A little bit of staging, a lot more money

“What an incredible view!” I gasped as I walked into my client’s house. This two-story, hill-hugging home overlooked an expanse of rolling hills with views of the sapphire-blue bay beyond. The neighborhood was dotted with unique custom homes, all situated to capture the view – a combination of bohemian and upscale dwellings.

The couple’s agent hired me to do a “mini-staging.” During a mini-staging we quickly rearrange the homeowner’s existing furniture, edit their possessions and use their most suitable accessories to dress each room to make the home look the most attractive to buyers.

This living room posed a real challenge. The furniture was set up to take advantage of the view, but the arrangement made it difficult to get into the room and sliced the space in half. The chairs in front of the window were shouting distance from the couch and didn’t look like part of the conversation area. A spiral staircase leading to the lower level took up a fair bit of space and added to room’s disjointed look.

One of the truisms I hear agents say to their clients is, “The way you show your home for sale is not the way you live in your home.”

I couldn’t agree more! A home set up so that every room makes a positive impression on potential buyers is more likely to sell quickly and at a higher price than one that is set up to maintain the homeowner’s normal living habits. Sad but true! I often ask my clients, “Are you willing to be inconvenienced for a few days so that you can make more money?” Fortunately, most agree to living with the changes and they often like the new arrangement more than the old.

This home’s living room demonstrates the difference between how homeowners prefer to live versus what makes a better impression on buyers.

Before

• The couch was placed so that the couple could put their feet up and enjoy the view from their picture windows. Unfortunately, it forced visitors to navigate around it and made the room seem smaller and less inviting. The couple didn’t entertain much, so it didn’t matter that the chairs were placed so far away.

• There were odds-and-ends furniture placed in front of the window, and a tiny rug floated in the middle of the room. Their styles didn’t blend well and the overall impression was choppy and disjointed.

• What lived in that pet crate? Would it sneak out and bite my ankle? Would I trip on it? Would it be friendly?

After

• In order to create a more welcoming arrangement, we moved the couch in front of the picture windows. Although this didn’t allow the homeowners to face the view, it looked better. You could now walk unimpeded into the room towards the view. The couch, paired with the matching chair suggested easy conversation. The room seemed much larger, and the spiral staircase became a “feature,” rather than being an annoyance or a creating decorating quandary.

• The rocking chair was the wrong style and scale for the room, so we put it in a nearby bedroom where it worked great. The other odds and ends were packed up and stored. Using less furniture and sticking with similar styles helped create simplicity and cohesion.

• The homeowners agreed to keep the pet crate in a closet. Their agent also suggested that they take the dog with them during the open house and for any showings. Many potential buyers are allergic to or afraid of pets, or worried about the animal escaping if a door is left open. It is always best to remove any pet accruements and the pet during viewings.