A question that comes up with clients is whether or not styling your property is worth it. What are the benefits, how much does it cost, and how much will styling add to your sales price? Read on to find out the advantages of styling for your home.
What is styling?
Styling (or staging as it’s known sometimes) is a strategy we use with luxury properties, particularly so we can get the property into a luxury homes magazine or on a website or get a property featured in a Saturday newspaper magazine. Editors look for a certain style of property, one they know readers will click on and read if it’s in a hard copy.
You can style your home yourself (see our article about staging your home like a pro) but an independent expert can assess what you have, room by room, and help you to achieve the look that potential buyers look for. Your stylist will also manage difficult areas of your home so the spaces seem intentional.
Your home stager might simply suggest you declutter and rearrange furniture. They might offer a furniture package that includes artwork and décor items. When they prepare each room, it’s with the end photography in mind, creating a style that appeals to buyers’ emotions.
The aim is to create a cohesive look that engenders a feeling of calm and emphasises your property’s best features.
Your stylist may rearrange furniture to define spaces more clearly or bring in extra furniture to emphasise appealing features, such as a balcony or al fresco dining. They might add artwork or colour to brighten rooms and make them more welcoming and contemporary. Most of all, clever styling will make each room’s purpose obvious and rooms appear larger.
The trick with home styling or home staging is to enable any potential buyer to feel at home. This means you’ll need to neutralise your home by hiding family photos, fridge magnets and the tea towels you bought on holiday. Your home should be a picture of the perfect life with no distractions.
What your stylist will do is offer an aspirational lifestyle. To do this, they might set the table with your best crockery and glassware, add flowers, set up an outdoor entertaining area so it looks like you’re just waiting for friends and family to drop by or style your kitchen as if you’re ready to prepare your fanciest meal. When your home looks good enough to feature in a property magazine or a luxury property website, it will appeal to a wider buyer pool, even reaching overseas buyers. Together with your real estate agent, your stylist will understand the type of buyer who would be most interested in your home and stage it accordingly.
How much extra can you expect from styling?
A perfectly presented property will attract more interest and, as a rule of thumb, styling will add about 10 per cent to your sale price. However, styling a home generally costs anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000. How much it costs will be subject to how many rooms you have styled and whether or not your home stager brings in furniture and artwork. Clearly, if that 10 per cent is not much more than the cost of the styling, it isn’t worth it. However, if you own and are selling a luxury property, spending a few thousand up front will add significantly to your end price.
A major advantage of styling a luxury property is, in our experience, the property sells faster.
Professional photos of an immaculate property attract more visitors to open homes. This creates a greater buzz and adds to the competition for your home, which can boost the price.
When should you use a professional home stylist?
As we mentioned earlier, it’s best to use a stylist if you own and are selling a luxury property. Spending money on professional styling is all about return on your investment. The potential sale price of your property will help determine if an investment in professional styling adds value. When potential buyers see beautifully styled homes, they feel as if the home is ‘move-in ready’ without them having to do any work. Many of today’s buyers are keener to buy a property like this rather than a ‘fixer-upper’ where renovations and maintenance mean they need to delay moving in. However, at any price point, styling your home is likely to attract more interested buyers and your home will sell faster.
Remove the stress by using a professional stylist
Preparing your home for sale is stressful and it’s time-consuming even if you’re the most organised person in the world. A professional stylist can helicopter in, assess your home’s current style and help you make important decisions about furniture placement, what size rug you need, how high or low to hang your artwork and many other issues. I work with a range of stylists and I’m always happy to discuss who can best assist in your area.
Need advice on selling your Gloucester region property?
As a proud local, I’m here to guide you through the process of selling your home. I specialise in lifestyle, rural and residential properties. I’ve done it myself and helped many families over my career. So give me a call; I’m here to help.