It strikes me as odd the concept of "staging" a house to sell it. I see real estate ads in the classified section identifying a real estate agent or broker as having taken a course in "staging" a house for sale. I read about it in magazines and I hear people tossing the term around.
So, I googled it and found an article on how to "stage" a house to sell it.
Well, I was selling houses in Ontario for several years and I can assure you that if I had made some of the suggestions from this article, I would have been turfed out the owner's front door. Getting listings to sell was extremely competitive and I am sure the vendor could have located another sales person.
I think people have forgotten - if they knew at one time - what sells houses!
People definitely buy on location. Yes, it's true about: Location, location, location!
But I can tell you from my own experiences in the Toronto and Barrie, Ontario markets - a huge market and a small market, that there are some very odd reasons you would never think of that put a person in a mood to purchase a particular house.
I love to watch the program on the Home & Gardening channel where they show three houses and then tell you which one they pick. I can guess it every time. Why?
Well, people purchase houses for some very emotional and mundane reasons. They will completely overlook something they totally dislike because something else takes their fancy.
People buy houses that are like their Grandmother's house. People buy places with flowers just like they knew when they were kids.
More than once, I have had prospective buyers comment on colors that were hideous to them and still buy the house. One gal commented on the terrible mauve bathroom (which made me feel bad because I had one just like it). Then, she and her husband gave an offer on the house. When I called to tell them their offer had been accepted, do you know what she asked me? Oh, I bet you are ahead of me on this one . . .
"What color was that main bathroom?"
You gotta love that!
Another couple I remember well complained vigorously about the vivid red basement in the split level home. Each year when I visited them in December with their new calendar, that basement was still very red!
When I was selling real estate, I took every course offered by the company I worked with and by TREB - The Toronto Real Estate Board.
The whole principle behind "closing a sale" is to listen very carefully to what your customer is saying and know when to comment and when to say nothing. So, for the red basement and the purple bathroom, if it is only mentioned once, you say nothing.
If it comes up a second time, you could respond with,
"Well, other than that purple bathroom, is the rest of the place to your liking?"
Buyers often "close" the sale themselves and the real estate agent needs to know this. He or she needs to know when to say absolutely nothing.
The worst think I can recall happening to me when showing a house where a grandson was living with the grandmother, was hearing a tiny voice from up in a tree in the backyard:
"You bought it; you got it!"
What a rotten little kid, that was. I wonder where he heard that from? Also, I wonder if the prospective owners heard it? After all, they DID buy it!
So, in selling houses, a lot of the time, it is often when you are quiet that you do your best work!
People say little things like,
"This is just like my Grandmother's."
"Is that tree on my property?"
"Oh, they must have baked a batch of cookies."
"Hmm . . . I love that depression glass on that shelf."
Actually the article I read said that books should be removed from bookcases. Hello? Our house has built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace and I would never think of taking the books or the knickknacks off them!
Above everything, above all the little things people buy location and price. I sincerely believe that your photos on the side table will never ruin a sale.
Do you know the main selling feature that made us want the house we are in? The Jack and Jill bathroom . . . yup, two doors off the master with a full counter on each side with a full closet on each side. The garden tub is between the closets and the enclosed shower and commode (as they call it in Texas) are opposite.
We had seen the same design before but it cost less in a subdivision that I actually preferred, mostly because it was more accessible for me. (I do not like highways and loops.)
So, those are just a few random thoughts for you to use on some agent trying to clear out your house. You can see an empty house in a sub-division of new homes - so open and bare that you cannot even figure out where anything would go.
Ah, yes, I must tell you about the offer. We made our offer for one dollar over the asking price which had been reduced and was very fair.
When we took possession of our home, Hubby was looking through the kitchen drawers - like engineers do - for the booklets for the appliances, etc. and guess what he found? A looney - that's what! Yup, the seller refunded our dollar!
Note: A Canadian One Dollar Coin is called a Looney (because there is a picture of a loon on it. And just to make you really knowledgable, a two dollar Canadian coin is called a Tooney - just because.)
So, I googled it and found an article on how to "stage" a house to sell it.
