The call came out of the blue. I was driving in heavy traffic, gearing up and down, cursing the downtown core traffic and my phone rang. Someone saying they were from HGTV, The Unsellables.
They were looking at my website, liked my style and wondered if I would like to provide the benchmark property in the neighbourhood for their show. I figured that this had to be a Staging friend of mine that was pulling a prank on me so I calmly said... "I'll have to think about it, could I call them back?"
Turns out it's for real. The properties were filmed last June and July and are just appearing now on HGTV. Last weeks episode entitled "Carmelina" and the episode coming up entitled "Steve".
The premise of the show is that they have a property that has been on the market for months, lots of viewings but no offers. What could be wrong? They visit another property in the neighbourhood with the property owner in tow and then they visit a second one which has been Staged and has sold very recently or is for sale to show them what their competition looks like. It doesn't take long for the homeowner to see why their home is not getting offers. There is truth in the saying... seeing is believing.
The hosts then do what is necessary to get their property up to the neighbourhood expectation. This all comes back to why Professional Staging is not decorating or designing. Professional Home Staging is the marketing of your property for sale. There is only one reason to Stage it. To get the most equity possible out of the property to move on with your life and to have fewer days on market.
It doesn't matter what the market is, slow or fast- Staging is the one investment that you can make that will speed up the whole process. Investing in Home Staging is always less than the first price reduction.
Here are a couple of photos from the first property. It was a simple war time, red brick bungalow about 1,200 square feet backing onto a ravine. This property sold for the highest price the neighbourhood had seen, $20,000 over list.
I Staged it with unique features that no other comparable listing in the neighbourhood had. It's own tee off box out to the ravine in the rear - who could resist that? Even the videographer from HGTV put down his camera to take a few practice shots over the rear fence. A Pilates area in a wide basement hallway that was only being used as a pass through to the family room. The Realtor said 4 or 5 buyers actually sat down and tried out the exercise area. Even the laundry room which had the same 1960's dark, wood panelling as the basement hallway was given a face lift with up to date baskets to hold the soap supplies.
So if you are you still wondering, if Advantage Staging is worth the investment to save time on the market and get the most equity out of your property. The answer is plain to see... YES, EVERY TIME!
