The gap is widening between home staging and interior design. The interior designer has their place in personalizing and creating the homeowner's vision for their everyday living experience. The decorator discovers your personality and brings your unique wants and needs to your space. Your home becomes the essence of your lifestyle, choices and personality.
Fast forward to selling. The professional home stager removes the YOU and gives space and function to the home with less personalized décor, allowing the buyer's feelings to emerge as to how they would utilize your home as their home, should they purchase it. They FEEL at home as it reflects them and their lifestyle. They SEE the home as it would suit their family needs and situation.
If a home feels like YOUR home or grandma's house, it cannot feel like OUR house. It's too crowded because YOU are there. When it is YOUR home it cannot be OUR home, until you have let it go. Clutching your memories keeps you in the house, and the buyers out as they do not want to disturb your memories. These psychological as well as physical memories get in the way of a buyer envisioning their own future memories and they just move on to the home that feels right.
DRE #00615420
Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 30 years. She works with the Dudum Real Estate Group. Terrylynn is a local expert, who believes in specializing for better service to her clients. She gives talks on Foreclosure Alternatives, Make Home Affordable Programs, Home Staging Consults before you Sell, and is a Senior Real Estate Specialist, Real Estate Collaborative Specialist-Divorce, Certified Residential Professional, EcoBroker and any more. There is no silly question, call now for advice and counsel about your real estate investment. Click here for a question about the area. Visit www.BuyStageSell.com to learn more about Terrylynn and her team of Real Estate Professionals and Staging Professionals. We even stage our short sales! Why? Because it works. 925 8760966 www.BuyStageSell.com
So true! And thanks for the comment on my blog. Great to see more realtors out there who "get it"!
TerryLynn - Great post. It's difficult for homeowners to let go and I understand that. However, it's such a critical element in getting the "you" out of the home! While it's easy for us to explain to them that their home becomes a product, it can often be hard for them to pack-away some of the items. I do explain that they'll have to be packed eventually, which has helped. Again, great post.
Kathy
Terrylynn, well written post explaining why it is important to remove the personal items and preferences when selling a home. You are right, they are looking for "their" new home. If they are continually reminded of the family that lives there it makes it harder to make that connection. In fact, often times they cannot and move on to the next home.
Very true! A potential buyer needs to feel like this home could be mine; not that it is someone else's home.
Terrylynn, nice post. It's sooo true! A consult I did this week the homeowner had every closet in a 3800 sf home packed (just 2 people live in this home) when I started talking about removing her things she said "but I need those things" this was her reaction with other items in her home also. It's so hard for some homeowners to understand this process.
Terrylynn: Not only is letting go important in the appearance of a home, it is also important from an energetic perspective. In Feng Shui, the intention to sell and pass the home on to someone else is just as important as the physical aspects of selling the home. When I tour open houses, I can always tell the home sellers who are ready to move on and the ones that are still 'clutching' on to the house and the past.
So true warm and cozy so it feels like home is the only way to do it. We want buyers to come right in and sit down and enjoy! Kym
Great post, Terrylynn. You said it so well When it is YOUR home it cannot be OUR home, until you have let it go. I echo Michelle's comment re the intention to sell is important. Sellers who have let go and are prepared to move on, are also prepared to do whatever it takes to ready the home to suit a buyer's preferences, not their own. Great post.
Dawn, you are so welcome. I value what others write and want to support knowledge for stagers and the clients.
Kathy, how right you are!!! The packing thing does work, especially in the context of just packing away the winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter, it's a good start.
Michelle, I agree. Sometimes people SAY they would like to see who lives in the home and feel how they live. Then they do and they begin to identify with them, and it is too hard to make the house theirs. I have a couple of clients that actually did buy Mary's home and still call it that. That's unusual, usually they just don't buy it.
Jon, yes they do, no one knows that better than a Realtor who is showing homes, you've heard the comment more times than not. There may be nothing wrong with the house and it might fit exactly but it is too identified with the current owner or the buyer feels they just don't want to move. And sometimes they don't.
Donna, those are the most challenging as they are probably just moving to buy more closets!!! SO, you have to do the pack the things you won't use this month, like the winter clothes in summer, etc. otherwise they'll never be ready. I've also had buyers who worry the seller will never be able to get out of the house as they have too much stuff. The buyer doesn't want delays because the seller can't physically make the move. It's difficult.
Michelle, right on as always. The sellers intention is alive and well in their home. That's why it's so important to have them begin to move on with the packing,e tc, otherwise the buyer gets what's really going on and won't buy. I've had listings like this, the family just digs in their heels...and the buyers never buy.
Kym yup.
Leah, yes, Michelle is right on with that observation. You know that buyers buy on "feelings" and the feeling that you aren't ready to move is pretty obvious in a home. That's why often buyers ask "where are you moving" not so much to know where but to know IF and WHEN you are moving. It's a fair question and the answer tells volumes to a buyer.
Terrylynn - sometimes emotion outweighs dollars and cents and we just have to back off, it is after all their home and while we can advise we can not force.
Kathy, how right you are. Of course when writing these posts we are thinking of a perfect world. And the truth is that there are alot of things that cost no money that yield a HUGE return. Our staging professionals can do consults to tell the Realtor and the client about those too. Happy Selling.