Hi all,
Going to put our 1-bedroom apartment with a study and balcony on the market soon. Seeking recommendation for property stylist please? The cheapest quote I got was $3000 for 6 weeks display. Is that reasonable or can get cheaper than that.
Thanks
Tossing up as well. The apartment is already tiny. Might make it look even smaller with furnitures
Its often the opposite. Places feel tiny without furniture. Properly sized couches, tables, bed etc make it seem much bigger
Also giving potential buyers some sort of planning in their mind how they are going to put their furniture into the limited space.
Furniture, if the stylers are any good, can actually make the place look bigger. e.g. I was shocked how large our previous house looked after we got them in to stage the house for sale. The right colours and size of furniture can make small spaces look large and average spaces look huge.
Of course it'd look smaller with furnitures. You've added an extra letter to every piece.
Furniture does wonders for making you place look bigger as it gives it something to anchor the space to
If you can find some cheap second hand stuff you can DIY (for a bed use an inflatable mattress and put it on something Decorate with long sheets)
A TV and microwave may be crucial in a home but they take up a lot of visual space (most people won’t realise it’s missing when inspecting)
Saw a property and it was missing a fridge space in the kitchen.
How much are you asking? Can you share the details and address? Or real state link?
Dm me please
I put half my furniture into storage when I was selling. It made my place look a lot bigger. Maybe have at least your first showing with nothing. It might sell straight away then you can save the $$
@jm888
Tossing up as well.
lucky, lucky, lucky, you…
Correct!
Just remove all the furniture and give it a thorough clean.
Without furniture it will look far more spacious!
After all its only a unit.
Not a mansion!
WARNING WARNING WARNING
The property market is dead!
Do not agree to auction campaign as you will get screwed!
Do not agree to pay for advertising either
Do not syle your apartment
Expect to get much less than the agent told you.
this is not true, well styled and staged furniture make the place look bigger.
Buyers of 1 bedroom place will probably not fall for that one and will rather use a measuring tape instead of visual appearance.
Astute buyers they are.
@LFO: some will be, most will be just first time buyers looking to see whether they think it will work for them. without furniture it looks smaller and that will scare some off.
Good points. I'm trying to sell (not NSW) and buyers have totally disappeared. Real estate method of sale was based on where the market was at, not the reality of now. There are so many negative real estate stories (thanks Rupert) that nobody will want to buy.
Give it a few months of no interest rates rises and people will remember they actually want a place and supply issues haven't changed.
Also OP, if you bought your furniture for that apartment, you shouldn't need styling, just decluttering.
You might not necessarily need to physically style the apartment for sale. Some people save quite a bit of money by doing virtual styling, this is something that I think it's quite common practice now.
But beware of some virtual styling apps or sites that don't allow you to revise or change the scale of the furniture like the one mentioned above, if you go this route. As a part-time real estate photographer, I've gone with something like SecondLight. Does a good job and lets you revise and choose different styles, agents are happy enough with the result, but as always ymmv.
Cause I know from my experience, people do like a styled property as a listing over an empty room. People tend to scroll quickly through the listings and an empty tends to be skipped over unfortunately.
1-bedroom apartment with a study
real estate agents would call that a 2-bedroom apartment..
I was thinking that too, but sometimes those studies aren't very much bigger than a cupboard, but more often than not, if the room doesn't have a window, it can't be called a bedroom.
Last time I sold a property, the real-estate agent photoshopped all the furniture into the photos for the the online listing for free.
I detest photoshopped real estate photos. Especially the sloppy job they all do making the grass greener, and the sky bluer.
How do you know it’s photoshopped? Maybe the grass is genuinely greener over there. Probably thanks to the really blue skies letting through more sunshine.
I actually know someone who's an "interior designer" working at an REA company that does pretty much this.
Can you tell them not to do that damn fake grass greening.
I second this!
Do you know if they're genuinely manual photoshopping or just generating with AI?
They actually use some 3D modellers to do the furniture placements first and only Photoshop at the end to touch up.
And did your buyer say anything about the furnitures not being physically there?
No. I assumed that the prospective buyers would just assume the photos were taken before the owner moved out.
Correct!
Its called "virtual styling"
And its actually done by a professional for about $200.
Way to go OP!
$3k?
For that you could buy an Ikea couch, TV unit, rug, queen ensemble and some bedside tables, plus whatever accessories you may have at home.
Use your own bedding, pillows and any other accessories you may have
Once apartment sells, sell goods online and recoup some costs. It is more of a muck around, so depends on how you value your time.
Anecdote:
A four (4) bedrooms house in Manly was fully styled for selling.
Owners were still living there as they thought it was gonna be a hard sell (asking far too much).
Within 1 month of having styled items all over the place, bed bugs appear in their bedroom. And got bitten severely.
Collateral damage with styling is a probability.
They didn't sleep tight.
'Styling' is just another RE con. And anyone who recognises the ridiculous photoshopping and deceptively wide angle photography will just walk away in this market.
False advertising, PITA when looking for an honest presentation.
The wide angle is ubiquitous, i think that's just an accepted difference between the photos and real life
Styling isn't a con. Not all property is sold occupied with the owner's furniture. Styling allows potential buyers to properly visualise the space, including what and how much can fit in a space. Empty property can be very misleading in terms of size.
1-bedroom apartment
Are you putting it up for $1m? Considering how crazy property prices are going.
Nah, Albo made them cheaper for young people.
Not cheap enuff
lol when was this? What year was that new age fairy tale published?
He's dropped prices for young people by 10 - 20%. They may have recently bought with a 5% deposit and their new home may be worth less than what they paid for but Albo cares about young people.
@Lets Go Brandon: You could just default/take the loss on the 5% deposit. The 5% deposit is literal pennies compared to a 20% deposit. The idea is to get younger people off rents and into their own home. Further, it shouldn't matter if the property bubble bursts if people have high enough wages to service tbr mortgage so it doesn't make sense to cry foul if people bought at peak or not. What matters is that people are servicing their own mortgage not someone else's…
@Some Random Guy: Wow aren't you the clueless one reading from the Labor script?
What's 40 - 50k to somebody that could only scrape together a 5% deposit? Pennies!
Sweet Jesus, you're a worry.
@Lets Go Brandon: 50k is equal to earning the national minimum wage for a year. By definition it is the least amount of money a healthy and capable working person can earn. Pennies are (historically) the minimum denomination of currency. Hence, 50k is pennies. Heaven forbid me from writing with style and using literary devices.
Anyways,
Why would an owner occupier (the requirement for the 5% scheme) sell their house? If they can service the mortgage, something which banks check before giving you a loan, then the owner won't ever have to move out. The owner goes on to pay off their loan and the hours they worked manifested into a house and lsnd (or apartment or whatever).
If the owner loses their job and defaults on the loan that's life, is it not? Sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe shi*t. Further, for the 5% scheme the government covers the cost of lender's insurance. If the owner defaults AND the property value falls AND the total remaining loan amount plus recouped funds from the sale of the house do not equal the principle amount… Guess what… no harm no foul (because of lender's insurance). The owner owes nothing to the bank and the money that would've went toward servicing a landlord's mortgage instead went toward servicing their own mortgage.
If the owner defaults and the property value goes up.. Guess what… The bank takes the money gained from the sale of the house, pays off the remaining amount on the loan, and the leftover is legally the owner's, maybe minus some for fees and interest lost or smth.
If that hasn't gotten through then read on:
(Case where house prices go up plus owner defaults)
If the loan amount paid (to date) plus the house sale price is greater than the loan amount remaining then the home owner gets some money and the interest paid is essentially rent. Further, as the owner actually owned the house they could do whatever they wanted to while they were in their own home. This is preferable to being a serf servicing a land lord's mortgage.
(Case where house prices drop a little/moderately)
If the loan amount paid (to date) plus the house sale price is equal to the loan amount remaining then the home owner receives nothing as everything all together means the debt has been repaid. Hence, servicing their own mortgage was the cost of rent. But once again the owner was servicing their own mortgage in their own home and they could paint the walls and install solar panels and do whatever they wanted as their were in their own home. This is much more preferable to being a serf servicing a land lords mortgage.
(Case where the entire housing market crashes like in America during the GFC)
If the loan amount paid (to date) plus the house sale price is less than the loan amount remaining then that is where lender's insurance comes into play. This insurance covers the costs of this exact scenario, and the owner, once again, has legally repaid all debts owed. Thus, the cost of servicing their own mortgage is essentially the cost of renting. However, (do I need to say it again) DURING THIS THE OWNER LIVED IN THEIR OWN HOME AND COULD LIVE BY THEIR OWN RULES AND DIDN'T HAVE TO EXIST IN PERPETUAL SERFDOM.
Could've the owner rented for cheaper? Possibly? Idk, that's for the owner to decide and weigh up. However, for a lot of people, the liberty of living in their own home far outweighs any possible short term savings (assuming we're implying a housing market crash). However, there is no evidence to suggest that servicing your own mortgage is more expensive than renting. Thus, the owner is at a net zero financially, but was able to live in their own home for a little while and got to enjoy the freedom and liberties that comes with that.
If you are unable to service a loan, then the bank needs to recoup their loan asap before incurring harsh losses. That's how it works when you buy a car with a loan. In life, there is no free money glitch. The same logic should apply to housing. Money isn't some thing that exists on paper, money is the tangible thing that represents useful work. If you don't wanna work then go to idk Bali or smth.
Also we're assuming the housing market crashes. However, it won't. If it does then good as it'll make houses more affordable. But then again, housing market won't crash. Simple as that.
@Lets Go Brandon: Correct.
First Albo led 1st home buyers blindly into the peak of the property market
Then the RBA put interest rates up because of Labor's huge spending spree.
So the property market started slowing down (very quickly)
And now the timing of these harsh tax changes aimed at property couldnt be worse.
Investors have abanded the property market already (as Labor intended)
As a result the property market is now in freefall.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said today that he is not worried about the current negative equity for those 1st honme buyers (Seriously???)
Thats fine for him to say. Chalmers is well and truly set up financially.
Labor has such poor judgement!
And Labor actually believe their own blatant lies and have the hide to call out qualified economists and industry experts for supposedly spreading misinformation???
Luckily Surveys show that most Australians can see through Labor's smoke and mirrors (finally) and understand that these latest tax changes won't do anything for the younger generations (in fact everyone) other than send them financially backwards.
Everyone can see that they are just a huge tax grab. The biggest tax grab in Australia's history!
In fact everyone can now see that this Albanese Labor government is sending Australia into its 1st recession in over 30 years.
There is your intergenerational inequality sorted…
The younger generations get to actually experience a recession for the first time in thier lives.
HINT: Its going to get very painful everyone…
Many small businesses will close
Many big businesses will be desperate to cut costs, just to survive - mainly jobs!
Expect to see more big retail chains fail.
Consequently many people will lose thier jobs
Many first home owners will be forced to sell at a loss and subsequently lose all thier savings
And lastly, as the property market collapses, expect property developers to collapse as well when they cant sell thier newly constructed apartments and houses
Yes folks this is what happens when you have a recession unfortunately.
Anyone over the age of 60 can confirm all of this.
Why?
Because Australia has officially experienced 4 major economic recessions in the past 50 years: 1974–1975, 1982–1983, 1990–1991.
The last recession was 36 years ago.
So one would need to be at least 60 to have been working at that time and experienced the resulting job losses or been forced to sell a property because they couldnt continue their mortgage repayments (I was one of them).
NB: This post may get neg votes because many young people here wont believe this can happen.
Thats because you cant see whats happening in the economy right now.
But all this has happened several times in the past.
In fact during every recession and I experienced a few of them unfortunately.
So I speak from hard experience!
crazy
crazy drops you mean
Not any more
Buyers have disappeared or holding back
Less than 10% of properties going to auction on a Saturday are selling on the day
So you’re saying the auction clearance rate was less than 10%?
