Staging New Hampshire

Did you know that your personal information could be in the hands of an identity thief just because your doctor or lawyer makes copies of it?  This is a very interesting report from CBS news.

It's been a busy weekend - both work and play.  It feels good to get things accomplished that need to get done.  It's somehow easier to get motivated when the sun is shining...like you have extra charge in your batteries.

Yesterday we did some yard work in the morning and then rewarded ourselves by taking the Harley out for the afternoon.  The weather couldn't be better.  We rode along the coast with the perfect combination of sunshine and ocean breeze.  We stopped for lunch and enjoyed our first lobster roll of the season.

Today we cleaned all the windows, inside and out, and all the screens.  I totally understand why cleaning people say "we don't do windows" with such conviction. 

Hubby has hit the road on the Harley and I'm cleaning up the mess we made cleaning the windows.   I seem to be in the cleaning mood today so I don't mind staying behind.  I'll open the windows and enjoy the fresh air as I clean.   

There is a special kind of satisfaction that comes from crossing items off my to-do list!  

Sometimes the reward you give yourself is a Harley ride and sometimes it's getting the house to yourself for a couple hours to tackle those jobs that you never seem to have the time for. 

Selling your house?  Today's market requires that your house stand out from the competition with details  that buyers won't soon forget.  Being remembered for the wrong reason, however, can be the kiss of death.  One negative detail can be responsible for crossing a house off their list, when it would have been the buyer's first choice otherwise. 

I recently did a home staging consultation for a "home school" family.  The house is beautiful, but many of it's positive features were being over shadowed by the family's lifestyle. 

The formal living room was being used as a classroom.  It is one of the first rooms seen upon entering the house, and is crucial to first impression.  The walls had a painted mural and the ceiling was a "faux painted"  sky with clouds.

Advice:  Paint the room and ceiling.  Create focal interest on the shelves.  

The crown molding, wood floors, and custom shelves are what you want buyers to notice and remember. 

Across the room was a kitchen sink and cabinets that the family used for art projects. 

The realtor's suggestion:  "Try to make it look like a wet bar."

The seller had removed some of the cabinets and this is what remained when I consulted.  It was their intention to leave it as a "wet bar" as suggested by the realtor.

After I explained that the odds were slim that any buyer would consider this anything other than a misplaced kitchen sink, in what should be the living room, they agreed to remove it.  

The dining room was red with a yellow accent wall.  School science items were stored across the top of the dated, oak room divider.

Advice:  Paint the room to match the living room.  Paint the oak cabinet the trim color and add new hardware.  Remove the school items.

The office/study was...a work in progress. They weren't sure whether to finish it or leave it for the new buyers to finish. 

Advice:  Finish the custom cabinetry.  Paint walls and trim.  Paint fireplace surround to match trim.

The sellers did an excellent job following my suggestions for improvement.  I was very pleased with the results of their hard work.

Now when buyers visit this house it won't be "a sink in the living room" or "science projects in the dining room" that they remember. 

The following was written by Bridget Cella, a NJ Re/Max agent.  Bridget and eleven other ActiveRain members were selected recently to be quoted in Realtor Magazine. 

Impressive that Realtor Magazine used ActiveRain to obtain sources and great advice for the current market.

Although it is true that listing a house vacant is not the best way to go, sometimes vacant is better than the alternative.  Home staging is not always about bringing furniture in.  Sometimes it is more about taking stuff out.  I recently did a home staging consultation where this was the case.  

What makes this job especially interesting is that the house has a large in-law apartment.  The seller's parents had been living there and "hoarding" was an issue.  The seller was concerned that the apartment's condition would be a problem and consulted with the Realtor she planned to list with.

The realtor said  "it's not the main house - it's extra space, and it really doesn't matter."  The seller was told it would not be an issue and they could empty it once the house sold.  (Strike One on the part of this Realtor)

The seller, questioning this advice, wanted to consult a professional home stager before listing but the realtor did not know any stagers.  (Strike Two)

The seller found Sharon Tara Transformations via an online search.

My advice regarding this space:

If you do not empty, clean, and repaint this apartment you'll be making a huge mistake.  Whatever you do in the rest of the house won't matter if buyers see this....this is the memory they will take away with them.  This "extra space" needs to be prepared for sale and marketed just like the rest of the house.  This is a valuable asset you could use to your advantage. 

The sellers were limited on funds and time and they had the rest of a large house to contend with.  They did what they had to do...and they really impressed me with their determination and hard work.  They called on family and friends to help them and in a very short time completed the beautiful transformation.  

Professional home stagers, myself included, will usually advise against listing vacant.

• MLS photos of an empty house can't compete with photos of houses that have been staged.
• Empty rooms look smaller and have a hollow, lonely feeling.
• Negative features stand out and will be much more obvious to buyers.
• There is no frame of reference to show buyers the scale and size of the rooms.
• Vacant homes statistically stay on the market longer. This sends out a distress signal, suggesting to buyers that the sellers, having moved on, are desperate to sell. This will result in receiving lower offers.

That said,  when it comes to preparing your house for sale, make a priority list and do what you can with the resources available to you at the time. 

Sure, in this situation it would have been nice to bring in some furniture and to paint the oak cabinets, but the priority was to remove the distraction and highlight the woodwork and flooring. 

 Note:  The seller decided not to list with the above mentioned Realtor.