Marketing is a powerful selling tool, used to sell everything from cat food to cars. Marketing is appealing to the emotions, the senses and the wallet, so you may ask, how can it sell your home ?
It’s a visual world. We are bombarded everyday with images. Some fabulous, some forgettable.
To sell a product, you have to appeal to what makes the consumer sit up and notice your product over the competition.
You have seconds to grab a buyer’s attention.
A home is the largest purchase the majority of people will make in a lifetime.
Why spend their hard earned money on your home when their is a similar one down the street.
So, there is one word I haven’t use yet, the “S” word, staging. Staging isn’t just filling a house with some pretty stuff. Staging a home takes all the above and more into consideration. Staging is marketing a property, just like any other product and the stakes are much higher. When you decide to sell your home, it is no longer yours. You have to look at your property as a commodity and make it appeal to the buying public. Failing to do so in this visual world, unless you don’t mind lingering on the market and receiving unrealistic offers, is a marketing mistake. You have to add the wow to get the attention of jaded consumers.
To be successful in marketing a property you need:
An experienced Realtor, who will price your home realistically for the market
Marketing in quality images, video and social media posts
Presentation that will make your property stand out from you competition
A home stager who will market your property for it’s target buyer and tell you honestly, from experience, what will and what won’t appeal to today’s buyers
The 2017 Real Estate staging year at Prep has had a busy start. Our staging consults are way up from last year, as more and more Real Estate professionals and homeowners are beginning to catch on to the value of a staging consult when selling a property.
Too often seen as an extra expense, staging is now being recognized for the value it brings, in time on the market, internet exposure and return on your investment. Online images are the “make or break” when a busy home buyer shops the internet for a new home. A “no thanks” is just a click away so don’t be fooled into thinking your home is “ok” to list on the MLS. A home owner can’t be objective when it comes to their “palace” You may have put time , money and sweat into getting your home ready for listing but does it have the look today’s buyers are looking for.
Even professionally decorated homes often need tweaks by an experienced staging professional. We do this everyday, we know what buyers are looking for, what turns them off and what it takes to get your home on their “must see” list.
All the homes above and many more have sold this Spring. Many of them had just a 2 hour staging consult and e mailed report. All had an experienced Realtor who is social media savvy, professional photography and serious, “do what it takes” owners who trusted Prep Home Staging to advise them on what is required to attract buyers in today’s Real Estate Market.
Good furniture arrangement is the secret to making a room look it’s best.Yet, most people struggle with what goes where. Have you ever stood at the doorway to a bedroom, or the center of your living room, and wondered, “What’s wrong with this room?” You may sense that the arrangement is awkward, but you’re not sure why. Every room has an ideal arrangement for home staging, and you can discover it by avoiding the most common mistakes.
Too much furniture.
Select your best pieces. It’s better to have a few impressive pieces of furniture, than a roomful of some good and some not-so-good pieces. Keep a few larger pieces (sofa, upholstered chairs, beds, bookcases) unless they are in poor condition or very dated. Colors and styles from a few decades ago don’t make your home look fresh and exciting.
Remember that house hunters are looking at other homes and will compare your home to properties with new and stylish furniture that left them with a positive impression.
If a room is too crowded, the eye doesn’t know where to rest
Not enough furniture.
Since most people own more furniture than they use, sparse furnishing is more common when a home is unoccupied. When selling a home, key rooms should be staged. House hunters see an unfurnished room as a problem room, one that raises questions. “Did the sellers run out of money? Maybe they’ll accept a low ball offer.”
An empty room also draws attention to minor flaws in a property which would normally not be an issue in a furnished room.
Put some large pieces of furniture in that empty room. If it still looks a little barren, an area rug can unify the grouping that you do have. Add some free standing shelving along the wall or as a room divider. Large artwork will help to warm and define a space.
Buyer’s need to see the full potential of a room. Bedrooms need to be presented as functional spaces and not just an afterthought.
Avoid poor traffic flow
Make sure home buyers can wander effortlessly through all your rooms. The traffic pattern should not pass through a conversation area or snake its way through the room. The walkway should be obvious, and it should look wide and unencumbered. From the entrance of the room, most of the room should be visible, and the door should open wide.
No traffic flow here. Hurdle your way into the room! Some beautiful features in this room being blocked by large, bulky furniture.
Give a room purpose, the one it was meant for
Each room needs to self explanatory. Will your Realtor have to say, “And this is the Master bedroom” or will it be obvious because you’ve staged it with appropriate furnishings and accessories.
Create a focal point
Every room needs something big that the eye goes to, something that gives a message of comfort and quality. Make your focal point something that sells your home, even if it is not part of the sale, such as a stunning piece of artwork or a well arranged seating area. A view is an excellent focal point, so arrange the furniture to showcase it. When the room has no existing focal point, you’ll need to create one.
Art serves as a focal point when a room doesn’t have many features.
Delete too much small stuff
It’s common to see homes with too many small pieces of furniture such as chairs and side tables. Try removing items that don’t contribute to the look you’re aiming for. Unify by using similar colours and tones.
Don’t spread furniture out too much
After you’ve decided what the function of the room is, group the large pieces accordingly – chair at the desk, table in front of sofa, or night stands at either side of bed, for example. Then, add the smaller furnishings so they sit close to the larger ones. Don’t place a tiny pedestal table by itself in a corner, or plop a small bookcase all alone at the end of the room. Thinks pairs and trios.
And if in doubt leave it out.
Less is more when staging to sell.
Staging isn’t decorating, it is marketing to show your home in it’s best possible images.
Prep Home Staging services include furniture rentals, accessory and artwork rentals and cost effective Home Staging Consults with an emailed report.
Hiring a home stylist to prep your home before selling is no longer just an option…….. it is a necessity.
Buyers don’t want boring. They want to see how a home will function for their needs and family life and many homeowners don’t have the vision or expertise to market a home in a way that will excite and entice a buyer to fall in love on the first showing.
Whether repurposing a client’s furniture and accessories or starting with an echoing empty space, a home stylist uses furniture placement, colour and texture to tell the story a home buyer wants to hear. Failing to think it’s not all about the buyer and resisting changing wall colours, fixtures and furniture is minimizing the chance of attracting the right buyer who will pay top dollar for your property.
You may be competing with new homes who have a staged model home with on trend furnishings and accessories. Home builders are now recognizing the value of investing in staging, to sell a lifestyle. Your lifestyle has to appeal to a buyer and staging sets the scene.
A home stylist will assess your property and compile a plan to market your home to the target buyer, so trust your home stylist, we do this for a living and as they say, sometimes you have to spend a little money to make some.
