The Staging Life: What to do with 16 Showings and No Offers?
By Nan Johnston, Southern Staging & Redesign
“What’s up with that? Sixteen showings and no offers?”
Something that I hear often is “my house is showing but there are no offers, but the 2 houses down the street are under contract, more expensive and not as large.”
Last week at a house in another county, this seller was frustrated and made the above statement. As I entered the house, the reason is very clear to me, a stager that “un-decorates” for a career. But it was certainly not clear to them, who has put love, money and heart in decorating this home for the last 10 years.
In this case, and most likely in other cases, your décor may be the offender. If you have very TASTE SPECIFIC DÉCOR, other buyers cannot see past that to see the actual house.
If you have art of every genre hanging from your 2-story ceilings down to the ground, the buyer can’t see past all the stuff hanging on the wall to look at the house.
This house was guilty of the above situations. The comments from buyers were “There is too much stuff on the walls” or “I wanted an open concept floor plan.” This house had a fairly open floor plan however the heavy antique period furnishings and accessories made it appear as if it didn’t.
Buyers don’t really care if “that light fixture is from a special local” or how much you paid for it. Your décor doesn’t have ANY emotional attachment to them, but it can hurt the potential of your house selling.
Don’t let the love of your décor prevent a seller from being able to see the potential of your lovely home as a wonderful place for them to enjoy living. Remember that 90 percent of buyers cannot visualize a house as a home for themselves when the current homeowner occupies the home. That is why have a professional set of eyes that decorates to SELL, not LIVE, is so important.
For more information about how you can make your house more neutral for a buyer, contact me.
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Nan Johnston is a professional home staging consultant from Newnan with over 30 years experience in the real estate industry. Check out her website for some interesting before and after photos at www.southern-staging.com.