I’d ask where you were getting your numbers from, but I have a fair idea…
Good, they need to lower their prices now.
There are a few hire places where you can just get key pieces delivered and you pay by the month. We did that as we left some things there for sale, so just needed beds, couch etc. But it isn't massively cheaper if the place is empty.
Its definitely worth it though. When i was house hunting and also monitoring like places for our upcoming sale, empty places took longer to sell and often didn't hit the price i would have expected.
Do they also provide installation? Do you mind sharing a few names please?
Who did you get the $3k quote from?
Nephew's wife styled my late father's house and it looked amazing.
We had been quoted stupid prices and afterwards the agent asked if she was interested in doing styling for them.
House sold on first day.
Probably not appropriate for a small unit, but the agent did comment on the fact that one room was styled as a child's room, she said that wasn't normally done and that she really liked it.
Can't go wrong with short back and sides.
Sold our house in Sydney and asked around all the stylists. Absolute rip off
So we bought it all ourselves, new gear cost less than styling and then resold afterwards, easy
A lot of people have trouble imagining how furniture fits in a space so styling does help that type of person. That said, $6k for a 1 bed is too much. Do you pay the full amount even if it sells in a week?
$3k for our 1 bedder. And yes I believe it will be the full amount
On the slightly higher end - I paid $5K for a 3 bedder / 6 weeks if that helps?
Its not $5K divide by 3 as they have fixed cost to get it there, assemble, decorate, etc. Saying that, market is softer so you should be able to negotiate a bit more.
you may not even sell it within 6 weeks, so what then? that seems like a lot of money though.
So i've had this discussion before with multiple agents, and they all say that the price will pay itself off with an increased sales price. Whilst I agree $3k is alot of money for short term hire, I can definitely see my perception of value of a house when it's properly styled, and looks like a home. I suspect you'll make that $3k back 5 times over as opposed to leaving it empty.
of course agents will say this though.
First, you never know the alternative.
Second, it helps the agent sell the house and its paid for by you. So why not encourage it.
Just get AI to Photoshop in the furniture?…
What is the location and who are your buyers? Is it an affluent suburb near the coast with cashed up downsizers who would care for a styled place? Or is it in the slums where your buyers are strugglers looking for the cheapest 4 walls they can get?
it's worth it for a big property but for a 1bedder you can easily use AI styler for the general gist and then buy from kmart to style yourself. you're ahead even if you throw away everything afterwards
Every month Sydney Morning Herald runs a story showing an extremely rundown hovel in Sydney selling for millions of dollars. Is styling really going to make much difference?
Clean the place, make sure it doesn't smell, remove all items that remind buyers of work, and heat up a $2 par baked bread roll from Coles when people drop by to have a look.
just take your 3K and go on a shopping spree at K-Mart or Ikea or Savers, and style away to your hearts content
This article does kind of mention styling, but more about real estate agents 'altering' images to suit.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/disgustin…
people style houses to sell… what the… just clean up the place and take your own pics, i doubt anyone cares if its been styled like the tv make over shows
Some people can't visualise a home without furniture.
So rightly or wrongly, plenty of people care.
wow ok, i must be one that doesnt like seeing other peoples stuff in a place im going to buy or rent… i find it gross seeing their stuff.
It’s no one’s stuff, it’s like a display home or hotel room.
You’re not seeing someone’s undies with skid marks.
@JimB: hang on you telling me people move stuff into a empty house take pics and then take it all out again????
@JimB: Some people can't visualise a home without skid marked undies.
There was a whole discussion topic about it a little while ago: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/959860
@tenpercent: Disappointed.
I thought the discussion was going to be skid marked undies.
I wish I had Aphantasia right now when thinking about the undies.
@tenpercent: I appreciate it.
Reminds me of the TV show Total Blackout where people have to guess the smell in pitch dark- "I know that smell… That smells like ass."
He won the challenge but I wouldn't consider it winning lol
do you need to style it?
ive seen many apartments sell without styling