While a unit almost always has less square meterage than a detached house, presenting one for sale can be just as challenging.
Property stylists Kate Bunton and Nicki O’Halloran – from 2Tweak, which works with real estate agencies and private clients to style properties for sale – and Angus Graham, from Hodges Sandringham in Melbourne, agree smaller doesn’t always equal easier.
Bunton says it’s “incredibly important” to style units with appropriately sized furniture to show prospective buyers how tight spaces can be maximised.
“So many people can’t envisage small spaces and if they’re not styled, they can look considerably smaller and less appealing,” she says.
Graham agrees furniture and room presentation are especially important when presenting a unit for sale.
“If you set up a room as a study or with a single bed, buyers will comment on it being on the small side, but if the same room is set up with a double bed, it won’t get questioned in the slightest,” he says.
“It staggers me how people worry about where they will put the TV when they can’t see one presented. All of a sudden the room is ‘hard to set up’, so it’s good to make a property truly feel like a home on inspection,” Graham adds.
O’Halloran says for small spaces, decluttering matters a lot too.
“It’s important to declutter each room of personal items, unnecessary furniture items and dressing beds with fresh, light-coloured linen and fabulous cushions,” she says.
“If the walls look tired, a fresh lick of paint is very important and makes a huge difference,” O’Halloran adds.
O’Halloran and Bunton – who would charge between $3400 and $3900 to style a two-bedroom unit – say property stylists appraise and address the entire property, not simply hire furniture, as some people believe.
Property styling is about creating the “best visual outcome possible” to maximise the sale price, Bunton says.
“We love adding fresh foliage, a lovely scented candle and a divine coffee table book. Dressing beds in fresh linen with divine high-quality cushions to inject colour is vital,” she adds.
For those doing it themselves and on a tight budget, Graham recommends concentrating on the main living areas.
“I would suggest focusing on the living areas and the first areas of contact, where the first impressions are made. Bathrooms and bedrooms are usually less important,” he says.
Graham advises thinking carefully about having a tenant in a unit during a sales campaign.
“Nowadays, I rarely ever advise a client to sell a property with a tenant,” he says.
