What Sells a Property Quicker – Price Reduction or Staging?
The UK’s housing market currently seems to be a buyer’s one, with prices either flat or seeing small falls. And that trend appears to be even more marked in London and the south-east.
If you find yourself with a place that isn’t selling, there are a number of things you could try, including dropping the price, changing your estate agent, renting out instead or looking into options such as auctions or using a house-buying firm (which could mean you make significantly less on the sale).
Many people will tell you to reduce price if your property isn’t selling. And there may be situations where this works, for example if somewhere is genuinely overpriced or if the market has changed substantially since the listing. But price may not be the real reason you’re not securing a sale. Mortgage rates could be a factor, or your local area could be saturated with properties like yours.
Equally, and importantly, the lack of offers could be down to presentation. For example the photos in your online listing could be poor, as could ‘kerb appeal’ or the attractiveness of a place when viewed from the street. After all, first impressions really do matter, and prospective purchasers make almost instant decisions. Plus they may be visiting multiple similar properties, so yours needs to stand out.
Common presentational issues
Viewers may struggle to forge an emotional connection with a house or apartment if:
Awkward layouts mean they struggle to picture themselves living there
Spaces are too cluttered or empty
The place just feels too ‘lived in’ so, again, it’s hard to visualise it becoming someone else’s home
Room seem smaller than anticipated
Clashing styles or dated décor
And once there are poor photos and minimal engagement, perhaps coupled with a price reduction, regaining momentum becomes more challenging. Even after a property has been listed, staging can alter buyer perception without lessening value.
The problem with price reductions
There are more of these than you may have realised. Bring your price down, for example, and people often assume there’s something wrong with your home, or that you’re under pressure. So offers may be lower and negotiations trickier.
Not only that, but price drops are permanent, so you’re effectively giving away money you’ll never see again. You won’t be able to put the price back up in the future.
What’s more, a home purchase is an emotional decision. Bringing the price down won’t fix that root problem or mean viewers can suddenly make a personal connection, which would make cost less of an obstacle. For reductions to work, purchasers have to already want the place.
Why is home staging different?
Home staging allows potential buyers to appreciate the available space and removes the barriers to them picturing themselves living there. It maximises the use of rooms, improves flow throughout the property, demonstrates proportion and scale accurately and optimises natural daylight.
Plus it means that viewers don’t have to work as hard, for example when it comes to wondering whether a room is big enough or could be used as a dining space. Staging removes the uncertainty that leads many viewers to walk away.
It also boosts buyer confidence, with purchasers linking strong presentation with better maintenance and fewer hidden issues, resulting in quicker decisions.
So will home staging lead to a better sale than reducing the price?
Research shows that you typically get a better, higher offer via home staging than you would from price reduction. There are various reasons why quality, professional staging draws serious buyers, while a reduced price without it may get more viewing but not better offers:
Photos tend to do better online
You get more viewings more speedily and those who come spend longer in the property – often there are multiple, competing viewers
You put yourself in a stronger negotiating position, plus there’s a greater sense of urgency
A staged home justifies the asking price, and feels complete. You reduce the odds of offers which are too low, requests for discounts or post-survey renegotiations. So you protect asking price and, therefore, the true value of your home. Additionally, staging costs far less than a price reduction, so it’s a strategic investment in your home, your most valuable asset.
Even where you’ve unavoidably had to reduce what you ask for your house or flat, staging makes the new value work harder while improving buyer perception and ensuring price doesn’t stagnate again. So it should be something you use before considering bringing the price down.
In conclusion, if you want to sell as quickly and as profitably as possible, staging almost always wins over a price reduction by driving viewings and offers and enhancing initial impressions.
So if your home isn’t selling, perhaps the real question isn’t whether the price is right but whether the place feels like somewhere you’d want to live. Professional home staging could well provide the answer.
Talk to McGlashans Interiors
At McGlashans Interiors we’re the central London home staging experts, and have been creating exquisitely presented properties here for decades, working for vastly differing clients in hugely varied settings. We know exactly what sells in each part of the city.
We’ll do an initial site visit and design our vision for the place to your brief. Then, once we’ve procured what we need, we can complete the staging, including all the finishing touches. Next it’s time for some high-quality professional photography before you show people round and then celebrate a successful let or sale.
So get in touch today before your rush to bring your price down. We’ll gladly answer any questions you may have.