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Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PART I
It’s Show Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Selling the Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Everybody Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Living vs. Selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . There’s a “Staged” Price and an “As-Is” Price . . . . . . Time is Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Know Your Target Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emotional Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Value for Money Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Too Much Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Move-In Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PART II
What the Experts Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15
How We Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Top Real Estate Professionals’ Insights . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Color Do’s and Don’t’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 The Scoop on Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 The Statistics of Staging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
17 25 31 37 41 49 55 61 67 71
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
PART III
And… Action! (35 Secrets for a Great Show) . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Secret 1 Secret 2 Secret 3 Secret 4 Secret 5 Secret 6 Secret 7 Secret 8 Secret 9 Secret 10 Secret 11 Secret 12 Secret 13 Secret 14 Secret 15 Secret 16 Secret 17 Secret 18 Secret 19 Secret 20 Secret 21 Secret 22 Secret 23 Secret 24 Secret 25 Secret 26 Secret 27 Secret 28
Let it Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Think Like Your Buyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take a Mock Tour of Your Property. . . . . . . . . . . . Trust Lenses, Not Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Work Room by Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “First View” First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assign a Function to Each Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Depersonalize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clear the Clutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take Control of the Kid Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Furry Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don’t Underestimate Storage Space . . . . . . . . . . . Time to Neutralize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the Tone with Wall Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warm it Up with Accent Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grounding the Sale with Great Floors . . . . . . . . . . Maximize Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wasted Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Let the Sunshine In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switch the Light On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maximize a Great View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minimize an Ugly View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add a Touch of Nature with Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add a Splash of Color (and Style) with Flowers . . . Emphasize the Outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accessories Make the Outfit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dress Up the Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
159 161 163 165 167 169 171 173 175 177 179 183 185 189 191 195 197 199 203 205 207 211 213 215 217 219 221 223
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Secret 29 Secret 30 Secret 31 Secret 32 Secret 33 Secret 34 Secret 35
Create a Spa-Like Bathroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turn the Bedroom into a Sleeping Oasis . . . . . . . . Make the Dining Room Entertaining . . . . . . . . . . Clean ‘til it Sparkles! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Say No to Odors! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Know When to Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maintain Your Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225 229 231 233 235 237 239
A Final Word of Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Introduction Think back to the last successful job interview you had. You know the one. That last great interview, where the company felt like home when you walked through the door. When you knew you’d put your best foot forward and successfully got the job. You shone over the other candidates because there was an emotional connection there that made you look like the perfect fit. Guess what? That connection had a lot to do with how you presented yourself. The selection of just the right outfit and accessories, the time and care you put into your appearance—these factors paid off and directly helped to contribute to your success. Real estate is surprisingly similar. Just as the right skills are simply not enough to get a job, just as you have to have the right salary expectations, attire, and demeanor at the job interview to bridge that gap between ‘applicant’ and ‘employee,’ so too does your home need to put its best “look” forward for its interview with the buyer. Home staging or real estate staging is the best way to do this. It’s the art and science of setting the stage for a home sale. While it’s one of the hottest buzzwords in the real estate industry right now, it’s far from being a new concept. I got into the business of staging, into helping home sellers attract traffic and turn it into a fast sale, because I realized that on a very basic level, it wasn’t any different from what I was doing in the corporate world, where I had been helping retailers to engage customers in their stores. I was soon doing the exact same thing in real estate, and I’ve been doing it ever since. To most of us, our homes are more than just locations or settings. 11
