Tag: homestaging

Preparing Your Home for Sale

Pay attention carefully, this blog could add thousands of dollars to the sale price achieved by your home, with only a relatively small outlay, plus some hard work and elbow grease! How? Well, the formula is simple:

  • Fresh paint on walls: preferably a neutral or crisp white – it’s amazing what a coat of paint will do
  • De-clutter: everything packed away in boxes, except the bare essentials
  • Minimal furniture: key pieces only with modern soft furnishings and accessories
  • Well kept garden: fresh mulch, neatly cut lawns and healthy plants
  • Clean windows and walls
  • Clean pavers and driveway
  • Repair any noticeable damage to the home: patch holes in walls for example
  • Remove mould from bathrooms and refresh grout
  • Basically, present a clean sparkling home that smells fresh!

Clients often ask how the home should look for photography and opens. To help clients visualise what is needed, I can provide pictures of furniture to be showcased in each room, such as those shown below. Take note, while each room in your home will not look exactly like this, I want clients to take away from these pictures the number of furniture pieces in each room and the way it is styled with the soft furnishings and accessories.

Finalcollage

The property image above, listed and sold recently by SA Listings, was styled for minimal cost and achieved a sale result of $46,000 in excess of Vendor expectations. Note the following from the photos:

  • Formal lounge includes 3 key furniture pieces: lounge, coffee table & cabinet
  • Bedroom includes 3 key pieces: bed and two side tables
  • Second bedroom includes 3 key pieces: bed, desk and chair
  • Kitchen: totally clean bench tops with exception of minimal accessories
  • Lounge includes 4 key pieces: lounge, chair, cabinet and coffee table
  • Meals includes 2 key pieces: kitchen table and 6 chairs
  • Outdoor area includes 2 key pieces: outdoor table with chairs
  • Front yard and rear yard: neat, tidy and clean

In addition to the key furniture pieces, the soft furnishings and accessories in each room really make it pop. Think eye-popping paintings, lamps, neutral toned rugs and fresh flowers, with a common colour scheme. For bathrooms, all you require are matching towels and a beautiful soap dispenser on the vanity.

A big mistake commonly seen in homes on the market, is overcrowding in each room with too many furniture pieces. This can have the impact of making rooms appear small and cramped. Whilst it may be difficult to live without these pieces, for the limited period it is showcased to market it is well worth taking the pain to achieve the gain.

We hope you found this blog informative and if the styling process is too overwhelming, SA Listings can assist you with professional styling. We offer a unique styling service with affordable styling packages. To find out more contact us at http://www.salistings.com.au/contact

Justine Thomson

 

Staging a Home for Sale

The whole world is a stage – but should your home be?

What is it buyers look at when visiting an open home? Frankly, ask three different people and you may get four different answers! While one may step back and take in the larger picture of the home as a whole, another may look at the same house through the eyes of the furniture, the art, or even the family photos on the wall, and yet another will simply cast a critical eye over the structural integrity of the home. It may even be that it is easier to answer what is it buyers look at by first ensuring there is nothing in the home that will turn them off as soon as they walk in.

Some examples? Tired, ratty old furniture that has seen better days, magazines or books in the loo, and whilst you may simply love your collection of every set of commemorative babushka dolls from the twentieth century – it may be many buyers will not.

Now of course, most people have some idea that in order to correctly present your home for sale you need to “de-clutter” and “de-personalise,” but what about the styling through out the home? This is where the services of a home styling or staging professional can help – with interior designing skills to make your home stand out that extra mile.

A home stylist will cast a critical eye over the home, and will be able to provide appropriately styled furniture and accessories to suit. For example, large furniture pieces may be comfortable, but they may be cramping the space available, making it look smaller than it really is. Changing them over for smaller, less intrusive pieces that match and compliment other pieces in other rooms creates a sense of space and style. Styling gives potential purchasers an idea of what the home could be for them, not what it currently is for the vendor.

A home stylist may also remove items that stand out and draw the attention of buyers, such as loud artwork or rugs. Again, a flowing sense of style throughout the home will help ensure the home appeals to as broad an audience as possible.

Remember, first impressions count. You want buyers to walk into your home and imagine living there with their family, inviting their friends over to a home they are proud of, a home that is up to date and on trend.

Not every home will require the expense of a stylist or staging. But in some cases, the outlay of a moderate expense may mean a greater return come settlement day.

master_bedroom_before_and_after_long_distance_interior_design_online_grande1

Should you be interested in property staging, during the appraisal of your home the SA Listings’ team is able to discuss options that best fit your property and budget.

Justine Thomson