I'm finding that when agents suggest to sellers that they stage their empty property, sellers initially reject the idea even when their property has been sitting on the market for some time. A few months later, the sellers come back to me to stage their unsold property.
Once we stage it and relaunch it, it looks like a completely new release. Even a beautifully renovated property -- as this was -- may look drab and unappealing to an online buyer. Empty properties get far fewer hits than staged properties, and therefore far fewer enquiries and fewer people at show days. All this means they take much longer to sell - on average three times longer.
The before and after photos of this property are like chalk and cheese. The seller got the full asking price after staging, but had had to pay several months of holding costs and suffer a price reduction.
Holding costs add up
Delaying staging costs the seller considerably more than if staged from the start. That's because of the holding costs which include the bond repayments, plus the rates and taxes or levy, plus any insurance to keep the property secure. It all this adds up.
Reductions after three months are common
Not to mention the typical price reduction after a property's been on the market for three months. That's usually a 5-10% reduction on the asking price. On a R2 million apartment, that's R100 000 to R200 000 lost.
Check out these numbers
The table below shows is based on a R3 million property, with an assumed staging cost of R10 000. (The actual staging cost depends on the size of the property, how long you want to stage for etc).
It's clear that the seller would have benefitted by staging earlier! If you're umming and aahing about whether to stage, do the wise thing, and do it.