“We’re not getting anybody through to view it.”
 
Another homeowner was desperate to sell her vacant home.
 
Posting online descriptions and images didn’t seem to work. All the usual marketing channels were used to try to attract attention.
 
It seemed like very few prospective buyers were interested in coming to take a look at the home.  

The Problem

Over 95% of home buyers start their search online, so photos are vital for making a good first impression. The advertising industry knows it well!
 
Think about any car commercials that come on while watching the Olympics. There’s fancy angles, motion shots, models smiling to show how happy they are to be in the car. It’s all to show you that owning this car is fun. You can really enjoy yourself.
 
And yet, there’s a common issue with photography in real estate.
 
Nobody likes to talk about it much, but it’s best to inform yourself if you’re looking to sell a house.
 
Photos often don’t show a room to its full potential.  In a vacant house I call it  “The Empty Box Effect”.   Such was the case for this client.  Take a look at the photo to the left.  Do you find it appealing?  Can you tell how big the room is?  Can you tell even WHAT room it is?  Does it make you want to rush out to see that house? 

No,  it’s a lifeless, unappealing box. You maybe never even noticed before how unappealing it is to see a photo of an empty room. It’s even difficult to say whether the colour of the paint on the wall is a beige, cream, soft green, or something else.
 
Weird, isn’t it?

The Solution

 In order to combat The Empty Box Effect, we use staging.
 
Staging can communicate exactly how big the room is, make sense of the colors in the room and most importantly, help a prospective buyer imagine themselves in a big comfy bed in a beautiful bedroom.  How much better is that than trying to imagine a bed in the room and whether a twin, double, queen, or even a king bed would be suitable for this room.
 
What size bed could fit comfortably in this room?  Care to hazard a guess?
 
Here’s a photo of the same room, fully staged:
 

 
We used a queen bed and bedside tables on either side to adequately demonstrate the size of the room.
 
Most importantly, it makes the room feel inviting.  Anyone can imagine themselves in this room. It’s not just an empty box.
 
These types of photos work a lot better to attract prospective buyers to view the house.
 
This house sold immediately after it was staged.  It worked for this client, and I know it can work for you!