The Importance of A Good First Impression

Monday, February 10th, 2020

Rachel Fung

There have been countless times that I’ve walked into a home that is so cluttered, messy and so visually unappealing it is impossible to visualize anything positive about the house.  In these places you will often find cracks that need filling, walls that need cleaning and floors that should have been polished. The lighting is usually dim and the colors are often questionable. There are plenty of unnecessary furnishings with no clear no direction, and perhaps, even a strange smell.  

More often than not, potential buyers will immediately be turned off by properties that are shown like this. Some may not even want to go through the rest of the home if they walk in and immediately feel uncomfortable.  If you ask them what they remember about it, they usually remember the “mess”. Too many colors, furniture and possessions make it difficult for people to concentrate on the property. Our eyes get tired very quickly. The more we see in a room, the less we can process—it’s called stimulus overload.  When there is too much to see, we don’t see anything. It is important for the buyer to be able to walk in and imagine their own furniture and decor in the home.

Selling or buying a property is possibly one of the biggest investments people make. How the property is presented and perceived should be given as much importance and consideration as any consumer product on the market.  

No matter what is happening to the real estate market, when you want to sell  your home, there are two simple rules to follow to make sure you get a quick sale: 

1. price it well
2. make it look amazing. 

Whatever the asking price, the property needs to appear as appealing to the buyer as possible.  

I, Rachel Fung, have learnt that one of the biggest mistakes made by sellers, and even inexperienced real  estate agents, is to ignore the visual psychology involved in gaining a buyer’s immediate attention. Potential buyers become interested in a property when they walk in and feel, “This could be home”.  They imagine and feel that they can live here.  

In order to gain an edge in today’s real estate market when buyers and investors have so many options, a property must not only be priced right by also look better than the competition.  One of the best, proven methods to faster sales is a process known as “staging”. Staging uses design and conceptualization techniques. The objective is to have potential buyers walk in and envision the property as their home. They can see themselves comfortably living and entertaining there. It’s all about creating a space that makes buyers connect emotionally to it. They  should feel as if they were the owner, not a guest. As a seller, you need to make your house as impersonal and attractive as possible to stimulate the buyer’s visual acuity.