Q: Should I stage my home before or after I list it for sale?

A. You want to address the condition of your home and have it staged prior to putting it on the market as you only have one chance to make a great first impression. The first 2 weeks will be the busiest for viewings of your property as Real Estate Agents will be notified about the new listing on the market. The buyers coming through your property during the first 2 weeks are the most serious buyers who will view the home. Waiting to stage your home after it has been listed for awhile causes you to lose out on creating the right impression with the initial buyers who viewed your home. This means your home will be on the market for a longer period of time, losing its appeal, interfering with your life and costing you more money. The longer your home sits on the market, potential buyers question why it hasn’t sold yet and are more likely to offer less money for your home.

A study done in 2008 by the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) shows that un-staged homes were previously on the market for an average of 57 days and had not sold. Those same homes were taken off the market and staged, then re-listed. Those properties on average sold after 6 days after they were staged, which is 89% less time on the market.

Be sure to remember that 2008 was statistically a poor year for real estate sales due to the recession. The study done by RESA shows that staging proved to sell properties at a significantly higher rate than non-staged properties, even in a down market.