Gather tips on securing that sale on your house ....................

Anyone who has ever put their home on the market understands that presenting the residence at its very best is imperative to attracting multiple offers and, ultimately, ensuring a sale.

We all know a splash of paint and a garden clean-up does wonders to the appearance of a property, but savvy sellers are taking it to the next level and ‘styling’ every facet of the home to make it more appealing for inspection.

Helen Austin is a real estate agent at Toowoomba’s Webster Cavanagh who styles eight out of 10 properties she sells – we asked her why styling is so important.

“It’s all about creating a ‘wow’ and, with first impressions, you only have one opportunity to do this,” Helen says.

“It assists with the sale in the first 30 days, which we know the majority of the market sees a new property in and an extremely high percentage of my properties sell in that time frame. It also takes the guesswork for buyers out of the placement/size of furniture.”

To achieve the perfect look, Helen works closely with stylists Lucy Osborn and Tonita Coppard from Outside the Square Projects.

Together, they work out where to place furniture so that it is visually pleasing, makes the best use of the space; and photographs well. Most importantly, they create a space that buyers can see themselves living in – they create a lifestyle.

“Styled properties always look better maintained and have a calm quality to them when done professionally,” Lucy explains.

“The styling generally happens the day prior to the photos being taken or the same afternoon.”

Tonita added that professional stylists have access to several furniture suppliers; as well as a small supply of their own pieces and accessories.

“Using furniture and accessories that are ‘on trend’ shows buyers how they can buy a property that is dated but style it so it looks modern and current (and update it when they can afford to do so),” she says.

From an agent’s perspective, mentioning a styling makeover can be a difficult conversation to have with owners.

“The only problem is that not all agents are brave enough to recommend styling for fear of offending the vendor and losing the listing,” Lucy says.

“Also, once an agent has discussed commission and advertising costs it can be very difficult to ask a vendor to part with more money.

“Styling can start at $2500 if there is a hiring component but is often a lot more.

“Agents who have their properties styled can inform clients of the benefits and the real value that a $2500, (min) investment can bring to their final price.

“However, the simple answer to why you should have your property styled is that it will stand out from its competitors and get a better sale price in a shorter time.”

Agent Helen agrees.

“The majority of the time it (styling) guarantees a great price in a good time frame,” she said.

“Furniture takes the buyers’ eyes off all the little imperfections in rooms that are furnished and helps create the emotional experience as buyers see themselves moving in.”

So, with the majority of us on a tight budget, what rooms should we concentrate on to create the ‘wow’ factor?

“A good way of keeping the budget in check is to style the living, dining, kitchen, outdoor area and the master bedroom,” Tonita suggests.

“Generally, bedrooms are straight forward. It’s only if they are small that it is wise to show buyers that you can fit in a bed and a bedside table.

“Statistics show that the majority of people cannot visualise where to place furniture, so if a buyer is left wondering they could easily move on to another property.

If a property is empty, then styling is an easy option according to Tonita.

“But, if you are still living at the property this is not an option, so it is worth investing to have the stylist guiding the vendor on what to take out and store away and what linen to use to present the bedrooms so that they fit in with the styled rooms,” she said.

“Real estate agents use photographers to best photograph properties, so why not use a stylist to give advice and assistance to best present a property to the market,” Helen concluded.