3 Reasons Why Staging a Vacant Home Is Critical

By Audra Slinkey, Home Staging Resource

When you see before-and-after photos of spaces not staged versus staged, it’s easy to quickly become a believer in home staging! Vacant spaces, in particular, absolutely need to be staged for these 3 HUGE reasons…

An empty room EASILY SHOWS its flaws.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of strutting around in my bikini these days … are you? Why? Because with very little on, you can see every flaw on my body. Empty rooms are no different!

No room is perfect and empty ones especially are like walking around naked. Look at this room below which in its naked condition appears dark, dreary, small and what is that THING under the window?

Buyers walking into this space would immediately think it’s far too dark and notice the under window contraption. Then, they would walk out.

But look what happens when this room becomes professional staged by a certified home stager (Stephanie White Interiors)…

Staged by Stephanie White Interiors

If you were not a “staging believer” before … I bet you are now! You don’t notice the under-window contraption, darkness, or dreariness in a room staged and styled with warmth, texture, and well … fully dressed.

This room was brought back from the dead, literally!

2. An empty room almost ALWAYS looks smaller than it really is.

People have no imaginations and let’s face it, how could buyers intuitively even know if furniture will fit into a space. Empty rooms almost always appear smaller than they really are because without furniture … it has no frame of reference.

This empty room had doorways everywhere and a small fireplace that would make buyers feel like their furniture would absolutely not fit. More importantly, buyers would have no idea how to do a furniture layout in this tricky living space. Why allow your rooms to look smaller than they really are?

Now, take a look at that same space with furniture …

By cleverly floating the furniture around the focal point and creating a seating area, Stephanie leaves nothing up to the buyer’s imagination.

Finally, here’s the number one reason it’s critical to stage an empty or vacant home…

2. Empty rooms are cold and lifeless (i.e. not exactly an emotion you want buyers to feel!)

Imagine the cost of putting up a lifeless, cold, sterile photo online of your empty home! In our 2018 staging statistics of over 4,200 professionally staged homes, the average increase in value to the home due to professional staging was more than 8 percent.

Vacant homes typically take twice as long to sell and go for even less than unstaged, “occupied” homes. So, imagine the true cost of not staging a vacant home!

What emotion do you feel when you look at this empty, unstaged room?

3. Every room gives a stager the opportunity to add “emotional connections” to the space, so that buyers fall in love, aspire to live there and can actually imagine their family in that home.

Staging is merchandising and marketing in its purest form. Home stagers learn who the buyer demographic is and what they envision for a home will draw on those emotions with a carefully styled room…

Staged by Stephanie White Interiors

Can you believe this is the same dreary room you saw in the photo above? Yep, that’s the power of staging and the importance of not leaving anything up to the buyer’s imagination.

For a quick guide on how to understand home stager pricing and proposals, check out: How to Understand Home Staging Pricing and Proposals: Do’s and Don’ts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Audra Slinkey is president and founder of the Home Staging Resource, a home staging and redesign certification training company. Slinkey’s training program has been awarded the Most Innovative Product of the Year Award three times. She serves on the board of the Real Estate Staging Association. Slinkey is also a published author and international speaker on staging, color, and design. She is proud and privileged to help create and mentor thousands of staging and design businesses across the globe. To find home stagers that do the kind of work featured above, visit Directory of Certified Home Stagers and Designers.