Small Defects Dramatically Affect the Final Sales Price

In a recent New York Times article, To Sell an Apartment, No Detail Is Too Small (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/nyregion/22appraisal.html?_r=2&emc=eta1 )  brokers in New York City share how seemingly small defects in a home can drastically affect the home’s final sales price.  They also point out how certain home improvements can actually increase the value of the list price.

Here are some examples of what the New York brokers estimated the discounts that buyers of New York City properties expect of poorly prepared listings:

·         Clutter - Subtract 5 to 15 percent

·         Dirty rugs - subtract $5,000

·         Chipped plaster or broken bathroom tiles - knock $500 to $5,000 off an offer

The brokers also estimated the value of certain home improvements on the listing price, such as

·         $10,000 paint job - easily adds $50,000 to the price

·         Replacing cabinets -  add $107,000

·         New lights (cost: $2,000 replacing lighting fixtures and $250 for a professional lighting designers expertise) - Add $32,500

Clearly, the listing prices, costs of improvements and expected buyer discounts will be dramatically less for different parts of the country.  Not every area experiences New York City prices for housing (thankfully so).

What will be the same in New York or our area is the buyer psychology about houses that “need work.” 

If any updating is required, then a buyer willing to consider that house will expect a deep discount in the selling price to make up for the “sweat” and hassle required to turn that house into their new home.  There is the reverse psychology in that buyers will grant greater value to improvements that make the house “move-in ready: like painting, cabinets, lighting, and new carpeting.

Any experienced Realtor can tell stories about how clutter, dirty carpeting and chipped plaster or tiles have hurt the final sales price.  They will also have great stories about how new paint, new carpeting and other upgrades helped command premium prices.  I know from firsthand experience as a few of my successful Realtor partners use me as a consultant to help their sellers pick out paint colors, carpeting and kitchen granite – in addition to using my home staging services.

It is easy to tell the stories but much tougher to convince the seller that they need to make these investments.  Maybe you can use this New York Times article to help make the case.  Or let me know if I can share some of my experiences with your clients.

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

“to be continued” Blog Milestone

When we came up with the idea of doing a home staging blog to help educate and inform home sellers and Realtors, we did not expect much of a response.  In our area home staging is just gaining acceptance and use.  Plus, we were not sure if what we had to share would be of interest to home sellers and Realtors.

It is hard for us to believe but we surpassed 1,000 viewers with yesterday’s blog post!  To paraphrase Sally Field’s Oscar acceptance speech – You like us!  You really like “to be continued”!!

It has been motivating to watch our daily average viewers climb from 15-20 to the current daily averages of 40-50.  We especially love the “Fast Fifteen” viewers who click on our blog moments after we send out the email reminder note.  We also went global with page viewers from Lithuania, China, Russia, Spain, France, Sweden, Spain and Indonesia - thanks to our friends at Linen Me. 

We’ve gained a lot by writing this blog.  “to be continued” has introduced Transitions Home Staging and me to new Realtors.  We are partnering in a number of cases to help their clients sell their houses-- and that is what this is all about. 

We’ve been told that our blog topics have been on the agenda for agency staff meetings.  We’ve had Realtors request using our blog posts in their individual newsletters.  Another measure of the success of “to be continued” is that the number of visitors to our Transitions Home Staging web site is also up with an average of 4-6 visits per day.

Most importantly, our “to be continued” blog keeps the conversation going about the value and benefits of home staging.  We believe in professional home staging because we see the positive results in just about every home we stage.  Home staging works for all of the reasons we’ve shared in this blog. 

We will continue to continue sharing our ideas in this blog as long as you continue to find value by returning on a regular basis and sharing “to be continued” with your clients and colleagues.  If you have ideas for blog posts or for improving what we do, please let us know.

Remember to dwell in possibilities.

Cindy

Tools to Help Realtors Sell Professional Home Staging

In a tough market during difficult economic times, it can be very difficult to convince a home seller that their home can really benefit from professional home staging.  I know because certain Realtor partners engage me early in the process to help them “close the deal” on home staging. 

In some cases, we are successful in closing that deal and then the home seller benefits as we often close their deal quickly too.  In other cases, we are not successful and the house is listed without the benefit of professional home staging.  In those instances, I am frustrated but my husband reminds me that the greatest hitter in baseball, Babe Ruth, made an out 2 out of every 3 at bats!!

Here are some tools that may help you convince your sellers that professional home staging might sell their house quickly and for the highest price possible:

1.    TRANSITIONS HOME STAGING WEB SITE (http://transitions-home-staging.com)

Our web site is a valuable sales tool as it provides dozens of examples of homes we have staged.  The greatest value of the site may be the “Before” and “After” photos that are included in most home staging projects.  These shots illustrate what a huge difference home staging can make.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you can employ this web site to tell the story of professional home staging very effectively.

I would suggest you use any of the home staging projects but here are a few that I think tell the “before” and “after” story:

·         Jefferson- Bartlesville (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/JeffersonStaging.html )

·         Cherokee – Skiatook (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Cherokee--Skiatook.html )

·         Camelot Court – Bartlesville (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Camelot-Court-Staging-1.html )

·         Redbud – Broken Arrow (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Redbud---Broken-Arrow.html 

2.    “to be continued” BLOG (http://transitionshomestaging.blogspot.com )

Some Realtors use this blog to help convince their home sellers that there is great value in professional home staging.  Regular viewers of this post know that we inform and educate our viewers about the value of professional home staging. 

