Dramatic changes in the real estate world in the past 10 years reflect a fact that some of us took for granted for much of our lifetimes. Until the mid-1990s, the baby boomers, children born in the post war era between 1945 and 1964, were the kings and queens of the housing market. As a group, the boomers were born believers in all things home and family. Home stagers, who create dream homes across the Greater Sydney areas from the Inner West, to the inner city, and all the way to property styling St George, understood just what this group wanted, which made selling real estate here bigger and better. Enter the millennials.

Beginning in the mid-90s, a new group who came of age around the turn of the century took over. This group is decidedly different from the boomers and, as it works out, the staging staples of the past no longer worked. The new situation called for a drastic change in home staging theory to match the different mind-set of the millennial buyer.

Millennial buyers are a no-nonsense group who expect a good bit of work from their homes. They want a home that works for them, and not the other way around. They expect it to be beautiful and functional and require very little of them. They are budget-minded, and very keen on the concept of leisure time. They don’t want to spend their extra cash on fixing up their ‘dream home’. They want to spend their time and money on travel, entertainment, and the enrichment of their daily experience.

Here are a few tried and true home staging tricks that will not work on the millennial buyer, who is, after all, the most likely next owner of your home.

• Champagne and strawberries left on a tray in the master suite. (Millennials tend to eschew big productions. They’d rather have a wardrobe organising system.)
• Filling the home with the aroma of freshly baked bread. (While the boomer would have warmed to the homey smell, millennials wonder what the lovely scent is concealing.)
• Ditto incense, fragrance oils, and scented candles. The millennial wants the smell of immaculately clean HOUSE, so do whatever cleaning it takes to achieve this. (By the way, specialists in property styling St George tell us they have not found this particular scent in any supermarket or trendy boutique to date.)
• The carefully/carelessly tossed throw, the perfectly positioned pillows, or the magazine beside the chair that looks as if its reader just stepped out the door, are all wasted on the millennial. It isn’t that they dislike these things, exactly. Rather, it’s that they become suspicious of anything that looks contrived.
• The kitchen vignette that is meant to inspire the gourmet cook will almost always fall flat for all the same reasons. Besides, millennials prefer a more practical approach to all things. So, don’t think about setting up the dining room as if it were time for a holiday feast on their account. Boomers would love it, but the millennial would probably find your patterned dinnerware too fussy.

All of this is meant to show you that what works for one market will most likely be unappreciated by another. The good news is your expert in property styling St George, or any other area in and around Sydney, can help you understand the likes and dislikes of the people who are likely to purchase your home.

This is the strong suit of property stylists such as Urban Chic Property Styling, and it’s what they can bring to your real estate transactions that makes their services invaluable. They know precisely what will send your prospective buyer fleeing for the door and what will inspire him or her to stay on.

Call us today and allow us to help you stage a home that sells itself.