Want to sell in this market? You need to be competitive and your property must show at it’s absolute best. You must provide alternative plan ideas and be ready to negotiate …You need to SELL!
The market has normalized since the post-recession exuberance of 2012-2015. It’s become more affordable for the “bread and butter” buyer under $3m. Open house reports show buyers are here in force this January, and we expect deals to get done this Spring!
But with 33% more homes on the market, buyers have more choices. In a given afternoon, they might tour a brand new condo with a sparkling lobby as well as a pre-war co-op.
Buyers will walk away unimpressed from an apartment with dated design, fabrics or furniture showing a tired lifestyle image. Their eye has been conditioned by contemporary design in new condos.
Buyers are projecting modern dreams onto a space. If you want to compete, you need to move out old furniture, paint and stage the property.
We were not the first broker on this 923 Fifth Avenue estate sale, but we got an accepted offer within 60 days in the most challenging market for sellers since 2009.
How did we do it? … By working with the seller to move out possessions & furniture. We then painted and staged the apartment, bringing new, positive energy to the sale.
If a seller must occupy the apartment, they should come back after painting/staging is done, and live lightly in the staged home.
The Up Front Cost Factor
Some sellers believe it’s not worth it to stage or don’t want to allocate the funds. Some don’t want to spend the money to stay somewhere else during staging.
The problem is that a buyer may walk out of a cluttered, tired, un-staged unit without really saying why. Usually they say: “too much work” … and you will never know the missed opportunity. But in a beautifully staged apartment, buyers get excited and stick around longer “kicking the tires”.
We know the expense is worth it! Great presentation inspires the buyer, changes the conversation and provokes offers! Instead of saying: “ugh, forget it, it will take too much work to renovate” they say: “we only have to change things in that one bathroom!”
When a lost buyer becomes a possibility, it becomes a totally different conversation, an open sense of possibility … When interest is raised, sellers get more offers.
On the cost value of presentation, brokers say painting and staging yields between 3x and 8x times its cost. If a seller spends $40,000, they are likely to be able to sell their apartment for between $120,000 and $320,000 more.
The best benefit for the seller is confidence. The unit is looking its absolute best, and the seller is sure they are negotiating from strength. The offers they receive are the direct voice of the market to which they can respond with clarity.
Warm regards,
Thor & Melissa
“Hide not your talents, they for use were made…What’s a sundial in the shade?”
Benjamin Franklin
Thors Team – Roster of Project Assistance
We have a roster of professionals ready to help you present, renovate and transact your property. We find the best, trusted people to make it happen:
Compass Concierge (Up Front Financing for Painting and Staging)
Architects
Painters and Stagers
Contractors
Engineers (Structural and HVAC)
Artists and Artisans
Lighting Designers
Interior Designers
Lawyers
Mortgage Bankers
Audio Visual Consultants
Picture Framers
Art Handlers & Crane Companies (for craning in artwork)
