If you’re selling a home and are exploring your options for property styling, is buying or renting furniture the better investment for showcasing the house?
With the tide starting to turn back in favour of buyers, vendors need to put in the work to get their property in tip top shape and ready for sale. Particularly relevant for owner occupiers, people tend to buy property from the heart, and the figures are there to prove it.
So much so, that a study conducted by the Commonwealth Bank found that 44% of Australian buyers paid more for a property for the sole reason that they “really liked it”. While tugging on the heart strings of buyers can be done by applying a new coat of paint or having the right aroma on open home days, property styling also has a big part to play too.
The Benefits Of Renting Furniture For Property Styling
Also referred to as property staging, the end goal of property styling is to highlight your home’s unique features and potential, whilst diverting attention away from the flaws and shortcomings. It also allows for top notch property photography, which goes a long way in ensuring that your home stands out online to not only drive inspections, but to ideally generate formal offers to buy.
Although a building and pest report will likely disclose any major defects in a home, there may be minor, easily fixable defects such as chipped paint and stains on the carpet. These things can make a house seem less appealing, and strategically placed furniture through property styling can be a way to draw a buyer’s eye to the more positive aspects of the home.
Furniture adds to the aesthetic appeal of a home and helps potential buyers visualise themselves living in the space, as well as give an idea of how certain rooms can be laid out. Depending on the provider, homeowners who enlist the services of a professional property stylist and renting furniture may be the more economical choice when compared to buying it.
While your home may look great in the flesh after adding new furniture to each room, it also plays an important role in physically getting buyers to you as well via photography used online to market your home.
Like it or not, buying your own furniture risks alienating particular demographics of buyers. In contrast, a professional property stylist knows exactly which types of aesthetics can cast a broad net, and renting furniture directly through them is often considered the safest bet for effective digital marketing.
According to professional property stylist Victoria Roberts, it’s important to remember that styling is less about the initial cost, and more about the return on investment.
“In the hands of the professionals, the amount of return will far outweigh the hire costs. Using hired furniture sprinkles a little magic dust around the property, and it puts your potential purchasers into the mood to buy.”
As a guide, selling a home with rented furniture – such as soft furnishings, art, linen, lighting and other decor – starts at around $3000 for a six-week-hire period, and includes delivery, installation and pick up. When compared to the cost of purchasing furniture yourself – which can easily add up to five figures plus transport, hiring furniture is generally considered to be the smarter investment for vendors from all walks of life.
Should you be looking to sell your home or purchase a new one, enlisting the services of a free property advisor like ESPA can often be a game changer. As an example, your advisor would likely research the property, local agents, check the zoning, evaluate market conditions, and communicate clearly with you regarding all of your options – but where do you find one?
Take The Stress Out Of Selling Property
As a completely free service, Emergency Services Property Advisors provide property advisor services to Police, Fire, Ambulance and S.E.S personnel and their families right across Victoria.
Luke and the team at ESPA are passionate about providing support to some of Australia’s most valued public servants. Along with key industry insights, ESPA also works with a broad range of service providers linked to the real estate industry such as conveyancers, trades, legal practitioners and mortgage brokers.
If you are an emergency services worker looking to potentially buy or sell property in the future, please get in touch with Emergency Services Property Advisors today to discuss how we can turn your real estate dreams into reality, or call Luke directly on 0414 757 705.