How do sell Faster & Higher - Part 5 - Lifestyles: Package it Right

How do sell Faster & Higher - Part 5

Lifestyles: Package it right

Your home will only sell when a viewer has been to look.  In order for this to happen you have to get the packaging just right.  Then it needs to be wrapped in the best paper with the prettiest bow.  

Pretty things attract.  We all know this.  This is why an engagement ring comes in a box and not just an envelope.  Its why we send pretty invitations to our weddings.  It sets the tone.

Your Estate Agent should be ensuring that the right tone has been set with your photographs, your description and their branding.  Bringing in more views online and more views in person.  Attracting the audience, engaging them and teasing a sale from them.

Photographs:

Photographs have to also trigger positive emotions as explored in part 4.  You have to pique their interest.  Draw them in using their desire buttons.  One of the key ways to do this is via photographs.

Photograph by VMOVE

Use ‘lifestyle photographs’.  They are used all over media today.  Almost every single piece of marketing and product/service promotion depicts a lifestyle.  Your house should be no different.

Marks and Spencer, Harvey Nichols and even big brands such as Prada, Louboutin and Chanel all market their products to be desirable.  Adverts that make people want to own, or use, or have.  They inspire you, to believing that by owning, or using this product or service it will increase your happiness levels and your lifestyle (there’s that word again) will be more appealing.

What can we learn & how do we apply this?

At VMOVE, and this is something you can ask your own agent, we include these pictures to help feed this emotional need.

Photgraphs: Magazines & books: 

Photograph by VMOVE

Have you ever wondered what Madonna reads? Maybe what the Queen reads in her spare time?  I bet its not your regular gossip magazine.  So hide these.  Bring out the big guns.  Your local country walks magazine if you are close to the countryside.  More city based, try top of the range GQ.  Just remember to feed your market.  A magazine on country homes and interiors wont cut it in a Penthouse bachelor pad in the centre of a 24 hour city that never sleeps.

Photograph by VMOVE

And books, these are important when trying to sell a lifestyle.  Consider your market once again.  Bungalow, although they are not always just for retirees anymore, a book on learning the spanish language with a local guide to a bustling Spanish town, gives the impression of living a lifestyle where you can afford to travel.

Photographs: Dining room:

Photograph by VMOVE

Photograph by VMOVE

Make your table your feature.  Dress your table.  Imagine you are in John Lewis, you are deciding on your wedding list.  You need to include silverware, crockery, tables and chairs.  How do you know which one you prefer?  They lay them out.  They set a scene.  What happens you are drawn in to the idea of having your table just perfect.  So, off you go tagging the items exactly as they are displayed. They have created a desire.  Next also do this in their catalogues, with their homeware, they dress it well, pull you in, not just wanting a throw but the cushions and rug to match.

Use your best china. Polish your silverware, and sparkle your wine glasses.  Lay the table on a bed of a quality table cloth with a central fresh flowers and a table runner to pull in the colours from around the room.  A seller did a great job of this one for us, while I was beavering away in the living room, they were setting the table.

Photographs: Outdoor

Sunny days are the best days.  Your agent should have asked when the sun is on all parts of your house.  Where is rises and sets, in order to pick out the best time of the days to photograph it.  Even if it is winter on a sunny day, set your scene by dressing your outdoor table.  Clean up your barbecue.  Weed your garden and plant vibrant flowers.  Make people want to spend time there.  Take inspiration from spring summer catalogues from places like B&Q.  How do they sell their outdoor spaces? 

I always have things up my sleeve for my photography visits, last week I photographed a lodge.  The original tablecloth sucked the room of light, and made the room look a less inviting.  It required something cleaner, lighter and a little more slick.  Table was a little worse for wear and with no other linens in the closet, I removed a white duvet cover from the bedroom and used it as a tablecloth.  Nobody knows, and the photographs came out great.

Photograph by VMOVE

I even take props too.  Sometimes homeowners don’t have the time to complete everything prior to the photographs being taken.  Check out this picture:  They took advice from me, but didn’t have time to get everything sorted.  The pictures on the wall are from my staging stock, as is the duvet and dotted around the house was my plants from my home staging stock.  They made a big difference.  Try borrowing from a friend or relative.  Even if it is just for the photographs.  The basic fundamental parts of the house wont change, and after the viewers have been they will still have the property photographs to refer to at a future date.  Positive Reinforcement.  (Honestly, I was listening through my psychology A-levels)

Words

Make sure the wording in your property particulars is positive.  Again, let people feel an emotional bond.  You probably have no control over this with your agent.  A good agent will provide good wording, try challenging them if your not happy.  Make sure they have listened to what you have said about your house during the market appraisal.

A good agent will be ready and armed to prepare your home’s marketing in a way that sells. 

I'm Victoria Green.  I give tailored, expert, bespoke advice just like this for free during your Market appraisal. Sometimes we all need a little extra help.  We cover Morecambe, Lancaster, Kendal and all surrounding areas.  

Just give me a call direct on 01524 230722