When I teach the Realtor Continuing Education class, I frequently point out how body language can affect the sale of a house. Messages that the buyer’s body sends to the buyer’s brain, can determine whether or not they will purchase that particular property. Sounds crazy, right? But it is completely true!
What message is the body giving to the brain?
When a buyer feels completely comfortable in a given space, you can see that their body is open and welcoming. Their arms swing loosely. When a buyer’s body language shows that their arms are tucked up against their body, worse yet, arms crossed against their chest, shoulders pulled inward, you can tell that a buyer feels that the house is small and unwelcoming. Even when a home is large and spacious, a buyer’s body language can show that they don’t think so.
When this happens, it is commonly because there is something in the space, that is imposing on the personal buffer. Something, perhaps like the back of a piece of furniture.
Stock Image. Used, with permission, from Gettys Images.
Furniture, art, and accessories, can frequently create invisible boundaries. Our eye stops where they begin. When they jut out into our walk ways and person space, as art may in a hallway, our body, unknowingly pulls in, protecting its space.
Stock Image. Used, with permission, from Gettys Images.
Conversely, when furniture is open, and our eyes can move to the end of a room, our bodies are not impeded by invisible walls, barriers, or objects that insert themselves to our personal space, our body will then open up again.
Momentarily look at the first photo, notice how your eyes, body, and mind take in the space. Does the space feel crowded or welcoming? Where did your eye first land, and where did it go from there. Compare this to the second photo. Sure, the second photo shows more of the room, but also notice the placement of the chairs. Notice how your eye is drawn much further into the window, vs stopping at the chairs or table.
How did this relate to buying decisions?
Skilled professionals in the staging industry, like the ones at Rave Home Staging, have honed their minds and bodies to not only pay attention to making a space beautiful, but also how to get it to make buyer’s feel comfortable, from a body and mind standpoint.
We ensure that rooms feel open, from the points when you walk in and walk out. We ensure that nothing makes the body pull itself in, telling the mind that the space is smaller than it appears. On the contrary, our job is to make spaces feel much larger than they already are by careful placement of furniture, art, and accessories. We carefully use angles to open up a room, and keep arms swinging, without leaving buyers wondering why the heck the furniture is on a “weird angle”.
Professional photography by Rave Home Staging
Interested in learning more about home staging? Have you found your previous home staging training inadequate to have conversations like these with your customers? Take one of our new home staging courses and take your business to the next level!