Manipulative, Practical or Mannerly?
Reading time: 3 minutes
“Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times.” ~ Richard Rogers
Like it or not, the decisions we make about how to present a property for sale are informed largely by the wish to net as much money as possible for a client.
“Just sell it. I don’t care what the price is,” said no one ever when interviewing and evaluating Realtors.
Every property – no matter how neglected or humble – needs a touch of magic to fetch top dollar. Maybe the asking price does all the talking. Or perhaps the opening teaser in MLS is clever enough to spark interest. But successful agents know that “presentation is everything” and so the primary goal is to evoke a mood and create a positive subliminal response in would-be buyers.
That’s why staging is so important and why staging is here to stay. It’s about setting a scene in which buyers can imagine living their lives. It’s also about contextualizing rooms, enhancing good design, downplaying flaws and heightening the effectiveness of photography.
Staging, however, doesn’t solve everything. Properties often need additional tweaks that only an agent can think of and handle. Some are merely practical (turning on the lights so visitors can see). Others are more subtle and manipulative (baking cookies in order to stab people in the nose with homesickness). Many are aimed at making visitors feel welcome and at ease (flowers on the entry table).
Examples include:
Moving the cat box out of the powder room and into the garage for showings.
Spraying lavender mist to mask the odor of last night’s salmon.
Turning up the heat and closing all the windows.
Turning off the heat and opening all the windows.
Neatening the shoes stacked outside a neighboring condo’s door.
Cleaning up dog poo from a carpet.
Unplugging the nanny-cam and hiding it.
Waking an unhoused person on the doorstep so they can nap elsewhere.
Roasting an onion.
Lighting a scented candle.
Emptying or taking out the trash.
Angling shutters for optimum lighting.
Sweeping up leaves and street detritus blown into an entry.
Asking teenagers on their school lunch break to smoke somewhere else.
Sorting mail for saving or recycling.
Emptying a diaper pail.
Windexing the fingerprints on windows, doors, coffee tables.
Freshening the fruit bowl.
Unclogging a toilet used by an open house looker.
Hiding the toilet paper to discourage future use.
Displaying fresh flowers.
Feeding the pet snake.
Carefully removing used syringes from a planter box.
Shooing away (without success) those little flies that love the dead air in an entry.
Guarding neighbors’ driveways and garages.
Opening the staged cookbook on the kitchen counter to a vegan recipe.
Plucking dried orchid blooms from a dining centerpiece.
Double-checking that nobody has spelled dirty words using the stagers’ Scrabble set.
Ordering unattended children to cease and desist jumping on the bed.
Putting the knife block under the sink.
Holding babies, watching strollers, minding dogs, stowing latte cups, monitoring double-parked cars.
Watering the impatiens.
Gently relocating a spider to the exterior.
And (perhaps the most fun and funny task ever) spraying the moss displayed in a sculptural bowl in the foyer.
In your opinion, which of these are Merely Practical? Which are Manipulative? And which are Mostly Manners?
Author and RealEstateTherapy curator Cynthia Cummins has been devoted to homeowners and homebuyers for three decades and counting. Visit KindredSFhomes.com for more information on San Francisco real estate.
Photo Credit: Johnny Fu
