WHY PROPERTY STAGING WORKS IN HK's CHALLENGING RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Why Home Staging is helping beat Hong Kong’s Challenging Property Market

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jr97xq9dpyCPdM2E-8lGP6dmvcUWVWei LINK TO MID-LEVELS STAGED FLAT  

“Home is not a place, it’s a feeling.” Alex Sheldon, The Home Stylist.

The Home Stylist (THS) tell this to every one of their clients, to help them understand how important their unique personality is in styling their home. Home is not just a place, with well-lit rooms and nicely arranged furniture. Home is a feeling that you get from all these elements put together in just the right way, with just the right amount of personal touch.

But, how do we create that ‘feeling’ of home when the place in question doesn’t yet have an owner to give it personality? This is where home staging comes in, and it is much more than just nicely arranged furniture.

In Hong Kong’s current challenging and competitive residential sales and leasing market, professional property staging has become an essential ingredient in achieving success. In the US, UK and Australia, Property Staging is a proven business model with 38% of sellers’ agents staging all their properties. It's now time for Hong Kong to catch up, and in the last 2 years, THS has seen a sharp increase in requests for their staging service.

 So what is Home Staging? 

Home staging is the process of preparing a property for sale or lease with select pieces of furniture and decor. The goal of staging an otherwise empty space in this way is to help potential buyers or renters easily imagine themselves living there. By creating a feeling of ‘home’ with clever styling details, property stagers are able to sell homes for more with less time on the market. 

“One of the biggest challenges facing landlords is how to achieve that immediate, ‘walk-in-the-door-must-have’ sense from potential tenants/buyers,” says Laurie Lankester, Director at Dwellworks Residential Real Estate and Destination Services Solutions in Hong Kong.  “It is quite surprising how few people really can visualise an empty space transitioned to their own place! Done properly, home-staging a property gives landlords at least a 60% better chance of having clients walk in the door and say – ‘this is the one for me’.”

According to the US National Association of Realtors, for every $100 invested in staging, the potential return is $400. “A staged home will sell for 17% more on average than a non-staged home, and 95% of staged homes sell in 11 days or less. That is statistically 87% faster than non-staged homes.” 

“Properties need to present beautifully in print, online and in-person in order to achieve the best price in the shortest possible time,” says Alex. After 2 decades in the home styling and real estate realms, this is something that the THS team has seen time and time again. 

“It’s important to create a home, not a showroom which is why a stylist’s eye is so crucial. Every person viewing the property needs to be able to visualize living there ”

THS Property Staging team have just finished staging a 2300sqft 4Bed property in Midlevels in October 2019 on the market for HKD58 million.  For this high-end family home, THS chose furniture and decor from their preferred suppliers, including Hong Kong homeware stores Bo Concept, Tequila Kola and Australian lamp designers Bragg & Co, plus a number of their own accessories and art. 

Of course, one style cannot appeal to everyone which is why THS also offer digital lookbooks of room renderings to compliment their staging services. This way they can stage one impeccable room and then take clients on a virtual tour of the rest of the property and show other design concepts.  

As a small agency, specialising in personal and tailored services, The Home Stylist find a unique solution for each and every client depending on their property, their target market and their budget. As a team of project managers with a flair for design, they are not afraid to think outside the box in their quest to create that special feeling of home.

With this Mid-Levels apartment, it is clear that staging made a huge impact. The home, untouched by the owners for more than 40 years, had over 20 viewings in the first few days.  

We would be delighted to show the apartment by appointment or we can send you a link to the official photographer’s images. For more information about this project and other THS staging and styling services, please contact chen@thehomestylist.org. 

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