Greetings!
Do you have "But I Can do This Myself" Syndrome? Many homeowners whose homes are about to go on the market, would rather do it themselves than hire a professional home stager because they think they can, or they think they will save money.
Either way, it's best to leave it up to a professional. While there a few things you can do to get the ball rolling, such as decluttering and packing away items you won't use while the home is on the market, do you really know what to do and have the time to do it?
So, if your home is on the market or is about to go on the market, please contact me for a vacant staging estimate or a home staging consultation.
Warmest regards,
Donna M. Dazzo, President
Designed to Appeal
P.S. In preparation for the Fall selling season, I am once again offering my semi-annual Special on Home Staging Consultations. See the coupon at the bottom of this newsletter. Offer expires August 31, 2009, so schedule your consultation right away! |
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The "But I Can Do This Myself" Syndrome
Recently I did an estimate for a staging of a vacant apartment in Manhattan. I was told by the real estate agent that the homeowner wanted to interview and get estimates from 3 stagers. After submitting my proposal, I was told that the homeowner decided to "stage" the apartment himself. Here I thought my competition was the other stagers, but in fact it was the homeowner himself!
While I understand homeowners' perceived need to save money by doing it themselves, they really shouldn't because they...
- ...cannot view their own home through a buyer's eyes
- ...cannot view their own home objectively
- ...are so used to their home's flaws, they don't see them anymore (I once had a client who completely forgot she put pink plastic over her smoke detector so it wouldn't sound when she was cooking)
- ...don't have a designer's eye
- ...don't have the expertise of a professional stager as to what needs to be done or not
- ...may not have the time or patience
- ...are already overwhelmed with looking for a new house and moving.
So the next time you are thinking of doing it yourself, stop and think about it and ask yourself:
Do I really know what I'm doing? Is this how I want to be spending my time? |
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Market Overview:
New York, NY
While prices have not shown any improvement, the number of homes for sale and days on the market have recently decreased.
According to Prudential Douglas Elliman, for the quarter ended 6/30/09:
- The median sales price for all homes (new developments and re-sales) was $835,700 down 14.3% from the prior three months and down 18.5% from same time last year
- The average sales price per square foot was $1,064, a decrease of 16% from the prior quarter and the same time last year.
- The number of sales was down 28% from the prior quarter and a sharp 50% from the same quarter last year
- There are 9,378 homes for sale, down 10% from the prior quarter and down 8.7% from the 2nd quarter 2008.
- Days on the market was 162, up 20% from 2nd quarter 2008, but down 5% from its peak earlier this year.
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Tips and Tricks of the Trade
When selling a home, it is very important that it be light and bright. Buyers do not respond well to dark spaces. Here are a few tips and tricks to brighten up your home:
- Remove screens from windows - this lets more of the natural light through
- Wash the windows - seems to be common sense, but you'd be surprised at what a difference it makes!
- Remove awnings from windows and over doors
- Replace drapes with sheers where possible - sheers provide warmth and softness to a room but still let the light show through
- Swap out low wattage bulbs for higher wattage ones
- Keep all lights turned on during an open house or showings
- Use uplighting in dark corners - either a tall floor lamp called a torchiere or a can light placed on the floor
- Place wall and floor mirrors where they can reflect natural light
- Use neutral paint colors on the walls
- Brighten up dark furnishings with throw pillows in a bright color
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...the return on investment when selling a home for the following Top Home Improvements?
- Clean and declutter: 580%
- Lighten and brighten: 370%
- Staging: 350%
- Landscape front/back yards: 320%
This is according to a 2007 HomeGain survey of over 2,000 real estate agents nationwide.
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Market Overview: The East End
According to George R. Simpson, President of Suffolk Research Service, Inc., the real estate market on the East End of Long Island is showing strong signs that a market turnaround has happened in the 2nd quarter of 2009.
Mr. Simpson reported that all three of the market indicators: Median Price, Unit Sales, and Dollar Volume of Sales showed a turnaround in the 2nd quarter of 2009.
Median price grew by 2.4%, dollar sales increased by more than 32% and unit sales increased by 34% in the 2nd quarter of 2009 compared to the 1st quarter of 2009.
However, the Median Price of single family residences for East End Real Estate decreased 19.7% from $735,000 in 2nd quarter 2008 to $590,000 for 2nd quarter of 2009 -- (Median Price is the middle price when all houses sold are listed in order of price).
Median Prices for single family homes have declined in the 2nd Qtr 2009 from 2nd Qtr 2008 in all the towns on the East End to...
- $760,000 in Southampton (down 14.7%)
- $950,000 in East Hampton (down 5%)
- $355,000 in Riverhead (down 13.6%)
- $855,000 in Shelter Island (down 24.3%)
- $450,000 in Southold (down 13.6%)
Also, Dollar Volume of Sales for all the towns on the East End declined 54% in the 2nd quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year. |
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Recently I did a Home Staging Consultation for the owner of a lovely bayfront cottage on the North Fork of Long Island. While the views were great, the interior needed decluttering, painting and some updating. The outside needed some TLC to make it more appealing.
So, I detailed everything the homeowner needed to do to turn this cottage into a charming retreat that buyers could imagine themselves living in.
Despite the fact that the owner was in her early 80s, she said she didn't need my help to implement any of the plan and did it all herself or found her own contractors to do it for her.
Here are a few before and after pictures the real estate agent sent to me:
BEFORE
 AFTER
Here's what the real estate agent had to say after the consultation and staging was completed:
"Just a note to thank you for your help in staging Ms. Miller's bayfront home in East Marion. She totally followed through on your advice, and rearranged, removed, covered, and repainted many things. She even removed the overgrown cedars in the front of the home, and replaced them with hydrangea. What a team - you and she! A few weeks ago, I had another public open house, and it was amazing and gratifying to hear the appreciative remarks... about the view and attractive features of the home. I had not heard these kinds of statements at open houses prior to the staging. Thank you for your professional services."
Sincerely,
Pamela L. Paynter
Brown Harris Stevens
Greenport, Long Island
Click here for more information and to schedule a Home Staging Consultation | |
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