Using Style to Your Advantage

 

Have you ever thought about using style to your advantage? Perhaps you have used your personal style to secure your dream job? Maybe you have adopted a new learning style to assist with your studies? Or maybe you have used style to impress your friends when presenting food at a dinner party?

Style is used in many facets of our everyday life, however have you considered using Style to your advantage when selling your home? Property Styling has been benefiting Vendor’s in Australia for well over a decade. Vendor’s who have utilised the services of a professional Property Stylist generally find their house sells faster and for a much higher sale price. But how does Property Styling have such a big impact on prospective buyers? Quite simply put it is all about emotions and evoking an emotional response in your prospective buyers. Selling your home is an emotional journey not only for you the homeowner, it is equally emotional for buyers too. In fact, the number one reason buyers purchase a property is because of the emotions they feel when they inspect the right home. Buyers shop with both logical and financial considerations in mind, however when they find the house which touches their heart strings, they will often make concessions on both their list of ‘must have’ items as well as on the price point in order to purchase their dream property.

When a home stirs up the right emotions, buyers will fall in love and visualise that lifestyle for themselves, enter Property Styling. Evoking the right emotions in your buyers is the foundation of the property styling or staging process. When we style a home, first and foremost we ensure we gain an understanding of who the most likely buyers are going to be. We will then consider what kind of design style they will respond to best. Once we have this information we can work out the overall styling plan. The styling plan goes beyond de-cluttering and moving furniture around, it’s aim is to induce a tangible emotional response from buyers who are then able to envision themselves living in the property and all the benefits this home would bring to their life. The emotions essential to playing on the heart strings of your prospective buyers are; Love and excitement: Nothing sells a home faster than the combination of these powerful emotions. If a buyer can see themselves living in a home, feel the warmth and welcome that has been created through careful staging and get tingly at the idea of owning this property and the life it represents .. guess what?? You just sold your house! At Instant Interiors we call this ‘Styling with Soul’ and it is what we do best.

To achieve these emotions you will need to ensure the following:

• Fill the home with light and air by removing heavy, dated curtains or window dressings. Also, make sure you open windows before inspections to bring in fresh air

• Clean the house from top to bottom – leave nothing untouched and don’t forget the outside of your home, including windows and eves.

• Arrange furniture so that there is a good flow throughout the home and to make spaces feel larger. We all have a tendency to over-fill a room. It is therefore crucial to remove unnecessary items and de-clutter.

• It is also a good idea to de-personalise the home. Remove family photos, pictures and paintings on the fridge. This will assist the prospective buyer to imagine themselves in the home and not feel like they are intruding on someone else’s space.

After all they need to picture themselves creating their own memories in the home.Emotions you need to avoid are at all costs include; Coldness or Sterility: Vacant homes where there are no furnishings to distract viewers from an endless array of rooms with no personality are the obvious culprits here. Buyers may also get this feeling if a home has been de-cluttered to such an extent there is no longer any warmth or anything visually appealing left in the rooms. Disgust or worse: This is one emotional response that will see buyers running for the door and never coming back. Neglect and uncleanliness are two sure fire ways of creating these emotions so make sure your home is well cleaned and maintained inside and out to avoid these reaction.

If you are in need of a more in-depth guide to organising and styling your property for sale, take a look at our e-book Home Styling 100 DIY Tips.