Well, I was selling houses in Ontario for several years and I can assure you that if I had made some of the suggestions from this article, I would have been turfed out the owner's front door. Getting listings to sell was extremely competitive and I am sure the vendor could have located another sales person.
I think people have forgotten - if they knew at one time - what sells houses!
People definitely buy on location. Yes, it's true about: Location, location, location!
But I can tell you from my own experiences in the Toronto and Barrie, Ontario markets - a huge market and a small market, that there are some very odd reasons you would never think of that put a person in a mood to purchase a particular house.
I love to watch the program on the Home & Gardening channel where they show three houses and then tell you which one they pick. I can guess it every time. Why?
Well, people purchase houses for some very emotional and mundane reasons. They will completely overlook something they totally dislike because something else takes their fancy.
People buy houses that are like their Grandmother's house. People buy places with flowers just like they knew when they were kids.
More than once, I have had prospective buyers comment on colors that were hideous to them and still buy the house. One gal commented on the terrible mauve bathroom (which made me feel bad because I had one just like it). Then, she and her husband gave an offer on the house. When I called to tell them their offer had been accepted, do you know what she asked me? Oh, I bet you are ahead of me on this one . . .
"What color was that main bathroom?"
You gotta love that!
Another couple I remember well complained vigorously about the vivid red basement in the split level home. Each year when I visited them in December with their new calendar, that basement was still very red!
When I was selling real estate, I took every course offered by the company I worked with and by TREB - The Toronto Real Estate Board.
The whole principle behind "closing a sale" is to listen very carefully to what your customer is saying and know when to comment and when to say nothing. So, for the red basement and the purple bathroom, if it is only mentioned once, you say nothing.
If it comes up a second time, you could respond with,
"Well, other than that purple bathroom, is the rest of the place to your liking?"
Buyers often "close" the sale themselves and the real estate agent needs to know this. He or she needs to know when to say absolutely nothing.
The worst think I can recall happening to me when showing a house where a grandson was living with the grandmother, was hearing a tiny voice from up in a tree in the backyard:
"You bought it; you got it!"
What a rotten little kid, that was. I wonder where he heard that from? Also, I wonder if the prospective owners heard it? After all, they DID buy it!
So, in selling houses, a lot of the time, it is often when you are quiet that you do your best work!
People say little things like,
"This is just like my Grandmother's."
"Is that tree on my property?"
"Oh, they must have baked a batch of cookies."
"Hmm . . . I love that depression glass on that shelf."
Actually the article I read said that books should be removed from bookcases. Hello? Our house has built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace and I would never think of taking the books or the knickknacks off them!
Above everything, above all the little things people buy location and price. I sincerely believe that your photos on the side table will never ruin a sale.
Do you know the main selling feature that made us want the house we are in? The Jack and Jill bathroom . . . yup, two doors off the master with a full counter on each side with a full closet on each side. The garden tub is between the closets and the enclosed shower and commode (as they call it in Texas) are opposite.
We had seen the same design before but it cost less in a subdivision that I actually preferred, mostly because it was more accessible for me. (I do not like highways and loops.)
So, those are just a few random thoughts for you to use on some agent trying to clear out your house. You can see an empty house in a sub-division of new homes - so open and bare that you cannot even figure out where anything would go.
Ah, yes, I must tell you about the offer. We made our offer for one dollar over the asking price which had been reduced and was very fair.
When we took possession of our home, Hubby was looking through the kitchen drawers - like engineers do - for the booklets for the appliances, etc. and guess what he found? A looney - that's what! Yup, the seller refunded our dollar!
Note: A Canadian One Dollar Coin is called a Looney (because there is a picture of a loon on it. And just to make you really knowledgable, a two dollar Canadian coin is called a Tooney - just because.)
1 comment:
I liked this. We bought a house in Carrolton with forrest green living room and dinning room. Entry hall was between. The "formal dining room had a small kids jungle gym taking up all the space. My comment that green would have to go and Bill said they don't know much about selling a house. But we bought it and our grand kids say it was the most fun of all our houses.Yes the rooms stayed green and my furniture went beautifully.
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