Show Ready, Staged Houses Sell Quickly

There are moments in life when something seems so obvious, so real that it is tough when others don’t realize the obvious and real.  In real estate, it so obvious and so real that show ready houses sell quickly. 

If you follow ”to be continued” regularly, you know that we recently featured a number of show ready houses that sold quickly such as the following:

·         February 28^th - One More Show Ready House -- One More Quick Sale!!

·         March 1^st - Marriage of Home Staging and New Construction with a “Midtown Feel”

·         March 6^th - Falling in Love Again

Why do show ready, staged houses sell quickly!! 

First, the show ready house sellers smartly select Realtors with a track record of success and most importantly, they listen to their Realtors. 

Successful Realtors tell the sellers what they need to do with their property if they want the house to sell.  Successful Realtors candidly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the house and share that assessment with the seller.  Successful Realtors have a plan for highlighting the strengths and another for addressing the weaknesses.  They do not “sugar coat” to keep that listing.

Second, the show ready house sellers invest in simple but effective upgrades and improvements based on their Realtors assessment and correction plan.  They paint.  They remove dated wallpaper.  They replace light fixtures.  They replace or professionally clean their carpeting.  In short, they work hard to make sure that their house is show ready from the first day it is on the market.

Third, the show ready sellers invest in professional home staging.  It is the finishing touch ensuring that the home is exceptionally show ready. 

Home staging paints a picture for the buyer about what life could be like in this house.  Home staging makes sense of the house and its functions.  It teaches buyers how to live in this house.  Home staging helps buyers imagine living their best selves living in this house. 

And when they are so inspired, these buyers are more likely to find the possibilities in this house and make an offer quickly.

 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

Staging Magic in Maple Ridge – From “Bug-a-Boo” to British Colonial

Sometimes I am asked as a professional stager to make sense of a space.  This is usually the result of potential buyer’s asking “What would I do with this room?”

This is exactly what happened when I opened an email from a Realtor enlisting my help with a new listing in the historic Maple Ridge neighborhood in Tulsa, OK.  According to this Realtor, the home had a unique back room that he thought I could do something with.  As you can see in the “before” pictures, the room had multiple angles that made its function unclear.  In his words, the room was a real “bug-a-boo.”   

This room was a large windowed space that had been added on as a sort of pool room/sun room.  This creative Realtor had a vision to step it up to a more updated and sophisticated space worthy of 2012 entertaining.  His vision involved enclosing the angled areas to include a media viewing area (the angled areas became the closet housing the media equipment).  Our first meeting in the space included the contractor who suggested a bar area at the west end of the space.  Where there was previously a pool table, I saw a conversational area.

As you can see from the “after” pictures we created an atmosphere of gracious and carefree entertaining.  I wanted to give the room a fresh look that would be true to the age of the house.  The British Colonial style felt very natural in a home that was probably built in the early 1900s.  You can find more photos of this home on our website at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/18th-Street---Tulsa.html

And so I put my staging magic to work to create this fresh look with a feel from another place and time. 

Using furniture and accessories, this large area of questionable intent became three obvious entertainment spaces.  The pub table and shelving are surrounded by windows and overlook the beautiful yard and pool.  The streamlined sectional and large ottoman are centered in front of the large flat screen television (equipment out of sight and in the media closet).  The three sea grass wingback chairs form a conversational circle with a metal table to hold drinks and refreshments.

What was once a space that created more questions than answers and did not live up to the elegance, charm and historical significance of the rest of the house became one of the best features of this fabulous house.  We went from “bug-a-boo” to British Colonial.

This Maple Ridge home is located at 1201 E. 18^th Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma and listed by John Sawyer (Sawyer Wallace Home Collection- Chinowth & Cohen (http://www.cctulsa.com/getagent/show.php?uname=jsawyer )

The before and after pictures demonstrate what a visionary Realtor, a professional home stager and a talented contractor can do in a very short period of time for an open-minded and trusting homeowner!  With that combination, the possibilities are endless.

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

P.S.  This staging project was so much fun and so successful, the homeowner and Realtor decided to keep going and  I was hired to stage the entry and formal living room.  So, literally this blog post is “to be continued”.