Real Estate News and Commentary

A real estate agent invited me to do a design analysis for a home which had been relatively ignored by Buyers for some time. Usually I have a meeting with the homeowner before the home is listed, as part of the Conifer real estate Broker’s listing package. This Conifer home for sale had been on the market too long, with no action. There had been plenty of showings but the feedback was limited and no offers to buy.

The home had a excellent indoor space, location, and plenty of decks and patios. The home also had a huge addition built on to the back, approximately 24X20, with a hot tub and some book shelves and a piano in it. The house was on the market for $515,000.00 and was facing it’s first price reduction.

The savvy realtor decided before a price reduction to invite me over for a consultation to see if there were any necessary changes. Besides small suggestions such as, removing throw rugs to give small area’s such as bathrooms a sense of spaciousness, removing some of the furniture which lined the living area’s walls, making it appear cluttered, we also addressed the addition.

We knew Buyers didn’t fully appreciate the addition. As a stager it is my job to take the confusion out of the home, so that the buyer can connect with the room or home. This is not done by deceiving the potential buyer, it is accomplished by staging the area as to the room’s possible uses. In this home, they had a Bar with excess furniture downstairs. By bringing up a sofa, coffee table from the bar and an extra chair we had removed from the living area, we were able to create a cozy family room, utilizing the bookshelves and bringing in a lamp we had also found that was not in use. A few accessories and voila, the room was transformed from echo-ee and confusing to something solid the buyer could connect with.

People sell their homes for different reasons. Whatever the reason, make sure that the price is right. In other words, don’t overprice your house with the intention of raising enough money to buy a car. Ensure that the price is fair to you and the buyer. A good price will get potential home buyers interested.

The hot tub was moveable, but I decided to keep it on the one end of the room with a sign on it that explained, “this hot tub could be relocated to the outdoors.”

The home had an offer within 2 weeks of staging this property, which was accepted, and everyone lived happily ever after.

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Filed under: Real Estate News