If you’re preparing to sell your home, you may have started to go through the process of tidying, decluttering and making modest repairs, but to really make your home stand-out against the competition, have you considered property staging?
What is property staging/styling?
Professional home staging or styling is the process of using a property stylist to stage your property with furniture when preparing for sale. Generally, items are hired for a term of approximately six weeks.
What are the benefits of property staging?
- It creates emotional buyers which in turn drives the price up and helps the home to sell quickly
- It shows space and concept in photography
- A stylist will aim to highlight the best features of the property
- Staging can help distract from some negative features of the property for example; stains or scratches on floor etc.
- Most importantly it helps buyers to fall in love with the property which is exactly what you want!
A huge benefit of property staging is obviously selling the property quickly, and achieving the best possible price at the same time.
Brisbane-based property staging consultancy, Styled By Me has seen this happen time and time again after staging a property.
One example included a one bedroom unit in a Brisbane suburb that was listed with an asking price of $370,000 pre-styling. The property was on the market for four months and the asking price was eventually dropped to $350,000.
After Styled By Me styled the property for an investment of $2,625, the unit was re-listed for $375,000 and sold in two weeks for $370,000 – the original asking price! That’s a return on investment of $17,375.
Does the property have to be vacant?
No, the property can be partially staged while you still reside at the property.
If the home is vacant, what areas are best to stage?
Brooke Taylor, General Manager at Styled By Me says the rule of thumb when it comes to staging your property is to always stage the living room, dining room, kitchen, main outdoor area and master bedroom.
“Other bedrooms and secondary outdoor areas can then be looked at if your budget allows it”, says Brooke.
What if you just don’t have the cash available?
You don’t have to go with a whole property makeover if the budget just doesn’t allow for it, says Brooke.
“Styled By Me offer a $99 service where the stylist will spend about an hour going from room to room offering styling advice on how to best present the home for photography and open homes”, she says.
So, what are the top tips Styled By Me recommends when it comes to home staging?
- Let in as much natural light as possible and turn on all of the lights and lamps during open homes. This will make the property feel bigger, fresher and brighter.
- De-personalise your home by taking down all family photos – you don’t want the buyer to feel like they are in someone else’s home, you want them to feel like they are in their home.
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