Garnering top dollar for a home is always a seller’s goal.  However, many sellers fail to look at their home in the eyes of the buyer.  If you’re looking to list or still waiting to sell, staging can be the difference between a timely and top dollar offer vs. a wait and see consideration.

The goal is to have potential buyers visualize themselves and their family in your home. Barriers for buyers, or what I call “negative triggers,” include clutter, too many personal items and photographs, colorful walls that may may add to your overall design and furnishings but detract from anyone else seeing their home in yours.  We all carry emotional connections and memories in our homes, but when you get ready to sell, it's important to shift from the seller mindset to the buyer mindset.

If you were the buyer walking into your home as is, how would you feel? Assuming you have looked at other properties, what attracted you to the ones you liked and deterred you from the ones you passed on? Outside of price, how a home shows is the number one criteria for making or walking away from an offer.

The ROI on Staging

Not only will more brokers show your home to potential buyers due to its appeal (a good broker will do open houses before or at the time the house goes on market), but proper staging also provides an opportunity to sell your home for more money.  Professionally staged homes in Eagle County typically get  5%-10% more on average, even factoring in the cost of staging.

Pricing It Right

While neighborhood comps are a good place to start, assessing  a home’s value and the appropriate list price is based on many other considerations. These include views, both from inside and outside the home, property size, additional features such as wine coolers and cellars, high end appliances and design features, spa and hot tub areas, flex space, garage and storage areas, and access to neighborhood/club amenities and services.

The majority of buyers are looking for updated, move-in properties. Although buyers can be initially drawn to the appeal of owning a mountain property, most of these buyers want clean lines, contemporary finishes, and clutter free spaces that work for their family dynamics. Open air rooms as well as indoor/outdoor living spaces are commanding top dollar.

If your home does not have these features, white paint, new flooring, updated lighting and decluttering can go a long way to create more openness with a high ROI. Other considerations include updated bedding, accent pillows, reducing artwork, removing personal photos, renting more contemporary furniture and area rugs, and clearing countertops.

Even dated homes can be updated to achieve this – at a fraction of the cost relative to ROI.

An ROI Story

A case in point is a home at 2606 Eagle Ranch Rd. The seller was older and did not see the value in having his home being staged. The home had fantastic bones and incredible windows but was 20 years old and dated, with rustic furniture, a bumper pool table in the great room, and a bathroom with dark green toilet and matching sinks, among other out-of-style features. Virtually every potential buyer commented that the home needed a total interior makeover or gut.

The offers we received were much lower than the owner chose to accept. Once he decided to stage the home, we had rave reviews. Buyers commented on the big, beautiful windows instead of being stuck on the flooring material. To address the dark green bathroom features, we made a poster board with a picture of an updated bathroom and anticipated budget that helped buyers envision the space for themselves. The home sold for $350,000 more than the previous offers we had received with a total staging investment of $4,500.

UPSIDE TO STAGING

• Creates more inviting space
• Ties the home together
• Neutralizes distracting features
• Provides a fresh new look
• Shows well in pictures and open houses
• ROI – will typically sell up to $200K or more when staged
• Turnkey process – your broker should take care of the logistics
• Inquire about broker programs that provide and arrange staging and get reimbursed at closing
• Potential to re-sell if purchased as a furniture package for the home

DOWNSIDE TO STAGING

• Cost can add an extra $3,500-$7,000/ month, which typically includes:
• Furniture
• Moving furniture in and out
• Designer

Most importantly, do not try to do this on your own, unless you’re a professional designer. Find an experienced broker with vision, experience, and knowledge to identify what the market is looking for and how to efficiently transform your spaces to appeal to these buyers.

Amy Pates is a leading real estate and luxury home broker with Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties and consecutive four-year winner of the brand’s prestigious Top Performer award since 2020.  She brings 30+ years’ experience in residential, ranch, land, and commercial acquisition, development, staging, marketing, and sales and property management. Amy can be reached at 970-977-0483 or amy@rockymountainred.com.