Working as an Orlando real estate agent, I’ve sold countless investment properties to newbie investors. Being an Orlando real estate investor myself, I don’t mind passing on my knowledge to inexperienced investors looking for their next or first investment. After all, my client’s success is my success.
Recently, however, I had some new investors buy one of my Orlando properties out in Whisper Lakes. It was a fixer-upper, nothing out of this world though. Some fresh paint, new cabinets, fixtures, and carpeting, and this baby would be ready to hit the market!
I gave Joel and Remy some contacts of contractors that I’ve used and continue that have always done a great job for me. They took my advice and hired one of the GCs that I recommended instead of trying to do the work themselves.
The job came out great and the contractor stayed within their budget, and the home was ready to hit the market.
Joel and Remy were fired up to sell their first flip and ready to move on to the next one. There was a problem though after several showings the house didn’t get any offers on it. This went on for two weeks and still no activity, even though the house was priced just under market value.
I knew at this point we had to take things to the next level in order to get a solid offer on this home. I suggested to Joel and Remy that it was time to do some staging and plan a big open house.
I could see the look on their faces when I told them it would cost around $1,500 to get the home fully staged and looking like a million bucks. They weren’t buying into the whole staging thing and thought they should just lower the price by another $3,000. Well, I’m no professor but I do know that it’s much better to lose $1,500 than it is to lose $3,000.
By staging a home, you’re allowing someone to visualize the home at its maximum potential. They can actually see that there is plenty of room for that table of theirs and that living room set they love soo much. The same goes for decorations perfectly placed around the home with some nice paintings on the walls. With staging, you can give that home a “wow” factor that it just wouldn’t have if it were empty.
I finally managed to convince them to get the house staged and I even offered to pay half out of my commission if it didn’t work out.
The home staging crew rolled in with enough furniture and decorations to cover the two open living areas, the 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Well, the home sold less than a week after we staged it. As a matter of fact, a lady who had seen it weeks prior when it was first listed came back to see it again and said “I’ll take it”.
She wasn’t lying, she submitted a solid offer the same day through her Orlando realtor and ultimately ended up closing just 3 weeks later.
4 deals later and Joel and Remy continue to buy Orlando properties from us and are still going strong. The difference now is that they stage every property whether they think it needs it or not.
