In 2011, Richard Armstrong, director of Melbourne’s the Makeover Group, told The Australian, “There’s a popularity contest held every week in the suburbs. They’re called auctions. In any market, whether it’s booming or on its knees, if you have genuinely comparable properties sitting next door to each other, then the one that is done well is always going to sell for more and faster.”
That sentiment is truer today than in was eight years ago. The property market is competitive, and it takes something special to make one particular home stand out from the crowd. That’s where property staging comes in.
While your property agent handles the basics of real estate affairs, a property stylist will come into your home, solve your layout and floorplan problems, and make your home not only beautiful, but functional and appealing to buyers.
A property stylist will consult with you and your agent on the goals you have for your property and who you believe the target demographic is, style up a space to cater to your needs, and install it into the home for six to eight weeks.
Thanks to the success of television shows like The Block and House Rules, the benefits of property styling and interior design are becoming more widely known and understood. Potential property buyers have been awakened to the value of a well-styled home, even if they can’t achieve the look themselves.
That’s where the value of a property stylist is measured. These style mavens stage your interior to best illustrate how spaces can be used and strange structural features can be repurposed, all the while executing the feat in such a way that the home feels stylish and welcoming, giving potential buyers a visual representation of what can be achieved in the space, perhaps even inspiring their own ideas. All of these factors contribute to getting your home sold quicker and for a higher dollar value.
There are several other reasons why ‘property staging’ can sell your home faster.
1. Homeowners have often lived in their property for some time and the furniture is dated or worn. By having a property stylist stage your home they can bring in a range of furniture and props that really bring the space to life.
2. Having beautiful photos of your property taken after it’s been staged by a stylist can attract a whole slew of buyers you may have never reached with photos of an empty or lived-in home. For homes that are listed online, beautiful photos can encourage click-throughs from people who may have scrolled past your property otherwise.
3. Property staging is particularly useful in small homes as it demonstrates how an awkward floorplan can be used, and help buyers visualise living in the space.
4. Property styling is even more important in homes that have cheaper finishes and a basic layout as it can make the home appear more high-end by diverting attention to beautiful styling and potential.
5. Property stylists know how to walk the line between creating a homely feeling in a way that lends itself to ‘modern’ or ‘minimalist’ tendencies to suit a range of buyers from different stages of life.
6. Property styling plays on the emotions of buyers which can drive the price up if multiple buyers picture themselves living in the space.
You might also like:
Top 10 tips to prepare your property for sale
How to maximise the value of your home on a budget
Five signs you’re ready for home ownership
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