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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Top 8 Home Staging Mistakes

Home preparation and staging is a valuable step in building the marketing funnel for the home. After all, a well staged home means awesome pictures, better marketability on the Internet and many more leads of potential buyers wanting to see the home. Compare those pictures to a vacant or un-staged home and you get the picture! Home Staging mistakes on the other hand can lower the buyer appeal. Here are key home staging mistakes to watch out for when preparing your home for sale.  1. Too much furniture A known fact, too much furniture drives away the focus from key focal points and home highlights. Furniture larger than required can make rooms look small. It can spoil the seamless natural walk flow we want to create buyers to have while walking through a home. 2. Too little furniture Yes, of course, that's a red flag too! Even too little furniture, partial staged homes or NO furniture can be a disadvantage. Buyer's don't have a frame of reference in an empty house and may not be able to imagine or visualize themselves in the house. The truth is only 10% of buyers can visualize themselves in a home when it is vacant. Hence furniture layout is a vital part of getting a staged home right. 3. Clutter and untidinessThat's an obvious one, we believe we always tackle but you will not believe how many homes do not deal with it completely. While most home owners do take care of basic cleanliness like flooring, cobwebs and carpet there are some areas we miss. For instance, I have often suggested to home owners (as part of my work at BlueGrape Home Staging) when I notice blinds with dust and muddy patios. While the basic cleaners will clean the rest of the house adding thorough cleaning areas like windows, blinds cleaned and a power wash outside helps. De-Cluttering is also a commonly held staging vital, which includes minimizing things, objects, show pieces and general home stuff which can be distracting for buyers from inferring the actual potential of a home. 4. Monotonous quotient Staging is no longer white colors and monotonous color palette spread across a home. Why will a buyer remember a home they see among many if it does not make an impression that deserves to be remembered?. Yes, the strengths and features of the home do create very important impressions but creative staging will enhance the strengths and make the home brand create a distinct mark on the buyers mind. Without going over the top with design, home stagers bring in style, pop of colors and unique pieces which make the home brand stand out among competition and appeal to maximum buyers. 5. Over the top True that style and design are vital but yet going over the top would be a red flag. The reason is that the buyers need a "comfort" feel and aspirational power that helps them visualize the home as their future home. Home staging is different from interior design and home decorating which is for a single person, the owner and his family. Home Staging requires the home to appeal to many potential buyers in the market. 6. Eye to detail What differentiates a good stager from another besides the core strengths? A good stager will naturally give an eye to detail to make a picture perfect home come together.  Buyer's notice subtle aspects in the home buying process and sometimes the smallest of reasons can be a home turn off. Limp towels versus crisp towels, a poor laid table, you know what I mean. For instance, a non ironed - bed and limp pillows which show in pictures are a turn off. 7. Missing warm fuzzies   I call emotional connections home stagers create warm fuzzies. You know - creating a visual touch point in the buyer's mind. They are often small but forgotten in preparing the home. Making them imagine dishing out a meal in the kitchen or relaxing with a book in a nook, a bottle of wine for the evening, arousing a spa like feel in the bath reminding them of a vacation! These connections strengthen the psychological impact and bring the home alive as a potential home for buyers 8. Downsizing the home's personality Staging is not about completely stripping the home of it's personality by de-personalizing and de-cluttering to an extreme extent. Very often, one get's so focussed on clearing up that we forget we need to build around the home strengths, the focal points and enhance that personality. Home Staging is a combination of a science and an art and the right balance. The ideal strategy would be to stay true to each unique home and not follow a one size fits all formula. Balanced and skilled home staging can help strengthen the marketing proposition and be a catalyst in attracting potential buyers. Happy Staging, Happy Selling. Pramiti Bhargava BlueGrape Home Staging Follow: https://plus.google.com/+Bluegrapestaging/ Like: facebook/bluegrape pramiti@bluegrape.us

Selling a Home with Staging - The ABC of Home Staging.