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
They’re places to which we often have deep emotional connections, tied to some of the most powerful memories we possess. Our homes are also often very real reflections of our styles and personalities. From whimsical to elegant, from fussy to minimal, our homes say a surprising amount about who we are. It’s understandably difficult, therefore, to think of your home as a ‘product,’ even when you put it on the market. But that’s what it is—a product, and one that’s in competition with other products in the same price range. Your home is also a perishable product. Which means the longer it sits on the market, the lower the closing price is going to be. Your goal, as a home seller? Not surprisingly, a fast sale. And at the price you set. But the market can make that difficult. Right now, the competition between properties, between ‘products,’ is fiercer than ever before. While certain aspects have to do with the economy at large, many actually have little to do with the current economic issues, and rather have much more to do with the way home buyers’ expectations have changed. Thanks to scores of decorating and home improvement shows, articles, features, and of course the Internet, buyers’ expectations have grown more sophisticated over the past decade. No longer do buyers expect empty spaces or quickly tidied rooms when considering a property, but an entire experience—a look they want, a whole lifestyle. People don’t want to walk into a space and to have to work to attempt to imagine their own lives in that space. Nowadays, they want that picture painted for them. Whether their styles are warm and welcoming or cool and chic, they want to walk into a space that feels ready for them to come home to. Therefore, to sell, your property needs to be priced correctly, no doubt about it. But the way it looks is just as important. 12
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
INTRODUCTION
People buy when they see a fit. No matter how much money is involved in the transaction, they buy emotionally, they buy the lifestyle, and they buy the ‘experience’ you are selling. Whether you plan it or not, buyers will have an experience the moment they walk through the door. You can leave it to chance and hope for the best, or you can orchestrate that experience to help them mentally ‘move in.’ Think back to that job interview analogy I started off with. When you put your property on the market, you’re essentially auditioning or ‘applying’ to the new prospective buyers who visit. You want to impress them with just the right balance of personality, class, and intelligence. The larger the number of buyers you’ll be able to attract and interest, the higher the number of offers, the faster the sale, and the higher the closing price. Setting the stage for the buyer isn’t an option anymore, but a necessity—no matter where the home—whether a stately ranch style house in Dallas, a condo in Miami, or a chic penthouse apartment in New York City. It’s an art every home seller must master—through either staging by themselves, or by selecting a professional staging company to do the work. Would you ever question the need to have professionally taken photos? Or the use of the Internet to promote your property, for example? (Hopefully, your answer was no—if it wasn’t, it should be!) When it comes to a successful sale, certain things are simply vital. Successful selling nowadays means you’ve got to stage it, to sell it. Don’t see it as a burden. Instead, cheer up! Staging is one of the most powerful real estate marketing tools at your disposal today. Embrace it! This book will not only provide valuable tips on staging to sell, but it will also hopefully assist you in the realization that staging is a fundamental 13
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
step in the marketing process. In writing this book, I decided to focus on a truly underserved market in the staging arena—city dwellings in metropolitan areas—in which marketing challenges are profoundly different from those of the suburban houses in the rest of the country. I’ve also found that most titles on home staging seem to read like they were written for professionals—in other words, for people who already know the reasons for staging, and who are doing it routinely. If you decide to stage by yourself, my guidelines will help you through the process. Still, you’ll need to make decisions along the way. With this in mind, I’ll not only share the secrets to setting the stage for a sale on your own, but I will also try to explain the marketing reasons behind the actions that I recommend for you to take. Hopefully such an approach coupled with valuable insights, practical guidelines and even the occasional attempt at humor, will make those decisions much easier for you. So let’s get started!
14
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
PART I
It’s Show Business As Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage.” And that goes double when you’re looking to sell your property. The moment you decide to enter the real estate world, as unlikely as it might seem at first, you’re really entering the world of show business.
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Chapter 1
Selling the Experience Did you know that buyers form an opinion about your property in seconds, and that the clock starts ticking at the front door? That’s right. It’s brutal, but true: Seconds are all you’ve got to catch their attention—or they’re out the door and (unfortunately for you) sprinting at record speed to the next open house on their list, trailing all those beautiful imaginary dollar signs behind them as they go.
