Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Taking the Stage

It's all about the marketing. I think.

Because we will now not be moving into the townhome we purchased a couple of months ago (thanks to 001), it is now on the market, and we are working to sell it. To give it a real push, yesterday I hired a "stager" who comes in and makes your property look like a model home to entice someone to buy it quickly. While this may sound a bit extreme, statistics suggest that a staged home sells on average in 27 days, as opposed to around 90 days, and can garner an additional 6-10% in sales price. If that happens, it's definitely a positive ROI for us.

So today, my "stager" is out finding furniture and accessories to make this place look like the ultimate urban living destination. She'll bring in the whole works -- furniture, rugs, dishes, artwork, plants, etc. And even though I had to write her a check upfront to do this, it felt pretty good knowing that she is the one out doing all that today, and not me.

It should be staged by mid next week. Let's see how long it takes after that to get a good nibble.

3 comments:

Miss Forthright said...

Have never heard of that before- I don't think we have them over here.

SandDancer said...

The show houses or apartments of new developments are usually dressed. We looked at a new property that had been dressed to look as if a couple lived there - complete with wine bottles in the kitchen and a ladies bag on the bed. But its not really something people do to sell their own homes over here.

We do have loads of home decorating programmes on television though that offer tips on quick sales, although I'm sure everyone sees through these now as they are so well-known - the smell of fresh coffee, newly painted front door etc.

M said...

It's kind of a neat idea. People actually take courses and get certification in Home Staging.

Real estate is all about how a space makes you feel, so if you can dress it up and create a positive feeling, it can prompt a quick sale at a higher price.

This property, in particular, has sort of a large open loft-type feel, and people may have difficulty envisioning being comfortable in it. So I'm hoping to create that illusion for them.

I've marked up my sales price a bit to pay for it, and I'm hoping it works!