Home Staging NJ Luxury Real Estate

"The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for no money down and easy monthly payments."

Mad Magazine, with a few tweaks

I sent out my newsletter this morning, with a redux of one of my blogs and then a series of tips on "Winter Listings" (courtesy of Melissa Marro's First Impressions' Membership service.) Among a volley of warm feedback (and a referral, wahoo!), I received this message from Martha McDonnell, of Coldwell Banker in Summit, NJ.

<<< Juliet, I enjoy reading your newsletters, thank you for sending it to me.

I want to point out something to you: there are known accounts of real estate agents slipping, falling and injuring themselves while wearing booties provided by the seller.  I also know of an agent who fell at a broker's open house because the seller had required removal of shoes.  From a liability stand point, I no longer allow my sellers to provide booties; we look for other alternatives, depending on the listing.  

Hope you find this helpful. Kind regards, Martha McDonnell, Coldwell Banker Previews International, Summit, NJ - http://www.summit-nj.com/ >>>

This is a new one to me.  Anyone else heard of this?

What, then, is the alternative?  You really can't allow folks to track mud, slush or salt across potentially brand new carpets.  What to do?

__________________________________________________________________________

Juliet Johnson Staging home stages New Jersey, helping to market properties to maximum advantage.

Assumptions

A Stager's job is to help the homeowner sell their home?

They do this by "styling" and merchandising the place so as to appeal to the widest group of potential buyers?

Their sphere of influence/responsibility ends with the perimeter of the property?

Yes? Do we agree so far?  What do you think?

 I'm no longer sure.   I need advice. 

I'm asked for advice all the time.  Where does my "piece" of the overall puzzle end?  More and more I'm being asked to give a diagnosis on why a home hasn't sold.  How many layers am I allowed to examine before the listing realtor feels I've crossed the line?

When a seller asks me

• why my home hasn't sold in 15 months?
• why no-one's even come to see it in 6 months?
• why hasn't there been even one offer on this home in the time it's been listed?

I look at the whole picture. You can't SEE the whole story if you don't.

Now, thanks to AR and all I've learned here, I start with the home's "web presence".

• What do the photos look like?  94% of all home searches start online nowadays, it's said.
• How does the MLS listing describe the home - language, emo-connect points, etc?
• Where else is it listed?  How many eyeballs are being given a chance to see it?
• Has there been an Event Marketing Plan - how much exposure has the home had?

Then, and only then, do I look at the home's condition, the USP (unique selling points), the illustrations of lifestyle.

Lastly, I look at price.

When I first got into this business, I found it very hard not to get into discussions of price, and was frequently remonstrated with and chastised for butting into matters that were not mine to discuss!  Now, I phrase those discussions in terms of lifestyle!

I can imagine realtors thinking I'm butting in all over again with all of this "examination".  I can hear them shaking their heads with a modest outrage in their throat -  "marketing is not the purvue of a stager!"  maybe it wasn't, but I think it has to be.  I think we have to team up and smudge the line:-

The staging is completely pointless, and money wasted, if the photos are bad (or non-existent), if the copy doesn't sell the points the staging is trying to illustrate, if the home isn't being exposed property to its correct market.  But is all that our job, as stagers?  Just because we can do it, should we?  And if we do, how do we charge for it?

The bottom line is

get the house sold for as much money as possible in the least amount of time

If that's the case, can the stager's job really end at the property's perimeter?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Juliet Johnson Staging provides home staging in NJ.

The more I see in this current market, the more I think my number of 10% is true.

If you expect to get $400,000 of equity out of your house, I think you should be prepared to invest at least $40K in upgrades to justify the number.  Let me be clear - I'm not saying $40K gets you back $400K.  No-o-o, no, NO!  I'm saying if you bought your house for $250K 10 years ago, and you now want to get $650K, it's likely you need to have put in at least $40K in upgrades for the kitchen and bathrooms, fresh paint, new carpet or refinished floors, etc.

Case in point - one of today's appointments. 

 Here's the kitchen.

Do you know any woman prepared to buy a tiled countertop today?  It's not flat and the grout is a perpetual germ risk.  Some folks will put up with those cabinets; these happen to be rather worn.  And the black fridge....

BTW, the bathrooms - all three - have the same tiled surfaces around the sinks, tub and toilet.

Here's just a few shots of the rest of the home:-

Yup! Flimsy 80s construction.  (The wall paper borders are a true tribute to all that Waverly had to offer back then!!!)  Updated bathrooms, kitchen and fresh paint would be all that's needed and then look what you got --

a light, spacious 5 BR home with in-ground pool, stables (for 2 horses), 2 paddocks and a turn-around, access to miles of horse paths, 2.75 acres, 4 car garage with lift (for a car tinkerer), huge basement, 3rd floor "escape", game room and much more!!!!

This house is comps out well in terms of price, yet has been sitting on the market for 15 months.

You would detail a car to sell it; most do it to turn the thing in coming off a lease so as to not be hit with overage charges.

You would dress for a job interview, first date, special date, party.

You would spell check your resume.

