I recently met with a new client who was listing her property with an agent I work with. Her home had been listed with a different agent for over a year with only 3 showings and no offers. It is a beautiful and immaculate home, and the photos were very high quality, but she had received some very poor staging advice from someone who turned out not to be a stager at all but an "award winning interior decorator." I could write a whole book about why people should use interior decorators when they are moving into their home and stagers when they are moving out. Instead, I'm going to point out some things that went wrong and how we solved them.
First, the decorator had the owner remove ALL decorative items from the home. No art work on the walls, no pillows on the sofas, etc. The house looked sterile and felt echo-ish. Polished concrete floors are beautiful and a great selling point in rural Texas homes, but they are cold and noisy and benefit from a rug.
Second, the rooms were dark. Dark floors, dark furniture, dark ceilings, you get the idea. Having removed everything that lightened the room made it worse. So we went back with a light colored area rug, some light colored art work, light colored throw pillows, a mirror above the fireplace to toss light around the room---and two floor lamps. Cozy and bright.
The third and final staging error was possibly the worst bit of advice I have ever encountered. The decorator had the owner remove all of the towel bars and toilet paper holders from the bathrooms. Yes, you read that right. Not only did the house seem unfinished, this meant there were no visible towels or TP. This leads to a tip I always give sellers. At least one bathroom should be staged with potential buyers' comfort in mind--especially if you are selling a rural property. Your potential buyers may have driven an hour or more to see your home. If it is in the country, there is no place for them to stop and use the potty before they arrive. Even in town, your buyers may be on a whirlwind tour of homes with no breaks scheduled between. AND let us not forget the expectant mother or the family with young children. So I always suggest that the guest bathroom be fitted out with a nice pump soap, a basket of paper hand towels as well as fresh hand towels, a box of tissue, an empty trash can, and the big one TOILET PAPER. Make it obvious that you don't mind if the room gets used. People are not going to want to go through your cabinets if they need essentials, and a buyer who is only thinking about where the next public restroom is, is not a buyer focused on your home.
Along these same lines, it is always good to put a few bottles of water and a basket of granola bars or such snacks on the kitchen counter. Buyers will appreciate your thoughtfulness and the more comfortable they are, the longer they will spend really appreciating your home.
In this case, my seller had already packed away her bathroom hardware so the solution was a free standing TP holder and towels folded neatly on the counter. I don't know that these small measures will make or break a sale, but I do know that wooing buyers is just like wooing a potential mate. Common courtesy goes a long way.
