How We Staged a Transitional Cape in Concord to Sell High in Just 4 Days
THE HOUSE
Located in picturesque Concord, MA, this classic Cape Cod-style home is bigger and brighter than it seems from the street. With 4 spacious bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a HUGE great room, a 3-season porch, and amazing outdoor space, this is an ideal family home – and it was our job to show just how amazing it could be!
CREATING THE STAGING PLAN
These built-ins just past the entry (and the ones opposite them, not pictured) made me sweat! Without the ability for a detailed walk-through, I had to go off my memory and the previous listing photos for planning purposes. It was the thing that kept me up at night about this house, but they came out great!
When I first saw this home, I didn’t really see it… I flew through it! There were two sleeping infants in the home at the time (the home belonged to the sweetest family), making the thorough walk-though we typically do impossible.
However, even a quick walk-though is better than no walk-though, as it gave me a sense of the overall space and flow of the home. That, combined with a floor plan, the previous listing photos, and a conversation with the listing agent, was all I needed to come up with a staging plan that would lead to a top dollar sale.
The agent (the AMAZING Nancy Cole) was targeting a listing price of $1.5M, which was higher than the buyers believed they could get. Both she and I knew that, with proper staging, this home should go over that asking price. And that’s when I knew this was going to be fun – because there’s nothing I love more than helping sellers get way more for their home than they expect! As a former collegiate field hockey player, my competitive juices run high – and the challenge of how to maximize the sale price of every listing we stage gets those juices flowing. Maximizing the sale price while blowing through expectations? That’s even better!
THE KEY SPACES: LIVING ROOM + THREE SEASON PORCH
This home struck a nice balance between modern updates and maintaining the charm of its original 1950s construction. This great room is a (no pun intended) great example of this. Check out the juxtaposition of the original fireplace with the updated, oversized windows - just dreamy!
We selected soft, warm fabrics with natural woods and pops of modern accents for this home to appeal to our target buyer, who was a young family with elementary-aged kids. This was especially important in the family room, as we needed our ideal buyers to be able to FEEL themselves living in this room. This is where they needed to fall in love with the house!
Soft textiles + warm woods + modern accents. This room was designed to attract a young family moving out of Boston and into the suburbs.
Original fireplace + ginormous windows. I loved this room!
If you need me, I’ll be right here with my morning coffee. And my evening glass of wine. And every moment in between.
This room is expansive and required multiple zones of living space, separated by the imaginary walkway leading through the room to the three-season porch. Maintaining this pathway was critical for traffic flow during showings and open houses.
The secondary sitting area left the pathway to the 3-season porch free and clear.
DINING ROOM
Being a true Cape Cod-style home, there are several walk-though rooms which allow for traffic flow but can create a design challenge with their multiple entrances.
When the home had been previously listed several years ago, this room was staged as a family room. However, its 4(!) entrances/exits created two natural pathways down either side of the room. Trying to force this to be a living space would feel awkward to buyers – and awkward spaces don’t sell. This room was naturally suited to be a formal dining room and we leaned into it.
This dining room had entrances at all 4 corners, plus a fireplace (not pictured). A centered dining table allowed for traffic flow from one side of the room to the other - no matter which entrance/exit buyers chose to walk through.
OFFICE
The second walk-through room we had to contend with was the first-floor bedroom. While first-floor bedrooms can be a huge selling point for many homes, we felt our target buyer would value a dedicated office more than a dedicated guest space.
A dedicated work-from-home space is a must-have in this post-COVID era. The toothpaste is out of the tube - buyers don’t want to have to go to the office every day.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Upstairs was the oversized primary suite. Dormer windows are a key attribute of Cape-style homes, and this one was no different. We centered the king-sized bed between the windows and opposing roof lines to create a symmetrical look that’s pleasing to the eye and comforting to buyers’ senses.
Additionally, we carried the soft blues and mix of transitional and modern furnishings from the living room into the primary to create a sense of continuity as buyers walked through the home.
The size of this primary bedroom was so unexpected for a Cape-style home.
A primary sitting area is always a great selling feature. Here, we used the sitting area as a way to minimize the low ceiling due to the roof line in this area of the room.
I mean, come on… it doesn’t get any prettier than this. Also, I love when builders leave enough room for a king bed between the windows in a primary suite with outlets on either side. Thoughtful builders are my favorite.
SECONDARY BEDROOMS
Finally, we created two kids’ rooms upstairs in the additional two bedrooms. The dormer windows created some interesting angels in these rooms, but we showed buyers how fun and functional these rooms can be for kids of all ages.
A metal headboard, used when a bed can only be placed in front of a window, allows for proper placement of the bed without blocking light from coming in the room.
Littles love reading nooks, too.
A homework space in a kid’s bedroom where they might actually want to do homework. Maybe. But probably not.
Keeping it light and fresh, with more blues to maintain a consistent experience for buyers throughout the home.
THE VERDICT
So, what was the outcome? Let’s look at the numbers.:
List Price: $1,599,000
DOM: 4
Offers: Multiple
Selling Price: $1,713,000
$ Over Asking: $114,000
$ Over Pre-Staging Estimated List Price: $213,000!!!
Needless to say, we were THRILLED for our sellers and our agent partner – and for the buyers of this beautiful home.
It’s also important to note that selling a home is a team sport, and results like this aren’t possible without the real estate mastery and skill of agents, such as Nancy Cole, who are committed to presenting each listing in it’s best possible light. In this home, Nancy made it easy to do our job - and we like to think we made it easier for her to do hers.
Staging should be a winning proposition all the way around, and we’re always happy to help make that happen!
Ready to take your staging results to the next level? Email us at heather@glenstreetstaging.com or speak to us on the phone at (508)561-2994.