A Different Approach In The Connecticut Real Estate Home Staging Industry - Rebranding Announcement

The Power of a Real Estate Home Staging Consultation

Recently a home seller called us very frustrated with her real estate agent as the agent did not take any action on trying a different strategy to sell her house in Greenwich, CT. The house has been on the market for almost a year with very little traffic. She saw staging on HGTV and thought that she should explore this new avenue.

Birgit Anich Staging & Interiors came in providing a detailed 1.5 hours home staging consultation and followed up with a customized consultation report outlining all suggestions. We had recommended some paint change, minor repairs, re-purposing a room, re-arranging furniture, bringing in different decor items such as different rug, pillows, wall art, lighting, accessories,… It took the client a few days of focused work using our consultation report and then have new photographs taken for the MLS listing.

Immediately she started showing a much increased number of showings of her house. Two weeks later she called us that she received an offer close to asking price and was finally able to move on with her life after a restless year.

After this and many other such success stories, I am wondering why do so many real estate agents still hesitate to recommend to their clients to have a professional real estate home stager come to give a consultation?

Never Sell a Home Without Furniture

I just found this interview with Barbara Corcoran answering home sellers’ questions – “should I take all the furniture out of the house?”

This week I had a meeting with a real estate agent this week where this house was put on the market while the home sellers where still living in it. “Then they moved out and as soon as the house was vacant the traffic into the house has drastically diminished.” he said. This happened to us many times before. Once these houses were staged by us, the traffic picked immediately up again and they sold within a short time period – even as quickly as 2 days after staging while being on the market for 5 months prior to staging. 

Check out this video with one of the best and most public realtors in the country, Barbara Corcoran:

“Never Sell a Home Without Furniture”

Staging for opposite demographics

Last week's staging was a lot of fun. I had to make this apartment appeal to young professionals commuting into NYC and older people who are retired and are looking to downsize. Since there are stairs in the apartment to get to the bedrooms I think it is more for the younger professionals, but I think I was able to make it appealing to both demographics on the opposite spectrum.

This is the perfect condo for entertaining friends and relaxing, which I incorporated throughout the home:

http://www.redesignyourspace.com/vacantstaging.html

Understanding Your Buyers When Selling Real Estate

When selling real estate, Real Estate Agents are using a wide variety of marketing tools to attract buyers to visit the house and then hoping that one or more would put an offer out. Home Staging continues and even increasingly becomes one of the most powerful tool in the most successful real estate agent’s marketing tools box. Nowadays, where the internet has taken over such an important role for buyers to scope out houses they want to visit – 94% of home buyers search online first – the right preparation of the visual appeal for the right buyers group is the most critical to generate the traffic into a house.

Thus it is critical to dial in your buyer when preparing your home for sale. A deep understanding of who the ideal buyer is – what is their demographic, what is their psychographic, why would someone buy your house, who is living in the neighborhood, what food do they like, where do they go shopping, … – is critical to ensure that the presentation of the home appeals to the right buyer group.

Our company focused on this topic of target staging and lifestyle merchandising during an advanced staging techniques and marketing training course held by HGTV star Matthew Finlason of “The Stagers” earlier on this month. With lifestyle merchandising our company combines research, analysis of the buyers demographic and psychographic profiles, house style, and function needs with our design aesthetics. Once all that research has been done it is critical to know how to translate this information into a  meaningful and successful staging design plan that these buyers feel attracted to. When staging, we are telling a story keeping in mind that particular lifestyle that these buyers are dreaming of, rather than neutralizing it. Every item that we use in our story is carefully and thoughtfully selected.

Often there are a couple of target buyer groups a home needs to appeal to.  A home needs to be staged differently for the young professional than for the older retired couple who is downsizing. We learned how to successfully incorporate target staging even for opposite spectrum demographics into one staging design installation, instead of going the plain vanilla neutralization route.

The evolution of home staging is currently growing up further. Staging for sale is still a young industry and is changing to be even more effective. While until recently home staging was about making a house appealing to the widest variety of buyers tastes, the industry is moving up to the next level of better understanding the target buyers and focusing on what these buyers want. Real Estate Staging is now about leveling the design installation with the dreams these buyers aspire to and our company is right on top of this trend. 

We recently staged a home, after it was on the market for 155 days, using these techniques. An offer close to asking price was received within just 2 days after staging. Success stories like these bring the biggest joy for me to staging. Helping a family to finally being able to move on with their lives.

 

“The Evolution of Staging” RESA event

Many of you know that until recently I have been a Board member of the NY Chapter of the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA). I have resigned from that position in order to start a chapter in Connecticut together with Neci Marr. Our first meeting will take place at the end or March – more to come over the next couple of weeks.

Our NY Chapter just organized a fabulous event on “The Evolution of Staging”, during which highly successful real estate agents and real estate stagers have been discussion how real estate staging has helped many home sellers to sell their homes much faster and at a much higher price. The panel also starred HGTV Star Matthew Finlason from “The Stagers”, who introduced target staging, the most sophisticated staging technique, as being the newest and most successful trend in the staging industry, if done correctly.

Check out this short video about the event “The Evolution of Staging”

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the …..

We love using mirrors when staging a home for sale or living as it is a great way to visually expand a space. However, before hanging it up, consider what you see in the reflection. It should feature something interesting and appealing from every angle you are looking at it. If the reflected image does not add any value, you are better off hanging a different wall art there.