MANN REPORT: June 2009

Dining Room Before: Buyers couldn't see how spacious this apartment really — the windows were festooned with heavy drapes and blinds which made it feel cramped and dingy.

Dining Room After: To showcase the views and light, we removed the window treatments and installed fresh light sheers, we pared down the furnishings and the result was the room sparkled. Buyers loved it! There were 4 offers!

Kitchen Before: The green walls and countertop clutter made this kitchen feel cramped.

Kitchen After: We removed the clutter and added a fresh coat of paint to make the kitchen feel sparkly clean. The result: an all cash offer at asking price!

Living Room Before: The pink walls and ceilings made this room claustrophobic. There were some great pieces in here, just WAY to many!

Living Room After: Editing the furniture and accessories helped buyers see what a fantastic apartment this is — in fact, this estate apartment sold in a week— in this economy!

Apartment cleanse:
This estate gets a Vegas makeover

By Jill Vegas

He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul’s estate.
          — Henry David Thoreau

While we all must continually work on what Thoreau describes as our “soul’s estate,” there is, of course, the matter of the more physical estate, which can be tremendously, if not equally, challenging to deal with.

I recently staged an estate on West 72nd Street. While the holdings were often beautiful and valuable, they cluttered and personalized the space, big no-no’s when it comes time to sell. It took weeks to go through the years and years of “stuff” accumulated there. There was so much of it!

Some people will ask, “Why bother painting and staging when the buyer will renovate anyway?” Our experience, time and again, and certainly in the case of this estate, provide good examples of the value of staging.

  • It allows buyers to see the potential of the space.
  • It gives the property a fresh new feeling and adds value because the property is transformed to “move in” condition. Buyers like that.
  • It can save the cost of a gut renovation. A can of paint and a good cleaning crew can go a long way toward adding value to the property.

The result of our efforts? The apartment sold within a week, all cash, and back-up offers were made. The family was thrilled, and we made the process easy and hassle free. The broker, Miriam Sirota, from Brown Harris Stevens, said she couldn't have done it without our staging.

How did we do it? I’ll share the game plan. I like to call the process of cleaning out an “apartment cleanse.” Sort of like when you are on a health kick and you go on a “juice cleanse,” which can take five days. The apartment cleanse can take longer, but the principles are the same: First, you go through the phases of irritation, discomfort, annoyance, surrender and then, joyously, discipline and patience. In the end, it feels amazing.

In the estate, we first got rid of the collections: vases, knick-knacks and lots of furniture. Instead of putting things in storage, as we often do in staging, we donated all of it to charity.

We edited the property down to the best pieces of furniture: a few chairs, a side table, and a console, just enough to define the living room. We re-arranged the artwork to spread out the pieces and give a feeling of space.

Mirrors were strategically positioned to maximize square footage and light. Then we brought in a rug and lamp to pull the room together. In the bedroom, we brought in a bed and new bedding, as well as mirrored table lamps, and hung sheer curtains, to accentuate the natural light of the space. Cleaning was a high priority. We brought in a cleaning crew to scrub the fridge and cabinets, light fixtures and floors. In the end, things worked out marvelously.

So while we continue to work on the cleansing of our souls, let us remember the rules of staging and get those estates sold!

 
©2009 Jill Vegas LLC