The ABC of Home Staging. Preparing a home to sell There maybe different views on whether home staging is essential or not but let’s face it - when selling a home the Home is the "product". Let’s get to the basics of marketing. Compare a staged home product with a non-staged one, which one do you prefer? It’s as simple as that. While staging a house is not the only standalone selling parameter, nevertheless it is part of the marketing mix of a home. While marketing any product, theoretically the attributes of price, positioning, product itself and promotion come together to make a great package. Staging creates value for positioning, product and promotion. That’s a vital bit! It’s not the only value, price, location are of upfront importance.  But it helps create value, its as simple as ABC! Often hiring a professional certified home stager is a valuable investment, as staging is an art the biggest challenge for a homeowner is to see the home objectively from the buyer’s eyes. Here are the ABCs of staging your home to sell to make it simpler. This is also what a certified home stager brings together as a complete package in the art of staging. A – Accept Yes, I am starting with accept. Before you say this has got nothing to do with design or staging let’s stop and think. Unless we as home owners accept that the buyer may have a different view to a lot of things in the home, we don’t open our mind to making the changes vital in our home to showcase it to a buyer. So that’s the importance of accepting! Keep our emotions aside and accept to open our minds to the buyer’s eyes. B – Bedrooms As you look at each bedroom make sure the bed sets and comforters are all clean and crisp. Flippy floppy pillows get noticed fast so they are a red flag. Make sure the master bedroom follows the rule of symmetry, balance and conveys a place of relaxation. C- Clutter Clutter blocks the space in the home. While buyer’s don’t want to see empty homes but they need to be able to visualize their space and furniture in the home. So clear away clutter from kitchen, living areas, bedrooms and pack or store it away for a few weeks. You will realize you actually need to discard quite a few stuff and will get to some healthy organizing. D- Depersonalize Seeing your vacation picture or your little one graduating diverts the buyer’s mind to many more things other than what you want him to see. If your house is the brand, you want the customer to focus on just that - the brand. Neutralizing and depersonalizing pictures is the way to go. E- Entry Impressions Your first impression is the entry and the curb appeal. Clean doormats, or maybe new ones, a symmetrical frame of the entrance and a green touch of plants call for a good entry. Simple things such as new mulch in your garden can enhance curb appeal. F- Focal Points Every room especially the vital ones such as the living will have some focal points. What does the buyer notice when he first walks in? What can be enhanced and add huge appeal to the room. In a lot of living areas it tends to be the fireplace. Enhancements with art and accessories or laying out existing pieces well can add value. Think focal points in your rooms! G- Gardens Call your gardener to spruce up your garden. All landscaping needs mostly is pruning, cleaning and maybe adding a few fresh new plants. Seasonal bright flowers can brighten any home entry or garden and bring a feeling of warmth to a lot of buyers. That’s the feeling you want your buyers to have. H- Hallway Hallways are often neglected, buyers tend to see hallways nevertheless. Clean and clutter free is the first step here. Try and keep enough walking space to maintain the flow of traffic and enhance with elements if they are long or large areas. I- Imagine Imagine now and imagine then. Yes, home staging is quite an imagine art. Imagine everything from the experience the buyer will have as he walks through the whole house. Imagine and visualize what the living area is now and what are the possibilities. Imagine and create. J- Jiffy To stage your house to sell, you need to prepare it with a large one time effort in getting it all well put together. But then, at every showing you need to get it ready in a jiffy. Yes, it has to be simple things you can do in a jiffy to make the last minute stage happen and yet live a comfortable life. Your home stager can add valuable inputs on how to get your house prepared for a showing – in a jiffy! K – Kitchen Kitchen counter tops need to be cleaned off all extra appliances and unsightly elements such as cleaners, brushes and more. I am not selling my home and my counter top cleaner lies outside in my kitchen. The first thing my eyes see when I walk into my kitchen is the bright blue cleaner liquid (without naming the very excellent brand). You don’t want that when you are having a showing. Keep not more than one or two appliances out. If its impractical to take them in and out simply find alternate space to put them inside for few days. Create freshness, brightness and healthy brand values in the kitchen. L - Living Room Maintain a clear flow of traffic in the living area and correct any layout flaws. For instance if a lot of lamps or accessories are blocking the beautiful French windows and the view to the garden you may want to rethink layout. Our layouts, especially furniture layouts, are sometimes very subject to current comfort. They don’t allow the buyer to get the full benefit of space or advantages our beautiful