Idols and Incense and Offerings, oh my!
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Over the course of my home staging career, I have worked with many clients whose religion plays a prominent role in their lives. As you can imagine, this can become a challenge on both sides during the home selling process. Regardless if you’re Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic or otherwise, devout followers have their own way of paying respect to their higher power. Religious displays can be as simple as a candle and a rosary to massive prayer alters. I have seen shrines of all sizes. Those who have experience with real estate will not find any of the following photos surprising, but they can be intimidating, especially to prospective buyers who don’t have the same familiarity. Some sellers don’t have a problem with removing these displays and assume it is part of the home preparation process, while others react to the suggestion as if they would be sent straight to h-e-l-l. As real estate professionals, it is your obligation to let your clients know that it is NOT in their best interest to leave such religious icons displayed. It intimidates and many times turns buyers off, especially when they are strewn throughout the property. Regardless of personal beliefs, this is when depersonalizing a property really comes into play. I have worked on a handful of projects where religion was a significant aspect of the homeowner’s lives, but one in particular was so much so that it actually deterred buyers from considering their property. Crosses, idols, burning incense and abundant displays of food offerings do not help to set the stage for a successful home sale. Unfortunately, if they choose to ignore your advice, they will suffer the penalties as did the homeowners in the following case study. Prior to my working with these sellers, the property had been on the market for several months without any offers and ultimately did not sell. Mind you, this was during a hot real estate market. The Realtor representing the sellers had asked me to work on the project but because it was located outside of my desired service area, I referred it to home stagers who were closer to them. I later found out that no Stager in the area wanted to work with this property for a number of reasons, but mostly because the sellers were adamant about leaving their family room as is… a full-time prayer room. It had been recommended that they remove the altar and redesign the space to make it more welcoming. All very plausible and reasonable recommendations. Unfortunately, the sellers were not willing to make the sacrifice, even for the short term. They were very religious and prayed every morning and every night and even had meetings in their home. There were other issues with the property that needed correction, but this was probably the most significant. So what do you do? We already knew that leaving the property in “as is” condition was not going to help it sell. We had several months of inactivity on the market to prove that. Since the rosewood furniture weighed a ton and there was no easy way of moving it, I recommended that they scale back what was on display and instructed them to store very specific items (idols, incense, food offerings, and kneeling cushions) when they were not in use and to only take those items out during their rituals. They agreed. We then brought in chairs and a table and other accessories to create a cozy family room atmosphere. The altar was stripped of the extremes and ended up looking more like furniture than an intimidating religious display. That room makeover along with work on the rest of the property got this listing sold in 2 weeks at $10,000 above asking!
So the next time you are faced with a similar challenge, here are some recommendations:
1. Ideally, all displays should be removed while the house is on the market. If that’s not possible, smaller displays should be hidden in a closet while not in use and taken out as needed.
2. Larger displays as seen in the case study should be scaled back to be less intimidating. Many of the items can be stored when not in use, but remain readily accessible.
3. Eliminate burning incense in the home as much as possible. Those scents linger in the air and attach to fabric surfaces which make it difficult to air out the space. Scents are very personal and can leave a lasting negative impression on prospective buyers.
4. Be Creative and think outside-of-the-box as described in the case study. If a seller is not willing to remove certain things, figure out how you can work around it OR polish up on your persuasion skills!
5. Be empathetic. Make sure they feel that you understand how important their religious rituals are to them and emphasize that the changes are only temporary.
Hope you find these tips helpful and lead to a successful home sale!
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