Those few seconds, that first impression, they’re crucial for you as a home seller. If you lose the buyer’s attention? Your opportunity to sell is lost. It’s no secret that the real estate market has become increasingly competitive. The current economic situation certainly plays a role, but don’t be misled. Marketing real estate had begun to change well before the recent mortgage and Wall Street meltdowns, and unlike the current economic 17
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
crisis (that will hopefully soon be only a bad and distant memory), the change in the way we sell properties is here to stay. Over the past few years, home buyers have become better informed (and pickier than ever—or is it just me?) and they also seem to have increasingly higher expectations. Not to mention the fact that they can compare hundreds—if not thousands—of properties at the speed of broadband without ever leaving their sofas. And with the power of the Internet comes the power of the split-second decision. The buyer sees, the buyer likes—or dislikes—and boom. The sale can be lost in a single click of the mouse. This means that real estate has suddenly become a lot more like online dating than any of us probably ever anticipated. And much like online dating, if your property’s pictures are not attractive, you won’t get a wink of interest—certainly not the outcome you want! But there’s more than that to consider here where the minds of buyers are concerned. Most importantly? As I mentioned in my Introduction, people don’t just buy a property. Instead, they’re looking for the whole experience. They buy the perception of the lifestyle that comes with it. And they do it in the blink of an eye. There has always been an association between homes and fantasy. A beautiful home offers the promise of a dream, of a certain kind of life, whether of a perfect vacation spot or the glamorous lifestyle that comes with a city building or a neighborhood. How many New Yorkers living on the Upper East Side would swap their homes for one on the Upper West Side, or Downtown? Not many. Reverse the situation, and it still stands, and their reasons for not doing so are mostly lifestyle-related. A home in a specific neighborhood, a certain area, carries with it a certain atmosphere, a lifestyle, a look and feel. A promise. Of course, neighborhoods change over time, even dramatically, but 18
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SELLING THE EXPERIENCE
those evolutions most of the time continue to bring a culture, a lifestyle and new buyers seeking to be a part of them, so the cycle continues. And this isn’t a purely New York point of view by any means. It’s an attitude that is common throughout the United States—from Miami, to Phoenix, to Chicago, to Los Angeles—as it is in Milan, Italy, London, England, and beyond. Whether or not home buyers have really changed, it’s a certainty that decades of marketing studies have made us all better marketers. It’s no wonder then, that developers push lifestyle and amenities in each and every promotion of their new buildings. These developers know their business, and they know the triggers in the buyers’ decision-making process. They’re marketing accordingly. As I mentioned earlier, it’s all about the experience of a lifestyle. Home Buyers are Shoppers Don’t be fooled by the amount of money involved in the transaction— home buyers are still, first and foremost, shoppers. This is an idea that’s an essential core of my approach to staging, so from here on out in this book, I’m not going to call them home buyers any longer, but home shoppers. And mind you, I’m not really suggesting that people buy properties as they buy shoes (even though I have personally bought more than one apartment in five minutes—certainly less than my average shoe-shopping time)! But the two have more in common than you would think. Of course, buying a home is absolutely one of the most important decisions we ever make in our lives (from both a financial and non-financial standpoint). Yet, the emotional triggers are truly what make people decide faster, and even stretch their budgets, in order to live in that very special property of yours. (And let’s face it—the goal of selling faster and for top dollar is the reason you’re reading this book)! 19
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PART I
It’s Show Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Selling the Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Everybody Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Living vs. Selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . There’s a “Staged” Price and an “As-Is” Price . . . . . . Time is Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Know Your Target Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emotional Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Value for Money Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Too Much Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Move-In Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PART II
What the Experts Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15
How We Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Top Real Estate Professionals’ Insights . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Color Do’s and Don’t’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 The Scoop on Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 The Statistics of Staging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
17 25 31 37 41 49 55 61 67 71
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
PART III
And… Action! (35 Secrets for a Great Show) . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Secret 1 Secret 2 Secret 3 Secret 4 Secret 5 Secret 6 Secret 7 Secret 8 Secret 9 Secret 10 Secret 11 Secret 12 Secret 13 Secret 14 Secret 15 Secret 16 Secret 17 Secret 18 Secret 19 Secret 20 Secret 21 Secret 22 Secret 23 Secret 24 Secret 25 Secret 26 Secret 27 Secret 28
Let it Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Think Like Your Buyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take a Mock Tour of Your Property. . . . . . . . . . . . Trust Lenses, Not Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Work Room by Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “First View” First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assign a Function to Each Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Depersonalize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clear the Clutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take Control of the Kid Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Furry Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don’t Underestimate Storage Space . . . . . . . . . . . Time to Neutralize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the Tone with Wall Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warm it Up with Accent Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grounding the Sale with Great Floors . . . . . . . . . . Maximize Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wasted Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Let the Sunshine In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switch the Light On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maximize a Great View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minimize an Ugly View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add a Touch of Nature with Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add a Splash of Color (and Style) with Flowers . . . Emphasize the Outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accessories Make the Outfit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dress Up the Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
