Home Staging – Making a Property look like a million bucks

Home staging; a Hollywood gimmick that orbits around the belief that the smell of homemade cookies will melt chocolate chips on the hearts of prospective buyers and render them helpless to the urge of reaching for their chequebooks.

Whilst one can reconcile the fact that Home Staging is a smash hit on the silver screen, question remains; does it work in reality? Can Home Staging be the magic remedy for a property that’s struggling to sell and if so, can it boost a property’s value?

For those among you, who are a little puzzled at the mention of “Home Staging,” the concept works like this:

Home Staging in Layman’s terms, is taking a property as it is and enhancing it cosmetically to display its full potential. In essence, it is a complete property makeover, but without tearing down of walls and the expense and dramatics of heavy construction.

Techniques like the removal of clutter, readjusting furniture, touching up of superficial flaws like unattractive piping and an all over cleaning is utilised to aesthetically transform a property to into the photoshopped version of itself. The final touch is bringing in a few missing décor elements that range from new curtains, cushions, rugs, flowers and more to emphasise a property’s highlights.

After a property has been staged, even the most unimaginative of buyers will have a vivid illustration of what the space can be made to look like; which is particularly useful, considering that ninety percent of prospective buyers lack the vision to picture a property’s at its best.

Alarming as that statistic might be, it actually makes sense. The Cape Town property buyers’ market is not inhabited by artists, designers and visually creative people. On the contrary, you’re dealing with business minded investors and cautious buyers adamant about getting their money’s worth.

This is where it starts to become clear that spoon feeding a property in all its glory, is a lot more appetising than looking at a hollow shell. Properties that dazzle without content are few and far in-between and even then, your odds to overwhelm are better with a little dressing up.

It is for that reason that companies to the likes of Redress, who are treading new ground in an industry that is essentially still in its inception phase; are proving that Home Staging is not just a flowery luxury but a crucial sales tool and a sensible way to elevate a property’s value.

Some Facts about home staging:

• Properties marketed as ‘in move-in condition,’ sell up to 12% faster than it would otherwise, owing to the fact that buyers won’t have to budget decorating expenses.
• Home Staging services can elevate a property’s worth, by up to 3 – 10% above asking price
• Home Staging works out more cost effective than the first price reduction

Find out how you can elevate your property’s price, how you can finally sell a problematic property and avoid cutting the asking price with the help of Home Staging and be in contact with Claire Von Ribbeck & Helene Marie Ceillier from Redress.