A Special Treat – Better After

If you follow my work, you know that home staging is all about the before and after shots.  I enjoy the dramatic changes that I can make to a room or a house that makes it appealing to as many buyers as possible.

Imagine how happy I was to find a new blog - Better After – The Best of Your Before and Afters.  It is a showcase of the before and after of design projects and makeovers. 

The blogger, Lindsey, builds her site with inspiration from its readers.  As she explains, Better After is “a showcase of my favorite part of any design project or makeover: The before and afters! It's always better after!”  Who knows, you may see Transitions Home Staging before and after photos one day in Lindsey’s blog.

Better After may feature transformations of thrift store treasures or overlooked items into beautiful and functional design and decor. Lindsey is “endlessly inspired by what people can conceive and create”.

Check out what Lindsey has to offer at http://betterafter.blogspot.com/2009/10/project-hutches.html . It is my treat for you today!!!

Dwell in the possibilities before and the results after!!

Cindy

The Family Room Fireplace Staging Conundrum

Philosophers value its essence (“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace” ~Cicero). Authors glorify it (“You are a king or queen by your own fireside, as much as any monarch on the throne” ~ Cervantes).  Poets romanticize about it (“Flames dancing, Wood popping, Satin and lace, Love by the fireplace” ~ Lamar Cole).

And home stagers love the fireplace as a focal point.  But we also often have a conundrum about it especially when the fireplace is in the family room!!! 

How do you draw attention to the fireplace when the family room also should have a place for a television?  If you stage the family room without considering the placement of a television then the buyer is left with questions about where their 48”-1080p HD set will go in that room.  If you stage for the television as the focal point, odds are that the furniture placement obscures the fireplace.

What to do?  What to do?

My solution is to keep the fireplace as the natural focal point.  It provides architectural interest in the house.  It can display interesting art that makes the family room come alive.  And, the fireplace evokes the emotions of home and hearth in the imagination of the buyer.

I also make sure to show how a TV can function in the family room.  For example in the Redbud project, I placed a console and large mirror (with a sign that read “Imagine Your TV here”) to the right of the fireplace and with sight lines from the furniture.  The buyer can enjoy the beauty of the fireplace but also imagine the functionality of the family room as a center of activity.

As you know with a professionally staged house, buyers imagine living in that house and making it their home.  A buyer will imagine their best selves living in the home.  And if we do it right, buyers imagine the possibilities of sitting near the warmth of their fireplace while watching a Blue ray DVD of the latest blockbuster movie!!

Remember to dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Happy Tax Day!

In my former life as a CPA with a tax practice, the final tax day (usually April 15^th) was a flurry of activity and the final blessed hours of a grueling marathon.  From early January until mid-April, I worked almost non-stop meeting with clients, preparing their tax returns and serving as their “sounding board” for life issues. 

It was an exhausting and yet very exhilarating time for me because at that time, I loved what I was doing.  As I mentioned before, what made that tax practice so special were the people that I served and got to know.  The relationships made it special work.  But that was then and this is now.

Now, I am doing something else that I absolutely love – home staging and interior design.  I am having the time of my life helping home sellers and Realtors make the most of their house by selling it quicker and for the best possible price with the assistance of my home staging expertise.  I love the relationships I form with my extended family of partner Realtors and savvy sellers.  While it may not be as lucrative as a tax practice, Transitions Home Staging has so many other rewards. 

Since I completed tax returns for many self-employed professionals in my day, I know that today may be very stressful for many Realtors.  Now that I am among your ranks, I feel your pain.  I suggest you find solace in the possibilities of 2011 and beyond – that is what I am doing.

Regardless of how much you owe or the size of your refund, I wish you a Happy Tax Day!!! 

Remember to dwell in “the art of the possible”!

Cindy

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