What Real Estate Agents Want in a Staged Home
Home stagers are a savvy bunch of professionals who know what real estate agents want with regard to property styling, and they deliver the goods that result in a quick sale at the best possible price for vendors.
Property stagers are aware that agents want different things in different housing markets. For instance, in a buyer’s market (and we’re in one now), many agents simply want their listings to sell for whatever price is offered, so the property isn’t sitting around for months.
What Agents Like About Property Styling
When an agent looks over a home to assess its value, it’s often hard for them to tell the seller what their home is worth – owners always overestimate, since their emotions and hopes are tied up in the property. The agent might want to wait a month while the home is styled rather than put it on the market as-is and often the home stager or property stylist is given the job of telling the seller the bad news about the value. What real estate agents like about home staging and what they want can be summed up by the following:
Agents want to be heard and understood
Rather than coordinating their pricing/services around what the agent needs, too many home stagers try to fit the agents’ needs into their business model. Stagers need to be able to communicate with the agents and work with them.
Agents need ‘honest staging’
In order to get the top price for a property, real estate agents want full staging rather than leaving half a house empty and a couple of rooms styled. Genuine and professional property stylists staging a home for sale will always be clear and honest about what a house needs to get the highest price.
Agents need great tools and resources
Agents need fabulous, professional sales materials to help their clients understand how staging will get them the highest price and a quick sale of their property. Agents also need a home stager to be able to communicate with their client and explain why they should take down the family photographs and depersonalise their home (so the potential buyer can imagine themselves living there).
Agents Need a Stager Who Can Organise Everything
Since the aim of home staging is to style the home to its highest potential, to make a space appear larger than it is and more appealing to a buyer, certain items of furniture and clutter will have to be removed. However, owners might feel uncomfortable about putting their furniture and personal belongings into storage and having their home filled with the styling company’s furniture and décor items. So, the agent will need a home stager to not only organise the changeover but be sensitive to the needs and feelings of the seller. The owner/seller will also need to throw out a lot of unused and unnecessary ‘stuff’ so a plan and timetable is a must. The agent will need a stager to be able to offer a deadline for completion of the property styling so the listing can be organised.
If you’re selling your home, you obviously want to achieve the highest price possible. To do this, you need to get as many people through the door as you can and help potential buyers feel an ‘emotional’ connection to your home to create some healthy competition. At Urban Chic Property Styling we have great professional relationships with agents and can work wonders on your home. If you want to achieve significantly more money for the sale of your property, call Urban Chic, the property styling experts in Sydney today on (02) 8959 7789 or email info@urbanchic.net.au.
