I was contracted to stage a vacant home. I went to the home to do a walk-thru so I would know what staging props to bring the day of staging. What I found made me stop and think....no amount of staging is going to fix the problems in this home.
The home was listed for $180,000, was in an excellent neighborhood, built in 2007, and had excellent curb appeal.
The bathrooms had some of the hardware replaced. The towel rack was new and was silver. The sink faucets were old and gold. The shower stall was gold. The door knobs were silver but the door hinges were gold. No matter how well the staging was done, those items will stand out to a buyer and their first thought will be "How much will this cost to change these out to match?". Immediately the offer price goes down.
The family room had an old, outdated ceiling fan. Bottom line, it was ugly. Once again, offer price goes down and the buyer will not be impressed.
The dining room had an outdated ceiling fan instead of a chandelier. A turn off for the buyers.
The kitchen had tons of cabinets which is a plus but no hardware on the door fronts. Maybe not a turnoff but adding handles and knobs would add so much to the kitchen.
The back porch had a bunch of planters with old, dried out plants. The screens were so dirty it was horrible. Buyers will assume this is not a well maintained home....what else is bad that they can't see.
My point is that there is no way a buyer will ever offer the full asking price on a home in this condition and the cost to fix everything I found would only be around $2000.
So, what is better? Spend $2000 to fix all the problems and get a big fat offer or get an offer on the house for $5000-$10,000 less than what you are asking. Or worse, the buyer walks out and never looks back.
Do the fixes, clean....spend the few dollars to get your home in top condition. NEVER assume that the buyer will make the changes. They will do one of two things....offer a low price or walk away.
Contact a Home Stager! Get advice on what you can do to make your home the best it can be.
You'll be glad you did!
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