Staging your
resale HDB or condos can be inexpensive and a fun
experience that will significantly affect the amount of leverage you
have when negotiating the sale of your home but first you need to know
where to start. Haphazardly staging your apartment without a plan or
guide to what you are doing will result in a staged home that lacks a
cohesive flow and missed opportunities.
Specialists say it's
important not to confuse interior design with staging, which the same
thing, says Susan Goldstein, design overseer of Studio D. ."Interior
design is geared to the homeowner's taste and personal desire, " the
lady explains, while "staging is about putting enough furniture in a
space so that buyers can picture themselves surviving in the home and
how their furniture will easily fit in.
Staging is a
form of "visual merchandising, " this is according to a real estate
agent Gordon Roberts of Sotheby's. "The purpose of staging is to flatter
the apartment but not be too clear about it, like being properly
dressed without drawing attention to what you're wearing. " If you hire a
professional stager, have your broker manage the staging, or insist on a
totally do-it-yourself approach. Avoid these apartment staging mistakes
if you want to sell your apartment."
1. Burned out bulbs must be replaced.
This
is huge. Because you live in your apartment, you will become less aware
of things you see every day including the third bulb that burned away
over the bathroom hand mirror six months ago. Consider a family member
or friend who doesn't live with you through your home and see if they
notice any worn out bulbs that you might have missed. Exhausted
bulbs mean lack of maintenance to a home buyer and they will gladly
deduct dollars (in thousand dollar increments) if they suspect they may
have to do a whole lot of before moving in.
2. Take out excess big furniture.
Another
common mistake most apartment owners make when staging an apartment is
leaving their large furniture sets in an area. Huge furniture will
dominate any room, especially smaller rooms, so consider a little of the
non-essential sitting space out of a tiny living room to highlight the
available square video footage. Poor lighting and Dark furniture don't
mix! Within the topic of large furniture, dark furniture can be equally
harmful to your apartments ability to show well. Furniture being large
in nature, dark furniture pulls the attention towards it. Unless your
home features many expansive house windows that allow sunlight to
illuminate the entire room throughout the day, stay away from dark
furniture.
3. Do not Present An Unintended Distraction.
The
artwork in the photography of the kitchen was so HUGE, both about the
scale the piece of art as well as its subject, a set of hands reaching
away from the frame, that a buyer's eyes will immediately go towards it,
rather than the kitchen. This is such a huge distraction. Ensure that
the buyer sees the intended center point, not something else. People
have discussed about this topic immensely in Zillow.
4. Detach yourself from your apartment.
Forgetting
your apartment is extremely tough to do, but it's better to develop
thick pores and skin about your home now. Therefore you don't take buyer
feedback on your house personally. One key aspect to forgetting your
apartment is to eliminate photographs of family and other personal
effects that may hold sentimental value. When you entertain home, you
should just be displaying the house and not family photos or attractive
furnishings. Once buyers lose focus, it is next to impossible, so they
can redouble on touring your apartment.
5. Too Much Clutter and Outdated features and Furniture.
The
counters in this same kitchen had too many knickknacks and plates on
display. clutter. Pare down the decorations on the counter and limit
countertop appliances to no more than three. The kitchen set and
lighting permanent fixture overhead scream early 1990's (that's almost
two decades ago). These should get substituted. All ou want your
customers to aspire to the lifestyle portrayed.
6. Overcrowding with Furniture.
Your
living room experienced a fairly easy chair that was unnecessary for
the sitting arrangement which was already depicted with an L-shaped
couch. It was too big and was crowding the room and even impinging on
the kitchen area. An excessive amount of furniture tells customers
there's not enough space for everything and the room are too small, and
will leave the buyer with a sense of claustrophobia.
7. Keep the Exercise Equipment Out of the Bedroom.
In
such a case, the exercise bike was blocking the closet and tells the
buyer will be certainly not enough room to accommodate anything in this
apartment. This being another room in the same apartment, the image
showed a large treadmill in a tiny room with a Tv, a desk, and a couch.
8. Poor lighting.
Just how effective the vibe of
the apartment will depend on the light both from inside and out, says
real property broker Deanna Kory of Corcoran, who has recently been
staging apartments for more than a decade. "You need to use Lamoureux
light for a drier, more inviting glow. Enjoy out for the cool light or
'green cast' in certain of the modern cost effective bulbs, " the lady
says.
"The ones to look for are the warm/soft white or
daytime variety--but be warned that daylight turns up useful info well
everywhere. We've also seen six-light chandeliers with two or 3
different bulbs--that's a hugely bad thing, " says Kory. "Light is one
of the main things that buyers are looking for, " wants Pinkerton. "No
matter how light and bright you think your apartment is already, in the
wattage. If perhaps you only have a ceiling light in a living room, buy
an inexpensive floor or table lamp. Work with three points of light per
room. That can be two table lamps and a floor lamp, or three table
lamps.”
9. Master Bedrooms and Other Rooms Doubling as kid's Rooms.
Keeping
the crib in the master bedroom tells a potential buyer with children
that there is not enough room for them in this apartment. It may be that
the crib is in the bedroom because the parents want to be near their
infant, but it should not be shown in a photo, nor during an open house
or viewing. Is that a playpen I see in the foyer. This is entirely
unacceptable. Not only does a potential client stumble upon this when
walking through the front door, but they are also told: "there is not
enough room in this apartment for your baby's things."
10 . Not Showing Outdoor Space to its Fullest Potential and Having Too Personal a Color Scheme.
Having
an apartment in any city with outdoor space is a premium. When stepping
out onto the patio pictured in the photo, buyers should think "Aaah...I
can not wait to be sitting out here relaxing and reading my book or
entertaining my friends". While I know it's winter, do we need to see
the collection of empty pots? These should be stored away and out of
view. If possible, the furniture at the far right end should be brought
here, so it is the first thing the buyer sees.
The
furniture in a living room in another listing shows a green couch, a red
TV console, blue walls, and a black and white end table. It is too
young and colorful and hip to appeal to the broad range of buyers. The
red console and the zebra end table at the very least should be replaced
with more neutral pieces, and the blue wall painted a more neutral
color.
The above are tips about the top most mistakes to
avoid when staging your resale; The tips will give you an idea of some
simple mistakes homeowners make when presenting their home for sale.