There’s a shift going on in the market right now that is affecting how people buy and sell houses. For the last couple years, the people (owners and real estate agents) listing and selling a house or property were really the ones in the driver’s seat, because as we’ve written redundantly, there has been a shortage of houses in Central Massachusetts. People needing a place to live were sometimes getting desperate, thanks to huge crowds at open houses and bidding wars. The attitude sometimes was “it’s not my dream house, but we have to live somewhere.” This type of market allowed for lazy listings by some agents–homemade photos, toilet seats left up, trash cans not closed, no attempt to even throw a comforter on a bed, and generally stuff all over the place. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 200 times–stuff everywhere is the lowest hanging fruit–all your realtor needs is your permission, several boxes and an hour, to drastically improve any listing.
The change now is that the market is more balanced, which is a healthier market. The amount of people looking to buy a home is more equal to the number of homes for sale. There still is a shortage of homes, but it’s not an acute shortage, which allows buyers to shop around a bit and be able to spend more time visualizing what they can do or not do with a particular house.
This has implications for how people sell and market their homes, and it weeds out the wheat from the chaff in the real estate business. In this market you really can’t get away with non-professional photos, or with leaving the toilet seats up, or not cleaning off the counters, and removing the magnets from the fridge. You and your agent have to market the house in a way that shows buyers the potential of the house they are considering.
This is where staging comes in. It’s not a trick–it’s simply showing a home’s potential. For instance, two recent examples over the past couple weeks. I listed a large vacant home in Ashburnham. The sellers and I worked hand in hand to get the home ready for prime time, with staging as part of the plan, and it worked very well for them. We had 28 sets of people through the open houses and private showings, resulting in 9 offers. I think having the home vacant would have confused buyers as to which room is where, and what they might do with that room if they were to buy the home. We actually had one buyer who came in and praised us effusively because he was so sick of seeing homes with virtual staging and then arriving to see vacant properties. Virtual staging is when you see furniture in the online photos, but since it is imaginary furniture, it’s not going to be there when you actually visit the house.
I also very recently (February 5) listed a very nice, age 55+ house in Westminster that was vacant–-no furniture whatsoever. The house simply didn’t look as good as it actually is. We decided to go all in on the staging–it now looks quite homey with appropriate furniture and decor in every room. The house now shines, not just because of the staging, but because the house is very nice, yet being completely empty made it look deserted.
Think of staging from another perspective. If you go to a car dealership, the cars for sale are always spotlessly clean–that’s staging. A dirty car just gives a bad impression for both the car and the dealership, even if the car is in mint condition. In real estate, or any other sales situation, the same rules apply. Not taking professional photos of the property you’re selling is like taking polaroid photos of a car to sell. No professional photographer will let a seller or agent leave the toilet seats up on a house that’s being sold, but even if they would allow it, it’s like leaving the trunk open, of that dirty car in the bad polaroid photo.
Bottom line is that sellers are getting the results they want if the effort is put into the preparation of the home. I’m happy to help with that. Be in touch to brainstorm. And IF you’re seriously considering making a move in 2025, we should be talking now to best prepare you for success.