Create The Image! Set the Stage!

Have you ever been to a play? Yes, a theatre production. Some plays have very elaborate sets, don't they? And others are quite minimalist, yet with the right lighting, props and accents, you can imagine yourself in the setting and easily accept that you are being given a glimpse of ‘real life'.

In the same way, you can create an image and set the stage for your home, so that buyers imagine themselves living in your home. This will increase the buyer's emotional connections to your home, helping your home to stay in his or her memory. And if you set the stage well, the buyer may just want to buy your home and not someone else's!

Let's consider how a stage is set, in a theatre.

BARE BONES

A stage starts with the bare bones - just minimalist furniture and furnishings. Take a look around your home; do you have too much furniture? Are you wall-to-wall with couches, chairs, side tables, end tables, sideboards, cupboards, bookcases and footstools? If there is no evident wall space - walls are all hidden, then take some of the furniture out and put it into storage, or leave it with a friend. When you shift that furniture, check on whether walls, floors and carpets need any cleaning and do it.

How can you expect your home to look large enough and to feel spacious, if the prospective buyers can't imagine their own belongings in your home?

CLEAN OUT THE JUNK!

How long since you have cleaned out your cupboards, your drawers and your garage? Is the side of the driveway filled with bits and pieces, old cupboards, and ‘can't throw that out' items?

Sorry, it's time to do just that! Plus, you will receive an added bonus of feeling great, because you will feel so much lighter through having cleaned up and cleaned out. You won't know what that really feels like until the time comes. Trust me, you will enjoy the feeling. It's great!

PROPS AND ACCENTS

Here's where your imagination comes in! If you were at a play and the stage director wanted you to get the notion that someone has been sitting on a couch and reading a book, what would they do? The prop - the book, would be left open and turned upside down and left on the couch, or placed on a small coffee table in front of the couch. You would then imagine someone having been sitting there reading a book. And, if you were a prospective buyer, wouldn't you imagine yourself doing that?

How about watching TV? Place a bowl of fresh popcorn (cooked just before you left your home in the agent's capable hands!) next to the TV remote, with the sound muted and the TV on. Tell the agent to invite prospective buyers to eat the popcorn. Let taste and sight senses be stimulated.

You can also leave relaxing background music playing at a very low sound level, so that the buyer gets the feel of listening to music in the home and imagines just that!

Lots of people write letters at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee in hand. Tidy all surfaces so they are bare and clean and place a writing pad, an envelope, some stamps and a pen, casually ready as though you are about to write a letter. Plus, you could have coffee percolating so the smell wafts through the kitchen - another imaginative and sensory stimulator.

AROMATHERAPY

While we are on the subject of scents, aromatherapy can be a wonderful enhancement to your home. You can have a bowl of potpourri on the back of the toilet, so that area smells fresh and clean. Have scented candles giving a lovely smell to lounge and dining areas. And oil burners in the bedroom create a soothing sanctuary.

Fresh flowers can add another delightful touch to please the eye and enhance surroundings.

These are all props or accents that are designed to stimulate your prospective buyer's emotional receptors and trigger his or her imagination.

LIGHTING

Think of the last play or movie you saw… was there effective use of lighting - daylight, night-time, shadows and so on? Of course, and you can do this too.

If showing your home during the day and you have a great view to show off, pull the drapes back so it can be seen. Also, allow as much light as possible into your home. Of course, if it's a dreary, rainy day, then having the curtains half-drawn and a lamp switched on, may create a more appealing scene. In cold weather, have a heater set to a comfortable temperature and in hot weather, use fans and air conditioners to assist the buyer to feel cool.

If it's a night showing of your home, turn on the lights, and the lamps, and light candles. Make sure your curtains are pulled back if you have a stunning night time view. For example, a brown and muddy river can look terrible during the day, but stunning at night with the lights reflected off the water.

CURTAINS UP!

Now that you have set the stage, relax! Leave your home in the hands of your agent who should have a booklet of information that prospective buyers would be interested in, relating to your home and your local community.

This Report is aimed at helping you learn more about presenting your home to enhance it's selling potential, and how to get the best result for you. Thank you for calling on me for help. If there is anything further that you require, do call.