Home Staging Questions and Answers

Do you have questions about home staging or property presentation services? Here you will find the mostly commonly asked questions that will shed some light on what it is Space Lift can offer you when considering selling your home.

Is home staging just a matter of cleaning the house and brewing a pot of coffee?

While some people will tell you a pot of coffee or freshly cooked bread will create an instant attachment with a property buyer, buyers are much more savvy than this. Involving a House Stylist to stage your home will mean they will identify areas of your home that you perhaps don’t even see anymore. A House Stylist will see the property with fresh eyes and showcase the property to what buyers want in a home allowing the features to be clearly seen.

Will home staging cost me a small fortune?

Home staging is service offered to home sellers to capitalise on their biggest asset – their home. While some look at it as an unnecessary cost when selling, many look at it as an investment in the sale of their home, both in time on the market and dollar return.  

Can’t I just stage my own home and save some money?

You can prepare your own home for sale but you cannot objectively stage your home as you have too much tied up in the property emotionally. The vase your grandmother gave you cannot be put away, the photos of the kids must stay up and their artwork on the fridge just has to stay. The thing is, buyers are simply not interested in this. It distracts them from seeing the house and what it has to offer them, after all, it is going to be their property with any luck and they need to see them and their possessions fitting in the property.

Home sellers attempting to home stage simply don’t see the flaws because they have lived with them for some time and can’t see past them. A House Stylist  will see these things and correct them so the potential buyer only sees the features and walks away in love with the home.

Surely buyers can look past my stuff?

People are very visual, if they see something they don’t like or cannot relate to then they don’t identify with it. While your extensive collection of dolphin collectables may be what you live for, a buyer will come in and not know where to look, or worse, will not be able to see the property for the dolphins. Reducing to a minimum so that buyers can see space, see storage and see themselves living in the property is vitally important.

Should I consider a price reduction to sell more quickly?

Price reduction on your asking price should be a last resort. Imagine you are asking $390,000 for your property and your agent advises you should drop the price $10,000 to get the market interested. This means you will be selling at $380,000 but you know the buyers will try and get you down further. They will look for faults that they can use in their favour and put in an offer well below your expectation in order to cover the costs of repairs. All of a sudden the best price you are being offered is $365,000. You are now down $25,000 from your expected selling price.

Now, imagine this scenario with some changes to the story. The property has been sitting at $390,000 and instead of a price reduction, you call in a House Stylist. The property is reviewed, basic changes have been put in place and you may have spent a few thousand dollars depending on the issues. Even if you have spent $3,000 you are still better off by $7,000 than if you had taken the price drop. Now consider that the property looks much better and the agent feels they can actually increase the asking price to reflect the changes made.  An asking price of $405,000 is applied and the property sells in a few days. Now, minus your investment you are $12,000 up on expectation and almost $40,000 better off than if you had gone with a price reduction.

While this example may seem idealistic, we have seen examples of where people make a commitment and invest in their property at sale time and see wonderful results in relation to the asking price and how long they are on the market for – please read our testimonials. 

Either way, once you drop the asking price you cannot go back upward.

I think my home is fine the way it is, are you going to come in and tell me I have bad taste?

No, we wouldn’t dream of doing that. What we will do is offer creative suggestions on how you can best utilise what you have in the home to improve the look and feel to prospective buyers. Buyers will look at your property and sum up whether they like it or not in mere seconds. These few vital seconds are all you have to convince a buyer that this is the right home for them. Decluttering and providing clear definition of the intention of every room in the house is vital. 

Why bother spending money on my house when I am selling it?

Firstly, you are not spending you are investing in your property. Your return is less time on the market and your end selling price. It is like trying to sell a car when you have not detailed it or cleaned out the interior. No one wants something that looks like it has been neglected. Even the smallest investment will have some impact at sale time. 

Property presentation is vital when selling your home. Consider this, if you were buying in a particular street and there were two properties for sale - both in the same suburb and the same street, both around the same price, both suiting your needs. The only difference is that one has enjoyed the benefits of a House Stylist and the second hasn’t. Which one would you prefer? The one that is average or the one that has the designer quality and finish? 

I don’t need a House Stylist, all homes sell eventually!

Sure, but at what cost to you? A home sitting on the market for sale is costing you money. You may have purchased your new home and be paying two mortgages. You will have to continue to pay rates, electricity and water for a property you want to get out of. That is before the agent suggests a price drop is a good idea as your home has been sitting there that long. Selling a home faster saves you money. Selling a home for more makes you more money. House Stylists ensure that every feature in your property is highlighted to achieve these outcomes.

What improvements will sell my home quicker?

Every property is different and therefore has different needs and requirements in the preparation for sale. Some will require more costly work while others simply need a change in furniture layout, basic decluttering and a few final touches. An independent inspection by a House Stylist will identify these issue, many of which you will have lived with for years and given it no second thought.

Our objective at Space Lift is to make the most difference possible on the least funds. 

Should I stage my home before I go on the market or can I do it if I am on the market now?

Ideally, home staging should be completed prior to the property being listed with your agent. This will provide the agent with a strong first impression of your property and therefore they will be more likely to market it at a better price.

If your property has been on the market and there is little interest, home staging can provide an alternative to a price reduction. Reviewing the property once it is on the market is common and issues can still be identified and worked on so that the property can attract potential buyers. Remember, you only have one chance to make that initial impression. Don’t waste it.

My agent has advised not to make any changes to my property but I have heard that some improvements can actually increase the value. What should I do?

Real estate agents generally have the best intentions. They don’t want you to over-capitalise on your property, particularly at sale time when you will not be around long to enjoy the changes. Some don’t wish to hurt your feelings by mentioning issues within the property and some are concerned that should they suggest changes and you go to another agency, they have wasted their time. That being said, small inexpensive changes can have quite dramatic effect and therefore should be explored. A House Stylist will be able to advise on what can be done, what needs to be done and keep an eye on the budget at all times. 

What if my home is not worth staging?

There are always issues with a property that can be identified and for a small investment, corrected. Perhaps putting $500 into your property now may nett you a further $5,000 at sale time and perhaps sell it one or two months earlier, not a bad short term investment.

Is there any difference between a House Stylist and an Interior Designer?

Although these professions seem to have similarities, they in reality are worlds apart. An interior designer’s role is to make your home in your style, tastes and preferences. A House Stylist actually aims to remove your unique style and tastes where these might not have wide appeal in order to market to the maximum number of buyers at sale time.     

Why involve Space Lift to assist you sell your property?

Space Lift are the property presentation experts in Northern Tasmania. We review each property on its own merits and address the issues that will create the smallest negative impression for buyers. We aim to highlight the positive features of each property utilising the items already in the property and avoid promoting attention to the less desirable aspects of the home.

Presenting property is what we do and we aim to maximize the potential of your property so that you can sell your property faster and for the best price.