Moving Out or Moving In: An Empty Room is an Opportunity

In the Disney Pixar movie “Inside Out”, the main character Riley moves across the country with her parents.

When the family arrives at what will be their new home in San Francisco, she runs upstairs full of excitement to see her new room. The movie illustrates how emotions affect behavior. Riley’s “Sadness” emotion projects what a disappointment the room is because there is nothing there. The emotion “Joy” kicks in full of energy and exclaims that she once heard that an “empty room is an opportunity.” And so it can be if one makes that paradigm shift.

The home staging industry has influenced American real estate sales by marketing that a professionally staged home sells better and often more quickly. And that can be true in many situations. Most owners benefit from professional staging services and our team offers them to our clients. Yet there are those people who prefer the vacant space, the open room to visualize their own life in that home. In the words of Shakespeare in Hamlet: “For there is nothing either good or bad that thinking makes it so.” It is how the situation is framed as to whether someone views it as a benefit or a detriment.

There is no statistical evidence that provides what portion of the home buying population falls into each category. Experience tells though it is about fifty-fifty. About one-half of people benefit from having a home staged so that they can visualize placement of furniture and accessories. People are most often persuaded by the life style presented if it fits with their own needs and dreams.

One thing is for certain, space overflowing with furniture and stuff appears cluttered and prevents a buyer

from being able to see the possibilities. The other one-half benefits from having an empty room to create and envision their own life there. Thus my recommendation to clients is that we do what works best for their situation and needs.

There is also the broader interpretation of “an empty room is an opportunity”. When a person has space to think and dream, then there exists the opportunity to create something better than before. Thus it is important to keep some space available so that there is room for growth and creativity.

Karen Briscoe and Lizzy Conroy as well as their team of agents at HBC Group at Keller Williams are delighted to help you catch the vision, whether it be in selling or buying a home. Our active and experienced Realtors® work in the Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and Washington, DC market place. Please contact via the means most convenient for you: www.HBCGroupKW.com, 703-734-0192, Homes@HBCGroupKW.com.