Having Your House Staged (and Sold) Can Be Very Emotional

Our homes are chocked full of memories.  You can find loved ones and friends; laughter and tears; good times and bad in the photos, paintings, furniture, accessories, books, nooks and crannies of your home.  When it comes time to get that house ready to sell, the process can be emotional.  

When a professional home stager is engaged to help with this process, it can be very emotional.  The home stager has a very specific mission – transform this house of memories into a space that appeals to as many buyers as possible.   

My approach is to help the seller make this transformation with as much tact and compassion as I can muster.  I know that I have to be “tough” enough to make the transformation.  If not, the house would remain being Smith-friendly and not buyer-friendly.  But, I also take more time, listen to the stories about those precious memories, and make sure that the sellers at least understand why we are doing what we are doing. 

In some instances, my approach works.  In other instances it does not.  Here are a few quick examples that will sound familiar to every real estate professional. 

“I need to call my wife and prepare her for what you have done before she gets home.  This is going to be very emotional for her.”  In this case, my Realtor partner and I went in and identified dozens and dozens of items that needed to be removed and boxed up for their new home.  This couple was very sentimental and displayed family heirlooms, treasured gifts from family and friends, and purchases from favorite trips.  The end result was a house full of wonderful things that masked the flow and focal points of their lovely home.  The wife arrived home emotionally prepared for her buyer-friendly house.   

“What you did was too minimal for what I consider pretty.  A buyer can see past all my stuff.  You must put everything back exactly as you found it.”  This one was a shock to my Realtor partner and me.  This seller was a retired corporate executive and so we expected a savvy seller ready to do what needs to be done to get the house on the market.  Instead, we spent 2 hours making the house buyer-friendly; 30 minutes letting the seller vent about all that we had done wrong with the house; and about an hour putting it back to the same condition as when we walked in the door.  The emotions of changing what reflected the taste, style and identity of this seller was greater than the desire to make this house buyer-friendly. 

“I appreciate what is being done and want to do it, but I must confess it is much more emotional and tiring than I expected.”  This seller was ready to sell and stage.  When the time came to transform her house, she was surprised by how emotional it became.  And the irony was that this seller was a professional home stager named Cindy! 

I learned from my experience just as I learned from many, many emotional sellers I’ve assisted over the past 6 years.  These experiences made me even more sensitive to how emotional staging and selling your home can be. 

Dwell in possibilities 

Cindy

Kitchen Staging

A kitchen closes the deal on a house.  The kitchen is second most important room in the home selling process next to the entry area where first impressions are formed.  If the kitchen is remarkable then the house has been sold emotionally.  Of course, there is always that little matter of the price.

It is easy to see why the kitchen can be the deal closer or deal breaker.  It is the space where the family gathers most often.  The kitchen is more than the place they cook.  It is where they plan their day over morning coffee and share their day over dinner.  It is the place where great parties begin and end.  If buyers can imagine those possibilities in this kitchen, it can be the deal closer

Buyers don’t want an outdated kitchen.  Buyers don’t want a cluttered kitchen.  Buyers don’t want a kitchen that needs work.  If buyers have these concerns or issues, then the kitchen is likely going to be the deal breaker.

Kitchens need to be staged!  Professional home staging can help turn a tired kitchen into a fresh and inviting space.  Staged kitchens come alive with the possibilities of fun dinners, comfortable gab sessions and memorable parties.  It is amazing how a teapot, colorful dishes and an open cookbook transforms a dull and drab space.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I suggest you check out our website for great examples of staged kitchens (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Kitchens.html ).

Kitchens also benefit from being restyled and updated.  Buyers prefer move-in ready houses.  They don’t want to replace outdated appliances, old countertops and wallpaper from another era.  Buyers will often reduce their offer dramatically if they believe they will need to update a kitchen.  Sellers can restyle and update their kitchens prior to listing their house for a cost significantly less than the buyer’s price reduction.  We have two examples of restyled and updated kitchens that returned the investment back to the sellers - see photos of the Camelot Court and Glynwood kitchens at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Kitchens-2.html  

Buyers want to imagine their family and their best selves in the kitchen enjoying life and each other.  Professional home staging feeds the buyer’s imagination with the ideas of the possibilities to be found in that kitchen. 

Remember to always dwell in possibilities

Cindy

FRIDAY TREAT – Review of 101 Things I Hate About Your House

He had me at the title.  James Swan’s 101 Things I Hate About Your House is a premier Beverly Hills designer’s “room-by-room tour to transform your home from faux pas to fabulous”.  This was a book I had to read.  Who knows, maybe you will too.   