Some examples of informative “to be continued” blog postings include:

·         Professional Home Staging – An Investment and Not Just a Cost (March 1, 2011 Post)

·         Less than the First Price Reduction (March 2, 2011 Post)

·         Dates, Job Interviews, or Selling Your House – Is There Any Difference? (March 4, 2011 Post)

·         When It Has a For Sale Sign in Front, Your House Is No Longer Your Home (March 7, 2011 Post)

·         “The market is still really tough.  A house needs to use everything available to be competitive.” (March 30, 2011 Post)

You can find all of these postings in the “to be continued” blog archive located below my photo on the right column of the blog page.

3.    CINDY GASIOR (918-914-2144 or cindy@transitions-home-staging.com )

I am another resource to help you “close the deal” on home staging.  I can bring my expertise, enthusiasm and eye for the possible to help the home seller understand the value and return on their investment in home staging.  I can also “soften the blow” about what really should be done to make this house competitive with the rest of the houses on the market. 

In the end, the decision to invest in professional home staging is an economic decision made by the home seller.  Do they expect to receive more for their house than it cost to stage their house?  Or, will their house sell quicker if it was staged?

Our web site, blog and my presence can help our partner Realtor and the home seller see the possibilities inherent in their house which can be enhanced with professional home staging.  We know that it works.  The challenge is helping the home seller see those possibilities.

Dwell in possibilities!

ANATOMY OF A SUCCESSFUL HOME SELLER

I have the good fortune of working with some really great homeowners.  Lately it seems they have been better than great. It also seems like lately, many of these great homeowners have become successful home sellers.

So, you may ask…….What makes a success home seller?

I have a great example to share with you today. 

A realtor recently called me in to consult with a homeowner on a new listing.  I met the realtor (whom I’ll call D) and the homeowner (whom I’ll call D) at her soon to be listed home.  She had already purchased another home and moved most of the family’s belongings.  My job was to stage the home using the furniture that was left behind.

Oh, and of course, they also wanted the house to sell quickly.   You know me; I could immediately see the possibilities……

D and R gave me the tour of the house.  We went back through the house.  I gave R her “home work” and an estimate of the cost for me to stage the house.  She immediately agreed to the cost and gave me a key to the house.  We tentatively scheduled her homework, my staging work and the target listing date.     

Within the next week, R had her “home work done”!  I staged the house and D had the house on the Realtor tour.  Ten days later, D presented R with a contract.  I “un-staged” the home today since the closing is in a few days.  R and D are really happy.

So, what made R a successful home seller?  

·         She hired D, a Realtor she trusted

·         R was open to her D’s suggestions because she trusted her. One key recommendation was to hire a home stager (whom I’ll call CG!?!?!)

·         R viewed her house as a product to sell.  She knew staging the house was not about her and how she decorated her home for her family.  It was about packaging and marketing her house to sell.

·         R trusted me.  She believed that letting me “do my job” would yield the best results.

·         R did all her homework without question.  She later confessed that she initially doubted the new front door paint color but dutifully painted it anyway. 

I have to admit, most of the homeowners I work with are open and motivated to make the most out of their relationship with me.  But, selling a home is an emotional experience for many different reasons.  There are times when these emotions sometimes drag on the home selling process and make it more difficult on all involved.

I think R (whom I’ll now call Rhonda) was successful because she emotionally viewed this experience as not moving away from something, but, moving toward something else.  And in the end, she quickly became a successful home seller which was the point in the first place.  Professional home staging can make a huge difference.

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Crazy Busy- We’re Just Going to Make It Work!

This is a continuation of a conversation that I had last week with a Tulsa, Oklahoma Realtor.  We are partnering to encourage her seller to paint their bathroom to address a weakness in the house before listing it.  Her response to this challenge was that “my sellers are just crazy busy. They don’t have time so we’re just going to make it work!”

There are two parts to this conversation that I want to discuss – crazy busy and making it work.

Today, sellers, buyers and especially realtors (and a certain home stager I know quite well) are just crazy busy.  In a “normal” life, there are many, many demands and desires that pull and tug at our time, attention, and sanity.  That normal life gets turned upside down and inside out when we decide to sell or buy a house.  Selling and buying a house is high on the scale of stressful life events. 

Caught in the middle of the crazy and busy (and often over stressed) seller and buyer is the realtor.  The crazy, busy seller wants to sell their house as quickly as possible (“the first it’s listed is quite acceptable, thank you”) and for the highest possible price.  The crazy, busy buyer wants a hassle-free, move-in ready house (“no remodeling projects please”) within their price range. 

And the crazy, busy realtor just wants to make it work!

The realtor will make it work by convincing the seller to invest in making their house marketable and move-in ready.  This may include but not be limited to painting, kitchen upgrades, “de-cluttering” and/or full scale home staging.

They will make it work by employing their team of resources and network of contacts to help the seller complete the “home work” required before listing the house.

The crazy, busy realtor will make it work because that is what they do.  They do not focus on why not.  They focus on what, how and when.  As I’ve mentioned before, successful realtors dwell in the art of the possible. 

They will find a way to just make it work so that the crazy, busy seller can return to a normal life; the crazy, busy buyer can return to a normal life.  And the crazy, busy realtor will find another opportunity to make it work for another client!!!

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy