There is a reason why we encourage all our vendors to invest thousands of dollars in professional styling.
Because presentation is everything.
If you want a premium result you must look like and feel like a premium offering.
Painting, new carpets, styling. This is the low hanging fruit. This is the $20,000 investment that can get you $200,000 more on your sale price.
And why is presentation so important? Because buyers buy on emotion, not reason.
If it doesn’t look nice, it doesn’t feel nice. And if it doesn’t feel nice buyers will not pay a premium price.
Have you ever walked through a tenanted property where there is too much furniture, and nothing fits? They’ve left the clothes horse out, the place stinks and there’s a giant bag of toilet paper on the floor that doesn’t fit in any of the overflowing cupboards.
If you were still interested in that property, it can only be for one reason… Value. It was priced so attractively that you could get over the terrible presentation and still get excited about the property.
Shoppers are attracted to Aldi for the same reason… Value. Their prices are so low that they don’t have to make any effort in terms of presentation. They literally wheel in a pallet of strawberries and just unload the boxes onto the shelves. No need for unstacking. $1.99 a punnet.
Sometimes they just leave bigger items on the wooden pallet, like when they have a special for Whipper Snippers or something ridiculous.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Aldi. I did most of my shopping there for years. But their whole business model is to undercut the competition by being no frills. Negative frills.
Compare this to Leaf Organic Grocer, where the strawberries are individually placed in little glossy, recycled hemp, vegan-friendly trays inside a wicker basket and then lovingly sprayed by the staff with an atomiser of water every 15 minutes so they remain dewy and delicious looking. $7.99 a punnet.
There is no way known someone would wrestle a crooked Aldi trolley and navigate those sticky aisles to pay $7.99 for a bruised and dry punnet of Aldi strawberries. But for $1.99? Sure, I’ll take four!
Have you ever been into a fashion boutique like Armani and noticed how there are hardly any clothes in there? The store is vast, architectural, and beautifully lit. It smells amazing. The staff are manicured and have noticeably excellent posture. There are no more than three of each garment, symmetrically spaced in order of size. It looks expensive.
Less is more. The details matter. The artwork is worthy of a gallery. The plants are real, not plastic.
The same principles apply for styling a home for sale.
Armani does not want to appeal to value buyers and discount shoppers. Nor should you.
If you want a premium price you need to attract premium buyers and get them emotionally engaged with your property.
Presentation matters.
Feature Image: Armani Concept Store, New York (Ramon Pratt)
David Sciola 