Unfinished Business

There are times when a home must be listed for sale and the occupants have already moved to a new location. It's called a "vacant" property, and it doesn't sound very appealing. It almost sounds like there might be something wrong with it. Like the occupants couldn't wait to leave! Sometimes when you are showing these homes it's tough for your buyers to see anything more than the outline of an armoire or a shard of soap sitting sink-side.

These homes are in need of some love - a personal touch if you will. We have an inventory of art and accessories just waiting to be placed in these homes to give them a bit of colour. It makes it so much more appealing to the buyer to have some perspective on what a piece of art might look like hanging above the mantle, or what a plant in the entry way could do for the space. We just purchased some new inventory for these types of staging jobs and I'm so eager to see them put together, to highlight the features of one of these properties. It is so exciting to see what a few well-placed accessories can do for a home!

We can do a semi-furnished stage for your unoccupied properties as well. We rent suites of furniture and furnish the kitchen and dining area, one bedroom and one living area. This type of stage also includes the aforementioned art and accessories. This is a great way to showcase a larger home, because your buyers can see how furniture might be fit the area and if they can imagine their own items placed in a similar layout. Staging an unoccupied property makes so much sense and homes tend to sell at a faster rate when staged, than when empty. The Association of Homes Staging Professionals has indicated that staged homes tend to sell much faster than un-staged, saying that staged homes have an average DOM of 11 whereas un-staged tend to sit more than 90. Of course, in a hot market, these statistics are moot, but really - would you stand in a blank, echoing home, or have some colour and style to guide you through?

Next time you have a vacant listing, give us a call to schedule a staging. Your clients will thank you when their home sells quickly, and you'll spend less time and money marketing it. Win-win!