How Outdoor Styling Can Add Up to $200K to Your Sale Price
We were recently invited to contribute to a piece by Woodbury Furniture exploring the real dollar value of outdoor styling ahead of the Spring selling season. The collaboration brought together our property advocacy experience with Woodbury’s interior design expertise to look at where smart, targeted investment in outdoor spaces actually moves the needle at sale.
The answer, based on recent case studies and sales data, is that it moves it considerably.
A styled outdoor space can increase a sale price by up to 20%, and in some suburbs even more. That is not a theoretical figure. We recently worked with a vendor on an east-facing terrace in Wollstonecraft where new flooring and lounge furniture helped transform the presentation. The home had a market opinion of $1.25 million. It sold for $1.6 million, $350,000 above expectation.
The investment that drives those results does not need to be extraordinary. On a current suburban listing, a $20,000 outdoor staging budget is expected to generate between $150,000 and $200,000 in added value. That is the kind of return that makes outdoor styling one of the most efficient pre-sale decisions a vendor can make.
Start at the Kerb
Street presence is the biggest advantage a house has over an apartment. Time-poor buyers make quick decisions, and many determine whether to attend an inspection based on the facade alone. Styling needs to start at the front of the property and carry through to every outdoor space, including the backyard, balcony, or courtyard.
The approach also needs to reflect the likely buyer. Urban first-home buyers will connect more readily with relaxed lounge settings that suggest entertaining with friends than with formal dining arrangements. Knowing your target demographic shapes every presentation decision.
Quality Signals Care
Buyers read outdoor spaces as a proxy for how the whole property has been maintained. High-end outdoor pieces improve visual appeal and tell buyers the home has been well looked after. They also save the incoming owner time and money in setting up the space themselves, which is a genuine selling point.
The reverse is equally true. Cheap or worn furniture, peeling surfaces, overgrown gardens, or rusting fittings signal neglect, and buyers notice that within seconds.
Read the full feature at Woodbury Furniture woodburyfurniture.com.au/blogs/news/outdoor-furniture-styling-boost-property-value
