“Real” vs. “Virtual” Staging Staging a home well invariably involves lots of fine-tuning and not a little trial-and-error. So, sofas get moved around, art work get hung (then removed, then re-hung), Oriental rugs get deployed in various locations, etc. Unbeknownst to home Buyers and Sellers, the same process applies to what’s called “virtual staging” — that is,...Read More
Lots of homeowners don’t like to take off their window screens in the Fall because it’s a hassle putting them back on each Spring. Memo to would-be home sellers in January in Minnesota: you won’t be putting them back on . . . the new owner will be. Plus, removing them is the quickest way...Read More
Stagers Make Inroads on Interior Decorators Wait a second. Isn’t staging something that prospective home Sellers do, before they put their home on the market? That, too. But increasingly, home buyers are consulting with stagers after they close — and have to figure out where everything goes. “Staging,” Defined If you didn’t know, traditionally, staging...Read More
“Covering the [Real Estate] Spread” (i.e., Commission) Call it real estate brokerage’s dirty little secret: a good Realtor can add more value in some deals than others. While a Realtor’s “value-added” should always exceed their commission — if it were otherwise, there wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be Realtors — some types of transactions simply offer more opportunity to...Read More
When it come to prepping a home for sale, things like new paint and carpet, refinishing hardwood floors, and new Kitchen cabinet hardware are deservedly popular — and cost-effective — updates. Here’s another, less-widely known one: replacing dated fluorescent lighting (photo, above) with new, recessed lighting. At a cost of perhaps $150 per recessed can light, it’s...Read More
Throwing Good Money After Bad? Hardly It’s certainly a sympathetic — if not necessarily rational — stance on the part of a would-be Seller whose home is (still) worth less than they paid for it. Namely, since they’re going to lose money when they sell, psychologically, they don’t want to spend any more money prepping...Read More
