Inflated or unrealistic expectations among prospective homebuyers have long been a cause for complaint among real estate agents, and a new survey shows just how widespread it could be.

The National Association of Realtors 2021 Profile of Home Staging shows that 1 in 10 buyers nationwide believe homes should “look the way they do in TV shows,” and 68 percent of Realtors surveyed reported that their buyers were disappointed by how homes they saw appeared, compared to those seen on real estate TV shows.

NAR based its findings on a survey of 2,347 Realtors from among a randomly-selected sample of 58,300 active NAR members.

Many Realtors – 71 percent – also reported that they believed homebuyers developed unrealistic or increased expectations of the homebuying process. Only 27 percent said that real estate TV shows created more educated buyers and sellers.

“The magic of television can make a home transformation look like it happened in a quick 60-minute timeframe, which is an unrealistic standard,” NAR 2021 President Charlie Oppler said in a statement. “I would advise buyers and sellers alike that before house hunting or before listing, they connect with a trusted Realtor to get a reasonable sense of what’s out there and an idea of what to expect.”

When it comes to staging a property, 23 percent of buyers’ agents said that home staging raised the dollar value offered between 1 percent and 5 percent, compared to similar homes on the market that hadn’t been staged. Nearly all respondents said they staged the living room, kitchen and master bedroom, but that percentage dropped to just over half when it came to the bathroom and one-third when it came to outdoor space. Only 1 in 5 respondents staged the guest bedroom or children’s bedroom.

“Staging a home helps consumers see the full potential of a given space or property,” Jessica Lautz, NAR’s vice president of demographics and behavioral insights, said in a statement. “It features the home in its best light and helps would-be buyers envision its various possibilities.”