Page 44 - Westchester - 2017 Relocation Guide

FOTOLIA
REAL ESTATE
All the World’s a Stage!
TWO LOCAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON
THE DO’S & DON’TS OF HOME STAGING
BY KAREN ODOM
FOTOLIA
“ ou have one chance to make a good first impression.” It’s every real estate agent’s mantra and a familiar refrain that licensed real estate broker Lisa Koh of William Raveis in Armonk knows all too well. When working with sellers to prepare their homes for listing, Koh teams with professional stager Marie Graham, founder of Westchester-based The Refreshed Home. Here, they team up again to present the most important Do’s and Don’ts for the homeowner looking to sell.
LISA KOH’S SEVEN STEPS OF STAGING
STEP 1: DECLUTTER AND DEPERSONALIZE
Purge. If you open a closet and items fall out, the buyer will assume there’s not enough storage in the house. Now is the time to get a dumpster. You don’t want to pack and pay to move items you aren’t using.
Remove collections. People will walk through and remember nothing but the collection. Store your collectibles except for a very few prized possessions.
Minimize personal items. Personal items distract buyers. Remember, it’s going to be someone else’s home. If there are too many photos, buyers won’t be able to see themselves in your house. Ultimately, you want your house to look like a hotel.
STEP 2: REPAIR AND REPLACE
Look at your house through the eyes of a buyer. If the mailbox is showing signs of wear, replace it. If your home’s exterior needs painting, paint it. If a window or a light switch is broken, fix it. Your house will be more inviting.
STEP 3: GET IT TO CODE
If you have a finished basement that wasn’t completed with a permit, get it to code. If your house isn’t to code, it can dis- tract buyers.
STEP 4: MAKE IT CLEAN AND PRISTINE
If you can do only two things to the in-
terior besides declutter, paint the walls and refresh the floors. Walls should be painted in the current neutral shades; these days, that means grays and beiges. You want buy- ers to feel that your house can become their home. A fresh, clean look will be welcoming.
STEP 5: MAKE MINOR UPDATES
Replace old appliances and consider minor updates to your kitchen and bath- rooms, which will make the house more marketable and desirable.
STEP 6: MAKE MAJOR UPDATES
Decide where to put your money and in- corporate any major updates into the price of the house. The more money you spend, the more you’ll get back.
STEP 7: BRING THINGS IN
You can usually work with what you have to stage your home. Just decluttering alone can make a big difference, but some- times it’s necessary to bring in furniture during the process. That’s where a profes- sional stager can advise.
MARIE GRAHAM’S EIGHT GREAT SINS OF STAGING
DON’T...
Assume buyers can use their imaginations. They can’t.
Offer an allowance instead of correcting problems yourself. You’re training (and rewarding!) buyers to find other problems.
Paint rooms white or all the same color. Color on the walls defines and strengthens a room, and a varied but neutral palette reads as more in photos and in person.
Assume staging is for empty or high-end properties, or that it starts with rental furniture. Staging is simply preparing a property for sale. It’s anything done to improve its market position, and renting furniture is the LAST step, not the first. BONUS: in many cases, the IRS considers staging expenses as the cost of doing business and therefore deductions against proceeds.
Minimally prepare “to test” the market. The biggest interest, most traffic and best offers happen in the first 30 days because your listing is new and fresh, and everyone wants to see it first. After 30 days, buyers assume there are problems and move on — or they’ll track it, waiting for the price to drop.
Overestimate the value of repairs, decorating or renovations you did years ago. Sellers often want top dollar today for a house that’s no longer up-to- date.
Remain attached to stuff or décor.
A personal photo or three won’t make or break a sale. But not packing up most
of your collectibles says you’re more committed to maintaining your personal taste than you are about selling.
Give up. Sellers can do a lot on their own. Keep an open mind; focus on what you CAN do.
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