Staged vs. vacant, colors vs. neutralizing (bureau, hardwood floors, drapes, paint)

[Erin1264]

Hi all,

I'd love to get some feedback on your points of view. There are a couple schools of thought about listed properties.

Regarding paint colors - do most buyers go in planning on changing the decor in a new home (ie: painting/rewallpapering), or do they want something that's neutral and "move in ready" even though neutrals may look cold? Are bolder colors bad even though they're in good taste? Paint over or leave alone?

Regarding staging: Some buyers need to see how furniture can be arranged in a house. Another thought is that a vacant house will show the volume and space in the rooms.

Opinions?

[MikeJaquish]

Staged vs. vacant, colors vs. neutralizing

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Hi all,

I'd love to get some feedback on your points of view. There are a couple schools of thought about listed properties.

Regarding paint colors - do most buyers go in planning on changing the decor in a new home (ie: painting/rewallpapering), or do they want something that's neutral and "move in ready" even though neutrals may look cold?
Most Buyers want move in ready.
Are bolder colors bad even though they're in good taste? Paint over or leave alone?
Good taste is difficult to describe. "One man's meat is another man's poison." To appeal to the largest market segment, neutral is safest.

Regarding staging: Some buyers need to see how furniture can be arranged in a house. Another thought is that a vacant house will show the volume and space in the rooms.
For myself, I like to see if the walls are beat up, condition of all the floor coverings, etc. I prefer to see an empty house, but I can visualize furniture size and location fairly well. Some buyers can't, and staging with some furniture serves them.
Opinions?

Sellers may need help realizing they are not selling their homestead, but putting a commodity on the market. It can be expensive to force the market to accept your personal good taste, particularly if it is funky or edgy.

[NYer]

My mom is a realtor in NY and says to go for neutral colors, b/c even if the buyers like color they will want their own colors. They will prefer to start with white or beige as a base.
Staging? Remove all personal clutter & some furniture, but most buyers have trouble envisioning what a room can be like so vacant may be a turn off.
Anecdottaly, if vacant was a big seller then the model homes would more often be vacant than decorated!

[Erin1264]

I totally understand about the neutral palette.

We've always painted and personalized our houses to our liking anyway, and planned on painting upon purchase.

Paint is so easy to change that it is a shame it may be a stumbling block for some buyers. I understand it can ruin deals.

Do-it-yourself'ers have a much different perspective on the home buying process I think. "Move in ready" to us means different things than it does to others. We just bought a house with a lot of wallpaper that is not our taste, but the home is in excellent shape and doesn't need any work, so we are leaving it for now.

[surfingatwork]

Originally Posted by Erin1264

Hi all,

I'd love to get some feedback on your points of view. There are a couple schools of thought about listed properties.

Regarding paint colors - do most buyers go in planning on changing the decor in a new home (ie: painting/rewallpapering), or do they want something that's neutral and "move in ready" even though neutrals may look cold? Are bolder colors bad even though they're in good taste? Paint over or leave alone?

Regarding staging: Some buyers need to see how furniture can be arranged in a house. Another thought is that a vacant house will show the volume and space in the rooms.

Opinions?

neutral paint colors are better. you should be able to find warm neutrals at your local paint store. bold colors like reds, etc. do look really good but not everyone likes them and they are difficult to paint over, you don't want a buyer walking in, seeing a really bold (but great looking) color on the walls and think UGH it's going to take 5 coats to cover THAT up. It's much easier for a buyer to paint over a neutral color. Wallpaper is even more personal than paint colors so i would stay away from it.

Some furniture does help (just like the other posted said not everyone is good at visualizing) but if you have great hardwood floors don't cover them up and just stick to the basics for furniture, set a kitchen table and/or dining room table, if you are furnishing a bedroom, make the bed and maybe have a bureau with flowers on it, some towels in the bath, a few candles and flowers in the entryway (if you can) and I would stay away from oversized anything unless it's a really large room. If the room is really small leave it empty but have window treatments (nothing heavy)

[NCHomeFinder]

1. Move-in ready condition: Most buyers want move in ready, and those that are willing to do some work usually expect to get a "discount" for the trouble. To get top dollar for your home, it needs to be pristine.

2. Paint: Neutral does not necessarily mean beige, and it certainly doesn't mean white! I've shown a home where there had been very bold colors throughout (think navy and fuscia) where they had slapped a quick coat of white over it. I didn't see it before they painted, but it *really* wasn't good after. Neutral means muted, warm tones - almond, sage, and yes, taupe. Buyers will forgive an occasional accent wall or a bolder color choice if it is within a tasteful design scheme faster than they will forgive a sloppy paint job to cover it.

3. Empty vs. staged: Contrary to popular belief, a vacant home actually appears SMALLER than a furnished one. If at all possible, even if you've moved out, try to leave a few key pieces of furniture behind to help the potential buyer visualize living in the space.

4. As Mike pointed out, it is easier to see every scuff, nick, and scrape in an empty house - your eye goes right to it. Magic Eraser your walls, people!

[JustChar]

Hi Erin - first of all I am sure you have watched the shows on HGTV like "Sell This House", etc. Watch and listen to the remarks that potential buyers say when they are looking at the houses before the staging. They will look at the paint and say how awful the color is and how it won't go with their furniture, or look at the drapes and say how ugly they are, or that there is a lot of clutter. To me these are dumb remarks since when they move in they can always paint the walls, put up new draps, and put our their clutter, which never looks like clutter to the owner of such. Have a good and honest friend walk through the house and give you their honest opinion.

