Is it better to sell a house staged or empty?

One might be forgiven for thinking that it is best to market a property when it's empty. An empty home is free from furniture and accessories that will only clutter the property unnecessarily, right? Though this might seem like a logical train of thought, empty homes simply do not sell as successfully as staged homes. Recent research from the Home staging Association tells us that staging an empty house can actually market a property better than if it were empty and here is why...

Why home staging sells empty Property - and for a better price!

The successful marketing and ultimate sale of a property is about the sale of a dream - a lifestyle, an emotional connection, an aspirational future. Potential buyers are looking for something they can relate to, and how can someone be expected to emotionally relate to an empty house? An empty property are not only empty of furniture, but they are also empty of soul. Home staging gives homes a personality, creates an emotional attachment for the home buyers and adds value to the home. When an empty house is staged, the furnishing gives the estate agents selling points and creates that 'wow' factor from the moment the buyer steps inside the door.

House selling is a stressful process, even without the additional competition from other sellers. Home staging will help you to stand out from competitors, giving you the tools you need to resonate in the buyers minds. Homes are also often first seen as images online, and staging the property with make the empty home stand out and make memorable initial impression. Rather than strip a home of its contents, its personality, and its individuality, professional staging by EHG Home breathes life into vacant rooms and takes you that next step closer to selling a house. Stage your home well and you will impress not only the buyers, but the real estate agents too!

Empty rooms seem smaller

Once of the biggest misconceptions when selling a vacant property is that empty rooms will show off the maximum amount of available space. You may be surprised to learn that showing empty rooms actually has the opposite effect. Buyers need reference and focal points to judge the capacity of the room. Without a focus, an empty room will feel smaller than it actually is. Furniture can help to define the space and create perspective in the buyers mind. Staging a smaller room means that buyers won't immediately write off the room as void because of a lack of available space.

Adding furniture to small, empty rooms gives the space a purpose. There is a danger that a lack of furniture could cause a space to be dismissed as an unusable, particularly if it's marketed as a bedroom. Without measuring out the space themselves, potential buyers could make the incorrect assumption that the bedroom is not actually large enough for a bed. This is were we, the home stagers, step in. The space may be snug, but with careful curation and a furniture selection of compact items, we can Layout the area to show the buyers that the bedroom clearly fits a bed, without them having to imagine it.

This is a tight spot for a bed, but with a little bit of clever home staging, we've manage to include two side tables while still allowing a little leeway each side. By keeping the colour scheme neutral with just an accent of navy to add interest, we achieve an overall impression of spaciousness despite the proportions. Bingo!

Versatile furnishing to create a vision

Furniture can also help to explain a vacant home, particularly when it comes to awkward spaces. Many buyers lack creativity and imagination when it comes to interiors, especially when a room is either tiny or huge, unconventionally proportioned, or cut up by doors and windows. Styling an awkward area, the stager helps the buyer to imagine how it could be used. With our creative and versatile thinking, we ensure that awkward spaces are not overlooked!

This little nook has been transformed into a home office. Adding a focus to this area, the home office is now selling the idea of a lifestyle to the buyers, not just an empty corner. The home staging gives this awkward area a practical purpose, gives estate agents memorable selling points, and adds value to the property.

How do you stage a vacant property?

With all points considered, selling a staged property is, on average, much more likely to result in a successful sale than an empty property. But how does a seller stage a vacant property? Having decided that selling a furnished property is the way forward, you might also be forgiven for thinking it would be easy to furnish it yourself. A couple of trips to Ikea and Bob's your uncle! However, staging a property is an investment, and spending your own money on furniture that you are unlikely to keep is time consuming and costly. Cheap, quick fix furniture may also not give your property the desired 'wow' factor that buyers are willing to pay a top price for. As a professional home stager, we know that a show-stopping home is principally achieved with artwork, furnishings and accessories. Adding this all up would certainly cost a fair few pounds and would be impractical to store, not to mention the environmental impact of purchasing cheap and disposable products, destined for landfill. This is where the home stager comes in, to market your property and make that sale!

So how to do professional home stagers create the perfect staged home from an empty property? Home stagers know the staging tips and tricks to creating the perfect interior that will blow the buyer away. At EHG Home we offer sustainable and cost friendly solutions, that are suitable for any house or price point, temporarily transforming your property with stunning quality furniture for the duration that you need. We will help sell the dream of their family home, helping buyers to imagine the lifestyle that your property could provide. Our gorgeous collection of pieces have been curated over years, and our signature style of laid-back luxury will translate into any home, no matter what size or style. Home staging is not just about the furniture. Beautiful flowers, eclectic accessories, soft furnishings, and books, each article is carefully curated. It is the finishing touches that helps to create the aspirational lifestyle that your buyer will want to emulate.

In short, it is difficult for an estate agent, let alone a buyer, to visualise the potential of an empty property, so let us do the thinking for them.