Home Staging Evolves

Home Staging Evolves

In the age of HGTV, real estate professionals say home staging is growing in importance and becoming more sophisticated, according to a recent article in The New York Times, which highlighted the value of home staging.

“It always makes a difference, and is essential in this market,” says Richard Balzano, an associate broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Balzano says he frequently refers his clients to stagers and will often pay for the preliminary consultations.

Stagers are taking on full transformations of homes that show off contemporary design and offer an aspirational package, The New York Times reports. Today’s home buyers want “sheer or linen curtains, and they don’t want the home packed. They want a cleaner, simpler lifestyle. And more flair and fun,” says Meredith Baer, a Los Angeles-based home stager. She and her team recently transformed a formal dining room into a casual family room, painted the walls (from cream walls to all white), and brought in white sofas and chairs with clean lines.

Sid Pinkerton, owner of Manhattan Staging, says he’s doing more accent walls, such as individual panels in dark brown lacquer, bursts of coral or aqua paint and patterned wallpaper with a rainbow of color. “People are looking for more personality,” Pinkerton told The New York Times. “It used to be more innocuous, where you didn’t really want to convey a sense of style. Now, it’s gotten a lot more modern.”

Some stagers are also adding more personal photographs, no longer advising clients to rid the home of all photos. “If a photo shows the family on vacation, maybe someplace warm and nice, that ties into a lifestyle a buyer might want to emulate,” says Donna Dazzo, the president of Designed to Appeal.

But stagers also try to keep it real. “When I see a tray on a bed, with a coffee cup, I think, ‘Oh, come on,’ ” says Anne Kenney, the president of Anne Kenney Associates, a New York staging company. “Does anybody really live that way? Today’s buyer is more sophisticated, so they don’t want to see phony.”

Source: “The Art of Home Staging,” The New York Times (Jan. 22, 2016)

6 Ways to Protect Your Home From Snow

6 Ways to Protect Your Home From Snow

Just when it seemed like Old Man Winter would be a lamb instead of a lion this year, 73 million people across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are on high alert as a massive snowstorm bears down on them. Some areas are being threatened with more than two feet of the white stuff. For your clients who are in the path of the blizzard, here are some winter-proofing tips to protect homes from the heavy snow.

1. Shut off faucets outside. Unhook hoses, shut off inside valves, and be sure to run outdoor faucets to drain any excess water that may be lingering. Pipes leading to outdoor faucets as well as hoses can be vulnerable to damage when temperatures drop. For added protection, cover your spigot and pipes with a towel to help insulate them, Adam Webster, CEO of Rocky Mountain Restoration, told The Washington Post.
2. Protect your water pipes. If your pipes are at risk of bursting from the cold air, keep the cabinet doors beneath sinks open so warm air from inside your home can get to them. You can also use a blow dryer to warm up exposed pipes or increase your thermostat slightly more than usual, plumbers suggest.
3. Check that your carbon monoxide detectors are working. Items that use combustion to produce heat — including gas appliances and wood-burning fireplaces — can produce carbon monoxide, and they need to be properly vented to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Double check to see if your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are all working.
4. Make sure your gutters are clean. Rain gutters should be clear of leaves; ice dams can form during winter storms and flood the home, says J.B Sassano, president of Mr. Handyman.
5. Keep snow away from outside drains and vents. When outside vents get blocked with snow, the indoor heating system can actually stop working.
6. Have salt on hand. Cut down on your shoveling: “Put down salt and/or sand on outside walkways a couple hours before the expected snowstorm,” says Adam Webster, CEO of Rocky Mountain Restoration. (Note: Buy coarse sand; play sand won’t work.)

Source: “How to Prepare Your Home for the Big Snow,” The Washington Post (Jan. 20, 2016) and “Last-Minute Guide to Prepping Your Home for a Snowstorm,” realtor.com® (Jan. 21, 2016)

Topping Home Buyers’ Shopping Lists

Topping Home Buyers’ Shopping Lists

Home buyers are looking for storage, energy efficiency and outdoor space, according to the latest preference survey released by the National Association of Home Builders and Better Homes and Gardens during the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas this week.

Some of the top new-home desires cited by home buyers of all ages include separate laundry rooms, energy-star appliances and windows, exterior lighting, and a patio.

