People who are really into watching the various shows on the Home and Garden Network are probably familiar with the concept of flipping and selling a house. Various entrepreneurs will buy a house for as low as possible, make some adjustments, and then sell it for a profit; usually before the first mortgage payment comes due.

There are several different steps taken when the house is flipped, but one of the most important is showing the renovated home to potential customers. Often this step includes importing rented furniture to the house, to give it an ambiguous "lived in" look. This is known as staging, and it’s one of the hottest trends among home sellers today.

The reason why staging is always included as far as these entrepreneurial endeavours are concerned is fairly simple: staging works. In this article, we will take a look at why staging works, but first let’s take a look at how it can make a difference in selling your home.

Where staging makes a difference in the sale

When it comes right down to it, there are only two really important factors in selling your home.

Selling your home as quickly as possible

Selling your home for the highest possible amount

And it looks as though staging is a major factor in accomplishing both of these goals. What is it about a staged house for sale that makes it so appealing to buyers?

Reasons why staging works

To understand why staging works, you have to realize how very important visuals are in the human mind when it comes to selling a product. Just think about those ridiculously high priced meals you see at really nice restaurants, made by professional chefs. They are not filling, and nine times out of ten they really don’t beat a nice steak for taste. The difference is in the presentation; if it looks like a work of art, people are willing to pay artsy prices for it.

The same holds true for most marketing endeavours. Just look at our cultural obsession with beauty; people love their visuals, and real estate is no different.

A staged home takes advantage of this basic marketing principle by showing off the home in its most ideal state. Potential buyers can imagine themselves living in the home, but they do not have to strip away the visual clutter of another family’s life in order to do so. By using basic furniture and other touches, even down to flowers, a staged home gives off strong visual signals that buyers can’t seem to resist.

The result is a home that sells much faster than one that is not staged, and most of the time at asking price to boot. So staging your home is definitely a good move towards your real estate goals!