Have you ever diagnosed your own ailments? If you have, would you then represent yourself in court, prescribe yourself drugs, do a root canal, or massage therapy, etc. on yourself? Of course you wouldn’t… you couldn’t. You would go to the specialist in a particular field to make things better… right?
The same can be said for getting your home ready to sell. You should be looking to a professional home stager who will show you the best way to ‘market’ your house (appeal to the majority of buyers) to sell quickly and for more money. It could be as simple as a two hour consultation, or involve a partial (for an occupied house) or complete (for a vacant property) home staging .
You, as the homeowner, are too close to ‘your stuff’… whereas a home stager is not. They will give you an honest third party opinion, and show you what does or doesn’t appeal to today’s buyers. Don’t be afraid… a consultation is not an attack on you or your lifestyle but will open your eyes to the selling potential of the home. The majority of today’s buyers are not interested in nor can they afford to make upgrades. If a property looks tired, dated, or old it will not appeal to them. They have to feel excited about it, want to see it again, and to purchase it.
Think of it this way… you are getting ready to go out on a date. You shower, put on your best outfit (or go out and buy a new one), make sure that no hair is out of place, that you smell fresh and your teeth are clean. You want to be asked to go on a second date, better yet… a commitment to the future. See where this is going?
Now… you’re getting your house ready for the real estate market. You’ll clean, paint, purge, declutter, depersonalize, and update the look. You want your home to attract those buyers, to get them to purchase it and to offer much more money for it…right? The bottom line is this, whatever negatives a buyer sees will be directly related to what kind of offer they will make. If they believe the homeowner to be negligible, lazy, or out of touch, they will offer much less money. Why? Because they believe that they will have to spend a lot of money to get that desired look. However, most first time buyers are cash poor. They don’t have the extra funds to make those changes and will look elsewhere to find their perfect home.
Fact: For every dollar that a homeowner invests in getting the house ready to sell will generate $3-5 in profit above asking price.
Example A: House is listed for $800K, with $20K spent on improvements (including staging) and sells for $890K in two weeks time. That’s a profit of $70K.
Example B: Same house goes on the market with no upgrades or changes. Furniture is old, carpeting is stained, paint colours are different in every room, kitchen is dated, etc. It sits on the market with little or no interest. Price is reduced by $20K but still no good offers. Best offer is $70K below asking. If the homeowner must sell, they take the offer. If they don’t have to sell, they take it off the market and either make improvements and try it again or don’t bother. If they take the low-ball offer, the homeowner will have lost $90K from the original list price. That’s a difference of -$160K… ouch!
If you live in the Toronto area, Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging can help you. Please give us a call at 905-683-9136 or email us at catherine@groovychickdesign.com
Our homes are designed to sell, decorated to stay!
Groovy Chick Decorates Durham 
😃❤️
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