Will IT Sell?

While browsing through Realtor.ca, I come across this image.  What the???  There are no interior or exterior pictures.  Is this real estate agent serious about selling this… home… telephone pole… whatever it is?  What were the circumstances?  Was it posted by mistake, or as a joke?  I can’t imagine marketing my home to sell with something like this… can you?

A good real estate agent will want to cast the largest net in order to catch the most fish!  How they do that is with awesome pictures on MLS.  Showing an exterior picture with ‘Coming Soon’ on it will work for a little bit, but the actual listing pictures had better WOW the buyers.  People like pretty things and will move on to the next listing if they don’t feel emotionally drawn to a house through the online photos.  The best way to do that is to hire a professional photographer and, of course, a professional home stager!  Every good REA must include a home staging consultation with the sellers.  The more serious and successful agents will actually pay for all or part of the staging.

My analysis is this:
If the REA is the fisherman, trying to catch the most fish in a very big pond, then the online photos are the lure.  Fish will only go to what attracts them.  Hence, buyers will only want to visit homes that appeal to them visually… and we all know that you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

Anyway, I don’t know what eventually happened with the above property.  Did it sell?  Who knows?  Did anyone care to visit it?  I doubt it.  Why even show that kind of shot if a house isn’t ready for the market?  Am I right?

If you are a homeowner and want to sell your house, are perhaps shopping for another house, ask yourself: “Would I want my home to be represented as in the above photo?” or “Would I be interested in purchasing the property in the photo above?” Or would you want something like the photo below to represent your property or to want to see it in person?

If you are a real estate agent in the eastern GTA and would like to work with a proven home stager, please contact: Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging.
Our homes are designed to sell, decorated to stay!

For more info, please visit our website: https://www.groovychickdesign.com/

Vignette of coffee table to sofa view

 

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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.