Why then are you so reluctant to fix up your home when you put in on the market?  You're asking someone to part with their life savings and sign away their first born.  Give 'em a little something for it, why don't you?  Make it worth their while.  The days of "hey, this thing is all about the features" are gone, man.  You gotta package the place nicely.

And realtors who think they are done when they've listed on the MLS and Realtor.com?  Your world's changed, too.  Sorry folks, but a new day has dawned, and you need to find fresh ways to package and sell homes.

-------

Juliet Johnson Staging urges sellers all the time to properly "appreciate" what they've got.  Recognize it, savor it, nourish it and grow it.  In the Appreciation Game, staging's the last piece of the puzzle, and cannot serve up a buyer on a whim!

		Host:  Sarah DuHaime Location:  Atlanta Bread Company 1705 Route 10, Morris Plains, NJ View Map When:  Wednesday, January 9, 9:30am Phone:  973-627-7900 The American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners (ASHSR) invites you to attend the Introductory Meeting for its Northern NJ Chapter!  All professional Stagers & Redesigners from this region are welcome to this launch meeting, Members and Non-Members alike. ASHSR is a new organization sponsored by the Home Staging Resource.  It will provide Home Stagers and Redesigners with opportunities to meet other Stagers/Redesigners in the area, network, collaborate and help to pioneer an industry!  Our local chapter will host fun and informative events on a monthly basis.  Our meetings will be times for encouragement, accountability, support and learning.  Occasionally we will have guest speakers and vendor partners speak and network with us.   Please visit ASHSR's website (http://www.ashsr.com/) to obtain additional information.  We look forward to meeting you in person and discussing this exciting opportunity!  Please RSVP by Thursday, January 3rd.

Do join us.  This is a new chapter, led by the very talented Sarah Carter Duhaime.  We have much to do, and lotsa fun to savor.  Come be a part of it, so that it's what you want and need it to be.

We have discussed this issue many times before, but given the following case study from a consult this week, it obviously bears repeating.

Consider this $3 "million baby" in one of the fancier Wall Street suburbs around here -

 The Foyer --- or Rotunda --- or Reception Room  --- it's the room all the others are "off" so to speak, useful if you're playing Clue in 3D.  That's faux painting on the walls - a brick, plaster and red ivy treatment.

Here's the Grand Living Room (replete with working pipe organ)

Faux painted silk wall treatments are in every nook and cranny.  There's gorgeous antique furniture and every horizontal surface is jam-packed with marvellous groupings of interesting collectibles - be it mercury glass, silver, Clarice Clift pottery, depression glass... all the trappings of a well-established, wealthy family.  Did I mention that the great Caruso sang in this living room?

And it goes on - pool with tea house, terraced Italianate gardens (sans statuary, presumably stored for the winter), library with wine seller, family with en suite full bath (er... not sure) very fun old style kitchen with all new, state of the art Viking appliances....

Yet, they haven't had any showings in 6 months.  Why d'you think?

Sure, price.  The market isn't what it was, but actually this home comps out well at that number.

My diagnosis is that the home is very specific.  It's an Italianate manor, more Umbrian than Tuscan, and it has only 3 bedrooms on the 2nd floor.  There's another on the first and a 5th in the basement that works beatifully as a guest suite, and has a lovely view.  (The house was built into a hillside.)

We're looking for a particular buyer.  It's like looking for a needle in a haystack - it's doable, don't get me wrong, but it's not fast.

Our profile is a family of 3 - 4 people or less, who entertain a lot, who want to listen or play lots of organ music in their own living room and who have long loved all things European.  They need to have honey-mooned in Italy, or somewhere in Bavaria perhaps, or have hailed from those parts.  They need to be not afraid of quirky old houses with character.  They need to be able to play in their albeit private FRONT yard.

This is not "everyone" or "anyone" that we're looking for.

Plus, the home is competing with new construction in this price range. How many new millionaires are prepared to substitue new for character?

I believe in congruent staging.  A Tudor needs to be accessorized with colors and shapes that resonate with that overall period style.  Arts and Crafts homes also have their own color palette, and seem to look best with rather linear pieces, if not actually Stickley-esque stuff.  But remember we are STAGING, not DESIGNING.  So, we want to the spaces to "lightly seasoned" with period style, not be text-book replicas, if the home is going to appeal to the widest number of people.

In the house above, I believe all the horizontal surfaces are going to have to be cleared and then sparsely accessorized to suggest, not show, the home's provenance.  This is a grand home, and it would be an honor for someone to have the fun of owning it for a while.  We'll need to address lighting, the musty old smell, and.... sizzle up the copy on the MLS.... serve pasta at the Brokers Open when it comes back on the market...

What would you all do?

A classically designed 5 BR home, furnished with a sleek "Restoration Hardware" look would certainly be the faster, easier sale... but who does that serve.

_____________________________________________________________

Juliet Johnson Staging serves the luxury real estate market of Essex, Union and Morris Counties of New Jersey.  Staging homes for sale, styling each space with rental items on varying time intervals, so as to best illustrate a home's potential.  We are based in Short Hills, NJ.  To maximize the opportunity with your home, please call (973) 477-7000 to schedule an appointment.