I remember the designers saying that you want to go with a neutral wall color, but you want the warmer tones. In other words if you pick off white, go for a yellow or peach tinged off white. I was absolutely amazed when I went in to Home Depot and looked at white paint. There was a display with at least 25 different whites. Usually so subtle in color difference that you had to hold them up against one another. But warmer tones tend to make the buyers feel more homey.

Second thing I remember is when staging less furniture is best and personal nick nacks are a no-no. But, make the rooms look like someone lives there. Fresh flowers, a throw on a chair or couch, a nice book or upscale new magazines on the coffe table, live plants since that states that someone lives there, to make the buyers feel like curling up under the throw and reading the book. Position furniture so that the room looks the biggest and have the best flow. And don't just stage one room and leave the others empty or unstaged. I have seen that online and it just looks riduculous. If you have already moved out of the house and into your new one you can borrow or rent furniture for the staging, just make sure it fits you rooms and that it is in good shape. And if you have to leave it empty and there is carpeting, clean it well and if it just can't be clean well or looks worn, take it up if there are wood floors underneath. You would be amazed how good wood floors can look if they have been covered up with carpet for years. I lived in an old house and the landlord had cheap, thin, worn carpeting on the floors in the living room and dining room and she refused to replace it. It was ripping to the point that I had almost fallen while carrying my newborn daughter. I looked through the tear and saw wood floors, and pulled up the carpet, washed the floor and actually wound up just using mop and glow, although I think I was just lucky to use that. It looked like I had brand new wood flooring. If you don't have wood floors under the carpet and the carpet still looks worn or dirty, spend the money to put down new inexpensive carpet or tell buyers you will give them a carpet allowance in XX amount of dollars. Char

[Monkey Toes]

My experience has been that dark taupe (looks rich), pale green (calming) and a very light muted gold work great. Remove wallpaper all together. It's dated. Remove personal photos and anything that like you collection of ceramic pigs. I think that you should always place minimal furniture in a room but never leave it empty. If it's a small room, put a small chair and table in the corner. Turn on all the lights before showing a house. It makes it seems brighter. I always boil some water with cinnamon and vanilla 1/2 hour before showing. The house smells like apple pie when you walk in.

[NCHomeFinder]

Excellent points! "Sell This House" was running through my head as I was typing my previous post! And how awesome to have hidden wood floors in such good shape. Once can dream. That reminds me of a couple awful episodes of Trading Spaces where they pulled up carpet and painted subflooring. What were they thinking??

Originally Posted by JustChar

If you don't have wood floors under the carpet and the carpet still looks worn or dirty, spend the money to put down new inexpensive carpet or tell buyers you will give them a carpet allowance in XX amount of dollars. Char

I would add that if at all possible, replace the carpet instead of offering an allowance. Buyers can't see, feel, or smell a carpet allowance, but they sure can see and smell your dirty old carpet!
There are so many places now that do 12 months interest free, where you can pay it off after closing, or there are companies that will replace the carpet and allow you an interest free period until closing, up to 3 or 6 months, and then their check is cut at the closing table. If you have a HELOC in place, you could use that, too, and pay it off at closing.

Even if you're offering a carpet allowance, it is likely that buyer's will still perceive your home as a fixer upper with the hassle of waiting for new carpet, and ultimately come in with a lower offer anyway.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

I try to see beyond the paint colors since it such an easy thing to change, but my wife thought differently and I know really bold colors turned her off to a few houses we looked at although it wasn’t a deal breaker. The Home we bought had been recently painted throughout with an off-white color that served as a nice “blank slate”. My wife and I have already painted all the bedrooms different colors and I expect one day before we sell we may repaint to a neutral so potential buyers will once again see our house as a blank slate.

I always liked looking at vacant homes because flaws could not be hidden by furniture or window treatments. However, I did enjoy looking at a few homes that were furnished because we were looking at homes with just 1500 sq feet and it helped us get ideas on how to arrange furniture in the living room of the potential house since sometimes they did not have very much space to work with. In one case where the house was furnished I realized that there was really no good place to place a modest sized television (32”) in the living room as I had similar sized furniture as the current owners . The owners had turned their living room into more of a sitting room and had a television in an upstairs bedroom that was converted into an entertainment room. It worked fine for them and they had a beautiful home, but the fact that a tv would be hard to fit in the living room helped us realize it was not a good fit for us.

I never actually visited a true “staged” home where the seller had purposely furnished an otherwise vacant home to show off its potential. I did however view a couple of homes where the owners were still living there and had done an excellent job of removing any clutter and “Staging” the house with their current furniture. One house we went into had the lights on in every room, candles lit on the mantle and light music playing throughout the home. In the end it was not the right home for us, but I appreciated the efforts of the sellers regardless as it left me with a very positive view of their home and I felt they were very serious about getting their house sold. I am still amazed by the people who do not lift a finger to prep their house at all for potential buyers. I know it must be a hassle if you have kids and your house has been on the market for quite some time, and I expect a house with current owners still residing in it to look lived in with some clutter here and there, but when you don’t do anything at all it can be a real turnoff to the buyer.