159 161 163 165 167 169 171 173 175 177 179 183 185 189 191 195 197 199 203 205 207 211 213 215 217 219 221 223
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Secret 29 Secret 30 Secret 31 Secret 32 Secret 33 Secret 34 Secret 35
Create a Spa-Like Bathroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turn the Bedroom into a Sleeping Oasis . . . . . . . . Make the Dining Room Entertaining . . . . . . . . . . Clean ‘til it Sparkles! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Say No to Odors! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Know When to Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maintain Your Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225 229 231 233 235 237 239
A Final Word of Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Introduction Think back to the last successful job interview you had. You know the one. That last great interview, where the company felt like home when you walked through the door. When you knew you’d put your best foot forward and successfully got the job. You shone over the other candidates because there was an emotional connection there that made you look like the perfect fit. Guess what? That connection had a lot to do with how you presented yourself. The selection of just the right outfit and accessories, the time and care you put into your appearance—these factors paid off and directly helped to contribute to your success. Real estate is surprisingly similar. Just as the right skills are simply not enough to get a job, just as you have to have the right salary expectations, attire, and demeanor at the job interview to bridge that gap between ‘applicant’ and ‘employee,’ so too does your home need to put its best “look” forward for its interview with the buyer. Home staging or real estate staging is the best way to do this. It’s the art and science of setting the stage for a home sale. While it’s one of the hottest buzzwords in the real estate industry right now, it’s far from being a new concept. I got into the business of staging, into helping home sellers attract traffic and turn it into a fast sale, because I realized that on a very basic level, it wasn’t any different from what I was doing in the corporate world, where I had been helping retailers to engage customers in their stores. I was soon doing the exact same thing in real estate, and I’ve been doing it ever since. To most of us, our homes are more than just locations or settings. 11
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
They’re places to which we often have deep emotional connections, tied to some of the most powerful memories we possess. Our homes are also often very real reflections of our styles and personalities. From whimsical to elegant, from fussy to minimal, our homes say a surprising amount about who we are. It’s understandably difficult, therefore, to think of your home as a ‘product,’ even when you put it on the market. But that’s what it is—a product, and one that’s in competition with other products in the same price range. Your home is also a perishable product. Which means the longer it sits on the market, the lower the closing price is going to be. Your goal, as a home seller? Not surprisingly, a fast sale. And at the price you set. But the market can make that difficult. Right now, the competition between properties, between ‘products,’ is fiercer than ever before. While certain aspects have to do with the economy at large, many actually have little to do with the current economic issues, and rather have much more to do with the way home buyers’ expectations have changed. Thanks to scores of decorating and home improvement shows, articles, features, and of course the Internet, buyers’ expectations have grown more sophisticated over the past decade. No longer do buyers expect empty spaces or quickly tidied rooms when considering a property, but an entire experience—a look they want, a whole lifestyle. People don’t want to walk into a space and to have to work to attempt to imagine their own lives in that space. Nowadays, they want that picture painted for them. Whether their styles are warm and welcoming or cool and chic, they want to walk into a space that feels ready for them to come home to. Therefore, to sell, your property needs to be priced correctly, no doubt about it. But the way it looks is just as important. 12
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
INTRODUCTION
People buy when they see a fit. No matter how much money is involved in the transaction, they buy emotionally, they buy the lifestyle, and they buy the ‘experience’ you are selling. Whether you plan it or not, buyers will have an experience the moment they walk through the door. You can leave it to chance and hope for the best, or you can orchestrate that experience to help them mentally ‘move in.’ Think back to that job interview analogy I started off with. When you put your property on the market, you’re essentially auditioning or ‘applying’ to the new prospective buyers who visit. You want to impress them with just the right balance of personality, class, and intelligence. The larger the number of buyers you’ll be able to attract and interest, the higher the number of offers, the faster the sale, and the higher the closing price. Setting the stage for the buyer isn’t an option anymore, but a necessity—no matter where the home—whether a stately ranch style house in Dallas, a condo in Miami, or a chic penthouse apartment in New York City. It’s an art every home seller must master—through either staging by themselves, or by selecting a professional staging company to do the work. Would you ever question the need to have professionally taken photos? Or the use of the Internet to promote your property, for example? (Hopefully, your answer was no—if it wasn’t, it should be!) When it comes to a successful sale, certain things are simply vital. Successful selling nowadays means you’ve got to stage it, to sell it. Don’t see it as a burden. Instead, cheer up! Staging is one of the most powerful real estate marketing tools at your disposal today. Embrace it! This book will not only provide valuable tips on staging to sell, but it will also hopefully assist you in the realization that staging is a fundamental 13
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
step in the marketing process. In writing this book, I decided to focus on a truly underserved market in the staging arena—city dwellings in metropolitan areas—in which marketing challenges are profoundly different from those of the suburban houses in the rest of the country. I’ve also found that most titles on home staging seem to read like they were written for professionals—in other words, for people who already know the reasons for staging, and who are doing it routinely. If you decide to stage by yourself, my guidelines will help you through the process. Still, you’ll need to make decisions along the way. With this in mind, I’ll not only share the secrets to setting the stage for a sale on your own, but I will also try to explain the marketing reasons behind the actions that I recommend for you to take. Hopefully such an approach coupled with valuable insights, practical guidelines and even the occasional attempt at humor, will make those decisions much easier for you. So let’s get started!
