I believe the essence of Home Staging is styling your home so you entice an emotional connection with the buyer. Obviously you want your home to appeal to a large amount of potential buyers but the reality is your home will appeal to a certain category of buyers. My motto for Houses to Impress is “Give the Buyers What they Want!” and when I consult with a clients, the first thing I do is identify with the owner and the real estate agent who is going to be the likely buyer.
I like to keep track of what is happening in the home staging industry globally and the following article by American Home Staging Expert, Alice T. Chan arrived in my inbox today on this very topic so I would like to share it with you.
Don’t Make Your House Appeal to the Masses
By Alice T. Chan – Setting the Stage
On a recent episode of HGTV’s Designed to Sell they said something that really made me think about the mis-perceptions and old school and ineffective guidance that surrounds the home staging and real estate industry.
The person said, “you should make your home appeal to the mass market”
Let me be the first to tell you that that is 100% WRONG!!
You don’t want to appeal to the masses because that’s not who is going to buy your house.
Think about it. A young family is not going to be interested in purchasing that 1 bedroom condo in the city. In fact, they are probably the sellers of that property, so “staging” that condo to include child friendly features would not make any sense at all. In fact, it would be confusing to buyers and may even be a turn-off to most.
What you need to do is appeal to your ideal target buyer. Who is most likely going to purchase your home? Based on your neighborhood, your price range, your school district and many other factors, who is your home going to appeal to? Is it a young family? A bachelor or bachelorette? A wealthy executive family? or is it seniors?
What has been taught and preached over the years is that you need to depersonalize your home, you need to make it appeal to the general public, and the list goes on.
Unfortunately, what’s happened is that we end up with a flood of boring, cookie cutter, generic houses on the market.
Yes, you should remove YOUR personality from the home, but your home still needs A personality.
Consider this, white or beige walls, white cabinets, white countertops, beige flooring, no photos, no color…BLAH!!! How memorable is that? It’s not! And remember, when buyers are out seeing 10, 20 or hundreds homes, what is going to make your house STAND OUT from the rest and be memorable…it’s not the boring vanilla box you created that’s for sure.
Also, neighborhoods tend to attract a specific type of crowd. Homeowners generally know what that demographic is because they are that demographic or was at one time. Design a lifestyle in your house to attract that specific demographic.
Don’t get trapped in the other mis-perception which is that you just need to make your house pretty. Sorry to burst your bubble again, but pretty doesn’t sell.
Your home should tell a story about the ideal homeowner…make that story count!
So…for a truly effective home sale, really consider who is most likely going to purchase the home and upgrade and showcase your home with the features that will attract those buyers – appliances, flooring, colors, room use and more.
Oh, and one last thing…get away from the mindset that you’re going to put the cheapest products in the home to get it ready to sell. I hear it all the time…you don’t care because you’re not living there. When that is the energy that you’re putting into preparing the house to sell, you will invite the same type of energy back with home buyers who give you lowball offers. It’s an energetic exchange..be careful what you put out there.
I would love your feedback and welcome your comments on this article.
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