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Today’s super-heated market is making home staging a tough sell, say agents, nonetheless arguing that it’s  essential to winning maximum sale price.

“If you spent $5,000 staging your home, it could get you another $50,000 on offer night,” David Fleming, a Toronto real estate agent and author, wrote on his TorontoRealtyBlog.com.

His advice comes even as CREA reports home sales climbed 10.6 per cent in September, with the average sale soaring 5.9 per cent to $408,795. That’s not traditionally the market that recommends staging, say agents.
But the fundamental reasons for staging are the same, regardless of market conditions, say advocates.

“You stage a property in order to drive buyer traffic and show the maximum potential of the space,” Chandra Bradley, CEO of Home Staging Visuals, tells REP. “As a result, you tend to sell faster for higher.”

Staging also helps potential buyers to see the space in a better light. For example, if potential buyers walk into an empty bedroom, they might not believe that a queen-sized bed can fit in the space, Bradley explains, but if that bed is in the room, they can see that.

Staging is also a reflection of the lightning-fast decision making of clients, who are increasingly inclined to place bids on a property before even seeing it in person. It’s for the same reason that staging the outside space is important.

“With landscaping, you need to think about colour and the exterior being well groomed. You also need to think about function in the backyard,” she says. “You want to romance the buyer, so you’re really selling the lifestyle.”