Lifestyle selling techniques may not be something most homeowners are familiar with. But it is the hot buzz word in home selling, especially when it comes to the world of professional home staging.
Staging is a marketing and selling tool, often performed by a professional home stager, in which an atmosphere or lifestyle is created in a home to appeal to potential buyers and allow them to be able to envision themselves in a space. Lifestyle selling techniques go hand in hand with the process, involving props as well as accessories and accents to achieve a certain look. The good news? You don’t have to be a professional to help make your space enticing to potential buyers. Often using lifestyle elements is the key.
Looking for ideas? Here are some tips to keep in mind.
1. Determine the mood you want to create or message you want to send within your space, then incorporate appropriate lifestyle elements. For example, in a bathroom the message you may want to is the space is spalike. In this instance, your lifestyle element could be candles or bath salts.
2. Use colorful accents. Color done purposefully can help appeal to potential buyers. Accents should be used sparingly.
3. Develop a clear color scheme. The ideal color scheme consists of typically three colors.
4. Consider the end user. The foundation of lifestyle selling is to appeal to the potential buyer, considering how they will likely wish to live and function in the home and create a space that will appeal. A key question to ask yourself in this process is: “Who will buy this home?”
5. Create the look of a model home. Staging is neutralizing and depersonalizing as well as adding lifestyle elements that give the feeling of a space that is lived in. In choosing your lifestyle elements, look to create the same look and feel as you would see in a model home.
6. Dress shelves and bookcases. Large empty shelves and empty bookcases can serve as a visual hurdle for many potential buyers. Showing potential buyers how they can be functional is helpful.
7. Don’t ignore areas such as kitchens and closets. Many potential buyers find elements such as organized and generous storage to be a bonus.
8. Focus on main or key areas. Once inside a home, there are often key areas or main rooms that will influence a potential buyer early in their walkthrough experience. Make sure these rooms are strong.
9. Create an appealing point of entry. Typically buyers make a decision about a home within the first three minutes. First impressions are key.
10. Use decorative elements such as artwork, books and accessories to help tell your story. Lifestyle selling techniques is about telling a story, one that will appeal to a potential buyer and allow them to be able to envision themselves in a space.
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Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@cathyhobbs.com or visit her website at www.cathyhobbs.com .
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