Case Study on Staging: A Condo on Franklin Street, Cambridge

In 2006, the Owners of a condo in a 3-unit building in Cambridge called us to discuss selling their 2 bedroom condo. The Sellers told us on the phone in advance of our meeting that they didn’t want to put their property on the market until they had moved to the new home that they were in the process of buying. This condo had been purchased by the Seller in 1988 when he was single. At the time of the sale, he was married with a delightful and active 2 year old. Needless to say, they were growing out of their 1100 sq ft space.

After we got a complete tour of the condo, we went back to our office and did a Comparative Market Analysis (“CMA”). Based on the current condition of the property, we felt an asking price of $429,000 was realistic, assuming that the Sellers were willing to have the interior painted, the floors redone and a number of miscellaneous handyman jobs undertaken. The Sellers were quite willing to “do what it takes” to get this price.

The Sellers moved out approximately 3 weeks later and the interior painting and repairs began. We went to visit the condo again while the work was being completed. We were amazed at the transformation without the 3 occupants and the typical 18 years of “stuff.” The property was feeling bigger and brighter and we felt we could increase the asking price to $439,000. We called the Sellers to let them know and they were obviously pleased. This certainly helped to defray the cost of the interior fix-ups they were doing.

After

Once the renovation work was completed, the professional stager started their work. They brought in furniture, artwork, carpets and accessories. We went back to visit the property again and we were amazed by the transformation feeling the price could go higher. The property looked contemporary and chic and you no longer noticed the older kitchen, which may have been an objection to some Buyers. We called the Sellers to let them know that we thought we could raise the asking price again to $449,000.

The staging was completed and then we brought in our professional photographer. The photography was incredible! We brought our office caravan through and to our delight, we had 4 or 5 agents who had buyer clients that they felt would be interested.

We had 3 showings before the weekend, 3 showings on Saturday and the open house was mobbed. By Monday night we had 5 offers. On Tuesday morning, a 6^th came in. The property ended up selling for $470,000. Not only was the Buyer’s offer $21,000 over the asking price, it did not have a mortgage contingency. The Sellers were ecstatic and we all felt that the staging made the difference.