I laughed out loud yesterday when I saw the images of a property just listed for sale in Toronto.
I can't remember the last time I saw photos of a house where it looked as if someone actually lives there, so it was refreshing to see a living room with the family pooch scampering through the shot - his backside facing the camera, fluffy tail in the air.
Companion animals are under-represented in feature sheets compared with their presence in actual homes. Which leads me to believe that most people are shooing them out of the way when the photos are taken.
But then today there was another one! Different dog, same pose.
In recent years, I've heard of sellers who've packed their dogs off to camp the whole time the house is on the market.
Each of these houses had other items that have become exceedingly rare: A massive television set displacing the sofa, toothbrushes in the bathroom, clutter on the coffee table, a rumpled bed.
In the Toronto market, it seems simply expected these days that sellers will “fluff” their house to make it more enticing to buyers - and many real estate agents bring in stagers as part of their service - so I can't help but admire these people with the $800,000 houses who are allowing everyone a view of unvarnished family life.
But I wonder if something else is going on. With a sudden flood of new listings in a month that is traditionally quiet, perhaps people are seeing the “sold” signs that have popped up recently and are dispensing with the fluffing and the professional photos in order to just act quickly.
Last week I talked about the dilemma of Kevin in Hamilton who wants to put his house on the market soon but wonders how much time and money to invest fixing it up. I promised tips to him and the other people who have written to me, all wondering what they can do quickly and cost-effectively.
I put the question to Carol Pardu of Toronto-based Pardu Interior Design Ltd.
Pardu, a member of the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario, has been seeing an interesting upturn in business lately from people who have decided to stay in their houses.
But she also works with homeowners who want to sell their houses quickly and for the best price they can get. Rather than forgoing the staging process in the current downturn, many people are putting in even more effort, she says.
“I think they feel they need it more than ever.”
Pardu has prepared many houses for market and has developed a feel for which fixes are worth the investment. The dog-on-the-sofa folks should ignore these suggestions:
Depersonalize, but not too much. Pardu recommends taking out a lot of books and photographs because buyers should be able to picture their family in the house, not yours. But if sellers go to far, the house looks sterile.
“I think people make a mistake if they make it bland.”
Reduce the pressure of living in the rooms to make them look more open and spacious. So a home theatre is okay in a media or family room, but not the average living room. “The TV should really be out of the room. It dominates the space.”
Use large elements to make a small space feel more expansive. Generous pieces of furniture, large canvases on the walls and one big plant strategically-located are better for making a room seem bold and exciting than a lot of small items. “People have too many small things.”
Remove bulky items from the entranceway. That's one place where big and bold doesn't work - especially if an imposing piece of furniture blocks circulation. First impressions are crucial when prospective buyers walk in the door.
Look carefully at scale and proportion in the dining room. In some houses, sellers have a small table with all of the chairs pushed in. Pardu recommends using a large table with chairs spaced apart. “When you open it up, it makes it feel like a grander room.”
Good lighting is essential to make the house seem bright and inviting. If you need more, buy table lamps. They're worth the investment because you can take them with you and don't need to pay an electrician to have them installed, says Pardu. And place the lights towards the inner corners of a room to draw the eye in.
A chair in the corner of a room can work well to fill a space, but place it on an angle. “Your eye moves around it as opposed to something squared off in the corner,” the designer says. “It draws your eye to that end of the room but it doesn't block your eye.”
Turn multi-purpose rooms back in to a single-purpose space. So if the dining room doubles as a home office, take out the desk.
Install a carpet runner on the stairs if you don't have one. A runner is quieter underfoot, visually appealing when people climb the stairs and inexpensive to install.
If bathroom tiles are an outdated colour, have them reglazed in white. The process is a lot cheaper than a bathroom reno and can be done in a day.
Remove textiles that seem too personal. A fresh white guest towel in the bathroom is okay, but take away housecoats, tea towels and anything that looks the slightest bit used.
Pardu acknowledges that staging a house is a huge job but she says homeowners who put in the time receive a solid pay-off.
“You want to sell for top dollar - whatever the top dollar is for the market you're in. And it's incredibly inconvenient to be selling your house,” she adds. “If it drags on for any length of time, it's painful.”
