4 Reasons Why Staging Can Help Sell a Vacant Listing

There may be many reasons why a home for sale is vacant. It may be a new home or maybe the homeowners have already moved on. Regardless, the home is left with no furniture, no pictures on the walls, no decorations – no life. After a home buyer has looked at dozens of homes online or toured home after home, a vacant home has little chance of being remembered. Staging a vacant home can not only make the home more memorable, it can also help sell the home. Here are 4 reasons why:

1.  Buyers don’t want to buy a house, they want to buy a home.  I once heard someone say buyers look with their minds, but make offers with their hearts.  In other words, the buyer must make an emotional connection to the home if there is any chance of  him/her buying it.  It is difficult to emotionally connect to blank walls and stark rooms.  But a staged room, one with tasteful furniture and attractive art and accessories, is a room that buyers will be drawn to and will be able to envision living in.  The picture below is the same room as the image above.  Which would you be more attracted to?

2.  Furniture can help buyers understand the size of a room.  When empty, a 10′ x 12′ room looks the same as a 12′ x 14′ room, yet it is actually 40% larger.  If a buyer isn’t sure whether or not their king size bed will fit in that master bedroom, they will move on.  Why not SHOW the buyer that a king size bed will fit?  Rooms that are empty appear smaller than they really are.  Only by adding the furniture can the buyer see how much space there really is.

3.  Staging helps buyers envision how to arrange furniture in the space.  Many homes today have open floor plans.  Though beautiful, so much space can be intimidating to many buyers.  They can’t envision where their furniture would go.  By staging the space, you have helped the buyer to envision how they could use the space.  They no longer feel confused but rather excited to see just how their family could enjoy the home.

4.  Staging can take attention away from minor imperfections.  In an empty room, every little fault is exposed.  The drywall isn’t perfectly smooth, the molding doesn’t fit perfectly or the carpet might have a slight bump.  Rather than looking at the whole room and how it would work for their family, they get bogged down looking at some negative details of the space.  By staging, you have helped the buyer look at the room, not the small imperfections.

Don’t let your listing sit and sit because it is a lifeless, empty shell.  A small investment in home staging will bring life back into your home and potential buyers walking through the door.