Briefly, property staging means making sure our property is at its best looking state when prospective buyers / tenants are viewing it. I had this first hand experience when I was selling my condominium in Kelana Jaya many years ago. I did not think it was important to clear all my remaining stuffs in the condo and I also did not repaint the interior which has faded a little since the condo was already over 10 years old. I did get the unit cleaned but my real estate agent said that I needed to do more if I intend to sell faster.
So, I cleared everything and spend RM2,500 to repaint the unit. From RM430k asking price which was unsold for 3 months, that real estate agent who made me spend extra few thousand ringgit sold the unit for RM460k. Perhaps it was not just the staging but it was also his contact but I do understand the emotional benefit of having a unit looking its best when prospective buyer / tenant is viewing. Here are the 5 things we could think of doing for staging.
Clean and Clear (no, not that face wash cream). Making sure the whole unit is cleaned thoroughly helps tremendously. Do we want to show a house with some spider webs and even dust gathering on the table and the sofa? Hire those temporary maids and they will be able to do it for you at a speed you could not do.
Do we wish to show a house where some leftover stuffs are still inside the home and making the home look dirty and smaller than it is? Do we wish the tenant to say it’s warm / hot and when we try to switch on the fan or the air-conditioner, it does not work?! Haha.
Do we wish to show a home where some shoes which we no longer wear are beside the main door? Old shoes perhaps? Even if there’s no smell, such sights do not help the viewing to be a positive one yeah.
Presentation is key If someone feel good when they enter the home, they will value it higher versus an empty home for example. Just look at the developers’ show room for some easy to implement ideas. Some paintings on the wall should help a little too.
By the way, please remove all the personal stuffs including that wedding photo taken many years ago. I am not sure how many potential buyers appreciate how handsome or beautiful the couple who owns the house is.
Have enough lights in the house and if possible, changing the light bulbs to higher wattage bulbs. Please ensure all of them work as well. Feeling comfortable is pre-requisite. Feeling uncomfortable just because of the lack of light bulbs? That’s a disaster yeah. This is not the time to switch off lights when it’s not in use.
It will be great to play the music too. These days, bluetooth speakers are easily available. Buy and place them strategically. Play some relaxing music perhaps and you could even tell the potential tenant or buyer that you love to just laze around, listen to music and relax the mind. That emotional statement will help to inject some positive imagination too. (whether or not they will be doing the same!)
Selling a home is never an easy task and we want to ensure our home is considered as better than the rest. Many months back, a potential tenant viewed 5 units within the same development and chose my unit in the end. 3 of those units were quite bare, another unit has renovations but no staging.
My unit? Well, the 55 inch LED TV was on when the potential tenant came… the air-conditioner in the master-room was already switched on 15 minutes before she came. The fridge was already switched on and a few bottles of mineral water was also inside of which one bottle was offered to her. Yes, the unit was cleaned up the day before. I paid RM80 for the cleaners. She chose my unit and has been paying rental on time thus far. Happy staging your unit, okay?
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