I recently received a phone call from a homeowner who had her home on the market for 6 months with very little traffic. She had moved out of state and left her vacant home, thinking it would sell quickly. She called Fresh Perspectives to provide a bid to stage her home, hoping that staging would make the difference in selling the home.
As I pulled up to her home I was intrigued by the adorable historic home I was about to view. Most homes in this part of town are built in the early 1900's and have been completely renovated with hip, modern amenities or restored back to their original beauty. These homes have beautiful mill-work, tall ceilings, and original fireplaces in bedrooms, dining rooms, and sitting rooms. The only negatives are the chopped up rooms and the lack of the open, flowing floor-plans like the ones that are so popular today.
As I entered I began to see the challenges this home was facing. It certainly had all the beautiful mill-work, pocket doors, tall ceilings, and fireplaces that make these homes so appealing, but it also had a mix of contemporary (80's) fixtures and some bright, funky colors. It was very confusing for today's buyer. If the buyer wanted an originally restored home - they would be disappointed with all the bright colors and updated (but outdated) renovations. If the buyer wanted an older home with a modern touch - they were disappointed with the outdated fixtures and lack of flow. One room was true to the original time period - the next was not.
What to do? There were issues I knew any buyer would not be able to get past: some of the paint colors and the dated fixtures. We provided an honest assessment. Sure we could stage the home, but let's deal with the issues any buyer wouldn't get past, first! Neutralize the bright colors, update the dated 80's fixtures, and let's get this house scrubbed from top to bottom!
No matter how good a staging job we do, buyers still won't get past the bright lime green walls and the 80's Hollywood light fixtures - making this home a huge turn-off.
It's much better to have a neutral, clean vacant home then a staged home that is confusing and outdated.
Fresh Perspectives is a home staging company specializing in vacant home staging, model home staging, and property redesign for the Greater Nashville real estate community. For an honest assessment of your home contact us 615-465-8086 or www.fresh-perspectives.com.
 |
|
|
Anthea Click is the President and Lead Designer of Fresh Perspectives, a property merchandising company servicing the Greater Nashville, TN area.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2008 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
Great post Anthea. No matter how good you are, you cannot work miracles. Sellers need to get smarter about it.
Anthea,
So well written and so true! The house must always 'speak for itself', regardless of how much 'staging' we might do. The structure must be sound, rooms must be painted in warm, neutral tones, and fixtures (including kitchens and baths) must be updated but appropriate to the style of the house.
VAL
We are paid for our honesty as much as our staging abilities. I would be doing a client a disservice if I led them to believe that staging can make a buyer ignore the obvious. If a home's decor has been neglected over the past 10 years, a magic wand isn't going to cut it. Sometimes you have to bite the minor-cosmetic update bullet and handle the paint, carpet and fixtures. I'm working on a similar project right now...hence my verbal passion! Thanks for articulating so well!
Great post. Being the typical male realtor, sometimes I can't see the obvious. It's great for someone like you to point out the best return on investment for the client.
I had a similar issue when looking at a house. The house was vacant and they were listing FSBO. They called me at Staging Dreams to give them some ideas The formal dining room had nice white wainscoting but the rest of the wall was a bright salmon color. The hall bathroom upstairs was a bright lime green. Is there a worse color to paint a bathroom? You walk in, turn on the light, and a sickly green color bounces off the walls and mirror and you look as though you are ill. The seller was very obvious about not wanting to put much more money into the house, so I suggested I could do some simple vignette staging for minimal costs but that he needed to repaint those two rooms. He didn't ever get back with me. That was August. The house is now listed with a Realtor, on-line pictures show it has not been painted, and it still sits on the market.
I've had instances where stagers recommended paint changes and new fixtures. Were you given a budget?
Vickie Nagy, htpp://www.BestTriValleyHomes.com
Good post Anthea. Sometimes I think that people expect you to work miracles. Lime green walls? Sounds as if they need a bottle of Tums! 8-}
Anthea, these types of problems are presenting themselves quiet often, I find. I had a similiar situation this fall. I am curious though, as this home was vacant, did you go with the expectation of doing a "bid" with no charge? Or do you charge to go to a vacant home? As you probably would have provided some sort of report for them, how did you handle this.
I keep going around in circles on this issue and it is driving me crazy! :-)
Joelle,
I never charge to provide a quote to stage vacants. I ended up managing the projects the home owner wanted done, so she paid me a fee for that. With my quote I told her I recommended she paint, clean, update first. I don't "give it all away" but have found that when I offer good information and am honest people will respond and more often then not hire me.
You are right, Anthea. When we focus on helping the client make the property appeal to more buyers, it is easy to prioritize where the dollars should go first. Great example.
Kathy
You've got some really good points. Dated is dated...and what worse is dated 'updates' in an older home! eeks! Yup, honesty is the best way to go here.
Of course the best thing is that they do what we ask (fixtures and paint) and then stage! If they REALLY want it to sell.
Kym
Good for you and putting your client's best interest first! I have had this problem before, unfortunately the homeowners have not wanted to make the 'bigger' changes of removing wallpaper, neutralizing other rooms, and changing light fixtures. I think they wanted the 'quicker' fix of just adding some furniture to the home (so I did not get the job). Your clients are fortunate to have found a good stager like you!
Sometimes the best staging advice is NOT to stage. Your blog is right on and and your story makes the point beautifully. Thanks for the post.
Diane
I just saw this Anthea, and you are so right on with this advice.
Staging is the icing on the cake, but a cake that's half baked can't be covered too nicely with frosting, we all know it falls flat. It's better to spend the dollars on buyer ready improvements, paint and cost effective updating than staging first of course.
Hoping you are safe and sound this morning in TN my friend....
I won't stage a home if the homeowners are not willing to invest what it takes to bring the home to the level it needs to be for a great open house. I don't want my name on a home that looks bad even after staging.