Vacant Homes Just Don't Sell

Sure, they sell eventually, but not as quickly as staged properties. Every day on my social media feed I see one listing after another posted by real estate professionals and builders. So many empty rooms. Do I click through to look at the picture more clearly or scroll through the rest of the listing’s pictures? Nope. I just scroll on by. The movingly written description, the professional photography … all time wasted by the professionals that put in the work. Why? It’s because they all look the same! There is nothing in an empty room to connect to me emotionally. No sense of style, no passion, no nothing. Why?

1.     An empty house leaves an empty canvas to paint negative thoughts on. Prospective buyers will find imperfections, be disinterested, or even overlook its fabulous features. Empty houses intensify negative thoughts.

2.    Empty houses lack a vision of its layout. What is this room? Will my furniture even fit in here? A staged property shows off how the home flows and how each space can be used.

3.    An empty house is void of imagination and feeling. Buyers act upon emotion. An empty property is just a HOUSE, a staged property shows a HOME. Home staging creates the emotion that your prospective buyers need in order to act.

4.    The National Association of Realtors 2017 Profile on Home Staging states that, “Seventy-seven percent of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home.” SEVENTY-SEVEN PERCENT! Staging boosts the buyer pool by 77%.

This all brings us back to where we started. Vacant homes do sell, just like the staged ones. But at what cost? Also in the NAR’s 2017 Profile of Home Staging, seller’s agents reported that 74% of staged properties had offers for higher than anticipated. In a recent study conducted by Stagedhomes.com, of over 1000 homes (55% Vacant, 45% occupied), staged homes were on the market 80% less time before selling than non-Staged Homes. Faster sales for higher dollar.