How to refresh a vacant home listing post the Holidays?

The holidays are over and everybody’s back to serious work!. The parties over the holidays are over and we all get to get back to what we have to get back to. So, how was home selling during the holidays? Let’s face it there is no straight jacketed fact – many homes do sell over the holidays. Maybe fewer homes get listed but nevertheless there are some serious buyers.

Then again, as the New Year starts there is a new found enthusiasm in revitalizing  a home  on the market which has been on the market for a while

Here are steps to revitalizing a listing post the holidays. These are not necessarily to do with MLS refreshes, which are often not possible and a personal decision but more of steps to refresh the home and market it stronger. If a home has been on the market for many days (and without getting into price related or demand supply decisions) what is it that one can do to refresh and revitalize the listing. What is it than can infuse the listing with some marketing juices and creativity to get it all set to attract more buyers.? After all if we change actions in our control, our outer sphere of influence changes!

Take a critical view

As a home owner it is often not easy to step back, keep emotions aside and assess - are there simple, cost effective steps which can remove any barriers not helping the home sell?

Often, this is not serious upgrades, but maybe simple steps which can be taken. For instance, on a home being sold, full of new upgrades, there were still these mirrors across the living, which received mixed feedback in a very subtle manner from buyers. Nothing major, but possible better removed.  Believe me doing away with those huge mirrors covering the wall helped!

Consider Staging

If the home is not already staged you may want to consider this.  I am not saying this cause am a home stager.  Just kidding, actually I am saying this cause I AM a home stager and I have seen in ALL of the situations that we staged vacant homes on the market for long they followed with multiple offers. They gained traction, interest and the same buyers had a point of reference to understand the potential of the house. Three such vacant homes in the last two months which moved to getting offers post staging – one could be a coincidence, but three?

Here is why staging a vacant home along with taking other steps will help – It gives a point of reference and natural flow to the home. Buyers spend an average of three times more time in vacant homes and it makes a home out of a house.

After - A downtown contemporary condo stage

Before

Clean Up

After being on the market for a while, the home tends to get dirty. We often walk into many such homes where the pathway is riddled with leaves and the flooring immaculate, as it may be needs a thorough mopping. Cobwebs at the entry door can be a turn off to any buyer. And as we spoke about this earlier how emotional connections impact home sale, so clean areas are vital even if the listing is on the market for a while. This is a small but much needed feature if one needs to be sure the home continues to make a great first impression.

Pictures Refresh

Re-look at the pictures - a critical view, do they need to be changed, do they look bright and clear or do they look cold and dark. Would new staged home pictures with furniture and accessories impact marketing? It sure will. Refresh the pictures on the MLS and real estate sites and get a new audience who want to see the home.

A bit of this and a bit of that, spice up and revitalize the home with simple actions which can be taken and refresh the home on the market.

Pramiti Bhargava

HSR Certified Home Stager

RESA Staging Awards Top 10 Rising Star 2015

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2015 HOME DECOR TRENDS

Here is a snippet of what's trending in home decor for 2015 and will keep 2015 bright and stylish. Then again, for all those who love to add their personal touches and design aura everything can be paired to accentuate and blend. These are trends which will inspire, engage and accentuate homes and creations in the New Year. From furniture to home decor and accents, design we bring you all. We also pick some of the key trends forecasted by leading design blogs and magazines.

1. NAILHEAD TRIMS

Nailhead Trims are going to continue strong. Watch out for them in sofas, beds, rustic coffee tables. It's the combination of the metal impact, running design which keeps them oh so enduring and stylish indeed.

As long as they are being noticed you will see nailhead trims in a lot of decor. See a collection of Nailhead Trim led styles.

Nailhead Trims

 2. FUNCTIONALITY

Functionality coupled with simplistic designs, straight cuts will remain in vogue. Whether in a condo or in the study, we need some of those much loved functional pieces with us. Tables with storage, futons to sleep on for the extra friend, a magazine to drop in a piece of furniture, Music on my bed. Functionality is going to be cool and handy indeed. Here is how functional stylesmatter.

 3. TUFTED FETISH

Yes, tufted is a cyclical style trend and here is why. Tufting was actually a type of textile weaving in which a thread was inserted on a primary base - an age old techniques for making garments. With a resurgence of this style tufted styles are trending on sofas and beds with full galore. Combined with textures of upholstered fabric, leather and accents of buttons, crystals they will continue to be improvised on.

