As anyone who has ever looked for a new home knows, it’s not always easy to imagine yourself in a new place. Empty houses can be playgrounds for the imagination but, more often than not, they are a confounding blank slate.
“[Most people] have a hard time envisioning things that aren’t there,” said real estate agent, Cariy Hernandez. She explains that staging, or consciously arranging and decorating, a home can help people envision their lives in it. Staging can transform a house into a home and make the buyer “feel right.”
This intangible “feeling” is something that’s hard to measure because everyone has different priorities when shopping for a home. “When I first started it was location, condition and size [that mattered most] now architecture is a huge factor in determining the value of a home,” said Hernandez.
Architectural homes range from Colonial to Mediterranean and everything in between. Hernandez explains that Spanish homes are a very popular choice because they are reminiscent of California architecture but 1920s architecture and mid-century modern are making a comeback too. Mid-century architecture has a more open floor plan than most older homes.
In general, the original architecture of pre-1950s homes has smaller closets and less open floor plans that modern homebuyers are used to. “The original floor plans of these houses usually don’t But a lot of people have been able to add on and create the floor plan they want with them,” she added.
This is where staging comes in and helps transform a space. “It’s all about painting the picture,” said Hernandez. She describes how stagers can take an awkward floor plan make that space into a breakfast nook or useful storage area. Since most people are not designers themselves, staging goes a long way to make a home look livable.
“Staging and decorating and all those cosmetic upgrades amp up the emotion of the house. That’s what drives the price from paper is how they feel about the house. Not the roofs, not the plumbing, not the air-conditioning. It’s how they feel about the house,” she said.
If you’re interested in purchasing an architectural home, contact Cariy Hernandez at (626) 862-3591 or visit cariyhernandez.kwrealty.com.
