Phyllis's Blog

When selling your home it is important that NO ROOM goes unnoticed. When buyers come to view your home it is important that you leave them with a lasting impression. It is wonderful thing that you have put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and you made a galant effort to remove the clutter, BUT SOMETIMES YOU CAN TAKE THAT A BIT TOO FAR....

In this guest bathroom the sellers made sure to declutter the space and clean the tub, tiles and sink. They then painted the bathroom, which is a lovely, calming blue. But as you can see, there is NOTHING that draws you into the space. In this case TOO MUCH WAS REMOVED...

You will see that by adding a large floral piece and some rolled towels that space now comes to life and draws you in. the rubber ducky in the box was removed, and a basket filled with towels and a hanging robe (which you cannot see) were added to the shelf. This bath is now ready to welcome your guests. It is a small fix that will take your guest bathroom from BLAH to AHH..Staging your home for sale does NOT have to be complicated. If you are not sure of how you can SET THE STAGE for a successful sale.....Call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ today for your in home staging consultation @ 732-995-3425.

The team of ReStyled to Sell has been trained to help unlock the hidden potential in your home.

When you are preparing your home for sale, no matter how beautiful you may feel that it is, there is ALWAYS something that can be done to enhance the space. Here is a picture of a home that I recently staged. As you can see the furnishings and decor were beautiful.

What the space lacked was proper arrangement of furniture and poor definition. I was met with much resistance from the clients as this layout was previously designed by an interior decorator. My first recommendation was to remove the large china closet and make it part of the dining room.

Definition...ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR SPACE. THE LIVING ROOM MUST SHOW AS THE LIVING ROOM AND THE DINING ROOM MUST SHOW AS THE DINING ROOM. This layout screams to buyers that there is not enough room for their furniture, which was absoulutely incorrect.

The chair was also blocking the fireplace which was my second recommendation. After much resistance, I was finally allowed to do "MY THING"...Here was the result!

 It was a simple change but now each room was defined and the fireplace stood alone and can be appreciated if you sit in the LR and the DR.

This house took 2 hours to rearrange and stage and it WAS SOLD in under two weeks.

When preparing your home to sell remember that the way you live in your home and the way you sell your home are very different. Staging is about enhancing your selling features, like a fireplace, wood floors, large windows, and less about showing off your decor and furnishings.

When the house is sold what will remain for the new buyers?? You need to ask yourself that question and remember..THAT THOSE ARE THE THINGS YOU NEED TO SHOW OFF TO THE BUYERS. Working with a professional home stager will help you enhance your selling features. If you are serious about preparing your home for sale then you must call a professional home stager in your area today.

DON'T WAIT....time is money and remember the cost of staging is ALWAYS less than your FIRST PRICE REDUCTION!

For an in home consultation, call on the Team of ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ @ 732-995-3425, we are in the business of helping sellers move on!

In today's sluggish real estate market, sellers may cut corners when preparing their home for sale so they will take the advice of their realtor or a friend as to what may be needed to "stage" their home. Is it always good advice?

Yesterday, I was called in for a consultation to a home that has been on the market for ONE YEAR and no offers. Upon my arrival I immediately saw some major issues. The first being PAINT COLOR. As you can see this was the color chosen for the MBR the first time the house went on the market!

Every room starting from the entry foyer had a different shade. The colors ranged from pinky/peach to yellow and GREEN. The house still had way too much furniture and clutter and entrances to many rooms were being blocked by either couches or beds.

I asked the client if she knew the feedback from potential buyers and her response was that everyone says it needs too much work. I had to agree with her, BUT THE WORK that everyone is complaining about is NOT MAJOR WORK. It is all cosmetic!

Here is the problem...the client does not want to spend any more money on painting or decluttering because based on her last realtors RECOMMENDATIONS she had already done all that. I asked if the realtor recommended colors and her response was NO...these are the colors that I like, afterall I have to live here while the house is for sale. The realtors advice consisted of declutter and paint the rooms...THAT WAS IT! I have said this over and over again...DECLUTTERING IS NOT STAGING!!

A simple staging consult report for a minimal fee was  what  the client needed! I am not sure if the clients realtor worked with a home stager or not, but the recommendations should have been followed up with some guidelines. FREE ADVICE in this case cost the client much more than expected!

I then had to sit with the client and educate her on the benefits of home staging, depersonalizing her space and choosing the RIGHT colors to prepare her home. I had to keep reminding her to forget what the past year did or did not bring in, I was coming through her house as a NEW BUYER that was seeing the house for the first time and never saw it before she did any of the recommended work and I still see these problems. THEY MUST BE ADDRESSED!

Even her son turned to her and said MOM, we need to do this. She was still concerned about spending more money, so I asked her how much did she already lose by having her home sit on the market for one year!

The answer was YOU'RE RIGHT, let's do it!

When preparing your home for sale it is important that you not only work with a REALTOR who is experienced, but also work with a realtor that not only believes in the benefits of HOME STAGING but actually works with a HOME STAGING PROFESSIONAL! Together they will help sell your home!

For the cost of a consulation report, this client now has all the right colors needed to enhance the house as well as a proper furniture arrangement design and a step by step plan for decluttering and addressing cosmetic repairs needed.

All in all these were NOT large jobs, so the client has employed the services of her son and some of her friends, and together WE WILL HELP HER HOUSE SELL!

If your house has been sitting on the market with no offers I recommend you take a second look at it. Review it through the eyes of a buyer. Call a professional Home Staging Expert in for a consultation report. The cost of the report may range from $150.00 - $300.00 but the information you receive will be priceless.

To schedule your in home staging consultation, please call Phyllis Pafumi of ReStyled to Sell at 732-995-3425. We are in the business of helping sellers MOVE ON!