Personally I have used tufted furniture in a lot of home projects. They has never disappointed in adding style, modern elements and in adding freshness to any room.

 
Tufted Bed

I like the benefits of tufted that the D Magazine elaborates on in detail. 

3. HIGH HEADBOARDS

Yes, High headboards are a statement. They call for attention the minute you walk into any room. They could make bedrooms look larger as they drive focus. Can make a simple bed spread look elegant and very often combined with trend two are tufted!

 HGTV showcases 20 High Impact Headboards and this picture gallery is there to explore their looks.

4. NATURE AND THE NATURAL

Rustic, distressed and elements of nature will come alive in various ways. Nordic inspired styleswill inspire some to go for white, greys, minimalistic looks in some rooms reminiscent of winterand nature.

Flax, jute and textures inspired from nature will showcase in ottomans, cushions and more.

Distressed tables, rustic oak finishes, dining tables with large blocks of natural wood will all showcase the glory of nature in homes. 

The fall will bring fall inspired styles in dining decor and color combinations. Marsala the pantone color of the year is a apt fit to bring some of those colors indoors.

5. VINTAGE CHIC REINVENTED

Vintage, all reminiscent of old and chic, yet refurbished and rebuilt continues to entice. The lettering patterns, a vintage corner, pairing vintage with contemporary are ideas we will experiment with. Vintage will continue to give comfort but in a redesigned modern way not the outdated way.

 6. METALLIC ACCENTS

Metallic accents will show all the more at home. Whether it's chrome finishes, brass end tables or metallic embellishments in decor, accents and furniture they will show their styles and be on a list if buys.

Elle Decor has brought together some interesting metallic ideas and inspirations in thiscompilation.

 7. COLOR TRENDS - MARSALA AND MORE

From Marsala which was Pantone's color of the year received with a lot of mixed feedback to many others, this article by House Beautiful brings together what some of the top designers feel about their choice of color.

Zillow in it's 2015 Home Design trends forecasts hues of Blue and Navy as a prominent trend in 2015.

8. SHADES AND HUES PLAY

A blend of same color shades playing in different textures, tones, accents will be a trend which will grow. Bo Concept  outlines this in their tone on tone insight. They do look glamorous with an understated elegance - as in the same room one can combine hues of one color in their furniture, pillows, curtains, wall colors and more to create a statement.

 

Credit: www.boconcept-newyorkcity.com

This sums up the lead trends for 2015. Happy decor, design and stay inspired!

TC

Pramiti

Pramiti Bhargava has a flair and passion for business entrepreneurship, marketing, home staging and redesigns, revamps and flipping. She is a frequent writer and blogger. Her skills include partnering in her business lines (BlueGrape Consulting, thesevenstarhome.com, BlueGrape Staging and Re-design). She has a background in digital brand marketing having worked across brands, travelled across. She is a RESA Staging Awards 2015 Top 10 Rising Star, HSR certified staging and re-design professional.

Feel free to connect with me on linkedin or drop an e-mail at pramiti@bluegrape.us! 

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Establishing Emotional Connections to help sell homes to buyers.

How do emotional connections, the home buyer’s psyche and home staging interplay to help home sale?

That’s a picture of Death Valley, CA - Expansive, rugged, awe inspiring

By the way, the second picture is of me at Death Valley for a trip this December.

What do you think when you see pictures of or experience Death Valley. What would such a place inspire in you?

It means different things for different people. But, yes one thing it imbibes is emotions. And by emotions I don’t mean dramatic emotions! Just plain and simple emotions - a mix of thought and emotion. We can’t do without emotions no matter where we are.

Let’s understand emotions in the context of home buyers, A BMO study published in 2013 says that 80 per cent of potential buyers know if a home is right for them as soon as they step inside. 

In a study, Professor Van Lieshout, an experimental psychology professor at the University of Toronto links the power of emotion to first impressions. As an example as to how emotions play a role, he cites - a deficiency in a living area may not be an immediate deal breaker when noticed by a buyer, but it will often raise emotional suspicions. In due course they will double-check everything and the buying cycle is somewhat influenced.

Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman says that 95 percent of our purchase decision making takes place in the subconscious mind. Sights, experiences, smells and sounds can selectively activate goals or motives that buyers have about a home they are viewing.

Emotion and logic hence bundle together to make a home buyer take action. While logic can be presented with facts such as price, neighborhood quality and core features of the home (and real estate agents are great at presenting those), Home staging can directly impact the emotions to help make a strong case for the home. The interplay of emotional connections and logic affect buying decision of course.

