There was a time when people who were shopping for a new house spent a lot of time in their  car going from house to house. In those days, buying a house began with actually visiting it. Since the advent of the internet, the process has changed dramatically. These days, buying a house is more about images than ever before. Today the selection of a home depends in great part on the seller’s choice of house stylist. Sydney has a booming real estate market and the competition is fierce.

Today’s real estate shopper begins the search for a home on the internet. If you’ve checked out real estate listings online, you already know that there are literally thousands of homes available to buy and most of them are available for view in cyberspace. In the Sydney area, how your property is presented by your house stylist is likely to make the first and the final impression that gets the sale made.

After spending an incredible amount of time online examining the listings, potential buyers will immediately eliminate any house that doesn’t ‘knock their socks off’. With so many houses to choose from, the images displayed online will probably make or break your sale. There simply isn’t any room for average-looking homes in the Sydney market today.

Fortunately, there is a growing number of home staging companies, each of which has its own way of luring buyers to the houses they stage for sale. In this market, the optics of your property are more important than ever before. Choosing a stylist who will create a winning look for your house may feel like a big gamble, but it doesn’t have to be.

First of all, your real estate agent is likely to have a favourite styling company that has been effective in his or her business. Going with a sure winner is always more effective than throwing a dart at the telephone directory. Choosing a styling company with a long record of impressive sales is easier than you might imagine.

  • Ask friends, family, and co-workers – people who have sold homes recently in the Sydney real estate market will have experience to draw from. Use their experiences to keep from making costly mistakes.
  • Experience is everything in the home styling business. Learn how long the company has been in business. The longer they have been styling homes, the better their chances of anticipating and avoiding problems will be.
  • Check references. It is not enough for a styling company to list glowing references on their websites. Those references are often written by professional writers and paid for by the companies who hire them. You must actually have the endorsement of people you can talk to. Ask for names and phone numbers.
  • Ask about styling plan options. Discover how much each possible styling plan will cost, and ask why one plan is better than others.
  • Ask about furniture hire options. Often styling companies bring in furnishings hired from other vendors. A good stylist will have a plan that involves specific pieces of furniture – those pieces are not interchangeable. You want a company that owns and maintains their own furnishings. That way you are certain of having the items you want, not just what’s currently available.
  • Check on the company’s delivery options. When you select a company with their own installation and moving team, you can be sure the risky business of transporting, set up, and eventual removal will be carried out by experts. This diminishes the chances of costly damage to the furnishings and your house.
  • Money isn’t everything. Understand that the cost a good styling company’s work will most likely be covered by the increase in selling price it will generate. Though it cannot be guaranteed, offers on a professionally styled property almost always exceed the asking price, often making the cost of styling a moot point.

Professional styling is really no longer an option in the Sydney market. It’s a necessity. When you are ready to list your property for sale, remember that at Urban Chic Property Styling we’ve been transforming Sydney homes for decades. Property styling Sydney is where our expertise, experience, and reputation lie. Call us first.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Nordik Living.

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