We took this home from “Owe” to “Wow! It sold for a staggering $50,000 over ask, with multiple offers – which the Realtor (one of our regulars) attributed to the staging. This began as a property the Realtor expected would sell below list, due to its very dated, original (1950s) condition. But simply staging it turned that all around, without the vendor doing a single thing in terms of updates or improvements – even the 40 year old paint on the walls had not been refreshed, and there was oodles of 1950s wallpaper throughout! Read more below….
Before
After
The homeowners were unable to do any work on the property, and the Realtor knew this was going to be a problem. Having worked with us many times, he knew we were the seller’s only hope at getting anywhere close to the price they wanted – but even he didn’t expect the incredible results that came as a result of the staging we designed for this home.
This was the long time family home of an elderly gentleman who was moving to assisted living. The gentleman’s adult children were busy packing their dad up for his big move and dealing with a lifetime of belongings to sort through, and had no time, budget or ability to take on any work – even the suggestion of painting was off the table.
The Realtor strongly recommended that the client have us stage it – in fact, he pushed for the staging, knowing it was in the vendor’s best interests. Most Realtors would have said there was no way to stage the way to success on this one, but this particular Realtor – a well known name in the Winnipeg real estate market who works with us exclusively – has an intimate understanding of the power of good home staging as a highly effective marketing and merchandising strategy. He also is very familiar with the specific brand of staging magic we are able to work, having had us regularly stage many of his listings as the staging company he uses exclusively.
Stepping into the home when we first did our walk-through was like entering a time capsule and being transported directly to the year 1950. As a home stager, I thought this was pretty darn cool! But home buyers surely wouldn’t see it that way. The vendor’s adult children seemed a little embarrassed about the home’s tired and dated condition, almost as if they assumed it was beyond anything we’d be able to work with it, so they noticeably brightened up with surprise when we told them how excited we were to stage and transform this home because we immediately had the vision for it. We were very confident we could modernize the space through staging, and in spaces where modernization just wasn’t a possibility, we could “cool-ify” the very retro, vintage elements that couldn’t be hidden beneath staging (that kitchen!). After the staging went in, they were so thrilled and astounded by the transformation, they immediately referred us to co-workers who were also selling their homes – and we ended up staging those homes as well, also with very successful outcomes and extremely happy sellers.
“What a transformation!”, said the vendor’s son, beaming the broadest smile, when he saw the home after we had staged it.
These types of transformations are so rewarding for us, and we love getting our clients these types of successful sales results and seeing their happiness – especially in situations where it outcome exceeds anything they had dared to hope for. Similarly, we love helping our Realtors look like rockstars to their clients for having the expertise to make the staging recommendation and referral to us, and knowing the tangible results our work would have for their sellers.
In this particular situation, we know this move was a difficult process for this family, and it went beyond a real estate transaction. Packing up an ailing parent from the family home, along with a lifetime of memories, is an often painful and very emotional journey. In fact, I privately wept in the car after our first meeting with this family when first went to look at the house, because of how it struck a very personal chord of something similar I’d been through with my mom. I really wanted to help these people and play a role in getting them a terrific outcome, with hopes that it would on some level make a difficult life transition easier for them and bring some emotional uplifting for them. And in the end, seeing their happiness confirmed that we were able to do that. \
Staging isn’t always purely about the real estate transaction – so often we are along for the ride on a very personal, emotional journey with our clients, and we are honoured and grateful to be chosen to be part of that process.