Fall Staging Tips

Property Management

By Erica Rascón on Sep 8, 2015 in News

As a property manager, taking the time to stage your property shows prospects that you’ve got it together. You are prepared, detail-oriented, and organized. You want guests to feel welcomed and comfortable on your property. Such nonverbal marketing turns prospects into tenants. The decorating tips below will make your last-minute fall decorations quick and simple.

Interior Decor

Your property is likely one of a dozen that a tenant has considered. To make your property memorable, skip the obvious choice of fake pumpkins and scarecrows. Step outside of the average color palette by adding purple and gray to your autumnal arrangements. Use gray as your neutral instead of (or with) black, white, or brown. Purple is a beautiful contrast to fall’s popular reds, oranges, and yellows.

 

Art it Up

Wall art is easy to change out with each season.

Choosing art with fall colors is a subtle way to celebrate the season even if the subject of the painting does not include fall imagery.

Comfy and Cozy

Play with the arrangement of throws and quilts. These little touches can instantly transform a nondescript couch into a welcoming retreat. Quilts can also double as wall art.

 

A Savory Smell

Scent creates a strong bond to memory. A few carefully placed candles or essential oil diffusers will go a long way towards creating lasting memories for visitors. Pumpkin and apple scents are always a favorite at this time of year. For a more creative touch, consider clove, anise, fennel, and other cooking spices that are common during holiday meals.

Exterior Decor

Exterior designs can be tough: brown grass, sparse foliage, dry–or worse, soggy–leaves on the ground.

In some areas, the best thing that you can do for your property is to keep it tidy: frequently remove fallen leaves from lawns, walkways, and gutters. This may mean temporarily adjusting the maintenance schedule for your property. It’s worth it. A kempt appearance goes a long way towards making a good first impression.

Remove dying plants from flowerbeds and containers. Replace them with heartier plants. Consider ornamental cabbage, fountain grass, flower stalwarts, blue star juniper, euonymus varieties, and lavender.

 

From Outside to Inside

You can’t change the weather, but there are things that you can do to make it more bearable for prospects. Start with your welcome mat. Rubber is a durable choice for summers, but more absorbent and mildly abrasive mats are best for fall. At this time of year, shoes track in water and slick debris from outside.

An umbrella holder and jacket stand are also a nice touch, allowing prospects to discard their bulky items. Without bulky, damp clothing prospects can truly get comfortable when touring the property.

Cover your pool when it closes for the season. If your cover looks worse for wear, give it a quick clean with a water hose and biodegradable soap. (For stuck-on grime, consider using a push broom as a scrub brush.) It’s a small detail that will make your pool and sundeck marketable even when they not in use.