home will sell faster. It may sell quicker.”

But, “It may be hard to persuade real-estate professionals of the findings.”

Conclusion

Realtors and professional home stagers may state strongly that staging a home helps resale value and emotionally connects buyers with a house. They will even say it makes them pay more. But this recent study seems to suggest otherwise.

Interesting Article on all Things that affect a Home’s Value

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