The Secret Weapon that Helped us Sell Our Home Above Reserve

Selling a home is a tough gig, and truth be told, it takes a village. That village needs to include the secret weapon I call Property Styling Melbourne. Allow me to explain what I mean.

One of the standout comments I heard from someone on auction day was, “wow, does anyone actually live here?” That was from a lady who was wandering around our home ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the way we staged the rooms. And that right there proved why engaging a property styling business at the beginning of the sales campaign was so crucial for our sale.

We sold for well over our reserve too, which was the icing on the cake 😉

You see, while I am an interior designer/decorator/stylist, I couldn’t be sure everything I loved about my home was going to resonate with a potential buyer. So, I needed to strip things back. I needed to declutter. I had to remove the personal items. In a sense, I needed to strip back the ‘me’ or ‘us’ from the rooms of our home so a potential buyer could imagine themselves living there.

That’s why engaging a property styling business is so important when you’re selling your home – regardless of the location or price you’re after. And when I decided to sell our place, there was no confusion about who to call. I got straight on the blower to get the help of Property Styling Melbourne.

The Crucial Element When Selling a Home

I already had some decent items at home. Things like a Globewest sofa, coffee table, dining table and chairs. So I didn’t need to demolish the design and start again. I just needed items to help pull the scheme together, so it was consistent from room to room. I needed it to feel a little designer, but approachable, to lure the right buyer.

Property Styling Melbourne engaged me to concept the three design themes they stage homes with when they launched their business a few years back, so I had no doubt they were going to help me make our home look amazing. I was familiar with the stock they had in their warehouse, and I knew they had proven results.

Suzanne Commerford, Director of Property Styling Melbourne, expands on what some of those glorious results are.

“We track the results on every single job we do,” she explains. “We track days on market, clearance rates, the difference between the original advertised price and suburb average price for comparable homes, and the final sale price. What we know is that 97% of our customers sell. We improve the suburb clearance rate by 27%. We reduce days on market by 24%. We better the suburb average price by nearly $83k. And we better the advertised property price by nearly $58k”.

You Can Part-Stage, or go a Full Stage

With compelling stats like that, I knew getting the team in to part-style the home was a no brainer. And that’s what’s so good about Property Styling Melbourne; you can go a part style (where they work with some of your existing items). Or you can go a full style, where all of your stuff is moved out of the home and they install a cohesive scheme of furniture and decor across the property.

They’ll consult with you and give you an honest critique. Because here’s the thing: we all think our stuff is amazing. We all love our furniture. We all think our decor isn’t that bad. But the team will give you an honest assessment. Because the last thing you want is a home that fails to make a phenomenal first impression.

“You have just seconds when you consider the way people scroll through real estate listings on their phone or tablet and you have to not just catch their attention but create an immediate emotional engagement,” Suzanne explains.

Check out the Property Styling Melbourne portfolio of work here. It’s packed with engaging design.

Mistakes You’re Making When Selling Your Home

Having design experience myself, I wasn’t delusional about what needed to go and what needed to stay in my home. But it can be tough when you’re in the midst (and stress) of trying to sell. And it can be even tougher to determine how to stage each room for those glossy real estate photos.

Suzanne has certainly seen a few property styling blunders in her time, and tells me that the most common mistake homeowners make when staging to sell is furniture-related.

“It’s possibly the bulky sofa. Its oversized, like hanging over doorways, oversized. It’s over-loved. I’m sure I could feed a small nation on the crumbs wedged in the cracks,” she jokes. “And no, I don’t have enough throws to cover the stains. But, let’s face it, a couple of burly blokes and a willingness to tackle the dust bunnies left behind and it’s an easy problem to solve”.

Suzanne goes on to explain that rooms are often not stripped back enough either.

“The bigger challenge is simply clutter. Most people just have way too much stuff. I find it is the elements of open, clear space in a home that make it the most effective,” she says. “The clients come back into the home they are listing for sale and you can see them either sigh with relief or gasp with joy when they see the change. However, a word of warning with this one: it can’t be empty, as that is just cold and uninspiring”.

But is it Worth the Spend?

Part-styling or fully styling your home for sale is actually not that expensive. Considering the impact it can have on the sale price (as mentioned above). And for me, honestly, I can hand on heart say that I don’t think the home would have sold for what it did had I just left my day-to-day items in the home.

The costs to stage your home are going to vary depending on the size of the home, of course. How many items are going to be brought in will also come into play. So it’s best to kick things off by asking Property Styling Melbourne for a free quote.

Once they’ve seen your property, they can give you a better idea of the costs, how much of your current furniture and decor you can include in the staging, and what needs to go.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I break down home staging tips room-by-room so you know what blunders to avoid when staging to sell. Suzanne is on-deck to give her expert tips too, so you’re in very safe hands.