living areas have. M – Modernize Yes, the staged home needs to follow a style befitting the area and the city. But, buyers don’t like jaded old homes, they aspire for a modern lifestyle. We aren’t saying that modernize every home but a home stager knows how to balance and build some level of modernizing in every home. Sometimes its as simple as old light fittings or it may be simple new accessories, the layout, furniture, artwork or something else. N – Negatives You know there are positives and negatives to each home. How do you move the buyer’s eyes away from the flaws. Make them focus on another focal point in the room – a large artwork, a inspiring lamp arrangement, a beautiful sculpture. These or others can be solutions to de-focus from the negatives. O – Optimize on space Space plays an important role in staging your home to sell. A house needs to convey space and often for the buyer to visualize his own home or furniture in that space. Yet, it doesn’t need to convey lot of empty space. Optimizing space requires creating the right balance without over burdening a space yet letting them visualize possibilities. P – Paintings and Artwork Paintings and artworks during a home stage are vital. They create a sense of style. They are perceived as adding luxury and enhancing home value or price. Often we need to create an aspirational aura of modern and inviting or create a style or theme as per the area the home is in. When you think beach home its different form what you visualize a city condo home as. That’s what art helps do. A good home stager doesn’t just buy art and put it there he or she blends it with a sense of style. Right style, right position placement greatly enhances home value. Q- Question Yes, that’s right we need to question ourselves all through the process of staging our homes. What is the first thing I notice in the room when I walk in? What are the areas I should focus on? Does this layout convey space and proportion? Every question leads us to focus objectively and answer all questions to address potential customers. R- Research Very often this is forgotten. Let’s accept it its easier and exciting to just go straight to rearranging, staging and getting the home ready. What about competition? If the buyer is not buying your home he is buying the one half a mile away. Make sure you spend time researching surrounding homes before you start – price, style, staging or no staging. Your home staging prepares the house to stand out stronger than competition. Realtors partner to provide excellent updates and comps which keep you well researched on your zip code trends. S- Spa like baths That’s the bath transformation. Think of yourself entering a spa on a vacation in the Far east, Hawaii or Asia! That’s the bath impression you want to create, essential oils, luxury soaps, fluffy towels, candles. Whether that’s your daily bathroom setting or not it doesn’t matter, but when you are creating mass buyer appeal they want to get the spa feel in their mind. Clear off all personalized items here as well especially. Hide the unsightly. Relaxed and inviting is what we want the bath to be. T- Toys Simple and straight, you don’t want toys in sight. I love my kids cuddly toys. Except for my little one’s personal favorites I would hide all of them in neat baskets and below beds. During showings and open houses we will need to do that quickly. You may want to read the 10-minute guide to home showings prep. U- Understand Understand buyer’s mind, understand his psyche, and understand mass buyers appeal not one. Understand the marketplace, the area and your home. Put it together and stage your home to sell! V-Value You are asking for a price and you want to command the price. You want the buyer to aspire for the lifestyle your home creates. Your home staging changes and enhancement should all work towards creating value. Things to be discarded or stored temporarily are not adding value currently. Don’t get upset at the thought of the work you have to do in putting them away, just remember your goal is to enhance your home and your product's value. W- Wants Buyers wants, buyers aspirations. We all want a lot in life and aspire for luxury. We may neither use all of that in our daily lives but the home to sell conveys a fulfillment of the buyer’s wants. We may take two vacations in a year but we want the master bed to look like a five star resort bedroom. Think fulfilling wants and aspirations. X- I am skipping this one! I don’t want to force fit anything! But tell you what if you can think of something from X, why don’t you suggest in the comments. There are lot of bright minds out there who will find a X in the ABC of home staging. I am leaving this for you! Y-Yourself or home stager You will do it yourself, a home stager needs you to work with. But you could consider if hiring a home stager can bring all the ABCs and elements together. They help you see neutrally from the buyer’s eye. If it’s a vacant house they create a home. Sometimes the work is marginal and sometimes more. Its an art and it markets your product. You will call a plumber to fix a leak. You will call a certified specialist to help prepare your home to sell. Z- Zzzzzz Selling a home is zealous hard work and yes you can sleep peacefully when its sold! Realtors ad owners can hopefully sleep peacefully the night when the escrow closes peacefully. That is the beauty of success and a product well positioned. Pramiti BlueGrape Home Staging Staging San Diego