When home sellers are reluctant to stage their home for sale, how do you get them on board?
Recently my colleague enlisted my help with staging her listing. We took an audit of each room deciding what would stay, what would go and made a list of repairs and additional décor and furniture that would be required. The homeowners had a few hesitations but mostly they were eager to follow along with the plan. Suggesting so many changes and rearranging how they are accustomed to living can be very overwhelming. So using tact, respect and being very understanding went a long way in getting the job done. Having shown them some before and after staging photos of a previous listing, they put their trust in our hands and gave us the green light. We edited, rearranged and used 80% of the home owners existing furniture and then added select pieces of furniture, accessories, art, bedding and drapes. You can see from the before and after photos how this townhome was completely transformed. Staging this property obviously had a huge impact because it SOLD within 24 hours of being listed on the market!
If your client is still resistant to staging, one effective way to sway them is to take one room in their home and stage it. Having the homeowners witness the transformation is powerful and I have found this to be a very successful way to have sellers commit to the process. Seeing is believing as they say!
Staging is about making a home appealing to the widest range of buyers possible while decorating focuses on one person’s personal taste. In home staging, everything is kept neutral so that buyers can imagine their own décor in its place. While the homeowner may love their décor, some buyers may have a hard time seeing past it. What makes a home appealing while it’s offered on the market for sale is different from what makes it appealing while someone is living in it.
Often a stager will try to work with the sellers existing inventory of furniture and décor. Usually, editing, rearranging and adding decorative pieces can completely change the look and feel of a room and make it much more appealing to buyers. While decluttering is an essential part of home staging, it is only one step in the process. There are many other components that make home staging an effective marketing tool, such as repairs, paint colour, flooring, lighting and small details that create a warm inviting feeling and help to capture a buyer’s imagination. Rental furniture is often incorporated when the sellers existing pieces are too old, outdated or damaged to use or if the property is completely empty.
Focus on the many benefits that staging offers and make every resource available to your client to encourage them to stage their home and get them a successful sale. Check out the rest of the before and after photos of our staged townhome in Oakville and decide for yourself if Staging Sells.
