$1M in price reductions, and they didn’t hire a home stager

There are moments when all I can do is shake my head. This is one of them. Today, in the Real Estate Community on Google Plus, I saw two polar opposite posts that told a complete story.

A picture tells a story. Why home staging is vital in small spaces.

Jairo Feuntes posted in the Real Estate Community today about this charming 450 square meter apartment (his says sqft, but the article says sqmtr). Hopping over to the article itself, there are great photos of this tiny condo.

When you look at the space, you can tell it’s very small, but every inch of the condo has been beautifully and strategically appointed. It is not only livable, it is charming.

Contrast this to the post that Elias Nathaniel posted just shortly before.

 

I had to wonder how the home compared to the one that I had just read. The article on NYC’s narrowest house showed something I didn’t expect, a completely empty space.

 

This home located at 75 1/2 Bedford Street has a history of celebrity residence and was listed for a cool $4.3 million after massive renovations in 2010. Price reductions over the past year took it down to $3.495 million before it finally went under contract. It hasn’t closed yet so we don’t know the final sales price. Still I sit and wonder if it would have fared any better if it had been professionally staged.

The cost of staging is less than price reductions

It’s a mentality that I’ll just never get. This home clearly left buyers wondering how they would use the space. New Yorkers are used to small spaces and while there is a hefty price tag attached to this home, no doubt there is also some history and location that would be desirable to more than a few buyers in this elite price range. Helping potential buyers visualize the space always creates more desirability for the home. The cost of adding furnishings, artwork, and accessories in this narrow home would have been more than returned in quicker sales, which reduces the high carrying costs of property taxes, maintenance, and more, along with fewer price reductions creates a return on investment that apparently too few agents understand.

For more information on how to prepare your home for sale in today’s market, call Margaret and our team of home staging professionals today 815-530-3566.