Home Staging Works In Any Market
Real Estate agents are being quite restrained in reporting the fact that there is “softness” in the auction clearance rate. The truth is the nation’s capital city auction clearance rate fell to 46.2 per cent last week from 48.6 the week before. This time last year the national auction clearance rate was 60.6 per cent, which is 14.4 per cent less.
While an auction does give the vendor a marketing campaign that results in an unconditional sale over a set time frame, the reality is whether the house is marketed by auction or private treaty, buyers can’t afford to put their homes on the market looking half-baked. It is a buyer’s paradise out there. They have so much choice and if a home doesn’t grab their attention, they will just shrug their shoulders and keep walking.
RPData have just released an article Premium Housing Markets Plundered where they have reported that many of the higher priced capital city regions have recorded a significant decline in median house prices whereas the more affordable markets are recording better housing market conditions.
The truth is, it doesn’t matter which end of the market your house sits in, low medium or high. If the vendor fails to
- Present it to its best potential
- Price it realistically according to the current prevailing market (declining)
- Use a professional Real Estate agent who is prepared to go the extra yard in marketing and negotiating
then vendors need to be prepared to have their house sit on the market for months on end with no offers and risk losing thousands of dollars in the process.
Despite the gloomy outlook I’m pleased to report that my clients are still getting great results. I recently worked with a vendor whose 6-bedroom home needed a few finishing touches before going to market. He had already engaged an agent who decided to conduct a 4 week auction campaign. After assessing the property and making a few maintenance and upgrade recommendations, my client heeded my advice about giving the buyers what they want, and delayed putting the house on the market for a couple of weeks. In that time he
- Revamped an ugly bathroom
- Painted the rear of the home
- Installed some new exterior screen doors
- Installed some new plants and garden mulch in both the front and rear garden
- Patched and painted two of the bedrooms
- Removed some ugly lace curtains
- Tidied up the back garden
- Dressed up the front entrance with a welcome mat and potted plants
- Pressure cleaned the pavers and concrete driveways around the house
- Finished the house off with furniture and accessories styling from one of my team to enhance his existing pieces
My client was well rewarded for his efforts.
I was there to watch the auction and inspected the house along with the large number of attendees who showed up on the day. The house looked stunning and had a great atmosphere. One lady commented to me during the walk through “the house has been beautifully maintained”. There were 9 registered bidders at the auction, an amazing turnout considering the above statistics. Although the auction was a bit slow to get moving, in the end there were 3 keen bidders and the house sold for $664,000. $14,000 above the advertised price!
The property was featured in the real estate section of The Advertiser on June 11, 2011 as one of the Top 5 Auctions in Adelaide for the weekend.
It is possible to do well in this market. Just give the buyers what they want!
Charyn Youngson
Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator | Author
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