Imagine you walk into a well-lit home, freshly painted walls, new furniture laid out in a way that maximizes the space. You can imagine yourself entertaining in the living room, brewing a pot of coffee in an immaculate, open-plan kitchen or relaxing with a great book in the reading corner.

Now imagine that you walk into the same home, outdated paint colours on the walls, with cracking in places. There’s no furniture, and the house looks small, dark and uninviting. What scenario would you rather your potential buyers experience?

Staging your home means the difference between the two. While it is often seen as an unnecessary expense, in reality, there are so many benefits to hiring a professional staging company to get your home in its best possible condition for photos, viewings, and marketing materials.

The majority of people will stage homes for sale but we also stage our properties to let. As property developers ourselves we have seen the impact dressing a home has on the price you achieve and the time in which it takes to sell or let a property. Staging helps potential buyers imagine themselves living in a home.

A survey from the Home Staging Association of UK & Ireland found that home staging increased the offer value by 83% compared to other similar properties. Once a buyer can see themselves living a happy life in a home, they are practically sold.

In 2019, here at Beau Property Home Staging, we converted an old dentist surgery into two very similar apartments. It was just before we launched the staging arm of our business, as a test I decided to stage one apartment but leave the other one empty. We launched on the property portals on the Friday and the property that was staged was taken on the Wednesday.

I left the other apartment empty for 3 weeks. We had a few viewings but no offers, I then staged the property launched it on the portals over the weekend and it was taken the following Thursday. These were both to let but it goes to show that many people lack vision.

If you are looking to achieve the highest possible return for your buy to sell property and a quick sale, then home staging will certainly help. Home Staging in the UK has certainly not been classed as the normal thing to do in the past like it is in the USA and Australia, but it is now becoming more common as people realise they can make more profit.

Rightmove has said that staged homes sell for 8% more than non-staged homes and the average cost of staging a property is 2% to 3% the cost of the home. This means that staging a £500,000 home can increase the buying price by up to £40,000 while the cost of staging is £15,000 so that is £25,000 additional profit.

Not only will the cost of staging pay for itself but it also reduces the time it is on the market. For developers who generally will have expensive development finance, this is also key as it will reduce the cost of their lending. In America, the Real Estate Staging Association survey found that professionally staged homes spend 72% less time on the market compared with non-staged homes.

Home Staging in the UK is still very much an education process which is why we are working hard with the Home Staging Association of UK & Ireland and the other Founding Members to educate people about Home Staging. Staging a property should be a standard line item in budgets, just like foundations, plumbing and electrics etc.

Very often we will find developers haven’t associated a cost with it and so at the end of the build they come to us without having enough budget, even though comparatively it’s a very small percentage of their total build cost.

Why you should choose a professional home staging company…

• Staging allows more buyers to see themselves living in the house – Professional home stagers know how to create an aspirational lifestyle and to capture the imagination of a potential buyer. By appealing to a larger pool of buyers, you can stand out against the competition and sell faster;
• Potential buyers often lack the vision to imagine how their furniture will fit. Home stagers will maximise the impact of every space, highlighting key features and demonstrating the lifestyle the property offers;
• It will create an impressive online presence – Most people begin the buying process online via the property portals so it is imperative that your house has a visual advantage over the competition;
• See how you can use awkward areas – If you have any room beneath the stairs, or a nook or alcove anywhere in your home, try to find a unique way to show it off. By setting up a small desk, or built-in shelving, or reading corner your awkward spot becomes another selling point.

Staging uses design and conceptualisation techniques. Clearly the ideal scenario is to have potential buyers walk in and imagine the property as their own home. They can see themselves living and entertaining there. It’s all about creating a space that makes buyers connect emotionally to it. They should feel as if they were the owner, not a guest.

As a seller, in order to do this effectively, you need to make your house as impersonal and attractive as possible to stimulate the buyer’s visually.

Home staging is effective because it emphasizes a property’s strengths and minimizes its weak points. For example, it would make a small space feel large or a large open plan space liveable and not just empty.

When all is said and done, staging is extremely beneficial to the seller. From increasing the selling price of a home and decreasing time on market, to helping fuel potential buyers’ emotional response to a home; staging matters a great deal and shouldn’t be overlooked.