Friday Treat - Mind Bending and Still a Delicious Feast for the Eyes

This week’s Friday Treat is mind bending on many levels.  Imagine an Upper East Side New York City limestone mansion (only 25-foot wide) with yearly taxes of $100,000 and listed for $28.8 million (not sure how to get my mind around those figures).  Now imagine giving free rein to 18 world class design firms to design and transform 17 rooms on six floors.  Then let’s allow tens of thousands of visitors to explore and experience this elegant exhibition of fine furnishings, art and technology.  That in a nutshell is the Kips Bay Decorator Show House.

The sponsor and beneficiary of this annual, world-renowned design event is the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club which draws about $1 million (20 percent of its operating costs) from the proceeds of the show house.  .

Not only is the Kips Bay Decorator Show House a mind bending experience, it is a delicious feast for the eyes.  Explore and experience the decorator show house online by viewing the New York Times slide of the 2011 decorator show house at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/13/garden/20101014-KIPSBAY.html .  Then take a few minutes to visit the official web site of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House at- http://www.kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org/index.htm .  Who knows, you may be inspired enough to book a flight to NYC and see it all in person!!!

Next week, we plan to visit a less mind bending but no less eye catching experience – The Tulsa Designer Showcase 2011 at the newly renovated Campbell Hotel on historic Route 66.  We will share pictures and reactions to this wonderful annual charitable design event.

Remember to dwell in possibilities

Cindy

“I Just Love What You Did to My House!” – Our Home Seller of the Week

As promised, I am back to talk more about this house that we staged recently in Tulsa, OK.  It was music to my ears when the home owner/seller told me that she loved what I did to her house!!  But she is our new Home Seller of the Week because she updated her house and then realized the benefits of professional home staging.. 

This home staging actually took place in two stages.  Based on a website search, the home owner (let’s call her “L”) contacted me for consultation on how to improve her vacant and for sale mid-town Tulsa home.  “L” knew that the colors that her family liked were not the right colors that would appeal to prospective buyers.  Plus, she knew that her house needed a few updates.  

My proposal was a new paint color palette that lightened the space and made a graceful flow from room-to-room.  I also recommended that “L” replace the light fixture in the breakfast eating area.  Since the home was vacant, I also recommended that we bring in furniture and accessories.  My recommendations would not only make the house show well, but the online photographs used in the marketing would be wonderful.   At that time, “L” decided to make the paint and lighting updates but to put the staging plan on hold.

After a month or so, “L” called to tell me that she decided to proceed with the staging plan.  Her goal was to sell this house and she believed that it needed the benefit of professional home staging.  We also agreed that the house needed to look its best the moment it was put on the market. 

Given the good “bones” of this house, I had lots of fun dressing it up with clean lined furniture, colorful artwork, and tasteful accessories.

You can see for yourself in the pictures accompanying this posting or by visiting our website for a selection of “Before” and “After” photos of the Delaware project (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Delaware-Tulsa.html ).  You can see why “L” exclaimed “I just love what you did to my house!” 

“L” is my Home Seller of the Week because she took the extra steps of repainting and updating her house as well as using a professional home stager.  In the end, “L” realized that her house was a product that needed to appeal to as many buyers as possible.  She understood the possibilities I recommended and we worked together to make it happen!

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Realtor 911 Call

Home staging opportunities come from many sources – website, this blog, word-of-mouth, and Realtor partners.  The most interesting home staging opportunities come from “Realtor 911 Calls” for help.  These calls involve problems and issues with the house needing an “intervention” by a professional home stager.

In some instances, my Realtor partners share the problems with the house before I arrive so I am somewhat prepared.  “We need to take the ‘Mee-Maw’ out of this house”.  In other instances, they ask if they can buy an hour or two of my time to consult on a listing.  When I arrive, I quickly discover that this was really a “Realtor 911 call in disguise” as this house does require a strong home staging intervention!  “This kitchen is why she wanted my time today.  Now I get it.”

Here are just a few samples of the seller comments that prompt the “Realtor 911 Call” from my partners:

·         “I love my family and want their pictures on every wall of every room.  Who wouldn’t want to see my lovely family pictures from the past 3-5 generations?”

·         “I’ve had these dollies, ruffle curtains, calico lined baskets, and mementos in my house since my children were in school in the 70’s.  They are a part of who I am.” 

·         “What’s the problem with using my dining room as a home office?  It is a great use of space.”

·          “I’ve been a teacher 20 years. This house is full of teacher gifts hanging on every wall and displayed on every possible surface.  They just show the love my students had for me.”

