It’s no secret that first impressions of a home rely on their ability to picture themselves living within it. A well-styled house could be the difference between getting you an okay price with and getting you the ‘Love Price’. Therefore, it’s important to get it right. Insert interior stylist here.
However, some people overlook hiring a professional altogether by seeking out ‘cheaper’ or ‘easier’ solutions. We’ve compiled five reasons why you shouldn’t cut corners and should hire a professional for your pre-sale styling.
(Credit: Hutton & Hutton) Styling doesn’t have to be complicated; it just has to appeal to your perfect buyer!
1. Your agent is not a stylist
If your agent offers to style your home, you need to take a step back and consider what you’ve hired them to do. While it’s fantastic that they’re thinking about the importance of styling, they should not be carrying out the styling themselves. Their job is to market and sell your property, and this should take up all of their time. They should be urging you to seek external help to make your property look incredible.
(Credit: Rawpixel on Pexels) When it comes to in-home styling, leave it to the pros
2. They style to appeal to the most likely buyer
Professional styling doesn’t necessarily mean your furniture is being turfed. It also doesn’t mean your property will be styled like a lifeless display home. This is far from the truth. The only place display home styling is effective is in, well, display homes!
A good stylist will understand the marketplace and the kinds of buyers interested in your property. For example, an apartment in Hamilton marketed to young, single professionals would require drastically different styling than a Queenslander in Cooparoo marketed to young families. Professional stylists understand these differences and will tailor their vision to best present your property to the market.
(Credit: Hutton & Hutton) Families were the market in mind when styling this Morningside home
3. They know how to accentuate your property’s best features
Styling is more than just creating a pleasing colour palette, positioning plants, and buying artwork. It’s about understanding your property’s winning features and making them clear to buyers as they walk through the door.
If your property has incredible natural light, a professional stylist will understand not to block it. So, if your property is a smaller apartment, your stylist will understand how best to open the room and create the illusion of space so your buyers don’t feel cramped or uncomfortable. After all, it’s important that your stylist communicates the property’s potential through their styling as well as highlighting the best features.
(Credit: Hutton & Hutton) This New Farm home has a gorgeous indoor to outdoor entertainment area that is perfectly accentuated with the professional styling
4. They can depersonalise the space
While you don’t want your property to look cold and lifeless, you also don’t want your buyers to feel like they’ve just invaded somebody’s home. Professional stylists know how to walk this fine line between display home chic and someone’s living space.
They are able to create a really inviting environment that allows your buyer to easily picture themselves and their family inhabiting the house. At the end of the day, this is what you want. Their invested emotion will increase how much they’re willing to spend and will achieve you ‘The Love Price’.
(Credit: Hutton & Hutton) This Taragindi home doesn’t always look like this, but it’s now easy for buyers to picture themselves living in the space
5. It’s worth it!
In his book ‘The Love Price’, Peter Hutton gives a real example of how professional styling can help to sell a property.
The owner of a ground-floor luxury apartment in New Farm was frustrated as his property had been on the market for months with no bites. After appraising the property and realising that the buyer’s expectation of $1,295,000 was realistic, Peter looked at other potential reasons the property wasn’t doing well.
He soon realised that the property’s best features, large living space and a fantastic courtyard were being neglected and underutilised. H&H’s in-house stylist Karen came through and did her magic. She started by decluttering and had the owners put 30 boxes of their personal belongings in storage, which opened up the living space. Then, she hired an outdoor living set and rearranged pot plants to accentuate the courtyard.
After some quick rearrangements of furniture to open up space and create a breakfast nook, the apartment was unrecognisable. After just four days on the market, the property sold for $1,300,000, $5,000 more than the owners had anticipated.
So long story short, good taste costs no more than bad!
If you’d like a consultation with H & H about in-house styling, feel free to contact us today.
(Credit: Hutton & Hutton) By rearranging the furniture and utilising the courtyard, Karen was able to open up the space and make the apartment more enticing
