3 Reasons Why it’s Hard to Sell a Vacant Property

Bradbury Family Room Staged

It’s a Fact!  Vacant homes take a much longer time to sell because:

1. Buyers see it as a gamble and are not willing to risk their hard earned money on something they can’t envision…
2. They don’t know how their furniture/stuff will fit in this empty space.
3. They will notice the flaws and work to be done. They focus on the negatives.

Bradbury Family Room Before Staging

What home staging does:

1. It puts the buyer’s mind at ease. With proper furniture placement, they understand how their own furniture may or may not fit the space.
2. When fully staged, the house will feel like a ‘home’ to them.
3. The WOW factor is undeniable! When they see how beautiful it can be, they are willing to make an offer, hoping to buy the house before someone else does.
   Besides, when a house is empty, what else is there to look at?

Staging a house will reduce its time on the market by upwards of 90%. Most homeowners prefer a quick sale. Home staging will draw the attention of the buyer through awesome online photos. In turn, the buyer will ask for a viewing. Satisfied, they will make an offer… often times, above the asking price!

Remember: less time on the market = more money in your pocket!

If you want to avoid the carrying cost of owning two properties.
If you want the largest return on investment.
If you understand the benefit of home staging and are motivated to sell.
Your answer is just an email or phone call away!

Visit our website:
Groovy Chick Redesign & Home Staging
Designed to sell… decorated to stay

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5 Ways That Home Staging Makes Realtors Money

Realtor staged, but unable to sell property

Dear Realtor,

Are your online listing photos magazine worthy?  Are they creating a stir with home buyers?  You may have hired a professional photographer to take the shots but if you or the homeowners have ‘staged’ the property yourselves, then would you consider it to be a professional looking job?  Chances are, and you may not even realize it, but… no.  A professional home stager will make the space look magazine worthy because she/he has that critical eye and knows what/how to adjust for the camera lens.  Home staging involves updating the artwork, décor items, and possible repositioning, removal, or replacement of furniture.  Today’s buyer isn’t interested in purchasing ‘Grandma’s house’ and that look will not bring traffic through the front door.  Question: How many adult children do you know who will take hand-me-down items from the family?  Answer: Very few.  Why?: Because it’s just not their style.

Online photos alone, as professional as they may be, will not attract today’s buyer.  This is the misguided premise of many a real estate agent… ‘I’ll just send my photographer over, and Bob’s your uncle’.  Uh… no.  If you want your listings to sell fast you will include, at the very least, a home staging consultation as part of your service.  You may even want to go further than that and pay for part, or all of the staging.  This will justify your commission upon the sale of the home.

Partnering with a home stager will:

1.  Create a reputation as serious about getting top dollar for your clients
2.  Show that you are the expert in today’s housing market
3.  Bring you more clients when they see your staged listings
4.  Produce quicker sales, allowing you to move to your next listing that much sooner
5.  Increase your overall profit margin!

And who wouldn’t want all of the above to reflect on them?

Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging is looking to partner with this type of real estate agent.  Could it be you?

Groovy Chick styled property… SOLD!

If…
– you have a future listing or one that currently isn’t selling in the Durham Region or in the (eastern) Greater Toronto Area,
– you don’t have or haven’t used a home stager before,
– you’re losing clients to realtors who do offer home staging,
…then please give us a call at 905-683-9136.

We would like to help you be a standout realtor!

Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging
Our homes are… Designed to sell, decorated to stay!

Do you suffer from Design-oma, Decor-itis or Stage Fright?

Many people are afflicted with one or all of the above maladies… are you one of them?  Do you feel dumbfounded with all of the choices out there when it comes to selecting paint colours, decor, style of furnishings, etc.?  Well, you are not alone!

With so many choices in fabrics, patterns, colours, and styles, one can get confused… overwhelmed.  You may feel anxious, wanting to have the perfect home to enjoy and to show off to family and friends, but whenever you attempt to decorate, it never seems to work out, and you can’t understand why.  You’ve watched all of those HGTV designer shows and thought that you too could put a look together… but something just isn’t right, and you don’t know what it is.  It may drive you crazy so you give up.  Well have no fear, Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging is here!

Let’s begin with a simple in-home consultation and learn a little bit about you, your likes and dislikes.  We’ll consider the things that you have and see what could stay or should be removed from the space.  We will talk about where you see yourself in 2, 5, 10 years down the road.  Will you be up-sizing, down-sizing, remodelling, selling, etc.?  Once that is established, we’ll devise a plan that will work for you and your home.

Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging is able to secure designer discounts at preferred vendors that will benefit you, the client.  Many a home seller has told us, “I wish I knew about this service years ago.  I just love my house now and am sad to have to sell it!”  That doesn’t have to happen.  So, let’s the begin the transformation by forming a relationship!  Give us a call or send us an email.  We would love to help you!

Designed to sell or decorated to stay sunroom sofa

 

 

Do-it-yourself Home Staging?

Homeowner staged master bedroom

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 staged master bedroom

Groovy Chick’s 10 To-Do’s before staging your home

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com

The days of baking a pie or loaf of bread for your open house are gone. That was a gimmick used to entice buyers to fall for home. A little tidying up, a familiar smell, and presto…the house was sold! Not anymore…

Today, buyers shop online for their ideal home and they expect instant gratification. They don’t want to have to ‘deal with’ the previous owner’s style, neglect, or problems. The home seller’s best friend should be a home stager, who will guide them in what today’s buyer is expecting and it all begins with the consultation.

During our consultation (before the house is ready to be staged) I will recommend to the homeowner, things to do in order to sell their home quickly and for more money. Here are the 10 most common To-Dos:

#1 – CLEAN, Clean, clean! Buyers will be looking through your cupboards, closets, out your windows, at carpets, floors, ceiling fans, light switches, lights, counters, furniture, appliances inside and out. You get my drift…every nook and cranny! All surfaces must be able to pass the white glove test. Make sure that there are no cobwebs at ceiling level. Bathrooms and kitchen must be spotless.

#2 – Declutter. Any items that do not enhance the sale of the home must be removed. I have rental accessories to accent the rooms.

#3 – De-personalize. Please remove all family photos, diplomas, bills, jewelry, etc. These items cause a distraction to the buyer. Remember, they are buying the home to make their own memories.

#4 – Less is more. I will suggest removal of excess furniture or repurposing it elsewhere. We want to create a good traffic flow…not a road block.

#5 – Refresh the walls with a neutral paint colour. I can help with paint colour selection. Touch-up dings/paint/trim at the very least. Remove any wallpaper but if it must stay, make sure that edges are sealed. Buyers will notice!

#6 – No odours in the house please. This includes smoking, pets, strong cooking smells. If buyers smell something foreign to them, they will bolt. You can air out any odours prior to the open house or rent an air cleaning machine.

#7 – Fibres absorb odours. Replace old, worn-out, or stained carpeting. Shampoo if it’s newer but this may cause wall-to-wall carpeting to ripple and thus require stretching. Remove dark and heavy drapes. 

#8 – Fresh bedding and towels…preferably new and white.

#9 – Make minor repairs. Buyers will notice imperfections, when looking at trim, opening doors, walking on floors, turning on lights etc. 

#10 – The Exterior. Place blue boxes and garbage bins in garage. Weed or (at least) remove dandelion heads from lawns. Cut the grass, rake leaves, trim bushes, etc. Power wash outdoor furniture, deck/patio, driveway. Repaint the front door?

Bonus Tip – Moving is a stressful time and I don’t envy you but if possible, take some time away while the home is being shown. You’ve invested a lot of time and money in getting it ready for the market. Professional styling has made it magazine worthy. Why stress over having to constantly clean up and be ready to leave on short notice. Take a mini vacation if you can. You’ve worked hard and will be rewarded for it.

A home staging consultation with Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging is worth every penny. Any additional service will deliver as much as a 1,000% return on investment.

Contact info:
Email: catherine@groovychickdesign.com
Phone: 905-683-9136
Website: https://www.groovychickdesign.com/home

 

A Fairy Tale Story…

We all know the story of Cinderella, but have you ever considered the similarity of this fairy tale to the process of selling a house? No? Well then, let’s begin…

Here is Prince Charming or the home buyer. He was in search of a bride and decided to throw a ‘ball’ to meet all of the eligible maidens in the land.

These eligible ‘maidens’ would be our homes for sale on the market.

 

 

 

This is Cinderella in her everyday attire. She wished that she could go to the ball like her two step-sisters, but couldn’t as she didn’t have anything nice to wear.

Consider the ‘Ball’ as the real estate market.

 

 

 

 

At the ball, Prince Charming met maiden after maiden and was not attracted to any one of them. He was looking for the WOW-factor (as is any home buyer). The prince was becoming disinterested… when suddenly, at the top of the staircase, he spotted this beautiful young lady…

With the help of her Fairy Godmother (home stager) Cinderella was transformed into a stunning beauty. All eyes were upon her!

