I’ve seen thousands of houses, because I’ve bought 6 of my own. Plus, I’ve staged hundreds for clients over the years.
Becoming a home stager finally gave me a reason to embrace my real estate compulsion.
For years, I’ve looked at almost every house that comes on the market in any area I’m remotely interested in!
I even visit open houses when I’m traveling, trying on the fantasy of living in that new city.
Despite seeing thousands of homes across all price ranges (and buying 6 of my own to live in), it’s exceedingly rare that I actually fall in love with a house.
I’ve never even loved the ones I bought, though I loved them a lot more once I staged them to live and then to sell!
Well, it happened this weekend and I was hit hard!
Thankfully this house is enough out of my price range that there’s no risk of me buying it. Otherwise I’d have a “for sale” sign on my own lawn this week.
Which isn’t practical since I’m in the middle of one of the two busiest seasons for home staging with lots of clients to take care of right now.
Falling in Love with a House
What made me fall in love with this particular house?
It was the waterfall in the courtyard. You could hear it from anywhere on the ground floor because the house was built around it.
The house was also staged beautifully so there was nothing to destroy the “magic of falling in love.”
There are many reasons someone falls in love with a house and it will have a lot to do with what life stage they’re at. That’s why a good home stager considers the target market for a home when they’re deciding what to do in each room.
I’m feeling really stressed at the moment. The sound of a relaxing waterfall was enough to make me spend 3 hours trying to figure out how I could buy such an expensive home right now.
For someone else, it may be the cute nursery with the adorable little clothes hanging beside the crib (yes I’ve used such staging tactics).
Or maybe it’s the lovely reading corner. Positioned just where the afternoon sun pours through the window overlooking the garden…
There are lots of reasons. Lots of little cues we can use as home stagers to set the stage for the magic to happen. To help buyers fall in love with the home.