Why It Takes Money to Make Money in Property Styling

July 2016, By Nicole Langelier.

We have all heard the old age saying ‘it takes money to make money’ and I can speak from experience when I say that it’s true. We for example have a capital intensive business that requires us to invest in many thousands of dollars, worth of furniture just to do business – an investment that is already delivering solid returns in less than 12 months of operating.

The property market is another perfect example of spending money to make money. We calculate that when you choose Design & Diplomacy to style your property for sale you earn yourself on average a premium of between 10 and 20% on the expected sale price – which often translates to tens of thousands – even hundreds of thousands of dollars of cold hard cash.

That being said, styling your property is not the only expense you incur when selling your home – you have agent marketing expense, agent commissions, repairs, storage, landscaping, communications etc. – all of which can add up to a whole lot of cash and much of it needs to be shelled out up front.

There are (believe it or not…) still those people that think that styling a property for sale isn’t worth it – those that believe that a couch is just a couch or that – in the case of an empty house or room – people can envision the space full of furniture. Well I am here to tell those people that they are mistaken! I have a business BECAUSE people can’t envision a furnished property from an empty one (especially when they see it for the first time in The Age or on a property sale website) and that a couch DOES matter. Thanks to shows like “The Block” – like them or not – the property market has had to take it up a notch. We count on people going for the ‘emotional buy’ – walking into a beautifully styled property and falling in love. Look, they know that they are not buying the furniture, but if you (we) can paint them a beautiful picture that they can’t get out of their minds – then we may have just have realised that extra ‘emotional’ 20% over reserve.

Some people might even opt out of styling their properties for other reasons – they think their style is great, they have no time or live in a different state, or they simply have to pick between a styling budget or an advertising one. There is even a trend these days to sell properties completely independently. It may save you money up front, but think of the money you could earn if you present your property well and list it with the best agent – you could be throwing money right out the window if you don’t, so make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

If, however, you want that ‘emotional premium’, give me a call and I will take it to a whole new level.