The Growing Trend of Home Staging: Transforming the UK Real Estate Market - Edition 7
In recent years, the concept of home staging has gained significant traction in the UK market. As home sellers strive to maximise the appeal of their property and stand out in a competitive landscape, the demand for professional staging services has surged.
As a business navigating this fast-growing industry, we have been intrigued by the staging developments of other countries, both near and far. We have attended conferences in Lisbon, New Orleans and Brisbane with a hope of uncovering some of the differences in real estate marketing across the world and gain an understanding of how this impacts the use of staging.
What have we found?
While the UK, Australia and US home staging industries all share the same fundamental goal of enhancing property appeal to expedite sales, the home selling model is vastly different. The level of awareness and acceptance of home staging in other English-speaking countries, is way ahead of the UK. For example, most US homeowners see staging as a non-negotiable in the sales process and expect their realtor to recommend the best professional stager to maximise their sale.
In the UK, where professional photos, videos and virtual tours have become increasingly important, staging plays a crucial role. It is impossible for even the best photographer or videographer to showcase a fabulous lifestyle in a vacant, dated or cluttered property. However, cost is still the biggest drawback for clients to commission professional staging.
In the US and Australia, property marketing methods and the speed of a sale going under contract are the elements which mean staging is a more cost-effective marketing tool. A marketing strategy which includes a home information pack being completed ahead of listing, 4-6 weeks of full-on marketing with staging in place followed by a couple of open house events is key. When multiple interested parties view the property simultaneously at an open house, it creates competition between buyers and the property is likely to attract high offers quickly. In countries where the offer is quickly legally binding, the staging furniture can be taken away knowing that the chances of a fall-through are very small.
What can we do differently in the UK to make staging as cost-effective as possible?
Whilst changing the current UK estate agency model isn’t something we can achieve overnight, we can make positive changes. At Lemon and Lime, Elaine and the team have created a 6-week option where we work with motivated estate agents to create an aggressive marketing approach across multiple platforms followed by an open weekend. For suitable properties, this intensifies the marketing and limits the cost of furniture rental meaning staging is a viable option for more sellers.
We know this option will be attractive to many of the agents selling homes in the premium market, please get in touch to discuss! hello@lemonandlimeinteriors.co.uk 01332 987740
