Yes I said HOOEY! You are making a sad mistake Mr. or Ms. Seller by not paying attention to a trend that 
is now becoming mandatory. Think buyers won't care or don't care how your vacant home shows? Read the stats here.
Now before you say, Oh Lyn, there you go whining again about staging! Yep, I'm not going to stop because it's that important. It's not about how YOU feel, it's about what your buyers will think or do think. Got that? It's about them.
So enough of my mini rant and please read this post from a stager in North Carolina, Randy Larson, who is nice enough to tell us the numbers and stats on what buyers think. I have been saying it for years that buyers react negatively to vacant homes and I feel vindicated by these numbers.
Ok, I'll calm down. Please enjoy the post.
Back in January 2010, at the 2010 Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) Conference, Showhomes.com released the following statistics based on a survey of almost 500 Realtors from all over the country. I wanted to share this information with you.
96% of Realtors say buyers react better to fully staged homes that to vacant homes
94% of Realtors say fully staged homes sell much faster than vacant homes
68% of Realtors say vacant homes take twice as long to sell as fully staged homes
94% of Realtors say vacant homes sell for less money than fully staged homes
-15% -- 63% of Realtors say a vacant home will sell 15% less than a fully staged home
We've begun using these stats in our pitches to homeowners and Realtors and they are really getting people to slow down. Everyone knows that a fully staged home is more attractive, sells much faster and sells faster but when this many professional give their industry input, it presents the need for staging in a whole new way.
It also raises some good questions that those who represent sellers should think about:
If 96% of Realtors say buyers react better to staged homes and 94% of them say staged homes sell faster and 94% say vacant homes sell for far less money than staged homes, is it really professional not to educate your owner about all staging options available to them and do a good job of illustrating the implications of not staging the home?
I believe the real estate market will take a long time to get to 'normal' and that staging is going to play an increasingly important role in how quickly a home sells and how high it sells for in the decade ahead.
What do you think?
Randy L Larson
Certified Professional Home Stager
East Coast Staging & Re-design
910-619-1746
www.ecstaging.com
We miss seeing nicely staged homes and seeing our buyer's eyes light up!
Fantastic stats. Stager is worth the money!
Dean & Sonia: It's nice when you don't hear the words: yuck, ewww, or let's get out of here man!
Travis: Agree
Lyn, I have experienced much the same results you suggest, But in a different test environment. I sell vacation homes the sellers that have decided to leave all the furniture with the sale are easier to sell, even if the buyer intends to throw it all out. People that aren't full time in to real estate just don't see the rooms the same way when they are empty, and that is a negative. Same size, same floor plan same condo the decorated one sells first every time.
Steve: That's an excellent example of what we're suggesting.