When it comes time to sell your home, did you know that one of the most effective ways to bring in the highest price is professional home staging? That’s right. Not online advertising, not dazzling lawn signs, not even a batch of those scrumptious, fresh baked cookies that real estate agents set out to lure open housers with. It’s home staging, which gets right to the heart of the matter and highlights what buyers are buying: your home.

Home staging acts to put your home’s best foot forward for potential buyers to see. Professional home stagers and interior designers typically help their home-selling clients and real estate agents by providing temporary changes to or the replacement of key furniture, paint, landscaping, fine art and other accessories to make sure the updated décor enables a variety of buyers to easily see themselves in your home. Home stagers also make certain that critical minor home repairs are made that keep their eyes on the prize and hearts at ease.

Nowadays, over 60% of homebuyers want homes that are turn-key, move-in ready, so the closer a home stager elegantly presents this, the faster a home will sell. Great home stagers keep up with aspirational trends and essentially make a house a home that is ready to go.

We know that your home will look beautiful when you choose the right home stager, but what are the ultimate financial benefits you’ll reap when you make the choice to hire one? Well, the faster a home sells, often the higher price a seller gets. Staged homes routinely sell in a mere 1 to 2 weeks, whereas unstaged homes take up to 3 months on average. That’s 6-10 times faster when staged! More importantly, professionally staged home selling prices are up to 17% greater than those that are not staged at all – or even DIY staged.

You only have one chance to make a good first impression and often the first buyer is your very best. Since over 90% of potential buyers first see your home on popular real estate websites, like Zillow, Trulia or even the MLS, a professionally staged and photographed home will potentially make or break the first wave of interested parties. Great staged homes always look better in advertising and listings.

By enlisting a pro home stager, you can effectively outshine the competition that does not stage and avoid painful price reductions that often accompany unstaged homes for sale. When you do stage, you and your real estate agent are a lot more likely to bring a broad range of buyers and show your home with regularity right out of the gate.

What does a home stager cost to help you make the sale in record time for top dollar? On average, most pro home stagers charge a few thousand dollars for their time and design expertise. This includes a comprehensive consultation and budget assessment, space planning, furnishings and material selection, as well as hiring contractors and providing project management. Pro home stagers also have developed important relationships with both contractors and suppliers, which can save you a lot of money and unpleasant surprises. Typically, the total staging fee is a small fraction of the substantial additional money you’ll make on the selling price of your home.

So, when it’s time for you to sell, be sure to engage the expertise of a professional home stager. It’ll be well worth it in every single way for that glorious sale day!