BEFORE & AFTER: Why Improvements & Staging Make a Difference!
Have you ever wondered why some homes sit on the market for months, while others sell quickly with multiple offers?! It’s all in the PRESENTATION.
When a home is prepared for sale – painted a neutral color, necessary updates made, and staged to show how the space could be used – buyers react positively. They feel good in the home and can envision themselves living there.
When a home is not prepared for sale – the owner’s belongings in plain sight, eccentric personal tastes, furniture that doesn’t tell the story of how one might use the space – buyers don’t know what to make of it. What I hear most often after visiting such a home with buyer clients is simply, “I don’t like it.” Sometimes it is difficult to help people see the potential in a home; if they don’t like how they feel when they first step inside, it is often hard to convince them otherwise.
It is SO IMPORTANT for sellers to take home preparation seriously.
With every new listing, I schedule an initial meeting to discuss everything that needs to happen to get the home ready to show and sell. I recommend paint colors, kitchen and bathroom refreshes, new carpet or flooring, and other inexpensive updates that will maximize the sales price without breaking the bank. If a seller isn’t in the position to do the work themselves, I provide recommendations of my trusted, “tried and true” vendors for them to contact. If even that proves to be too much to handle, my team and I can manage the entire project ourselves! Nothing should stand in the way of getting a home in list-able condition.
Once all updates have been made, the final preparation phase is staging. Staging tells the story of how a potential buyer might live in the house. It is imperative for a buyer to be able to see how real life could look in a new home. They want to see where they would sit and watch TV in the evening, where they would work, where they would host and entertain guests, and where they might earn a little reprieve from a busy life in the DMV!
The bottom line: my listings create an experience for the seller and buyer alike. My goal is to help the seller present their home in a way that will get them everything they want, and make the buyer love the way they feel when they walk into one of my listings. As seen in The Washington Post, MyDomaine, Apartment Therapy, and Alexandria Living Magazine, I use my background in art and design to transform homes through inexpensive updates, interior design, and professional styling. This approach to selling a home results in buyers who can’t wait to get inside, minimal time on the market, multiple offers, and record-breaking sales prices!
If you’re interested in discussing your options, please contact me at (202)557-0311 or Lauren@LaurenKolazas.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
HOME PREPARATION TESTIMONIALS
“Lauren and her colleagues helped us tremendously, and we accomplished our primary goals (minimal effort on our part and offloading the unit quickly). They were indispensable in getting renovations completed and generally made the process about as painless as it was going to be. We are so grateful for their fabulous work on our behalf!”
“Due to Lauren’s hard work and keen aesthetic, our home sold in 9 hours, with multiple offers, for $90k over our slightly ambitious asking price. From the start, Lauren walked our home and suggested thoughtful improvements from top to bottom. She helped us complete changes we didn’t get finished, and she brought in her own pieces to stage our home to perfection. There are many great realtors, but Lauren has the bonus of being a fantastic interior designer. She will showcase your home in its very best light and get you top dollar.”
“Lauren did a phenomenal job getting my condo ready for sale. She provided excellent advice about which upgrades and investments would make a difference, and where I could save money on items that would not impact a potential buyer’s view of the home. Lauren managed all the contractor work and had the property wonderfully staged and photographed to make a great impression on prospective buyers. She was confident in a listing price higher than I had expected, and had an offer over the listing price on the first day!”
“In the midst of COVID, Lauren helped sell our rental home while we were living overseas. She lined up contractors to come do deep cleaning, repairs, painting, landscaping services, and even had our bathroom completely renovated! It was a lot of money up front and I was hesitant, but I trusted Lauren completely. She worked with a staging company to make our house look amazing and it sold before it even officially went on the market. We got above asking and even above what the market was predicting!”
“Lauren helped to get our house ready for sale by managing every detail required to make our home show-worthy, and in the end, we were ecstatic with an offer within 24-hours of listing! Selling and buying a home with Lauren as our agent was simple due to her amazing work ethic, designer’s eye, and knowledge of this market.”
“Lauren’s motto should be “Real estate is an art, and your house is my canvas.” In selling our house, she has more than lived up to that motto. Lauren has a background in Interior Design and knew exactly how to stage our house to create the maximum amount of interest. Lauren was with us every step of the way in getting our house ready for market. She gave us a very detailed plan that told us which light fixtures to buy, which paint colors to use, and how to give our slightly dated bathroom an inexpensive “refresh” that buyers would love. She recommended fantastic vendors to use and even a moving company who we were really pleased with. Her attention to detail brought out the full potential of our home!”
“Working with Lauren was a pleasure. First, she had access to a fine general contractor who took care of all the minor repairs. Second, she had a design vision of how my house should be staged and provided furniture to help realize her vision. Finally, and most importantly, my house sold in 8 days at a higher price than I expected.”
“After an incredible amount of online and in-person traffic and one open house, Lauren had three offers above asking price. Within 6 days of listing, we were under contract. Lauren has extensive market knowledge and experience, a keen eye for detail, staging expertise, an amazing assistant, and a pool of trusted contractors willing to do quality work for reasonable prices under a timeline.”