Is Home Staging Important? | Can I Sell My Home DIY?

📌 Qn 3: Is home staging necessary?

I think this is a very simple question to answer. I’m just going to be showing pictures to answer this question now these are the before pictures. This is a real case we did in The Florida Condo. This is BEFORE (see picture below)

This is AFTER (see picture below). Which one looks better? Of course, AFTER will be better because whenever you do home stage, the house looks a lot more presentable and lively.

In fact, there are a few levels of home staging. What you see in these photos here are not exactly home staging. It is more like “Declutter” and simple touchup like repainting the walls. The highest level of home staging involves renting classy designer furniture from professional companies to enhance overall aesthetics environment.

To me, home staging is more for vacant unit. It is very rarely used for owner occupied units If you were to rent that expensive designer sofa or beds, you will need more space. Also, the rented furniture and bed may not be very comfortable to sleep in.

It is also not exactly suitable for older units in very original condition. The reality is, even if you were to do home staging for a very old unit, it may look out of place with the designer furniture or sofa

Simply, what we’re trying to say is that, sometimes when you declutter a unit, it is actually more effective than home staging.  It is simple and inexpensive, especially for HDB flats. Town Council can help to remove up to three big unwanted items per week if you need their help

This unit in the picture is The Florida @ Hougang, a former executive condo. The touchup investment costs about $3,000 to 4,000 and we believe that when it is sold, the final transacted price will be much higher.

First impression of a unit counts every single time. If you ask me, a buyer will be willing to pay at least $5,000 to $10,000 more for the AFTER look.

📌 Qn 4. Can I sell my home DIY style?

When we talk about DIY (Do-It-Yourself), it basically means a home owner, HDB or private property owners sell the property themselves.

For a HDB owner. I feel that it is easier because if you have any questions, you can call the HDB hotline. nowadays, HDB service is very responsive and fast. HDB is more regulated but for private property, a private lawyer may charge you a fee for questions. Most importantly, when you are considering to be a DIY seller. Do take note there are some challenges.

• Challenge #1: Harmless Criticisms

For example, you need to have a little bit of a thick skin, because you are going to be hearing a lot of negative remarks or criticism during viewing sessions. Sometimes you’ll be facing buyers who will criticize your old cabinets, complaints about lousy layout. These are likely harmless casual remarks but some owners may take it very hard, especially home proud owners.

Many of these first owners have stayed there for a long time and they are emotionally attached to the unit. They’re not able to detach their personal feelings from the house they live in.  What may seems like a negative factor to other buyers may seem like a thing that you’re very used to, for example: Traffic noise, west sun, noisy neighbors etc. These original owners are already immune to these elements because you stayed there for over 10 years.

Some owners react overly defensive. For example, buyers may casually ask: Is the main road very noisy? Some overzealous seller may reply: NO…NO…NO…! It is not noisy at all. Sometimes when we try to be overly defensive, it might give buyers a wrong impression.

That’s where a third Party like an agent really comes into handy because we are that buffer between that negative remarks and home owners actually

• Challenge #2: The Wrong Calls

Instead of having buyers to call you, you’re very likely to receive more calls from agents, The reason is because when agents find out that the sellers are marketing themselves, they will likely to call you up to offer their services.

In the market, there are actually apps and software that help agents to identify who are the For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) listings. If you look at the left-hand side of the picture (screenshot from edgeprop), you can search for FSBO listings using keywords, by area and even the price range.

For those DIY sellers, who want to save some money or have tight budget constraint, it is ok to proceed but just be aware of these two key challenges

📌 Conclusion

At any time, of you feel like being a DIY Seller is a bit of a hassle, feel free to give us a call at 98285808. We’ll be more than happy to help you take a look at your property and implement the right marketing strategies for your unit.

We are agents who don’t want to waste time because if you hand us a property and you get unsold for more than one month, two months, three months you will be occupying our time. We are commissioned-based agent, so there’s no basic pay. Trust that we will do our best to sell the property in the best timely manner. Your time is precious. Our time is precious too. Let’s work together to make a successful transaction.

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