Dear Sellers: Listen to the Stager & Paint the Wall

By in Sellers with 0 Comments
Published on May 21, 2020 / Last updated on May 20, 2020

Sometimes people think paint doesn’t matter. “It’s easy to change,” they say. That’s 100% true. It’s inexpensive, as well. If something’s easy and cheap, it can’t have much impact, right?

Wrong!

When you sell a home, you want to create a setting in which the new owners can picture their lives unfolding. That’s where a professional stager comes in. Their job is to help you (the homeowner) create a neutral canvas so that buyers can more easily envision themselves in the home. Staged homes remove specific elements of decor that scream “I’m a seller with a strong opinion about what should be done with this space!” and replace them with elements that whisper, “Look at this nice room…you can see yourself living here, can’t you?”

In recent months, I learned how important painting is in the art of staging — not once, but twice!

Sharon of Sharon Atchison Staging staged two homes for me, and in both homes, she suggested to the sellers that they paint their dining rooms. Both planned to, but for various reasons, ran out of time before the houses were listed. Both houses sat on the market for longer than houses traditionally sit on the market. (Or at least, longer than most of my listings sit on the market.)

Finally, desperate to sell, both owners found time to paint their dining room walls. Guess what happened next?

In both cases, the very next people to walk through the homes wrote offers.

You can see the before and after photos below. A couple hours of work, a couple gallons of paint (it was just one wall, so maybe just one gallon?) and boom! Instant offer.

What’s the moral of the story? When your stager tells you to paint a wall, paint the wall!

Get Tri-Cities real estate tips, news and more

Here's actual reader feedback:

  • "Love your newsletter. Thanks for all the great information! Have a great Thanksgiving!" -- Charlene M.
  • "Just gotta say how I enjoy your monthly newsletter. The best I've seen. Keep it up!" - Paul S.
Every month, I send out a fun and educational email with real estate tips for home buyers and sellers -- stuff you should know to get the best bang for your buck (if you're buying) and the best price for your home (if you're selling). I also include a brief look at important real estate news and trends that matter to you, other Tri-Cities area news (new restaurants and businesses, upcoming events, etc.) and more.

Best thing? The newsletter is free and you can unsubscribe anytime by clicking the link in every newsletter.

Share This
About The Author
Cari McGee

My husband and I came to the Tri-Cities in 1994, and we thought it would be a temporary stop on our way to larger cities. He was a television sports anchor at the time, and we planned to go wherever the "next step up" took us. Twenty-plus years later, we're still here and we've loved every minute of it! We have two children now, and we've found the Tri-Cities area is a wonderful place to raise a family. It's a great place to do outdoorsy things -- I like to hike Badger Mountain or run along the river path. I also love reading ... by a cozy fire in the winter or a beautiful picture window in the summer (with the A/C on!). I've been a licensed Realtor since 2004. I earned my managing broker's license in 2016, which means I can run my own brokerage, or create a team of real estate agents and supervise them, which is exactly what I did when I formed the Cari McGee Real Estate Team in 2018! We have administrative and marketing personnel, as well as additional agents to serve you. I became a director of the Tri-Cities Association of Realtors Board of Directors in 2016, became Secretary/Treasurer of the organization, and was elected to Vice President in 2019. Want to talk about real estate? Click here to schedule a meeting with me!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *