Lock-In: Property Staging

In an LNPG first, property staging took centre stage on the Lock-In series. And it was Fabienne Miler, Property Stylist for (and Owner of) boutique property staging company, Staged 4 More. Property staging has crept into the UK lexicon along with years of property programming and US euphemism infiltrating the airwaves – but the concept is fully across the pond just yet.

The Key Ingredient

Off-screen, property staging hasn’t quite taken the UK by storm, in the rush of jumping from one deal to the next, it can often be written off in the endless column of nice-to-haves and never implemented.

But in the small corners of high-end HMOs, exclusive professional lets, and eye-catching serviced accommodation projects where staging is beginning to take centre stage, the results can be astonishing.

From a bottom-line perspective, property staging increases your rate of return. It gives you the ability to increase your rental income, and if you’re looking to sell – you’ll receive a better, quicker offer than you would otherwise.

Stat Attack

So, if you’ve made it through our We Love Property Staging sales pitch, it’s only right that we have some evidence to back it up, and of course – we love statistics here on the Lock-In series!

We started off with an example of Fabienne’s staging work: specifically, a comparison of an un-staged two-bedroom SA apartment against a professionally staged SA two-bedroom apartment. Apart from being one door down from one another, these properties were otherwise identical: same building; same target market; even the same floorplan!

So what can staging do for your properties then? In this case, the staged apartment managed a better occupancy rate and a better night rate simultaneously, totalling a difference of over nine grand in revenue over the course of a year!

The same can be said for properties on the market to sell. According to The Home staging Association, unstaged properties stagnated for an average of 277 days without offer. After staging however, the same properties were snapped up in just 28 days – at a higher average value!

The Force of Attraction

Starting your staging journey is often the most difficult part. You need to understand your market and create or adapt a strategy accordingly. You should have an idea of who you are targeting already, staging is all about making your key customer segment feel at home the second they step into your property.

With Serviced Accommodation, you have the opportunity to be braver – selling them the dream with bold colour choices and quirky idiosyncrasies that bring your property to life. A short weekend away should be exciting and novel

Home life is a different ballgame; choices too far left-field could alienate potential tenants. But there is definitely a balance to be struck. You want to stand out and create interest; have fun and as we said a few weeks ago – don’t just settle for magnolia!

Colour Coded

Colour evokes emotion, but its distribution is also worth consideration. Some of Fabienne’s real winning designs demonstrated consistency in their colour scheme and were cohesion in their design. And it’s more than just the colour of your walls; this affects all features in a room.

More than this, colour is a shortcut to lifestyle-ideation, a fancy term that we just made up to define how your tenants envisage life in your properties, the example below cleverly divides the room between activity and relaxation by blocking off a far corner, walls and ceiling, with a darker teal, getting colour to do the heavy psychological lifting for the tenant.

An Eye for Detail

Delving into the minutiae of property décor may seem like a thankless task, but as Fabienne mentioned, it’s these little details that demonstrate the thought and care that has been in to putting your property on the market.

It can be a little like spot the difference: the overall effect is immediate but it’s hard to identify exactly what has changed in the room. Take a look at the below image as an example.

Pinning down exactly what has changed isn’t easy, but straight away the feeling of being at home is obvious = now that’s good property staging!

And that’s your lot! You can join Fabienne’s property staging group here. LNPG members can currently get a 10% discount on Fabienne’s colour scheme guide and her services.

And that’s your lot! You can join Fabienne’s property staging group here. LNPG members can currently get a 10% discount on Fabienne’s colour scheme guide and her services.