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Styling your home professionally can help your property campaign stand out in the market against other listings. Charlotte Dub, National Commercial Manager for Coco Republic, says that for almost all properties, styling reduces time on market and improves profitabilityWe sat down with Charlotte to gain her insights on property styling and its impact on sales.  

What is the difference between styling a home for sale and furnishing a home to live in?

Why should sellers get their properties styled?  

What target market do you style the property for?  

When you style a property, where do sellers live?  

What design trends are you seeing in homes this year?  

What can homeowners do before they get their homes styled?  

What is the difference between styling a home for sale and furnishing a home to live in?

Styling a home for sale requires a completely different approach from furnishing a home to live in. When furnishing a home to live in, we start by taking a detailed brief from the client regarding their practical requirements. Who will be living in the home, how do they like to live, do they have hobbies, children, pets? Do they like to entertain? Once we understand how a client wants to utilise their personal space, we can then start selecting furniture items and consider the decorative and styling components to complement their practical needs.  

Contrastingly, the goal of styling for sale is to present the home to its maximum potential and appeal to the widest range of buyers. This means styling the property in the way that most people will want to live in it, presenting a desirable lifestyle and evoking emotion in the potential purchaserWhen styling a property for sale we also need to consider the photography and ensure we allow for more than one group of purchasers to walk through the home at any one time. We generally have to leave more space for flow through of foot traffic than we would for a home that was being styled to live in.  

Why should sellers get their properties styled?

All vendors wishing to maximise the sale price of their home should consider styling for sale. Most of us don’t live in show homes and would benefit from styling to some degree. By having a property styled, you can be assured that you have put your best foot forward and are enabling purchasers to see your property presented at its absolute maximum. From anecdotal evidence, I often experience that styled homes sell more quickly and more profitably. In fact, recently some of our styled homes in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney sold in just 6 days. 

Another important reason to get your property styled is that almost all Australian homeowners highly value interior design. I would go as far as saying that interior design is at the forefront of Australian home living. We have bestselling publications and prime time television shows all based around the importance of home styling and the impact that it can make. Having a beautifully decorated home is clearly a goal of Australian homeowners, so it’s important to appeal to this. 

What target market do you style the property for?

Although we try to appeal to the widest range of buyers as possible our target market completely depends on the property. The target market is generally dictated by the location and demographic, however, we take the agent’s advice with regards to the expected purchaser profile as they are experts in their areaWe also dedicate our stylists to specialise in particular areas and suburbs throughout Sydney to ensure that we understand typical purchaser profiles in different markets 

When you style a property, where do sellers live?

This answer depends on the seller’s personal situation. It is, of course, most ideal when the vendor has already found another property and has moved their furniture into the new property, so we have an empty property to work with. However, this is not always possible as many people can’t buy a new home without selling their current one. In this situation we work around the vendors existing furniture and practical requirements, integrating Coco Republic rental furniture into a suitable styling scheme to complement their existing pieces.  

What can homeowners do before they get their home styled?

After our initial consultation at Coco Republic we provide a full review specific to the property. However, overall, our main piece of advice is to declutter and neutralise the property. Purchasers won’t buy a house that they can’t see. Lots of belongings and clutter distract a potential purchaser and often can put them off even viewing the home. Personal belongings also make it difficult for potential buyers to attach themselves to the property, if they can clearly see who does live there it can make it difficult for them to imagine themselves living there.  

Another tip is to give the home a fresh coat of paint, marked walls and chipped trim can make a property appear tired and in poor conditions. Painting is a simple and affordable to refresh your property. Curb appeal is also incredibly important, we always advise our vendors to clean the gutters, tidy the driveway and freshen up the exterior of the property where possible. This is the potential purchaser’s first impression of the property and is incredibly important. 

DISCLAIMER – The information provided is for guidance and informational purposes only and does not replace independent business, legal and financial advice which we strongly recommend. Whilst the information is considered true and correct at the date of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact the accuracy of the information provided. Atlas will not accept responsibility or liability for any reliance on the blog information, including but not limited to, the accuracy, currency or completeness of any information or links.

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