A real estate listing popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday.  It was, from the outside, an unassuming brick maisonette in a nondescript Adelaide suburb.  So why was my friend, who lives interstate with no plans to move, sharing it?  And then it popped up again.  And again.  It popped up on Twitter by that afternoon. I clicked on the link and looked at the home. 

It was extraordinary, for all the wrong reasons.  The carpets were brightly patterned and clashed spectacularly with the walls, which in every room were papered with pictures of cats.  More pictures dangled from the ceiling in makeshift mobiles.  There were shelves and cupboards lining every wall, stuffed full of dolls, toy cats, and more dolls.  Bright frilly decor added to the effect, which should have come with a warning for anyone prone to epilepsy. 

Don’t believe me?  Here it is.

Looking at it, I wondered what the real estate agent was thinking.  Had he tried to persuade the vendor that she’d do better to clear out the personal items and pull down the ‘wallpaper’, only to be met with refusal?  Or – and this is what intrigued me – had he decided to keep it as it was?

We all know the standard wisdom for home staging.  Paint the walls a neutral colour.  Rid the rooms of personal items.  The less you have inside the house, the bigger it looks.  People want to be able to see past your life and superimpose their new one onto the rooms.  It’s usually good advice.

But those homes, unless they’re spectacular in their own right, don’t generate social media shares.   So, faced with a completely ordinary home in a completely ordinary suburb, did the real estate agent make a very smart decision to leverage the one extraordinary thing about it?

But Tanya, you say, if you’re inclined to talk to blog posts, what is the point of exposure if the house puts people off?   Well, you’d be surprised what attracts people, for a start.  I’ve already seen someone comment on how bright and kitsch the home is, and if she was looking to buy it would be right up her alley.  For people who value quirky kitsch in their lives, it’s easier to imagine themselves in a home someone else has already demonstrated can be made to stand out.  With hipsters entering the market, retro or ironic furnishings can be a drawcard.

And there’s a second group of buyers that listings like this attract: the bargain hunters.  Never underestimate this group.  They’re on the lookout for homes that are presented badly, in hopes that they’ll be the only ones who look past the decor to the bones of the structure.  Ironically for them, there are so many people in this group that homes which look like bargains can sometimes go for more than the equivalent.

In February of 2016, a Sydney home made the national news when it was discovered that a dead body had been inside for eight years.  The place was completely derelict, as the deceased owner had lived there alone and increasingly unwell until her lonely death.  Photographs of the home’s interior, with layers of grime, mould and grim disrepair, were shared widely. 

The place was auctioned as-is, with no attempts made to clean it up (save, of course, for removing the body).  Bids started at $600,000 and were expected to finish at around $700,000.  Instead, the tidal wave of publicity saw ten interested bidders turn up and compete fiercely, all believing that they were about to grasp a bargain – after all, how many places in inner Sydney would be in this bad a condition?  In the end, the house sold for $1.1 million, not far below the median price for an equivalent home in tip-top condition.

Sometimes, a house which is poorly presented looks more attractive to bargain hunters than one which has been done up.  So next time you’re landed with a vendor who doesn’t want to spend the money on staging, or a plain old ugly duckling, think outside the box.  If nothing else, you’ll get a reputation for honesty, and you might just walk away with a fat commission to boot.

~ Tanya Ashworth-Keppel