Home Staging

6th December 2010

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impressions – Anonymous

At this time of the year many people buy or sell property so that they are settled into their new homes well before the schools open for the new year. This article is not only for those that want to sell their property, but also for those who yearn to add pizzazz to their home or for the property developers who want to show off a completed furnished unit.
Improve your property before you call the estate agent by transforming it into a welcoming appealing product for sale. You want to sell your house in the shortest time, for the highest price and attract the most buyers.
Staging is about making your house a marketable commodity, dressing your home to make the house look bigger, lighter and airier, and is NOT about concealing shortcomings or defects to the buyer or wanting to deceive him, it is merely setting the stage. Enhance its best features and make it a place where anyone would love to live and minimise the bad features at the least expense.

Take a closer look
Take a walk about with a notepad and pen. Be honest and critical like a potential home buyer.

What is the first impression of your home? List anything that you would change.
Look at the best features and see how you can enhance them or how to minimize or improve features, without breaking the bank.
Take time to prepare your house for sale. Work through the house room by room, look at its purpose and architecture and consider what a buyer would want.
Use elbow grease, do the work. Take photos.

Show off your property at its best on the internet and in print

Stagers Secrets to create a beautiful space
There are a number of things you should do beyond cleaning, painting in neutral colours and making minor repairs.

Kerb appeal is very important as it is a buyer’s first impression of the property. The street number must be visible. Tidy up your paving, fences, walls, palisades, shrubs, trees, lawn and plants.
De-clutter: Sort through all your stuff. Pack away or limit personal items. Donate items in good nick that you no longer want. Make a head start on packing. Pack excess items and furniture. Move it into an allocated space in the garage or storage. Maximise storage space – buyers do look into cupboards!
Arrange pieces of furniture in appealing groupings, removing clutter and extra pieces.
Re-use your scatters and throws to their best advantage, OR if you plan to buy new accessories and furniture for your new place, why not use these when showcasing your home.
Display your accessories in creatively
Open up rooms by removing heavy drapes or net curtaining. Air the house, remove odors.
Add focus to a room, either by painting an accent wall or hanging art

Remove or replace items that you want to take along; if the buyer never sees it they won’t want it.

Do you feel overwhelmed? Are you overcome with time constraints, unsure about putting things and colours together, lack creativity to display your collections and paintings to their full potential and feeling that there is just stuff everywhere that detracts from the functionality and aesthetics of your home? Regard this work as an investment and a deposit on your new home and consider getting the professionals in.

A professional organiser / home stager will come for a tour of your home and make suggestions of what needs to be done. You can ask for a written report or a work plan, with deadlines. Some will physically de-clutter your space, organise and pack stuff to go into storage, arrange your furniture into appealing groupings reusing existing furniture and accessories creating aesthetically pleasing and functional environments.
A Handyman / Carpenter to do minor repairs, fixing hinges, hanging art.
A Painter, filling holes and cracks, repainting where necessary, using neutral colours to fit any decor.
A Landscaper / Garden service tidying up the garden, replanting, creating a positive kerb appeal.
A Cleaning Service, cleaning walls, windows and carpets. Removing odours.
An Electrician fixing any electric wiring that is not in order, updating or changing light fittings, providing an electrical certificate.
A Plumber, seeing to any plumbing problems.

Home Staging Benefits All

The Seller:

When all is done, you are left with a well maintained home, you are proud to show, ready for the buyer to move in.
You will attract more potential buyers. Sell faster for the right price.
Have less stress when moving home as you have done your sorting, organising and purging that you have been meaning to and have less open house days to prepare for.
Have packed things for your move.

Start fresh in you new house as you have edited your belongings.

The Buyer:

Can see what they are buying and are not distracted by clutter and personal items.
Can visualise themselves living in the space, as they can see that there is space for their family and their belongings.
Have peace of mind knowing that repairs and updates have been done, no need to invest more time and money.
Move in and settle into routine faster.

The Estate Agents:

Saves you the embarrassment to show a property that is not up to scratch.
Don’t need to deal with the client to ready the house as different objective professionals have already done so.
Makes promoting the house easier, because potential problems are sorted before they can be raised by the buyer.
The Property looks good and is ready for sale.
An appealing product for internet and print, more aggressive marketing will maximise potential buyers visiting the property.
Grows your business as both buyers and sellers will refer you.

Open house / Show house

Before the buyers arrive make sure that your house is in neat nick. Have a duffle bag in each room with cleaning supplies. When the call comes for an unexpected showing, involve everyone to clean and use the duffle for storage of any items that should be out of sight, like unopened mail and toys while showing. Remember to put everything where it belongs after the show to prevent it from becoming a clutter haven.

Welcome the buyers and agents into your home by being thoughtful.

Remove your pets or take them with you.
Play background music.
Make the house inviting. Put out fresh flowers or fruit.
Add a touch of hospitality. Put out the kettle with cups or mugs, coffee, tea, milk and sugar, bottled water and juice for the agent and buyers to help themselves during the show day.
Place out a bowl with wrapped confectionery or biscuits.

By putting in a little bit of effort and making the necessary changes and repairs with or without help of professionals will enhance your property and increase its style and value. Soon you will be handing over the keys and move to your dream home…

Permission to reuse or redistribute these materials is hereby granted provided they are reproduced or
redistributed in their entirety with full attribution.

Heidi Meyer
Professional Organiser