Does Staging Matter in a Hot Market? 1325 N. State Parkway in the Gold Coast
This 2-bedroom in the Ambassador House at 1325 N. State Parkway in the Gold Coast just came on the market.
It has been completely renovated with a new kitchen, baths, flooring and electrical service.
New solid wide plank rift sawn white oak flooring was put in throughout the unit. (The light floors are back “in” again!)
The kitchen has similar light wood modern cabinets, stainless steel appliances and stone counter tops.
The unit has a separate laundry room with a sink.
It also has central air and there is parking available to rent in the building for just $135 a month, which is cheap for the Gold Coast.
The unit has also been staged with just the basic furniture: living room, dining room and beds in the bedrooms. There are no pictures on the walls, or mirrors or other art objects and no carpets on the floor. There are no curtains or plants either.
I would call this the most basic furniture “staging.”
In a red hot market where properties are going under contract within days, do you even need to do a basic furniture staging at all?
Brad Lippitz at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #13F: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1650 square feet
- Sold in January 2000 for $315,000
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in 2010 and 2011
- Bank owned in August 2015
- Sold in September 2015 for $370,000 (according to Redfin)
- Currently listed for $629,000
- Assessments of $1107 a month (includes heat, a/c, cable, doorman, pool, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal and lawn maintenance)
- Taxes of $5595
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Parking is rental in the building at $135 a month
- Bedroom #1: 16×17
- Bedroom #2: 14×14
- Laundry room: 5×4
Nice remodel, yes, the minimal staging looks odd. This is an example of when more is needed to show potential buyers how to arrange their dream living room. Where does the TV go etc?
Also, the F Tier normally has a powder room. I assume that became the laundry room? Was it a 2/2 or a 2/2.5 last time it sold?
I prefer unstaged places. I prefer the unlived-in look.
Whenever you have an odd space – e.g.angles, too small, real big, lots of windows – buyers have a hard time trying to figure out how to use the space. Even a small amount of furniture will help with that. The issue is always how do you balance the cost against the benefit. It’s easy for a realtor to recommend painting and staging since they don’t have to pay for it but it would be interesting to see what they thought if they were offered the extra money and then asked if they wanted to spend it on staging and painting.
“(The light floors are back “in” again!)”
While I agree that they are a little more popular now, I’m still seeing more dark wood flooring installed in new construction.
This place would look much better with darker floors (or different kitchen cabinets). The kitchen cabinets and wood floors are too similar along with the paint color.
The unit looks, to me at least, very nice, but the couch looks like somebody has a webcam trained on it from across the street….
I’ve heard that great staging equals top dollar. Low market time being secondary. People think with their heart and their head. In that order. Nobody really knows what makes people fall in love with a home. But it’s clear that great staging helps the internal butterflies.
In this case, I think that something is better than nothing. At least the furniture gives some sense of scale.
I’m with Jenny, staging is a parlor trick that only works on people with no imagination.
“While I agree that they are a little more popular now, I’m still seeing more dark wood flooring installed in new construction.”
Only here in Chicago. It takes FOREVER for us to get caught up on the trends. Lighter wood floors have been on both coasts for awhile now so it will be trickle down here. It starts with the $2 million+ construction and then slowly makes it way down.
In all those 3/1 ranches that are being rehabbed in the suburbs, I still see the dark floors. For now.
“I’m with Jenny, staging is a parlor trick that only works on people with no imagination.”
But the stats actually prove otherwise. 99% of buyers have NO imagination at all. They cannot see past what is there. That’s why ambiance in retail stores is so important. That’s why the furniture stores, like West Elm, spend so much money on paint colors and staging, even in their own stores.
But the stats actually prove otherwise. 99% of buyers have NO imagination at all. They cannot see past what is there. That’s why ambiance in retail stores is so important. That’s why the furniture stores, like West Elm, spend so much money on paint colors and staging, even in their own stores.
If anything that is just proof how creatively and spatially challenged the average buyer is, sadly.
Regarding West Elm, etc., Give me a warehouse full of hundreds of pieces of fairly priced furniture and a tape measure any time over a small selection of overpriced, carefully staged stuff any day of the week.
Like I said above, a lot of people have trouble envisioning the layout in extremely small, extremely large, or odd angled rooms. I’ve stood there in a room where the buyers debate how to use the space. I’ve grabbed books and paced off their placement on the floor to show them how much space the sofa would take up. You might not think you could get a breakfast table in that corner but you can.
Recently had a south loop condo listed where the small bedroom looked pretty pathetic to me empty. Had it staged to show how you could actually fit a bed, a dresser, and 2 night stands in there and I swear the room looked bigger.
Looked at another listing that is a really cool space but vacant and I’m not crazy about the paint job. It will look really elegant staged and the furniture will draw attention away from the walls.
Had a really nice house listed once with outdated finishes and very traditional furniture. People didn’t like it. Ended up renting it out to tenants with very nice and modern furniture. When we relisted it 6 months later it sold instantly. Based on the way we felt and the feedback (some agents showed it before and after) we think the new furniture really helped.
I don’t think you use staging indiscriminately but it definitely has its place.
Under Contract – so the light floors and lack of staging appealed to someone!
This closed for 620k on Friday