Removing Home Buyer Distractions
Removing home buyer distractions is what great staging is all about.
After staging, Peggy lists her family home of 35 years for sale in mid-May. Within a few days, an offer just below asking price is received. An open house is held that weekend and generates yet another offer, this time at asking price. A couple of days later, a third offer, above asking price, is received.
Her agents, Gino Bello and Gerry Magnarelli of the Gino Bello Team at Houlihan Lawrence in White Plains, NY, manage this bidding war, which leads to an even higher offer from the over-asking-price-contenders, while the first two bidders drop out.
This leaves Peggy in the enviable position of accepting the highest bid on her home. The home goes into contract in 25 days, and the listing is removed in early June.
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Peggy describes the buyers as a very nice family who already have relatives in the neighborhood. Oh, and Peggy is so happy with the results and fast sale that she refers AtWell Staged Home to a friend in the area.
This 5-bedroom, 3-bath, 3,000-square-foot, White Plains, NY, Colonial home, built in 1924, sells for $666k, or 2.5% over the 650k asking price with a total of 3 offers in the first listing week.
When we arrive for our initial consultation, Peggy is already engaged in the process of downsizing, and the upstairs bedrooms are being prepped for paint. Even a little chaos does not keep us from creating a plan for each room.
We return one month prior to listing, after all the painting is complete and the majority of suggestions are implemented, for about 2-hours to prep the house for photos.
Peggy teases that even the outside is “magical,” with all the plants she purchases and the dogwoods blooming.
What are the details that lead to this fast sale at above asking price? Here are a few…
- Created a den/play room, a guest/nanny bedroom, and finished the powder room on the previously underutilized third floor.
- Created a large dressing area/walk-in closet out of a small, awkward room off a second-floor bedroom.
- Arranged another second-floor bedroom as a sitting room/study by using a large desk and comfortable chair already in the home.
- Stylish arrangement of items on the bookshelves in the living room.
Reduced and rearranged furniture throughout the home. - Removal of curtains on all windows, allowing the most light possible in the rooms, for an open, airy look.
- Updated some lighting and bath fixtures.
- Created an inviting Adirondack furniture arrangement on the porch.
Here is how Peggy describes her experience and the implementation of the ideas from our collaborative 3-hour initial home staging consultation, which takes place 6-months prior to listing.
“We could not have done it without you. Your suggestions and comments made all the difference. We staged the rooms per your ideas.
A real show stopper was the fireplace—red brick painted white!! Changed the whole look of the room. I just loved it.
The paint colors we chose with you were fabulous. Clean, light, and neutral. This was the biggest difference in the whole scheme of things, and I feel it sold the house. We absolutely loved the way our house looked and wished we had been able to do all the updates and painting (all 16 rooms!) earlier so that we could have enjoyed them even more.
You were great to work with, Susan. I had a good time with you and was in agreement with your thinking.
Staging a house for market is absolutely the way to go. It makes so much sense. You have a great eye and lots of experience, and it shows in the finished product and final results.”
Peggy also confides that it is with a heavy heart that she leaves. For 35 years it was her family’s home. However, she believes that the family who purchased the home will build the same treasured memories.
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