Of course, there may be more fundamental issues that really detract from the possibilities of the house.  The home sellers adore Felix the Cat or Fido the Dog.  As a result, they forget about how much their lovely pet smells up the house.  They are surprised to learn that some buyers have pet allergies and will leave their house within 5 minutes of entering – never to return!

Another fundamental issue requiring a “Realtor 911 Call” is paint coloring.  The seller’s response to the idea of repainting rooms in their house is often:

·         “Why wouldn’t a home buyer just love my beautiful pink bedroom and bright yellow kitchen?” 

·         “I just paid $500 five years ago to have these rooms painted.  And you want me to paint them again?”

My Realtor partners bring me in on these “Realtor 911 Calls” because they know that I will be firm but tactful in helping the seller understand what needs to be changed, removed, updated and painted.  I have a sufficient track record of success both with easing the seller into making these changes as well as having those types of houses sell relatively quickly. 

Plus, I can play the role of “bad cop” (although I am more like “not exactly nice cop” – my mother did not raise a “bad cop” daughter!!!) while my Realtor partner can play the “good cop”. 

We work together to help the seller understand the realities of selling their house  as well as the possibilities and benefits of making the recommended changes and staging their house to appeal to as many buyers as possible.  In the end, the most important possibility is selling this house so that they can move on to the next life adventure in their new home.

Remember to always dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

A Labor of Love

I really love staging houses and helping my clients sell their houses for the best price possible in the shortest period of time.  This week I was engaged in a labor of love helping my husband’s mother, Mary Gasior, transition into her next life adventure in an assisted living center.  We moved her to her new home and then painted, updated and staged her house which was placed on the market for sale. 

This labor of love also explains why I’ve been a bit spotty in posting to “to be continued”.  Without cable or internet access and with jam-packed days of work, it was tough to find the time for “to be continued”.

Mary lived for 10 years in a 55-plus community in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.  Due to health issues, she needed to move to the assisted living center and sell her house.  I must confess that it is one thing to tell a client her house needs to be painted and updated and quite another to tell your mother-in-law!   

We painted her house with top selling colors from Sherwin Williams (Ivorie – SW 6127 and Blonde – SW 6128) – and the colors were spectacular.  They were elegant and inviting.  We updated the bathroom light fixture and changed out all of the cabinet pulls.  For about $500 and a good bit of sweat equity from my husband and his sister’s family, we made her house look fresh and almost like new.

We filled our SUV to the brim with staging accessories and artwork for the staging side of this adventure.  We used a few pieces of furniture Mary was not taking to the assisted living center and picked up a table at Pier One.  It is often wonderful to see what can be accomplished with some basics and a whole lot of ingenuity.

There was a lot of pressure on this home stager who sets perfection as her standard.  Since this was for family, the end product needed to be perfection plus.  The accompanying photos tell the story better than I can so check them out.

The good news is that the family was very impressed with how we were able to transform her house. 

With the help of the statue of St. Joseph buried in the backyard, Mary’s horoscope about something good happening for her in real estate on May 9^th and lot of hard work, we are hopeful that this house sells quickly in a tough real estate market. 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

PS – Happy Mother’s Day to every mother out there and especially to Kaye Stafford (my mom), Mary Gasior (my mother-in-law) and Florene Britt (my 95 year old grandmother!)

Remarkable Is the New Business as Usual

Wow!  This certainly sets a high standard for Realtors and home sellers.  I read this line in a Facebook marketing report.  As you can imagine, it struck a chord with me. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I set a very high standard for myself when I am given an opportunity to stage someone’s house.  My standard is perfection and it is not always easy to attain.  Now I need to add remarkable to my list of standards!!!

If you think about it, this standard makes sense for selling houses.  In a competitive real estate market, the savvy seller and proactive Realtor want their house to be remarkable as well as competitive. 

Who wants to buy mediocre, “just OK” or similar to the rest of the houses on the market?  The only buyers I can imagine wanting this are those buyers looking for a bargain by offering a dramatically reduced price.

Most buyers don’t imagine themselves living in ordinary or “just OK”. They imagine themselves living in different, unique or special.  Buyers want to imagine their best selves in the house they intend to buy.

Professional home staging can transform “just OK” into “this house is unique, special and remarkable”.  By accentuating the house’s best features and providing a nice, easy and consistent use of space and movement a professionally staged house appeals to as many buyers as possible.  Most importantly, home staging helps sell the house quicker and for the highest price possible.

With a professionally staged house, buyers imagine living in that house and making it their home.  And that is because this staged house was remarkable – the new business as usual.

Remember to dwell in possibilities!

Cindy