Welcome to the May 2007 issue of Staging Strategies! Just like the Three Bears of nursery rhyme fame, your clients fall into 3 categories when it comes to addressing how their furnishings need to be dealt with when staging your listings: - Papa Bear (too much stuff),
- Mama Bear (not enough stuff) and
- Baby Bear (just right).
Each of these (yes, even Baby Bear!) has their own unique issues and challenges when it comes to figuring out how to work within those constraints to make sure your listing is showing at its best. This month, we'll take a look at some ideas for dealing with your "Papa Bear" listings.
Sincerely,
Andria Wallace, IADA, RES
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Dealing with Papa Bear Listings
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I'm sure there isn't anyone out there who hasn't had to deal with a client who simply had too much stuff in their rooms to show the house well on the market. Whether it's visible clutter, or too many furniture pieces for the space, these clients make your job more difficult when buyers can't see the house for the seller's belongings. While there are obviously extreme cases, most of what you run into in your typical listings can benefit from several strategies to address these problems. Here are a few examples from a recent listing. Because it's so important to deal with the house as a whole, let's look at the problems in several of the rooms before starting to talk about solutions:
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Problem: Too much large furniture in the master bedroom.
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Problem: Both of these bedrooms feel dark and small, and the one on the left with its twin bed, computer hutch and TV/decorator table lacks a defined purpose.
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Solution: The solution to this listing relies on editing out what's not as important to the home-owner, and reconfiguring the remaining pieces. Here's what we did: -
Gave the room a single purpose and opened up floor space by removing the twin bed and decorator table to define the room as an office.
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Addressed the problem of too much furniture in the master bedroom by using the space gained in the office to house the large dresser and TV from the master bedroom
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Addressed the small feeling of the other bedroom by paring down the furniture to only the essentials, helping the space feel open and airy
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Removed the heavy window coverings and moved lamps in from other rooms to help both bedrooms feel more open and spacious The furniture that we did remove made way for keeping some of the larger items that would have been more difficult to move and store. The success of this staging process was in the fact that we addressed the balance of furniture throughout the house, not just moving pieces around within a given room. What do you think...better?
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Quick Tip:
Lighting makes a big difference in a room's appearance, and should be a combination of overhead, floor and table lamps. If your listing doesn't have at least one or two lamps in each room, consider adding them for a lighter, brighter space.
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Want to make the most out of
your marketing time and efforts? You may only think of "staging" in terms of expensive rental furniture, but there are cost-effective ways to stage both furnished and vacant listings to give them a stylish and updated look that leads to better showings and faster sale!
Vacant listings are more difficult to show because it's hard for buyers to see the rooms as inviting and functional. Yet filling them with rental furniture is an expensive proposition. A cost-effective alternative is "Focal Point Staging", which creates vignettes, or focal points, to add warmth and purpose to each room, suggesting to buyers the room's potential without trying to recreate a fully furnished house.
When your clients are still living in their house, staging can also be a great boost to increase the listing's visual and emotional appeal to buyers. Not only are rooms displayed more attractively, but strategic placement of furnishings makes better use of space and shows off the house from a buyer's perspective, helping them more easily imagine themselves in the house.
Why invest money in marketing, spend your valuable time at open houses, and expend efforts in promoting your listings before they've been prepared to maxmize their appeal to buyers? Let us help you prepare your listings so you can focus your expertise in what you do best...marketing the property to get it SOLD.
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For more information on how these services can help you move your listings, please call 314-359-9127 or visit our website at www.contentedrooms.com/realtors. |
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Using the art of decorating to make the most of your listings for optimal showing, buyer appeal and faster sale.
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