Other maidens, who had dressed themselves in their very best, paled in comparison to Cinderella (the staged home). The maidens and Cinderella’s two step-sisters were jealous after realizing that the prince (the buyer) was no longer looking at them (homes on the market).

 

Unfortunately, Cinderella had to leave the ball early, before the ‘staging’ spell wore off and she returned to wearing her old rags. She would be mortified to have the prince see her in them (…see where I’m going with this?). When the prince found a glass slipper on the staircase, he went out in search of the girl who had left the shoe behind. He made his way from house to house trying the shoe on maidens’ feet. None could fit the tiny shoe. This is like the home buyer looking at listing after listing, searching for their perfect home. When he finally arrived at Cinderella’s cottage, her two step-sisters tried and tried to squeeze into the shoe with no success.

While there, Prince Charming hadn’t even noticed Cinderella in her everyday clothes (the condition of a house before it goes to market and should never be listed as is). When Cinderella asked if she could try on the glass slipper, he didn’t recognize her until…

…the shoe fit and Cinderella was transformed back into the gorgeous young lady at the ball. The prince, typically, was aroused, or emotionally attached to the beauty at the ball (real estate market). And the story ends with Cinderella and Prince Charming getting married and living happily ever after.

This my friends is exactly what happens when listing a home for sale. Buyers will search online and look for attractive houses based on the photos of listings. If they don’t feel emotionally connected to or intrigued by a home’s pictures, they will ignore it and move on to the next one, then the next one, and so on. Please, don’t let this happen to you!

Let Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging be YOUR Fairy Godmother!

I love this analogy for home staging and I hope that you do too. Please leave a comment.

Numbers and Statistics

 Here are some interesting home staging statistics that most people do not know…

8   The number of seconds that it takes to make a first impression (good or bad)

Attracting buyers with great online photos and marketing is so important as you only get one chance to make a good first impression! We live in fast times. We want everything now. We expect perfection. If we don’t like what we see, we move on to the next. Perfect magazine-type photos entice buyers to visit a home. Those that aren’t, won’t.

21   The number of days on the market that you want to avoid

The house that is on the Toronto area market for three weeks or more will be deemed as having something wrong with it. Newer listings will take precedence over the older ones, pushing them down in the rankings. A listed home should be memorable, attractive, and entice online shoppers to look no further!

1/2   The percentage of asking price that you should expect to spend on staging a vacant home

Prices vary as every house is different, but the average cost to stage a home should run between 1/2% for a basic job to 1% for the WOW-factor. Occupied homes will obviously cost you less.

5   The minimal number of rooms recommended for staging a vacant home

Vacant rooms don’t sell houses while well decorated and furnished rooms do. This is why builders have model homes for buyers to walk through. Given a choice, the ones with only floor plans will not sell vs. those with actual furnished models. Why? Because nine out of ten buyers cannot visualize how their furniture will fit in an empty space, let alone on a floor plan. This is where home staging comes in, by showing them how best to layout furniture and by wowing them with the décor. The more staged rooms that a home has, the better the buyers can picture themselves living in it.

90   The percentage of less time on the market that a staged home spends, compared to a home that is not staged

Homes that are perfectly styled to sell will set the standard for the local market. All other homes will be judged accordingly. Offers will be reflected based on where a home stands in the buyer’s mind.

2   The average number of hours that Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging will spend with you during a consultation

We will start at the curb, work our way through the house, room by room, and into the back yard, all the while making recommendations on what attracts today’s home buyer. By following all of these recommendations, sellers should see their property sell quickly and for much more money. Partial follow-throughs won’t be nearly as lucrative as complete ones.

100   The percentage of satisfied Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging customers

Homeowners often wonder why they hadn’t done it sooner after seeing the end result. You don’t have to wait to sell, in order to fall in love with your home once again. Call us. We would be happy to help you redecorate, or redesign your space. Your family and friends will be impressed.

To get a better understanding of the statistics for staging first and selling fast, please visit our website:  https://www.groovychickdesign.com/home

 

Missed the Boat? Now What?

The spring market was crazy HOT in Toronto and the GTA.  Believe it or not, houses in this area sold for ($100,000 – $400,000+) way, way OVER asking!  The real estate market was nuts!!  The average house in Toronto was valued at over a million dollars and we in the suburbs experienced a ripple effect.

Houses sold unconditionally… without inspection, without staging… cars parked down the streets, people lined up outside of homes… C R A Z Y !!  It reminded me of the mid-1980s when house-flippers drove prices into the stratosphere.