The goal of 101 Things I Hate About Your House is to 

Provide you with the basic principles you need to create a beautiful and gracious home.  A gracious home, while not always trumpeted in the glossy magazines, is one filled with collected objects of beauty comingled with the voices of friends, the laughter of family and the relaxed acknowledgment of contentment.  A gracious and beautiful home considers the needs of its occupants and consistently rises to the occasion. 

This book is chocked full of ideas about what to do with specific aspects of each and every room of a house.  You can get a taste of the depth and range from this sample of chapter titles. 

Entry Way – You Had Me at Hello

Living Room – Go On, Live a Little

Dining Room – The Way to a Man’s (or Woman’s) Heart

Library – I Read Therefore I Am

Guest Bedroom and Bath – “Guests Are Like Fish . . .“ 

Like its title, this book has an edge that at times can be refreshing and at other times can be a bit much.  But, Swan does say what many of us think - like his take on an overlooked but never forgotten aspect of the Entry Way.  

Besides the “look” of a house, a host or hostess should consider another layer of impression with which to astonish and astound unwitting guests.  Breathe with me.  Take a deep breath and try not to choke on the aroma of musty wet dogs, acrid cat boxes, marinating gym clothes and damp, moldy laundry.  To put it succinctly, buy a candle. 

If you like his style and perspectives, you may want to check out the James Swan blog, Design Quotient, at http://www.jamesswanco.com/interior-designer-Beverly-Hills/ . 

I love houses and use my expertise and experience to accentuate what I love and expect others will too.  James Swan’s take on houses did not change that love but he did open me up to thinking about other possibilities. 

Dwell in possibilities 

Cindy

People Buy the Dream and They Buy Value

I read a Realtor Magazine interview with Christine Rae, author of Home Staging for Dummies.  My thoughts and ideas were spurred on by one of Christine’s insights: 

“Not all agents understand the value or true impact of a great staged property.  It’s not about how pretty a house looks – it’s about highlighting the features of the property, creating space and light where there isn’t any and virtually making the old house look and feel like new.  People buy the dream and they buy value.”

Some Realtors understand home staging and some do not.  Some Realtors actively promote home staging because they’ve experienced the results first hand.  They know that it helped them sell houses that would not sell before staging.  These Realtors know that home staging explains problem spaces; accentuates the home’s best features; and, helps the buyer imagine their better selves in that house.  And, most importantly, these Realtors know that home staging is an investment that leads to the dividends of selling the house quicker and for the best price possible.

Those Realtors who do not understand home staging believe it is an unnecessary expense.  They blame the tight economy or see staging as a nice to do but not a necessary part of their home selling service.  Some Realtors, like many sellers, expect that the house will sell as it is without freshening, lightening and simplifying the spaces.  They mistakenly believe that buyers will choose this old house just because the sellers loved it regardless of its present condition.  It is sad to say but some Realtors and some sellers think that all that needs to be done is to plant a “For Sale” sign in the front yard and buyers will come with money in hand.

And Christine is so right that “it is not about how pretty a house looks”.  I’ve taken some old, 1980’s styled houses and made them over into homes that are fresh and inviting places. I’ve also tweaked gorgeous homes by de-cluttering the seller’s things, refreshing the house; and, emphasizing its best features. 

When a house is professionally staged, buyers can see the dream of living in this home. 

If you want more thought-provoking ideas from Christine Rae, read her Realtor Magazine interview (Being a Real Estate Pro Today is like Working in the Obama Administration) at http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/2009/08/14/being-a-real-estate-pro-today-is-like-working-in-the-obama-administration/

 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

What Sells a House?

Just read an interesting article in Realty Times (http://realtytimes.com) I want to share with you.  In What Sells a House, Carla Hill lists her Top Ten Factors that affect how quickly and for how much a home sells.  

Her list will not be a surprise to any veteran Realtor or savvy seller.  Plus, she concedes that there is no “golden equation that equals the perfect sale.”  And yet, it is interesting to review her list as a checklist for why some houses sell quickly and others languish on the market for months and months. 

As you will see, Carla adds three factors of great interest to me as a professional home stager – Curb Appeal, Staging and Kitchens.  What a shock that these factors would on a list and that I would find them of interest?!?!?

I really liked her perspectives on Staging and Kitchens:

Staging: Once inside your home, a buyer must be wowed. Intoxicate their senses. They want to see up-to-date furnishings, smell a clean home, touch cabinets that are in good repair, hear peace and quiet, and of course "taste the good life."

Kitchens: A kitchen sells a house. It is where families gather and connect. Minor kitchen remodels rank high among the list of top remodeling projects, with owners updating cabinets, counters, and floors. Nobody wants an outdated kitchen. What fixes are in your budget? If your kitchen is already spectacular, be sure you play this up in any marketing.  

I recommend that you read Carla Hills’s entire article on What Sells a House at http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110803_sellhouse.htm  

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy