Staging a home to sell can be a difficult concept for many sellers to embrace. You say, “You need to have your home staged.” They hear, “No one is going to buy this house with the mess it’s in.” You need to approach the reluctant to stage seller with care.
The Hotel Philosophy
One approach to staging is the “hotel philosophy.” Explain to your seller that their home is lovely, but what the buyer wants is to see THEMSELVES in the house, to imagine living there, to feel that their own stuff would work in the physical space. Tell them it’s like walking into an upscale extended stay hotel, everything is clean-cut and although there is nothing extra, the space is welcoming and plush. By adding a photo and a few of their own items, they can personalize the space. They can make themselves “at home” quickly.
This is exactly the impression you want a potential buyer to have when they walk into your seller’s house. The buyer needs to be able to “see” themselves living there and enjoying it.
Appreciate Their Individual Style
Perhaps your seller has an enormous collection of porcelain dolls, matchbooks, golf-balls or souvenir spoons. You can’t say “get rid of that!” (At least not without offending your client.) It would be better to admire the collection and comment on how unique it is. Then tell the client that their personal collection may distract the buyer from being able to imagine their own things there. Explain that displaying a personal collection may compete with the vision you and the seller hope to create for potential buyers.
By de-personalizing the space, the seller will allow more people to imagine themselves living in the home, and the more people who can imagine living there, the broader the buyer base and the more likely they are to receive an offer — or even multiple, competing offers.
Get Them On Board to Stage to Sell
Encourage them to remove anything that is not absolutely essential to living it the house while it is being shown for sale. Suggest that they begin packing items now that can be stored for the pending move and moving all packed boxes to an offsite storage facility until the house is sold. By removing the extra and eliminating all clutter, the house will appear larger, the storage space will seem more than ample and the result will be a more attractive house in the eyes of all potential buyers.
Let the sellers know that you understand that packing up is a big job, and that cleaning everything until it sparkles in addition may be too taxing to tackle alone. Offer them contacts for a cleaning service that understands how to clean specifically for house showings. Help to eliminate the “overwhelm” that can accompany trying to sell a house while still managing their daily life.
No matter what needs to be done, be sure your seller knows you are on their side. Offer solutions and a positive perspective on what needs to be done to attract the largest base of potential buyers and to sell their house for the best price. They will appreciate your knowledge, your approach and your help.