As a Home Stager I'm always curious about how people stage their homes for Open Houses. I try to show up for as many Open House as I can in my target areas. I could only make it to 4 this weekend and what I found went from exceptional to awful!
The exceptional house was spotless. No clutter, no dust on the furtniture, lots of room to walk around and the house was well lit and very inviting. The owner had fresh flowers in almost every room. They gave off a sweet scent that was pleasant and not overpowering. The windows were so clean you could hardly tell there were panes of glass in them. They even had pitchers of ice water which was great because it was a very hot day. As a Home Stager I look for things that I would do differently and in this house there was nothing. I loved it and if I was a buyer I would have scooped it.
Now for the awful. This house started off bad and went downhill after I walked through the front door. The outside of the door itself was dirty, the flowers in the planter were fading from the heat and there were cob webs around the porch light. Upon entering the house the first thing I see is a huge fireplace with 2 deer heads mounted on it. Now, I have nothing against hunting or displaying your trophies, unless you are having an open house. They distracted from the fireplace and I honestly don't remember much about it. The kitcen was actually dirty. The countertops were loaded with toasters, coffee pots, cooking utensils, and much more. I opened the refridgerator it was even dirty. Packed with leftovers and I think I actually said Yuck to myself! Next were the bedrooms. One was a craft room with so much stuff in it you literally could not walk around. I couldn't open the closet door because of the piles of fabric blocking the door. I could go on but you get the point.
I like to listen to other buyers who are walking the house to see what their comments are. Two separate couples never made it past the kitchen. They took one look at the family room and the deer heads, peaked in the kitchen and left. I spoke with the realtor when there were no buyers within ear shot and asked if the seller had thought about staging the house. He said he had tried to politely suggest it but they sellers would have nothing to do with it and didn't see why a buyer couldn't see how great their house was. We've all heard that before.
I left my business card on the table and with the agent. Maybe if the seller doesn't get an offer soon they may think about staging and give me a call.
So that was my Saturday. Hope everyone had good hunting if they are buying, got great offers if they are selling and generally an all around great day!
JenJen's Home Staging
Comments(3)