Home staging can influence buyers’ perceptions of a home and even motivate them to pay more, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2015 Profile of Home Staging, a survey of more than 2,300 REALTORS® representing buyers and sellers.

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Eighty-one percent of REALTORS® who represent buyers say that staged homes make it easier for their home buyers to visualize a property as their future home. Forty-six percent of buyer agents also reported that staging makes their buyers more willing to tour a home they viewed online, and 45 percent say that buyers tend to view the value of the home more positively if it is decorated to buyers’ tastes.

Twenty-eight percent of agents said their buyers are even more willing to overlook other property faults if a home is staged, according to NAR’s survey.

Buyer agents also say that staging can potentially influence how much their buyers are willing to offer for a home. According to the survey, thirty-two percent of buyer agents surveyed say that staged homes increase the dollar value buyers are willing to offer for a home by 1 percent to 5 percent; 16 percent said it could increase offers by 6 percent to 10 percent.

However, not everyone chooses to stage a home in prepping it for sale. Forty-four percent of seller agents say they only suggest that sellers declutter and fix property faults, and they do not recommend that their clients should professionally stage the home.

Indeed, about 34 percent of seller agents surveyed say they stage all the homes they list; 13 percent stage only “difficult” homes to sell; and 4 percent only stage high-priced homes they list, according to the NAR survey.

Here are additional findings from the NAR survey:

• The median dollar value to stage a home: $675 per home
• Among homes that are staged, here's how it is often paid for: 62 percent of sellers’ agents offer the home staging servicing to sellers; 39 percent say that the sellers pay for staging prior to the home being listed; 10 percent of sellers pay for staging after the home is sold; and 3 percent of agents’ firms pay for the home staging service.
• The three most important rooms to be staged for buyers: living room, kitchen, and master bedroom.

Source: Realtor Magazine Daily News