October 2010 - The Bulletin Magazine

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Why is it important to stage a vacant property?
Five top reasons why staging a vacant property is so important in today’s market:
1. 85% of buyers are shopping from home and surfing the internet FIRST to start the home buying process even
before they contact a realtor. One way to capture the buyer is through great photography on MLS. Staged
properties demonstrate the lifestyle while vacant properties are empty and uninviting, lacking a focal point
of interest.
2. Over the course of time, buyers are no longer looking for
a place to live – they are searching for a home that will
provide a lifestyle! Builders understand this concept and
value of “selling a lifestyle” through the model suites they
display at the building sites. Buyers need to feel a connection
with the house, visualizing themselves in each room and
connecting with the house, (Oct. ’09 issue – “it is like reading
a book and each chapter tells a little more of the story”).
3. Nine out of ten people cannot visualize the scale of the
rooms in a vacant property. For the most part, people
consider many of the rooms in a house too small for their
needs and walk out within the 3-6 minutes of visiting a
property. Buyers need to move through each room, resting
their eye before moving to the next room. If the property is
vacant the buyer then walks right through and moves onto the
next property. Staging a vacant property helps a buyer with
scale, size and the use of the rooms. How many times have
you been through a house and wonder what you would use
some of the rooms for or try to guess what would actually fit
in them as well (office or bedroom, king size or only
double bed)?
before
after
4. Vacant homes are showcases for the “negatives” -where
else is a buyer going to look if the property is empty? Buyers
can foresee some imperfections in any home but given the
fact that the property is vacant only drives buyers to pick on
anything and everything negative in their view. Staging a
property accentuates the positive furnished rooms and
showcases the lifestyle and minimizes the negatives. Our consultations take care of the “to do list” (repairing tiles,
replacing carpeting, painting) for clients even before the property goes on the market and then showcasing makes
the property inspiring to buy.
5. Statistically, vacant homes stay on the market longer than a home that has been staged and sends a signal to a
buyer to why it is no longer inhabited. In my years of experience one of the 3 “Ds” is questioned (downsizing,
death and divorce).
Staged vacant properties provide life and energy; buyers focus on the lifestyle and visualize themselves in the
property through the furnishings, artwork and accessories used and helps tell the story of who could and would
want to live there. Staging is a worthwhile investment…
30 The Bulletin | October 2010 www.thebulletinmagazine.com