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Greetings!
We seem to be busier than ever this summer, traditionally a slow period for real estate.
One of our more successful stagings recently involved an owner-occupied apartment for real estate agent, Lisa Wiener-Koenig of Halstead. Her listing received an accepted offer 16 days after it was staged at very close to asking price!
See the before and after photos below.
Warmest regards,
Donna M. Dazzo, President
Designed to Appeal |
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Testimonials of the Month
"The apartment looks amazing!"
Halstead Property
"We love how the apartment looks and can't even believe it's our same apartment!"
Tom McCosker, Homeowner |
 Staged and Sold in 16 Days!
The beauty of this owner-occupied one-bedroom loft apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village couldn't be seen through all of its clutter and excess furniture.
So in our home staging consultation, we recommended the following, and the motivated sellers got it all done in less than a week:
- Paint the walls in the main living areas a warm beige. The white staircase against the dark gray walls seemed to magnify the awkward position of the staircase.
- Remove all of the excess clutter by discarding it or packing it up and storing it, which the owners would have to do anyway once the place was sold.
- Remove large pieces of furniture, including the (lovely) Barcelona chairs, desk, dog pen, and bookcase in the living room, to make room for a dining area, so that the foyer could be repositioned from a dining area back to a foyer.
- Purchase area rugs for the living room and foyer and fresh white towels for the bathroom.
- Give us a small budget to replace the bland and outdated ceiling light fixtures in the foyer and kitchen and to shop for some decorative accessories to take things up a notch.
- Allow us to reposition the existing artwork for optimal placement.
Their total investment in staging and improvements was a little over 1% of the asking price and well worth the investment, given the quick and profitable results.
Here are the dramatic before and after photos:
Foyer Before
The foyer needed to be repositioned back to its original purpose,so the large dining table and white "nightstand" were removed. The dining chairs were moved to the living room.
Foyer After
First impressions are lasting impressions. The bookcase in the living room was moved here to be repurposed as a foyer console.
Living Room Before
The lovely Barcelona chairs, desk, bookcase and dog pen were taking up too much valuable space in the living room.
Living Room/Dining Area After
Playing off the existing orange artwork and throw pillows, we rented these small-scale orange chairs, as well as a smaller, clear glass dining table to create a dining area with the existing dining chairs.
Living Room Before
Living Room/Dining Area After
Kitchen Before
Items on top of a refrigerator just tell a buyer that there's not enough storage in this kitchen.
Kitchen After
We found this cool wall clock in the dining room. |
Market Overview: New York, NY
"Sales slowed in July after a strong June but improved from last year with a cumulative 3% uptick in contracts signed. Condos and co-ops experienced positive average pricing gains from this time last year. New listings entering the market slowed in July which brought the number of total listings to its lowest level since the end of 2010." The following is a comparison of July 2011 vs. July 2010: Market Wide: - Listings on the market decreased 3% to 8,815
- New listings represent 18% of the total number of listings
Condos: - The median sale price increased 2% to $1,112,500
- The average price per square foot increased 8% to $1,447
- Days on the market dipped 1% to 175
- Discount from last asking price to sale price decreased 61% to 3.6%
- Listed inventory decreased 12% to 3,835 units
- Number of contracts signed increased 10% to 338
Co-ops: - The median sale price increased 4% to $686,000
- The average price per square foot increased 5% to $967
- Days on the market dipped 5% to 132
- Discount from last asking price to sale price decreased 24% to 4.4%
- Listed inventory increased 6% to 4,379 units
- Number of contracts signed decreased 3% to 415
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Tips and Tricks of the Trade: Area Rugs
Area rugs serve many functions in a room:
- Defining the area, for example, a seating or dining area in a large room
- Providing comfort underfoot
- Providing physical warmth underfoot
- Adding pops of color to an otherwise neutral room
- Toning down a room that has strong and bright colored furniture
- Absorbing the sound in a room
- Adding texture to a neutral colored space
Here are some tips when buying an area rug:
- If you anticipate lots of traffic and wear and tear, select a patterned rug which will show stains less than a solid rug.
- Also, a wool rug is easier to clean than a non-wool rug.
- The shape of the rug should mirror the furniture or the room size. For example, a rectangular dining table should have a rectangular rug underneath. But a round dining table should have a round rug under it.
- In a very large room, you can have multiple area rugs, but make sure they complement and coordinate with each other. They don't have to be identical, and ideally, we wouldn't want them to be.
- The area rug should take up 2/3 to 3/4 of the floor space of an area with no furniture on the rug, for example, the foyer pictured above.
- Don't cover the entire floor with an area rug - leave 9 to 12 inches of the floor around the edges of the rug exposed.
- While some designers feel that area rugs on a carpet are a no-no, others say it's okay to do so.
- Use non-skid pads when needed to prevent slips and accidents. The pad should be a few inches smaller than the rug.
- There's always been a debate about furniture on and off the rug, but here is some guidance:
- At least the front legs of the furniture should be on the rug
- All of the furniture's legs should be on the rug, ideally, if the rug is large enough.
- Avoid placing the rug so that the traffic pattern would have people walking with one foot on the rug and the other foot on the floor.
- In a dining room, make sure that the rug is large enough that when a person is backing out of their chair the back legs of the chair are still on the rug.
- Be aware that in rooms with direct sunlight, the area rug will create an outline when the floor color changes as a result of the sunlight.
- Also be aware of electrical outlets and vents in floors as well as the placement of rugs near doors which may not clear the rug.
- In a bedroom, at least two sides of the bed should have the same amount of rug showing.
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Did you know....
- ...Labor Day was first proposed on May 18, 1882 by Peter McGuire, a carpenter and pioneer unionist?
- ...in September 1883, 10,000 New York workers paraded up Broadway in support of this day?
- ...though some states adopted this day as a holiday, 12 years after it was originally proposed, President Grover Cleveland declared the first Monday in September a national holiday under voter pressure?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor:
"Labor Day...is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country." |
Market Overview: The East End
Southampton Town was the only town reporting positive results across the board. According to Suffolk Research Services, Inc.:
East Hampton Town:
- The median sales price decreased 5% to $900,000
- The number of sales decreased 6% to 527
- The dollar volume of sales decreased 24% to $734 million
Southampton Town:
- The median sales price increased 9.4% to $875,000
- The number of sales increased 2% to 1,065
- The dollar volume of sales increased 22.5% to $1.949 billion
Southold Town:
- The median sales price increased 2.3% to $450,000
- The number of sales decreased 17.6% to 262
- The dollar volume of sales decreased 10% to $170 million
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For More Info During the Month...
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F/REE Closet Organization,
Open House, and Moving Checklists |
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Download your FREE Closet Organization, Open House and Moving Checklists, | | | |
Try our new Home Staging Savings Calculator developed by the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA):DIV>
Click on the calculator above, which will launch in a new window.
For more detailed instructions, click here. |
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