Ready for Market. Julie F Sullivan
Yes. When you were talking about balancing the room I got this image in my head of the master bedroom with the gigantic bed because someone is very tall or very large and so they have this extra-large piece of furniture there. And I was thinking that’s what you were talking about when you talk about balancing the room, maybe they need to move that bed out of there for the sales process, what do you think?
CHRISTIE: Yes the master bedroom is second only to the kitchen in importance to the buyer. So if the master bedroom is small I would recommend, if it’s a huge bed and it’s taking up most of the space, moving it out and putting a queen sized bed in – and that is something we can do. If the buyer is opposed to that we can figure out some other options; we can put mirrors in the room, we can put soft curtains in the room. I’ve stayed in plenty teeny tiny hotel rooms in Paris that have the bed about the same size as the room, there are ways to make them look absolutely fabulous and we can do that. So again, my first choice would probably be to put a smaller bed in, but if the buyer is not willing to do that or can’t do that we have other solutions.
JULIE: So I know a lot of home sellers these days are maybe not really sure what staging is or what it costs and maybe feel a little resistance to the idea of paying for that service. So my question to you is: Is staging really worth if for the home seller and why?
CHRISTIE: Staging is absolutely worth it. The way that that I look at staging is it is like the cake at the bake sale – the one that doesn’t get staged is the one that’s not frosted. Sometimes you see these people that are putting in a new heater, they’re putting in a new roof and doing all of these things that are fabulous for the house. And they are great ingredients for the cake but if they don’t put the frosting on it the person is not going to get emotional about that cake. And again, that is what I said sells and we both know that, it’s just going in on that emotional feeling. Of course all of those things that they’ve done are awesome but they are not going to give the first impression that the staging does that gets you connected and makes them want the house.
The National Association of Staging studies show that staging helps sell a house sell three to four times more quickly and for a much higher profit. So all of the realtors that I work with use me as a stager because they know that their client is going to get a higher price and that they’re going to sell more quickly. It’s kind of like going on a first date, you don’t to answer your door with your hair in curlers, you’ve got it get it all right before you go on the market. I think some of the most difficult houses that I go into are homes that have already been sitting on the market and then they call us in three of four months later and say, “It’s not selling.” And often, when we stage those houses, more often than not they sell immediately – right away. But, meantime they have had to drop their home a huge amount and so staging is just such a small amount in comparison. So to spend that small little bit of money to stage to make more money, so to save yourself all of the headache and hassle is just totally worth it.
JULIE: So are we talking in that range of say one to five thousand dollars to stage? I mean if someone had to drop their price $5 000 then the staging would have been worth it in the beginning right?
CHRISTIE: Absolutely. And not only because they have to drop it but they could have gotten $5 000 more in asking price, so many of the houses that we stage get multiple offers and that drives the price of the house up. So basically we will stage houses that are completely empty and for a completely empty house that is about $3 000 to bring in the furniture and the curtains and the art and the plants, the rugs and the accessories to make it look like a really interesting, inviting home. And then for somebody that we’re going in to give a consultation where we will just give them all of the information we write up a prioritized list. We charge about $300 for that and that includes a list of everything that we believe will help them sell their house for more and a final fluff before the photographs are taken. And then if they want to rent anything from us then we can give them the prices and they can make their decisions.
But I would say that I think some people have the impression that all of this is like interior design and it’s going to be really expensive and they find out that it’s not. It’s really cost effective and it’s fun, we have a great time with our clients and they end up, more often than not, asking us to come to their next house and help them with their next home. But it is a great deal, it’s the thing that shows, you will get bang for your buck because you can see it and the buyer is connected immediately to that.
JULIE: Wow! So about how much time before the house go onto the market should people start looking at what needs to be done? I can’t tell you how many houses last year that people have called me and said, “We want to be on the market at the end of this month and here’s our huge list of items that needs to be complete.” And then there’s this race to get everything done. So how much time do you think people need to get ready for market in general?
CHRISTIE: Well I think the rule of thumb is to let your realtor know, let your stager know, as soon as you think you might be moving – even if that’s a year out because it’s such a joy to be able to come into a home and let that seller just have the freedom of accomplishing those tasks little by little. I know that’s not always feasible and I know that there are some last minute transfers and things beyond our control. And we have staged and gotten houses ready literally in three days and we have literally taken a year and everything in between, but I would say the average is a couple of months – two to three months – but we can do it all. I think that it’s going to be a less stressful process and a more cost effective and productive process if there’s at least a couple of months in advance.
JULIE: I think you’re right, two to three months sounds like the right amount of time. I know I’ve done some in three weeks and that’s really pushing it, it’s possible but it’s a lot of work for the customer especially in the decluttering stage. Do you want to talk a little bit about that decluttering and how you handle…? I mean we all have a certain amount of clutter in our closets or on our countertops but how do you handle it when you go into a house and you see that there’s a lot of clutter and what do you recommend that people do?
CHRISTIE: Clutter is very de-energizing. Clutter comes from the Latin word cloretern which means clogged. And really that is what clutter does; it clogs our minds, it clogs our energy and so often when people have a lot of clutter they’re even more overwhelmed about a move because they can’t think, because everything that we have around us has some kind of a call on our attention and our energy and clutter really does have that draining effect. So I recommend that if they can do that with an organizer, and we have people that we recommend to help them, that that will help them get moving forward. I mean a lot of times some people have an excess amount of clutter is because they’re just really not sure how to take care of it and how to get on top of it and they need to be taught the system. And so we do have some organizers that we recommend and honestly clutter clearing can be one of the least expensive ways to get your house ready to stage, especially if somebody is able to do it without an organizer and just bite the bullet.
Often times I give clients that have a cluttered house one of my favorite books which is by Karin Kingston, it’s called Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui and it’s a very fast little read but she kind of describes why we keep our clutter and what’s keeping us from letting it go. And once clients read that book and realize, “Oh okay, I can let it go now there’s no reason I need to keep this”, then they’ll really start to let it go and that can be a huge relief for them and a huge burden lifted off of them. We like to tell people that you know you can box everything up and put it in a storage unit and then take it to your next house but why do that? Why not start out with a really fresh environment and just a fresh start and get rid of your clutter now. And so we really recommend they try to get rid of their clutter quickly and try to help them do that.
JULIE: So I have helped customers that did really have a huge problem with this and I don’t know the definition of when it becomes hoarding but I know that I have had customers who say, “I’ll just move everything into the basement.” So then they’ve cleaned up the upper level and the main level but then when buyers come to look at the house and they walk down the stairs they really cannot see how large that basement is or what’s there. So when does it become a problem that’s almost hoarding and is there anything