14
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
PART I
It’s Show Business As Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage.” And that goes double when you’re looking to sell your property. The moment you decide to enter the real estate world, as unlikely as it might seem at first, you’re really entering the world of show business.
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Chapter 1
Selling the Experience Did you know that buyers form an opinion about your property in seconds, and that the clock starts ticking at the front door? That’s right. It’s brutal, but true: Seconds are all you’ve got to catch their attention—or they’re out the door and (unfortunately for you) sprinting at record speed to the next open house on their list, trailing all those beautiful imaginary dollar signs behind them as they go.
Those few seconds, that first impression, they’re crucial for you as a home seller. If you lose the buyer’s attention? Your opportunity to sell is lost. It’s no secret that the real estate market has become increasingly competitive. The current economic situation certainly plays a role, but don’t be misled. Marketing real estate had begun to change well before the recent mortgage and Wall Street meltdowns, and unlike the current economic 17
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SET THE STAGE FOR A SALE
crisis (that will hopefully soon be only a bad and distant memory), the change in the way we sell properties is here to stay. Over the past few years, home buyers have become better informed (and pickier than ever—or is it just me?) and they also seem to have increasingly higher expectations. Not to mention the fact that they can compare hundreds—if not thousands—of properties at the speed of broadband without ever leaving their sofas. And with the power of the Internet comes the power of the split-second decision. The buyer sees, the buyer likes—or dislikes—and boom. The sale can be lost in a single click of the mouse. This means that real estate has suddenly become a lot more like online dating than any of us probably ever anticipated. And much like online dating, if your property’s pictures are not attractive, you won’t get a wink of interest—certainly not the outcome you want! But there’s more than that to consider here where the minds of buyers are concerned. Most importantly? As I mentioned in my Introduction, people don’t just buy a property. Instead, they’re looking for the whole experience. They buy the perception of the lifestyle that comes with it. And they do it in the blink of an eye. There has always been an association between homes and fantasy. A beautiful home offers the promise of a dream, of a certain kind of life, whether of a perfect vacation spot or the glamorous lifestyle that comes with a city building or a neighborhood. How many New Yorkers living on the Upper East Side would swap their homes for one on the Upper West Side, or Downtown? Not many. Reverse the situation, and it still stands, and their reasons for not doing so are mostly lifestyle-related. A home in a specific neighborhood, a certain area, carries with it a certain atmosphere, a lifestyle, a look and feel. A promise. Of course, neighborhoods change over time, even dramatically, but 18
Copyright © 2009 Ilaria Barion. Reproduction is strictly prohibited.
SELLING THE EXPERIENCE
those evolutions most of the time continue to bring a culture, a lifestyle and new buyers seeking to be a part of them, so the cycle continues. And this isn’t a purely New York point of view by any means. It’s an attitude that is common throughout the United States—from Miami, to Phoenix, to Chicago, to Los Angeles—as it is in Milan, Italy, London, England, and beyond. Whether or not home buyers have really changed, it’s a certainty that decades of marketing studies have made us all better marketers. It’s no wonder then, that developers push lifestyle and amenities in each and every promotion of their new buildings. These developers know their business, and they know the triggers in the buyers’ decision-making process. They’re marketing accordingly. As I mentioned earlier, it’s all about the experience of a lifestyle. Home Buyers are Shoppers Don’t be fooled by the amount of money involved in the transaction— home buyers are still, first and foremost, shoppers. This is an idea that’s an essential core of my approach to staging, so from here on out in this book, I’m not going to call them home buyers any longer, but home shoppers. And mind you, I’m not really suggesting that people buy properties as they buy shoes (even though I have personally bought more than one apartment in five minutes—certainly less than my average shoe-shopping time)! But the two have more in common than you would think. Of course, buying a home is absolutely one of the most important decisions we ever make in our lives (from both a financial and non-financial standpoint). Yet, the emotional triggers are truly what make people decide faster, and even stretch their budgets, in order to live in that very special property of yours. (And let’s face it—the goal of selling faster and for top dollar is the reason you’re reading this book)! 19
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