The key elements of home staging, which a skilled home stager will influence are a mix of leveraging the home architecture, décor, feel, smells, style and the presentation of a lifestyle home buyer’s aspire. Some examples come alive in this gallery of mine.

Here are four ways to create emotional connections with Home Staging and Home Preparation:

1. Creating a Vision

Prepare the home to make it the home of aspirations coming alive. A dining table set with wine and candles to come back to. A chicken pot roast recipe, opened up on a recipe book, a book waiting for its reader in a window bench with a cup of coffee. All of these directly impact emotions – warmth, comfort family, relaxation all of it comes alive, doesn’t it? The vision needs to stand true such that buyers can imagine themselves and their families in the home not the current family. Hence de-personalizing is a vital area of Staging.

What’s the home brand in the process of marketing this house? The moment you start thinking of creating a brand even if it is for the short duration of the few months of home sale - you start creating emotional purchase connections to create a brand of this home in the customer’s mind. A brand which is unique to this home, compared to competition. You do more than sell a house, you sell the customer the brand.

Home Staging Connections

Reading nooks

2. Creating a brand

The brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from the home. A brand is a sum of the tangible and intangible assets this home stands for in the customer’s mind. Home Staging creates the brand. It personifies the intangible assets with décor, a natural flow, the right layouts and elegant style intrinsic to the home strengths, area, architecture. It creates a brand because it leaves an impression behind in the home buyer’s mind.

The brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from the home. A brand is a sum of the tangible and intangible assets this home stands for in the customer’s mind. Home Staging creates the brand. It personifies the intangible assets with décor, a natural flow, the right layouts and elegant style intrinsic to the home strengths, area, architecture. 

3. Creating focal points

Home Staging will build the customers emotions and likes towards the strengths of the home. These could be the focal points, which deserve attention and influence points towards the buying decision. For instance the fireplace, the French window turned into a reading corner showing the beautiful view outside, the patio surrounded with entertainment possibilities.

4. Creating a flow

As buyers walk through a home a seamless flow can be crated directing their eyes and thoughts to the right strength. This allows them to walkthrough a layout which lets them visualize the possibilities vital to strengthen the emotional connections. A stager with expertise can help create the right layout and styling to create this natural flow.

Natural Flows

All in all, emotional connections are a vital strategy to help home sale, of course bundled with other valuable marketing factors. 

Until next time happy connecting!

Pramiti

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Home Staging in the Holidays - the how, why and what.

Selling and buying homes in the holidays is different.  Is it really? Ok, let’s look at it - 

First of all there is always this debate (statistically proven or not) – good time to list or not good time to list. I thought it could be a slow time till a home we staged last week had offers within the first week and we thought it would take a while to sell in this season. There may be more examples such as these and some on the flip side as well. But the core fundamentals don't change really and there are serious buyers in the market. But yes, it is a somewhat different time. Smart marketing hence implies understanding consumer behavior in the holidays.

 It is a different time because psychologically we are in a different state of mind, a different mood. The environment, the aura all makes a difference. So, how differently should one stage a home, in the market for the Holidays? If the buyer’s state of mind is different and influenced by holiday cheer do homes need to be staged differently? Well, the truth is it needs balance and here is how. 

Do not go overboard
Home Staging during holidays needs to have a couple of subtle elements but nothing that takes away the core fundamentals and strengths, focal points of the home. A Christmas tree in a home where owners are staying is great, but a Christmas Tree in an empty vacant home which has been specifically staged is not great. 

Elements that can bring in holiday décor
I would recommend two subtle ways as examples to bring in the holidays element in a home for sale. The first is the centerpiece on a dining arrangement. It’s imaginative, it brings in the visualization of a family meal and it’s a pop of color. It will bring uniqueness and be remembered. There are plenty of inventive ideas to add a holiday element in the dining arrangement or the dining centerpiece.

Center pieces - Credit: StoneGable 

Home Staging- Centerpieces. Credit: JPM Sales.

The second example is the fireplace. If the fireplace is a focal point and available one can add elements to strengthen the focal point. Here too, don’t decorate it way too much keep it subtle and elegant – select candles, glass vases or jars with pine cones, ornaments.With the core logic and understanding in mind, one can now bring alive the holidays in a subtle, elegant manner for buyers. But, do remember overpowering holidays staging will mean doing away with it post holiday season. So keep it short and simple!

Happy Holidays!

Pramiti

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