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Steven Cross
The popularity of home staging is picking up nationwide and vendors should seriously consider investing in a makeover to boost interest in their property, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
According to REIQ's events and communications manager, Amanda Haack, property staging allows sellers to create the ideal home experience for buyers.
“Experts say that [buyers are] subconsciously affected by the not-so-obvious surroundings – which may in turn affect their purchasing decisions," Ms Haack said. “Property staging professionals are trained to incorporate those surroundings into the home in order to achieve those subliminal effects.”
Karin Mackay, managing director at Australian Property Buyers in Victoria, believes staging a home is “vital”.
“For every dollar you spend you’ll get two back,” she told Real Estate Business.
“As a buyers' agent, we have to look past [the staging] because it’s our job to get a suitable home for our client. But some people get their hearts set on a property because it’s been done up, even if the property isn’t right for them," she said.
“We had a property that was to be sold in Surrey Hills, but the response from buyers was that it looked like it needed too much work. So we had the house completely made over.
“We had the garden cut back and cleaned up, pressure washed the weatherboard, changed the colour scheme, ripped up the bright blue carpet and re-did the tiling in the bathrooms. After furniture, the whole renovation cost $40,000, but it ended up selling for $290,000 more than the original asking price.”
Ms Mackay also believes staging gives the buyer a guide to how much space they have, without having to use too much imagination.
“When a home is empty, it looks smaller. You don’t want buyers coming in, looking at a bedroom and saying, ‘Our bed won’t fit in here’ when it really could.”
Ms Haack also claimed home staging can breathe new life into a stale listing.
“Naturally your investment in staging will reflect in the images used in your property’s marketing campaign," she said. “If a home has been for sale for a significant period, an internal transformation can attract a wider group of buyers and refresh the listing’s presence.”
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