If you have a property ready for sale, you’re probably wondering whether it’s better to leave it empty—“Look at all the available space!”—or to make rooms look lived in—“What charming napkin rings!” A well-staged home with quality furniture and styling helps buyers to easily picture their kids, pets, partner or friends being comfortable in the space.

In other words, if you opt for home staging, you enable buyers to paint a better mental picture of how they can specifically benefit from living in your property. Home staging brings out your property’s potential and helps people to make a well-informed decision.  

Intrigued? Below are details on how styling your home for potential buyers can make the selling process a breeze.  

Before we dive in, let’s understand exactly what home staging is.

What is Home Staging?  

A well-staged home is decorated with items or furniture that appeal to a broad group of potential buyers. Trained professionals who specialize in styling homes offer these services to increase a property’s sale value. More than 82 percent of buyers’ agents believe that home staging helps buyers visualize an empty property as their future home.

Home stagers may bring curtains, paints, appliances, and other decorative elements to create a warm and welcoming look. They’re working to present an otherwise ‘soulless’ empty home as the perfect living space. (Think of staging as the frosting on a cake. Those swirls and icing flowers may not make it taste better, but they may tempt you to take a bite.)

Benefits of Selling a Well-Staged Home

1) Buyers Get the Glimpse of a Lifestyle

Amanda Wiss, a professional organizer from Urban Clarity, stated that the exploding trend of online home shopping is sellers’ main reason to opt for home staging.

According to Wiss, selling a well-staged home is easier than selling an empty one. Buyers walk in and feel comfortable when a house is staged. Stylish decor like curtains and a centerpiece give a hospitable ambiance. A professional home stylist has both vision and vast experience in making homes of all sizes and styles appealing to potential customers.

2) Impacts the Buyer’s Decision Optimally

Potential buyers have a habit of looking at every part of a property. By staging the house, the idea is to help buyers imagine themselves in the house. It can optimally impact their decision as they walk around the property.

3) Better Listing Pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words, and you could argue that those in online listings are worth many thousands…of dollars. Effective staging creates attractive pictures that almost tell a story about the life that can be lived within (and beyond) a home’s four walls. Staged houses tend to pique the interest of those scrolling more than vacant properties. Potential buyers take a first glimpse at the listing photos, so your aesthetic, high-quality pictures can be the thing that initially persuades them to click, and to then schedule a face-to-face tour.

Offers Welcoming Vibes while Hiding the Minor Defects

By now, you get the point: empty houses = unwelcoming and cold. People visiting them are unlikely to get a warm vibe, which may create a negative impression. Moreover, minor defects like a tilted ceiling, crack in the roof, or a carpet stain are much, much easier to spot in an empty property.  

A well-decorated house with furniture, then, has another strategic purpose: it conceals a lot of things. Without any covering, even the most minor of defects become prominent and may dissuade a buyer from purchasing the property (or lower their potential offer).

To Stage or Not to Stage?

Overall, it is up to you whether you want to invest in home staging or roll the dice and leave your property empty. However, the benefits mentioned above make it clear that home staging can brings out the very best of your property and attracts buyers faster.