Are you selling your home or condo in Northern Virginia? Contact Will Nesbitt of Condo 1. Here are a few thoughts about pictures in the home
I am still on the fence on this one, and have been for a while now. Which is typically not like me. But, I have mixed feelings on this subject.
When placing a home on the market, should the personal, family photos stay in the house or should they go before the house goes on the market?
Maybe as a seller this thought has never entered your mind. Put my family photos away to sell your own home...what do you mean? Why? What's the big deal? Well, it depends on who's looking at it (or should I say; looking at them).
When placing a home on the market a REALTOR's job is to make the home appeal to as many buyers, as we can. Today, many homes are professionally staged. Kudos to all of you professional stagers, you make our job so much easier! Those that aren't staged are typically critiqued by the listing agent, prior to the sign going up. The idea is to clear out as much "excess stuff" and to neutralize the furnishings in a way as to appeal to the broadest range of buyers that we can. And many times the feeling is...if there are an excess number of personal, family photos, THEY MUST GO or at least the majority of them must go! I feel that it is fine to leave a couple of photos out.
During a showing, we ask that the seller not be home when a buyer is looking at the property. We want
the buyer to feel as warm and comfortable in the home as possible. We want the buyer to "see and feel" himself living there. If the seller is there, the buyer often feels uncomfortable being in someone else's place. And, if the buyer walks through and it is "filled" with family photos, it can make it difficult for some to envision themselves living there.
In the past I have kindly asked a number of sellers to "thin out" some of the pictures in order to make the home more buyer friendly. I have received responses ranging from polite and agreeable to flaming red hot. One seller told me in no uncertain terms would she remove any of her nearly 75 family photos. She said she would not even put the house on the market! She was absolutely furious and wanted no explanations of why it was necessary. I thought I would be escorted to the door! She did not list the home for sale.
I have been in a number of homes that felt as if all eyes on the wall were staring at me. In some cases, it scared buyers off. So what is a seller to do?
Should the personal photographs stay or go? You tell me...
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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County. |
Hi Will,
As a home stager, I face this issue daily. I strongly recommend that sellers remove their personal photos for the following reasons:
-You want the potential buyers to be able to see themselves in the space. It's hard to do that with the faces of 20 photos of the sellers friends and family staring you in the face.
-Especially if the sellers have young children, I recommend the removal of photos for security reasons. We have no control over who views a home on the market, or what their motivation might be. I hate to even have to consider this, but how easy would it be for someone to see photos of the children living in the home? They now know what they look like, have the address, and can easily determine what school they attend. As a mother of two children, this scares me. I may be over protective-I won't even let my school use my child's photos on their website, just yearbooks. However, I have yet to have a parent question me when I use this approach.
It's important to express to your clients that they truly need to adopt the mindset that their house is not longer their home, it is a product that is to be marketed and sold. De-personalizing and Staging are the best ways to accomplish that. They need to pack up their belongings to move, anyway, why not start with the photos?
I didn't mean for this to be such a long response. I hope it helps to answer your question!
Leigh Newport
Staged by Design
www.staged-by-design.com
Congratulations on your quote in the Washington Post, by the way! I commented on your post, sath down to have lunch and read the paper, and there you were!
Leigh Newport
Staged by Design
I think personally a few can stay, but whole walls full of pictures can be very distracting and can take away from the home.
Leigh,
Thanks much for you detailed response. It's nice to get a professional opinion about this subject.
Leigh,
RE: Washington Post!
I got several calls from strangers and friends about that article. It was a small quote but every little bit helps. It's good to know you're local. I didn't realize that from you comment, but I clicked on you after the second comment. You might want to change your signature just a bit.
Will
Todd,
My thoughts are pretty much the same as yours, but I would be inclined to heed the advice of a professional like Leigh.
Will