On the other hand, buyers are showing less interest in cork flooring, elevators, pet washing stations, expensive outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, and two-story entryways and family rooms, the survey reveals

More homebuilders are particularly focused on the wants of the millennial generation when it comes to home design, ensuring they build a home that this anticipated large wave of buyers will want to buy.

“They are the first generation to walk into home ownership with a smartphone in their hands,” says Jill Waage, executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens Brand.

Millennials are showing a strong desire to be able to use technology for entertainment and monitoring in the home. They also are looking for well-equipped kitchens and casual, comfortable living spaces and outdoor living spaces, she says.

“This generation is searching out ideas, following bloggers, and creating Pinterest boards with their preferences,” Waage says. “They’ve already curated their dream home online, saving it on their boards so they can [be ready] when the day finally comes.”

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Poor Decor Choices New Home Owners Make

Poor Decor Choices New Home Owners Make

When your client finally closes on their home, they’re going to be excited to start making the place their own. But going overboard with decorating concepts or placing furniture in the wrong configurations can make a home look cramped and uninviting. Help guide your client’s eye for interior design by steering them away from these furnishing mistakes recently highlighted by realtor.com®:

1. Oversized furnishings. “Measuring a space is imperative before you purchase anything,” Will Saks, a designer with Homepolish, told realtor.com®. “You need to understand the dimensions of a space so the scale will feel balanced. … While a large, overstuffed Chesterfield might look great in the store, in a tiny apartment it might end up looking like a fat guy in a little coat.”
2. Cramming too much in one room. Empty spaces and walls in a room can be a good thing. How much furniture should you put in? It depends on the aesthetic you are trying to achieve. “If you’re going for a more sleek look, stick to a few key pieces in a room to create the feeling of openness,” Saks says. “The same goes for artwork — one large frame can create an art gallery feeling.”
3. Decorating a room around a legacy piece. Your client’s armoire or overstuffed chair may hold sentimental value to them, but decorating an entire room around it may be a mistake. Home owners who feel attached to a piece of furniture may feel compelled to do a certain layout or color scheme that could be completely wrong for the space, realtor.com® notes. Suggest that your client place the furniture nonfocal part of the house — if it’s a chair, put it in a corner of the bedroom, for example — or have them place it in storage until they can figure out how it fits into their overall design concept.
4. Looking like a catalog or interior design magazine. Don’t try to copy a catalog. While it can be beautiful, it doesn’t always have a “home” vibe. “The most interesting designs are ones that are aesthetically mixed,” Saks says. He suggests adding a vintage or one-of-a-kind piece that makes the space feel more personal and curated — a new sofa paired with a vintage credenza, for example. Artwork and accessories from Etsy and flea markets can also help make a home feel unique, he says.

Source: “5 Huge Mistakes People Make Furnishing Their New Home,” realtor.com® (Jan. 19, 2016)

U.S. to Start Tracking ‘Secret’ Luxury Buyers

U.S. to Start Tracking ‘Secret’ Luxury Buyers

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it will begin tracking all “secret buyers” of luxury properties as concerns mount about money laundering in high-end real estate. The initiative requires shell companies that make all-cash real estate purchases to expose the buyers’ identities. The Treasury is asking title insurance companies to discover and report the identities of these buyers.

The government said it would allocate more resources into investigating luxury real estate sales that involve shell companies, such as limited liability companies, partnerships, and other entities. The government will begin its new program in New York’s Manhattan as well as Miami-Dade County in Florida. In Manhattan, buyers who purchase property at a sale price of more than $3 million must be reported, and in Miami-Dade County, more than $1 million.

A New York Times series last year revealed that real estate professionals in the luxury market often don’t know much about their buyers as the use of shell companies rose with foreign investment in U.S. real estate. In fact, the Times found that nearly half of homes nationwide worth at least $5 million were purchased using shell companies.

Jennifer Shasky Calvery raises alarms about the lack of transparency in such transactions.

“We are concerned about the possibility that dirty money is being put into luxury real estate,” says Calvery, director of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. “We think some of the bigger risk is around the least transparent transactions.”

UPDATE: A previous version of this article misstated who is responsible for disclosing the identity of buyers who use shell companies to purchase luxury real estate. The Treasury is asking title insurance companies, not agents and brokers, to report the identities of such buyers.

Source: “U.S. Will Track Secret Buyers of Luxury Real Estate,” The New York Times (Jan. 13, 2016)