Written by Rapid Renovation Expert, Naomi Findlay.
Part 1 of 2
I’m a firm believer that it’s essential in business and in property to focus on the things that you have control over, rather than the things that you don’t. Such is the case in property styling, especially if it’s used as a tool in order to create wealth.
THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE SALE OF A PROPERTY
I believe that there are many factors that influence the sale of your property, such as:
• Market conditions
• Property condition
• Asking price or price point
• Property presentation
• Marketing
• The agents and their strategies
• Location
Some of these factors are out of your control like market conditions and location. But you do have total control over the condition and presentation of the property. Using ‘home staging’ principles ensures that you have given yourself the best possible chance of achieving the highest possible sale price at the shortest possible time.
By taking control of these aspects of the property, you are making sure that on auction day, you are not leaving money on the table for the buyer. Instead, you’re giving yourself the best possible chance in selling your property with a maximum return on investment (ROI).
The process of preparing and presenting your home for sale is referred to as ‘home staging’ or ‘pre-sale property styling.’ It is an essential marketing tool in your property investing tool kit, and it involves the elements of maintenance and styling (including furniture and accessory installation) to present your property at its best before it goes to the market and to ensure that it appeals to the widest possible range of buyers. Home staging is not about interior design or full scale renovating for wealth or house flipping. It’s all about ROI.
RECENT STATISTICS ABOUT HOME STAGING IN AUSTRALIA
The ‘home staging’ industry is relatively new in Australia as compared to the USA, Canada, and the UK, where recent statistics have revealed that a staged property generates an average return from 8% to 10% increase in sale price, and up to as much as 17% more than their non-staged counterparts.
Australia is yet to have a large sample size to generate significant statistics. However, data collected from a leading home staging company shows that in 2015:
- The average investment in home staging was between 0.4 – 0.75% of the estimated property value.
- A staged property yielded an average increase in sale price of 10% with a reported maximum increase of 15%.
- On average, every $1 invested in property staging returns $20.
So the above figures speak loudly. There is wealth to be created in property styling as long as its implementation is guided with the right information.
Now, let’s see why home staging works.
8 REASONS WHY HOME STAGING WORKS
Because of the relatively new concept of home staging in the country, not every real estate agency does pre-sale property styling when a property is about to be placed on the market. Right now, I see that there’s a need for education – lots of it – because the common question that I hear is, ‘is home staging really that effective?’
So let me get that started by discussing the effectiveness of home staging when it comes to maximising a vendor’s potential profit from the sale.
Home Staging Makes Your Property Stand Out On The Internet
We’re well aware of the pivotal role that multimedia and the internet play when marketing properties. Staging, photographing and even videographing your property well will make sure the internet marketing images and videos have the “WOW” factor, giving your property a greater chance of being shortlisted for inspection.
Home Staging Provides Buyers A Snapshot Of The Lifestyle That A Property Offers
If a buyer identifies with the lifestyle amenities that a property offers, he or she will be engaged and may become emotionally connected to it. Creating engagement and emotional connection is an advantage in any stage of the property cycle because of the concept of identification. This is the stage where buyers can envision themselves living in the property.
Only 5% Of People Are Able To Visualise What To Do With Space
This means that when viewing an empty property, 95% of prospective buyers are unable to visualise the use or scale of the spaces. In contrast, when furnished correctly, rooms look larger. Home staging can also create rooms within rooms for open-planned spaces.
People Spend More Time Viewing Staged Homes
The time a buyer spends at an open home inspection can be as short as 6 minutes.Extending the time a buyer is within a property gives a greater chance of them connecting with the property. In fact, data from stagedhomes.com.au reveals that buyers viewing a staged property spend 10 to 15 minutes longer as compared to an un-staged property.
A Staged Property Projects An Image Of A Well-Maintained Property
A staged home that presents well with little or no obvious maintenance and running repairs needed, projects the image of a well-maintained and well-cared property.
Good Agents Enjoy Selling A Well-Staged Property
Consider it from the agent’s perspective: they are marketing a well-presented product – a property that has the potential to sell quicker for a premium price, and that has the best possible open home inspection attendances due to the attractive online presence. This results in having a motivated agent who is excited about selling your property and who will work with you to achieve a great outcome.
A Good Home-Stager Will Work With Your Real Estate Agent To Identify Your Target Market
They will then stage the home accordingly and market your property to that spectrum of buyers. This ensures that when the buyers inspect the property, they emotionally connect with the property and imagine themselves living in the space.
Closing The Divide Between Right And Left
This is interesting: there’s a discussion in literature about couples, close friends or business partners often complementing each other, with one being a right-brained thinker and the other a left-brained thinker. How does this impact a property’s potential sale?
When selling a property, you must make sure that the property appeals to both sides of the brain so that at the same time, both the logical and emotive decision-makers (left and right-brained thinkers) are making the decision to buy. This is when you have the greatest chance to make a sale! This is something that home staging can facilitate.
See? Little by little, the home staging industry in Australia is making strides. Again, it’s all about focusing on the things that you can control when you decide to sell your property. But did you also know that apart from pre-sale property styling, there’s also styling for those who want to rent out their investment property and those that want to hold on to it?
We’ll be talking about those in my future discussions. For now, let’s focus on how pre-sale property styling can help you create wealth.
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