Photo from Lauren Keller with LRES Marketing

Originally Posted On: https://www.bydesignsa.com/blog/staging-in-san-antonio-and-austin-hot-market

The number of houses for sale in San Antonio and Austin is just not enough to keep pace with demand from buyers. The average days on market in San Antonio right now is about 33 days–and only 16 days in Austin!

With homes flying off the market, real estate agents may be less interested in staging their listings. This makes sense. Staging companies that serve San Antonio and Austin, like BY Design Home Staging, have built their businesses on statistics like “staged homes sell 88% faster.”

This statistic was compelling when the average home took a few months to sell. But, South Texas listings are going under contract the first weekend, so even 88% faster is not a reason to stage.

Staging is not just about how fast a home goes under contract. Your home is likely your biggest investment and getting the highest sales price possible is only achievable with home staging. Here are 6 reasons why staging is essential in the San Antonio and Austin seller’s market.

1. Buyers fall in love with staged homes–and that’s important!

In San Antonio and Austin, the team at BY Design Home Staging uses staging design strategies to help home buyers visualize their dream life in the homes they stage. An example of this is that BY Design uses a lot of symmetry in primary bedrooms. This shows buyers that their lives will be dreamy, romantic, and balanced in this new home.

When a buyer LOVES a home, they are much more likely to pay more for it than if they just need to jump on the first one that checks some of their boxes. Staging increases the perceived value of the home.

“My sellers and I have been thrilled with the results we have seen from working with Julie & Debbie at BY Design. We have gotten better feedback on the MLS photos and more showings!” –Mark Stillings, Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper Realtors

Photo from Joey Solis at Maverick Studio Photography

2. Staged listings are more likely to close.

Homes are going under contract quickly in San Antonio and Austin, but we are seeing more of those contracts fall through. Buyers are feeling a lot of pressure to make quick and competitive offers, even if it meant they had to compromise some of their wishlist. But when a buyer is not in love with the home, they are more likely to back out when they get a bad inspection or low appraisal.

Here are two common scenarios:

• You decide not to stage your listing, and you still got it under contract quickly. But the house next door goes on the market during the option period. The neighbors hired BY Design Home Staging. The homes themselves are nearly identical, but the staged home looks like it belongs in a magazine. Even though the staged home has a higher list price, the buyers looooove this new listing and back out of their contract.
• The inspection report came back and the house needs a new roof. The home was staged and the buyer has been dreaming of hosting Thanksgiving in that dining room! The emotional connection to the home (that only staging can make), means buyers are much less likely to back out of the deal or ask for concessions and repairs.

In a hot real estate market, when a contract falls through and a home goes back on the market, buyers assume there is something majorly wrong with the home.

3. Home staging helps buyers overlook needed repairs.

BY Design’s certified Staging Design Professionals will recommend the most cost-effective updates to get you the highest return on investment for your home. They will also stage the home so that any perceived negatives will be minimized.

Buyers are more willing to overlook property faults if a home is staged, according to the National Association of Realtors® 2021 Profile of Home Staging.

4. Listing photos of staged homes get more views.

Redfin and Zillow are the new “curb appeal.” Instead of driving by and seeing a sign in the yard, more often than not, buyers are first searching online. So, the photos have to be gorgeous. We want the buyer to fall in love and be sold on the home before they even do a viewing.

In order to get a real bidding war going, often buyers need a few days of anticipation after seeing the photos. That time solidifies their desire for the home and their willingness to pay whatever it takes.

Pictures of vacant rooms just don’t build that emotional connection like a staged home!

Pro Tip: It may be tempting to think that virtual staging is the way to go. Sure, the photos will look great and buyers will fall in love. But the letdown of seeing the home vacant at the showing will sour their feelings. The home isn’t as beautiful as they imagined. You don’t want buyers to feel “catfished.”

Photo from BY Design Home Staging

5. BY Design Home Staging makes homes look bigger.

At the top of most home buyer’s wishlists is more space. Empty rooms look smaller than staged rooms. BY Design will bring in furniture and accessories in the right scale for the home.

BY Design has a 20k sq ft warehouse and showroom and a wide range of staging inventory. Their team will pick the perfect furnishings for your listing to complement the style of the home- from modern to farmhouse!

6. The ROI on home staging is more than 400%!

According to the Real Estate Staging Association, with an average investment of 1% of the sale price into staging, approx. 75% of sellers saw an ROI of 5-15% over asking price.

Let’s say the listing is $500,000

1% staging investment = $5,000 staging investment

Sold for 5-15% over asking = $25,000-$75,000 over asking

Less the initial investment of $5,000

That’s a 400%–1,400% return on the STAGING investment!!

When determining the cost of not staging your listing, a recent International Association of Home Staging Professionals Survey showed that the average price reduction was 5 to 20 times more than what the staging investment would have been.

How hot the real estate market is doesn’t really matter.

Regardless of whether it is a seller’s market or a buyers market, staging is a smart investment when selling a home.

In a buyer’s market, staging helps sell homes more quickly. In a seller’s market, staging gets top dollar for the home and decreases the likelihood of the contract falling through.