Tips for Selling a Home: Kincardine Home Staging Case Study
When you’re getting ready to list your house for sale, the top piece of advice I always give is to look at your house, not as your home, but as a product to sell.
Every product has a market, so who is the market for your house? Is it the first time home buyer, a couple, a family with young kids, empty-nesters, retirees? Is it the buyer who is looking for a turnkey home, or someone who wants to put in sweat equity?
Once you sort out who is most likely to fall in love with your home, you can then sort out how to best prepare it to sell. For example:
If your ideal buyer is the one who wants to put in sweat equity, perhaps you don’t have to do much. You may even want to forget touching up the paint.
But if your market is young families with kids, then you’ll want to ensure that your house feels safe, spacious, clean and low-maintenance (parents are busy enough!).
Let’s dive into a real life example of a home we prepared for sale in Kincardine, Ontario.
Why People Live in Kincardine Ontario
As one of the first steps to selling your home, it’s important to understand the allure of why people live in the vicinity of the home you’re about to sell. This goes for whether it’s a town, city or just a neighbourhood,
So, if you’re not familiar with Kincardine, Ontario, it’s a beautiful and quaint town on the shores of Lake Huron, in Bruce County.
A population of just around 12,000, people come to live in Kincardine for a few key reasons.
They may:
Work at the nearby Bruce Power power plant
Value the slowed-down life of a quaint lakeshore town, surrounded by rural farmland
Are snowbirds who come to enjoy the warmer months from late spring to early autumn
Kincardine has a host of restaurants (Hawgs Breath is a fave of my clients), breweries, local markets, churches, public and private beaches, and of course, an awesome Kincardine Scottish festival (due in large part to the strong Scottish heritage of this region). It’s known for crystal clear beaches, and a distinct lighthouse, which is frequented by a bagpiper, known as the phantom piper, during the summer months, when he/she literally ‘pipes the sundown.’
About the Kincardine Ontario House for Sale
My clients approached me about listing their condo on Queens Street, which is just a short walk from the beach.
When I asked them what had made them buy the house, they mentioned (and showed me) how they were attracted by some key features:
A self-sufficient main floor: which is well-set up for those who wish to age in place: Anything that you need to do for everyday living is possible on just the main floor. There is main floor laundry, inside entry from the garage, a spacious main floor bedroom with ensuite, kitchen and living space all on the first floor.
Light-filled: Theirs is the only unit out of all the condos to have a skylight.
Upper (private) bedroom for hosting visitors or mature kids: With a second floor bedroom, basement den, and three and a half baths, my clients loved being able to host visitors and provide them with privacy.
Walkability: As dog owners and social individuals, the ability to open the door and walk downtown to restaurants, pubs and shops was a huge perk. Plus, having the beach just a stone’s throw away meant that nature was at their doorstep too.
Yard Maintenance with low condo fees: The ability to have snow removal and outdoor upkeep managed by the condo corporation was a huge plus.
Finished basement with a third full bath: Perfect for hosting visitors.
Determining the Ideal Buyer for the Kincardine Ontario Condo
With all of the home’s features in mind, it’s clear that this is a home for:
Seniors and others who wish to age in place, while maintaining extra space for visitors
Small families with mature kids who don’t mind sleeping on different floors
Single individuals without families who like the low-maintenance aspect of a condo
Snowbirds who prefer to have a condo that’s maintained year-round.
That’s not to say that the buyers of the home must be someone who matches the above criteria. It’s simply that it’s most likely that they’ll fit within that criteria. So, as we set out to place the home on the market, I recommended that the sellers be open to making the home feel appealing to those groups.
Getting a Home Ready to Sell Checklist
Considering that my sellers had been in the home for quite a few years, I recommended a few steps:
Freshen up the already neutral paint. The house was already painted in a beautiful neutral tone (Grandma’s China by Benjamin Moore). But, like any lived-in home, some signs of wear were starting to show. Luckily, it’s nothing that a touch up can’t fix!
Paint brightly coloured rooms a neutral colour: While the majority of the rooms and living areas were a neutral shade, one of the bathrooms and one of the bedrooms had been painted in colours that the owners had enjoyed (terracotta and deep violet). Since the key to selling a home fast is ensuring that prospective buyers can envision themselves living in the home (and loving it!) neutralizing any colours that could evoke strong emotions is key.
Swap out textiles to be light, bright and beachy: Kincardine is a beachy town. It’s part of the fabric of any local to be beach bound. Light, airy, textiles in white, sand and light blue echo the feeling of being on Lake Huron, which is also a relaxing place to be.
Reduce heavy furniture: This condo is beautifully laid out and functional with high ceilings, which can create a great sense of spaciousness. However, larger, bulkier furniture was causing the area (the house is built to be more long than it is wide) to feel cramped. Packing away items that were there for display or occasional use and putting them in storage meant the space could breathe and show the true amount of living space available.
Depersonalize decor: While this home had been filled with beloved photos of families and symbols of what is deeply important to this couple, part of turning the condo back into a house for sale was removing the feeling of being in ‘someone else’s’ home filled with their family and symbolism, into a house willing to embrace another family.
Before and After Staging
Living Room - Before
The living room before was cozy, but because the room is more long than it is wide, the furniture made it seem more cluttered. And although the colour palette was neutral, the large patterns competed with one another for attention.
Living Room - After
After removing furniture and making a few changes, you can quickly see how less is more.
The old rug (which yes, does need to be pulled forward a bit) was swapped for the one that was being used in the entryway. The smaller pattern is less competitive for your attention, and the blue tones add some serenity.
The big patterned couch cushions? Simply turned around.
The light reflecting mirror placed above the couch is a solid move to add more brightness.
The coffee table was removed to create a more clear pathway through the room, making you feel like you could walk through it more easily while still maintaining the feel of a cozy spot for conversation.
Primary Room - Before
This is a large room with high ceilings, but the short curtains don’t really let you feel that height.
And even though blue is consistent here, again we see patterns competing for attention.
Primary Bedroom - After
Busy patterns on the bedspread and curtains were replaced with beachy clean white and blue.
The short curtains were replaced with longer ones that elongate the view, calling into attention the high ceilings, while also filtering in more light into the space.
Extra furniture was removed and the tall lamp replaced with a clean white one.
Note: Ideally, large pictures such as the one hanging here would be centred over the bed, however, the client didn’t want the picture moved, so we left it where it was.
Ensuite Bath- Before
There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this ensuite bath, but the bright red towels take centre stage.
Afterwards, the clear countertops and serene spot for a shower draw your attention instead, thanks to white neutral towels, a few countertop accents and a new bathmat.
Secondary Bedroom - Before
The secondary bedroom is feeling a bit cramped with extra furniture, and the dark wall colour adds clear delineation between the wall and the ceiling, which makes the ceiling feel lower.
The second bedroom now matches the vibe of the master, with airy white walls that flow into the ceiling (making the height look taller). Less furniture and light fabrics add to the sense of peace.
What do you think?
All of these changes were made with minimal investment. New textiles like bed linens, decor and floor mats and towels only cost $500 for the whole house. The home owners did a lot of the painting themselves and then storage fees for the excess furniture would be the only other costs incurred, however, if this is the situation you are in, you may consider selling off excess furniture to lighten the load for your move as well as help fund the staging.
By simply re-arranging furniture and investing in neutral colour pallets, this condo gained a whole new vibe.
What do you think of the change?
