The Art of Home Staging

Hi beautiful people!

I hope you're enjoying these fall rainy days. Here's an article I found that tells a first hand story of the art of staging from a couple trying to sell their home:

Like many sellers, Francis and Dave were initially reluctant to stage their apartment.
Their agent, Annalese, an associate broker, had already helped them declutter and identify home improvements for their two-bedroom ground-floor co-op..

Following Annalese’s advice, the couple had spent about $45,000 tearing out carpets, installing hardwood flooring and new light fixtures, painting, repointing brick and replacing siding on a wall in the rear garden.

But they stopped short of hiring a professional stager to swap out their furniture and art. “I was extremely skeptical, I couldn’t see why things that I had collected over my life, sparsely placed, would be a problem.”

They listed the apartment for $1.85 million in June 2014. Then they watched, dismayed, as it sat on the market for six months, while they gradually cut the asking price to $1.65 million. “I had over a hundred showings, and could not sell it,” Francis said. “Not one offer.”

The couple took the place off the market that December, and at Annalese's behest, sent for a Home Stager.

To the Stager, the home’s décor was too eclectic, “like Victoriana meets ’80s meets Ikea,” she said.
She instructed the couple to empty the apartment, except for one small bench that she deemed attractive. Then, for about $26,000, she had the kitchen cabinets, shelving, doors and door frames painted white, and moved in an entire home’s worth of contemporary furniture, including shapely clear acrylic dining chairs and a white pedestal table, an Italian linen sofa and a chrome-and-glass coffee table placed atop a cowhide rug.

When Francis relisted the staged property last April for $1.495 million, “the place was mobbed,” at the first open house.

A bidding war ensued, and the apartment soon went into contract for $1.8 million, before closing in July.

“I can’t believe how it worked out, I still shake my head!”

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Recent Work By Upstage By Lili!

The practice of home staging has long elicited strong reactions. Staging can usually help a home sell faster, and for a higher price, offering a larger return on the investment. Homeowners, reluctant to spend the money or admit that their decorating choices might not be catnip to buyers, are often loath to pay strangers to impose their tastes on their premises. But as staging has evolved over the past decade, many real estate professionals say it has become more important than ever!

“It always makes a difference, and is essential in this market,”

“It’s not just about solving a problem now, but much more about presenting a lifestyle to prospective buyers,”

“The bar has definitely been raised. The glamour apartment is really what sells. People will walk out if it looks ugly, or they think it’s dark, claustrophobic or has other warts they don’t want to deal with.”