First time home buyers were constantly out-bid on properties… and if they were lucky enough to buy one,  I’m hearing now that many are walking away from those properties because:
1. they can’t afford to bring them up to code (per after-purchase home inspection)
2. having been pre-approved for a mortgage, they got into a bidding war and no longer qualify for a mortgage based on the current market value
3. due to becoming cash poor, they’re unable to turn it into their ‘dream’ home

These buyers would sooner walk away from a $100,000 downpayment and pay a fine than to be stuck with a money pit.  This has caused problems for the sellers who purchased another home.  I see potential lawsuits.  I’ve also seen properties with ‘For Lease’ or ‘For Rent’ signs as a result of buyers walking away.  What a nightmare!

On April 21st, a law was passed to deter foriegn investers from speculating and driving house prices up in Ontario (specifically Toronto and the GTA).  Now, the market is settling down, prices are closer to where they should be and yet, sellers still think that they can ride the gravy train… by not investing in home staging.  The pendulum is swinging the other way folks!  Where you once got away with selling your properties ‘as is’ and received well over asking for them, you may now be getting ‘low-ball’ offers.  Remember… buyers expect to be WOW-ed and if your home’s current condition doesn’t do that, it will be reflected in their offer!

A simple consultation may be all you need to get your home ready for the market.
Let Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging help you get there and to set sail!

 

Consultation to Redesign to Project Managing

A homeowner called on me to do a color consultation.  She was tired of living in a drab looking environment for the last 7 years.  I went, and selected new paint colors for the whole house.  She planned to have some rooms painted ‘now and the rest later’.

A couple of weeks had passed and the homeowner called me again.  This time she said that she had put in an offer on a condo and would be selling the house.  What?!  She needed a painter and handyman pronto to do the work required before staging and listing the home.  I found a painter and then consulted with the client on what needed doing in order to sell her home quickly.  After a major purge and de-cluttering, I sent the painter to paint the rest of her house.  Then I brought in my handyman to fix the many things that needed to be addressed.  Any flaws detected by would-be home buyers would result in lower offers!

Time was of the essence now.  The holidays were fast approaching and the growing list of work to be done wasn’t yet complete… let alone the staging.  My client went on vacation to be with her family and left me in charge.  The handy work was finally finished, the cleaners came in, and I was ready to stage the occupied home.

I then went to shop for the staging decor as well as for my client.  She would hopefully take it with her to the new place.  As I completed each room, I sent her photos of my work.  She loved it all!

The open house took place on the weekend.  Upon her return, there were multiple offers.  It sold that same day for well over asking!  My client was thrilled as she got exactly what she wanted PLUS she was equipped with paint colors and decor to take with her to the new condo!

The client absolutely loves her new place.  It’s fresh, clean and offers a sense of serenity… it’s what she really needed.

Are you in a similar situation?  Are you stressing over decorating?  Well don’t… just call Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging.  I would love to help!

Why Hire a Professional Home Stager?

There are lots of simple things homeowners can do on their own to decorate their homes to sell. They can get rid of clutter, repaint, clean or put out fresh flowers. So why hire a home stager?

Many homeowners are unsure of what paint colors to choose or where to move the clutter. The process of selling a home can be completely overwhelming. They often lack real estate knowledge about their local markets and how homes in their price range should look.

A home stager has the ability to look at a home with a fresh pair of eyes. They view the home as a highly critical buyer would see it. Home staging expert Debra Gould provides five examples of how a professional home stager can benefit you:

1.    A home stager knows what’s needed to create the right environment quickly and at the lowest cost.

2.    A home stager knows what homes in different price ranges look like and what’s selling. They will give homeowners suggestions that their real estate agent may be afraid to offer because the agent does not want to risk losing the listing.

3.    A home stager is not emotionally attached to any of the home’s contents, which means that they can see the home in a way that someone who has been living there for years simply cannot. Using their fresh vision, they recommend the optimal way to rearrange existing furniture, art and accessories.

4.    A home stager can quickly choose new paint colors, flooring, tiles, countertops or any number of finishes. They have a ready source of painters, cleaners, handymen, off-site storage and a myriad of other services that may be needed on short notice.

5.    A home stager can bring in replacement furniture, accessories and art if what is there isn’t appropriate for the home’s target market or the home is empty.

Home staging is not just for multimillion dollar homes. Even for modest homes, staging can have a dramatic effect on the selling price and the number of days spent on the market. For example, one of the homes Gould staged had previously been on the market for months with the best offer being $350,000. She spent 90 minutes with the owner rearranging the furniture, putting items in storage and telling him what needed to be cleaned. He sold the house the following week for $361,000!

How many other (legal) ways can you think of to invest $600 and get an $11,000 return on your investment the following week?

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