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'Primping'
a home pays off
Thursday, March 03, 2005
It may not feel like spring is anywhere in sight
in most regions of Canada. But for Rien Sharma and Michael McNamara
of Vancouver, there are signs even more certain than the first tender
crocus shoots, that a change of seasons is in the air.
The two men are partners in Revamp Homestaging, a Vancouver company
that specializes in helping homeowners "primp," "fluff,"
"style," "prop" or "stage" their houses
for re-sale.
So what's the rationale for spending on a property just before selling
it? Sale prices that usually soar beyond list, often by as much
as five per cent.
A new RBC survey indicates three in 10 Canadians (29 per cent) plan
to buy a home in the next two years and 10 per cent of them plan
to act in the next six months. At a time when more of these aspiring
purchasers preview homes online long before they sally forth with
a realtor, the appearance of a home and highlighting it's best
features, is imperative.
"Spring is always our busiest season because that's when the
real-estate market kicks into an even higher gear," explains
Sharma. "Even in a hot market, realtors and vendors are so
much more experienced. They want to trigger bidding wars, to get
the absolute top price."
Attaining that goal, however, frequently requires a professional
outside eye. The No. 1 sin of most vendors, according to home stagers,
is clutter.
"You have to think strategically. We walk into a house and
identify its strongest, most marketable features, then figure out
how to play them up, how to draw attention to the positives,"
explains Amie Walton of X-stream Staging in Halifax. "You have
to remove the hurdles to broad appeal, eliminate the visual distractions."
As part of that "editing" process, stagers work to remove
much of an owner's personal imprint on a house.
"There's a psychological process by which you remove the personal
so that potential buyers can project their lives into the space,"
says Connie Williamson of Serenity Redesign in Edmonton. "You
don't want people to feel that it's someone else's home, you want
them to just see it as an attractive space they could have."
In addition to removing personal items such as family photographs,
fridge magnets and religious icons, stagers also tend to level with
homeowners about the small things they've probably stopped noticing.
"Someone who lives in a house is never really aware of their
own smell and the smell of their pets," observes Sharma. "They
also stop noticing dripping taps and burned-out light bulbs -- which
are the first things an outsider will notice and question."
He adds it's impossible to underscore how critical a positive emotional
reaction is when selling a house.
"Even before they walk through the house, check out the closet
space, inspect the wiring, they have an immediate visceral reaction,"
Sharma says. "In the absence of other information, senses like
sight, smell and sound take over. That's what determines if they
shut down or have the interest to move to the next, more practical
stages of a transaction."
The consensus among home stagers is vacant properties, whether new
or old, are the toughest to sell. That's why companies such as Revamp
maintain massive warehouses filled with furniture and accessories.
"A property has to convey warmth and love -- it can't have
any feeling of abandonment," explains Walton.
"The other key point is that empty spaces seem smaller. It's
an issue of perspective because there's no context for the eye,
no sense of relative proportion."
Notes Sharma, whose company has six vacant, staged properties on
it roster, "Few people are able to imagine the size of a queen-size
bed in a room -- you have to show them."
Furthermore, he says, it's important to establish the feel of a
certain lifestyle in a home that's being marketed.
"When people are moving from a rental to a first home or they're
moving up to a larger place, they need the illusion of bigger and
better," he says. "You have to strike that note -- the
smell of fresh-ground coffee, fresh flowers -- those small touches
of
luxury."
Evoking that sense is particularly important in the highest end
of the real-estate market. Bob Rennie of Rennie Marketing Systems,
who specializes in selling the most luxurious condominium developments
in Canada, even takes pieces from his own contemporary art collection
to enhance the appearance of model suites.
"You have to offer memory points, design points, decor that
resonates with people, that exudes an aspirational lifestyle,"
he says.
That includes extreme attention to bathrooms and kitchens, as well
as the use of modern Italian furnishings.
The budget for these displays runs from $40,000 for a single studio
to $120,000 for just one luxury model suite.
While few have that sort of marketing budget at hand, Sharma insists
that for $200 to $4,000 homeowners can enhance their property's
value.
And that's even more heartwarming than any of the other first signs
of spring.
Deirdre McMurdy is co-host of Global TV's MoneyWise program.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005
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Deirdre McMurphy | Times Colonist
www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/index.html.com
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