Marketing a home for maximum impact

Posted on August 14, 2018March 20, 2023 by Avril Brown

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

It’s all in the details

prepstaging.com

Halifax n.s.

902 489 6162

Related Images:

Spring Market 2017

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Avril Brown

Spring Market Staging Update 2017

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.

Call me today

Avril Brown 902 489 6162

Online images make or break a sale

Posted on February 3, 2013February 6, 2015 by Avril Brown

We all keep hearing over 90% of buyers are searching for their dream home on line . A captive audience,or is it? Bad images don’t entice a buyer, grab their attention or do any listing justice. A great picture should stop a prospective buyer in their tracks enough to investigate that listing further and arrange a viewing. There is no way to get people in the front door if they don’t like the image on the screen. We see it all the time. Agents eager to get a listing on the market snapping a home that is nowhere near ready to be photographed, with a cell phone camera or a good quality camera for that matter. Having a better than average camera doesn’t guarantee good images. It’s not what you have, it’s how you use it! Not marketing a property with all the tools available in this day and age is doing a client a great disservice.

Staging and professional photography has to be seen as a very worthwhile investment. The two go hand in hand. A home can be beautifully staged and ready for buyers but bad lighting and odd angles don’t do it justice in the eyes of a buyer. Having professional pictures done of a home that has not had the trained eye of a Home stager do at least do a consult at the property, is not maximizing the potential of a client’s largest investment.

In the images above you can see the before and after. In the first first image the room has awkward furniture placement and too much has been removed, leaving it sparce and uninviting. Only one section of the room is featured, leaving it to the imagination how much space there really is. Light is poor out and even the wall colour is not true. The second image after the room has been rearranged and a few items from my staging inventory have been added for colour and interest. You can see the whole room, light is balanced and you can see the view outdoors. Some light staging was all that was needed in this home but it made a vast difference. This property was sold within 3 weeks after staging and professional photography.

If you were in the market to buy a home either for yourself or as an investment, ask yourself this: Would the pictures you take draw your attention to the property?

A good picture is worth a thousand buyers.

prepstaging.com

902 489 6162

Related Images:

Home Staging-Investment or an Expense?

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Avril Brown

Home Staging

Investment or an Expense?

This is a question on many a home sellers mind.Here in Halifax the concept of Home Staging is just catching on.Perhaps HGTV has done it’s part in spreading the word about this very valuable marketing tool but it would be safe to say some homeowners and realtors are still skeptical about using this service and laying down some hard earned cash.I don’t blame you,I don’t like parting with money either.The reality though is that home buying has changed.

Buyers expectations are much higher having been elevated by all those TV shows,home decor magazines and designer show homes and the competition, who have grasped the concept of preparing a home for sale.

Sellers have to work harder than ever before to compete in the market and ordinary just does not cut it anymore!

The general rule of thumb is that sellers should invest 1% of their homes value getting it ready for sale.This includes any deferred maintenance,some painting,pre-packing and decluttering…..and then staging to create an inviting presentation with WOW factor.

An average home say $300,000 would take $3,000 to get it to the ready to sell stage.

Sound like a lot ?

Well,consider the alternative if you choose not to spend anything on preparing your home for the market.

A somewhat interested buyer comes along and your home fills their needs almost so they hum and haw a little – they just don’t LOVE the property.They finally decide to put in an offer but they start at $253,000.They are not in love with your home so they won’t pay top dollar.Offers and counter offers go back and forth.It’s at $269,000 and finally they say that’s it – they don’t want to pay another dime.No sale.

A few months go by and your agent suggests lowering your asking price – the typical first price reduction is 10%,so now the asking price is $270,000.Traffic does increase but after being on the market for so long buyers think there is still a deal to be had.An offer comes in for $259,000.

That $3,000 for getting your home ready to put on the market doesn’t sounds so bad after all!

Staging is a wise investment – your home will sell faster and for a higher price plus you will save on the extra expense of utilities,taxes and mortgage payments.

Making a short term investment before your home goes on the market is a decision you will not regret.