An industry insider shares her top tip for selling a house
By Carol S. Billups
It’s really very simple: If you want to sell your house or condo in Los Cabos, your property needs to be well priced and prettier than all the other 1,500 or so currently on the multiple-listing service. No wonder our average time on market is more than one year (383 days)! How can you give your property a competitive edge? One proven strategy is to stage it. Staging has been shown to reduce days on market and increase sale prices in the United States. It is a simple and cost effective way to raise your chances of success.
The goal of staging is to take yourself out of your property—not to turn the house into a blank slate but rather give it broad appeal that would be attractive to the majority of prospective buyers. For almost all of us, the first order of business will be to de-clutter and remove anything that identifies or reflects on the current owner. A prospective buyer only has a finite amount of time to decide whether your house is worth purchasing—usually just 15 minutes or so. Every moment a potential buyer spends looking at your family photos or commenting on your collection of tequila decanters is time she is not spending checking out your ocean view or admiring the high ceilings. Remove anything that is a distraction, is personal to you, or that will not be included in the purchase. Artwork and photos are a sensitive issue; any with religious, political or sexual nature should be removed and packed away. Once you think you’re finished, get your real estate agent or a professional stager to check your work. A fresh set of eyes is helpful. Chances are there is an amount equal to what you’ve removed that also needs to go. Needless to say, you should clean thoroughly and repair any small problems such as a loose doorknob or torn screen at this time.
Once you’ve removed most if not all of the distractions, it’s time to start adding special touches that will emphasize and draw attention to the home’s strong points. You may find it useful to imagine that you are telling a story: If you were making a movie about someone living near the ocean in México, what would the film set look like? That vision will become your goal. Particularly because we are selling in a country of vibrant colors, it’s important not to make the property too neutral, what has been described as “over-blanding.” I recall one house, a seven-bedroom beauty in Pedregal that had been “over-blanded” with all-white walls and almost no artwork. When you are looking at 10,000 square feet of white walls, it’s easy to start wiping details out of your memory. After a long time with no offers, the sellers brought in a decorator who painted a number of accent walls in very bright Mexican shades of red, blue, yellow, and purple. The reaction from potential buyers was dramatic: They either loved it or hated it. But they did react to the house, and shortly after it was painted, the house was finally sold. Deciding on a home is not purely an intellectual exercise: Emotions play a key role, and color stimulates emotion. The whole purpose of staging is to make a property feel like home to the target audience, including the color selections and furniture. There are many colors other than white that are considered neutral, and here in México, bold accent colors are acceptable as long as they don’t overwhelm the potential buyer.
Much of our inventory is “view property,” or homes with excellent vistas. In addition to not competing with that view, you want to arrange your furnishings to help draw the eye to it. Having a clear path to the patio or balcony will invite prospective buyers to imagine themselves there. Arrange furniture in a way that both makes sense and brings attention to the home’s key points. For example, chairs flanking a fireplace will naturally call it to a prospect’s attention. Particularly in very large houses, your agent will be leading the prospects and their agent; your agent will have a route planned that will start and stop at key points to let certain features register with the potential buyer. Your furniture arrangement should facilitate this route.
A tidy home is generally perceived to be well maintained, yet we all know it’s not easy to keep some things neat. One example is the closet. An old stager’s trick is the strategic use of pillow cases. A simple pillow case can hide a multitude of sins, including the always messy fitted sheet. Simply put the sheets or other items in the pillow case, smooth out and stack seam side out on the shelf. In the kitchen, most small appliances should be stored out of sight. An exception to this rule would be a very high-end piece such as a Kitchenaid mixer, which speaks to the quality in the home. Once the counters are clear, a large statement piece may be added; again the goal is an inviting tableau rather than a blank slate. This formula should be repeated in every room, as well as the garage and storage areas.
Remember, the whole point of staging is to remove the seller from the property. That is critical when a tour is scheduled. The owners, their family, and their pets should be off premises when prospects are touring the house. In Los Cabos, we often name our houses after ourselves. You should change the name of your house for marketing purposes: No more Casa Sam unless you are Sammy Hagar.
Before a high-end retailer puts a dress on the sales floor, it makes sure it is clean and pressed; staging is simply the same concept for homes. Big or small, they can all benefit from a little staging, and you benefit in better offers and a quicker sale.
