Home Staging in New York City Spells Success

After a challenging year in New York, buyers are returning to the marketplace in search of the best values. Price, location and terms are still key factors in any sale, but never before have condition and presentation been so important.

Savvy real estate agents are collaborating with professional stagers to ensure their marketing efforts reap top financial rewards for their clients, their real estate companies and themselves. It is a fact that professionally staged properties sell faster and for more money than comps that are not staged. So the big question is, why aren’t all properties being professionally staged?
 

Too many agents and sellers are unwisely stuck in the mindset of staging as a cost or an expense, instead of truly understanding the amazing short-term investment opportunities of professional staging. For most sellers, their home is their most valuable asset and they should be determined to maximize the financial return on the sale of their property. As staging experts, we can help sellers and agents achieve their goals of selling for top dollar as quickly as possible.

Here are a few testimonials from some of my recent success stories:

“The Upper Westside property went on the market Sunday, January 10th for $1,595,000. On Tuesday January 19th an offer of $1,575,000 was accepted. Without your staging, we would probably have received closer to $1,400,000.”
                                                                                                                     D. Anderson, BHS

Thanks to Nairn Friemann we received a higher than expected offer for an estate-condition apartment at Imperial House. I recommend her for three reasons: a) she gave my customers very viable staging options
at several different price points; b) she delivered a terrific finished product in quick time; and c) her prices were as reasonable as she was flexible and cooperative.
                                                                                                                    J. Charnas, Fox Residential

Staging works for rentals too!

"Thanks so much Nairn. You are the best! The apartment rented in two weeks with a lot of interest.”
                                                                                                                   D. Dickinison, Fox Residential

For more information about my company Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc. and my services, please visit www.ingenuitypizzazz.com or contact me at nairn@ingenuitypizzazz.com

If you are interested in a career in home staging, I have also have upcoming Certified Staging Professionals training classes scheduled as follows:

Feb. 15-17 Ottawa
March 8 – 10 Philadelphia
April 10 – 12 New York

For more information about the training, visit www.csptraining.com or contact me at nairn@ingenuitypizzazz.com.


Nairn Friemann, MBA
Certified Staging Professional and Trainer
Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc.
www.ingenuitypizzazz.com
nairn@ingenuitypizzazz.com

Home Staging Success for NYC CSP Trainees!

I am so proud of my new NYC CSPs! We had a fantastic staging training last weekend in my Chelsea loft office space. The class staged a $1.350 million Pre-War, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom co-op on the Upper West Side on Monday, Oct. 19th. The owner is a recent widower, looking forward to selling his apartment and moving to his home in Israel, but of course with so many fond memories present, the process can be emotional and overwhelming.

It was truly such a pleasure to be able help him prepare his apartment for showings. In amazing synchronicity, one of the NYC trainees, Aya Barak, had traveled all the way from Israel to take this CSP training and was able to converse with the seller in Hebrew -an incredible coincidence.The home is in very good condition and very clean, it just needed some “reducing, re-arranging and refreshing” and the CSP special touch.

The class worked enthusiastically and energetically and created an amazing transformation! The first open house was this past Sunday. By Monday they had a very good offer and appointments from four couples to return for second visits. In this very “challenged” NYC market, this is exceptional!

This was such a positive experience for everyone. The class had an excellent hands-on learning experience and felt really happy that they were able to help this seller so much. All in keeping with Christine Rae’s “pay it forward” philosophy for CSP.

Marie-Elena Waldrip summed it up so well. “The class and our working together ended all too soon- I never had so much fun working so hard!”


The CSP NYC classes are unique because they are run work-shop style with a maximum of 6 trainees. This allows excellent opportunity for lots of one-on-one attention and a high energy class dynamic. As president of Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc. have collaborated with home sellers and agents on the staging and marketing of over $500 million in real estate and I share my diverse experience with my trainees.
My next New York class is scheduled for January 9th – 11th, 2010. For more information, contact nairn@ingenuity.com and please visit www.ingenuitypizzazz.com and www.csptraining.com.

Small Is the New Big for Home Staging Professionals

I have just read an inspiring business book, Small Giants – Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlington. A finalist for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, this book rejects the mantra of growth for growth’s sake in favor of a passionate dedication to becoming the absolute best and demonstrates that big does not equal great and great does not equal big.

As home staging entrepreneurs, we are not corporate giants – but we can be great! Common attributes of these small giants were: close connections to their communities and demonstrated and meaningful social responsibility; outstanding customer service, close ties to employees, suppliers and clients; and leaders who were passionate and had deep emotional commitments to their businesses.

What are you doing in your business that makes you great? As president of Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc., I have developed close relationships with my community of real estate agents and vendors. I am committed to delivering excellent staging work and incomparable customer service to every client – regardless of the price of the job. I am absolutely passionate about the value of staging and the work I do, including training new home stagers for Certified Staging Professionals. I support Habitat for Humanity and local NYC non-profit organizations. I am also dedicated to my professional communities and am always supportive of my CSP alumni. Of course we all want to increase our success and profitability, but it is critical to stay focused on being the best we can be.

With this, small is the new big, thought on my mind, I made another connection while reading the Sunday newspaper, Parade Magazine (Oct. 11/09, p.6). “American Houses Are Getting Smaller”. In a reversal of a decades long trend, houses are getting smaller and downsizing continues. The McMansion era has come to an end.

“Demand has shifted from people looking to trade up to larger homes to first-time buyers, who are typically younger, with less income, looking for a place that is more modest. Smaller houses are also attractive to empty-nesters looking for places that are more energy efficient and less expensive to maintain.”

This presents several opportunities for home stagers:

STAGING SMALL SPACES: A few years ago, some agents didn’t bother staging small spaces. Of course that was a mistake, because all properties benefit from staging, and all sellers deserve to achieve the maximum ROI on the sale of their homes. But now, agents are paying attention to the marketing of these smaller properties because they are in demand. And while more buyers are now interested in smaller properties, they still desire the best value. Properties that are staged to look bright, spacious and appealing to the targeted buyer will have the competitive edge. I have recently staged two studios and a one-bedroom apartment, that may not have been staged just a couple of years ago.

DOWNSIZING SERVICES: Another opportunity for home stagers is to help home sellers transition into smaller spaces with space planning, color choices and downsizing strategies, as part of their staging for living services.

ECO-STAGING: And with revved up interest in energy efficiencies and cost savings, there will be increased interest in Eco-Staging and Green businesses.

I suggest we embrace the “small is the new big” in our business practices. Enrich your staging skills and become a  Certified Staging Professional and pursue continuing-ed classes in staging for living and Green Build Science. Add these services to your business to capture niche opportunities. And as always, focus on being great.

Nairn Friemann, MBA, is a Certified Staging Professional & Trainer. As president of Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc., she has collaborated with sellers and agents on the staging and marketing of over $500 million in real estate. Her next CSP staging training class will be held in NYC, October 17-19.

For more information visit www.ingenuitypizzazz.com and contact Nairn at 917-952-4669 or nairn@ingenuitypizzazz.com

Why Accepting the Lowest Bid for Home Staging Can Prove Extremely Costly for Sellers

As a very experienced stager and president of Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc., (I have collaborated with home sellers and real estate agents in the staging and marketing of over $500 million in real estate in the Tri-state area), I feel the need to comment on the issue of hiring a home stager, based on the lowest bid. Some home staging companies are now marketing themselves by their willingness to accept sellers’ lowest budgets. It is well known that in any business, you cannot achieve all three of the following at the same time: high quality, low price, and fastest delivery. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for.

For most sellers, their home is their number one financial asset. The return on the sale of this asset will be key to their future financial well-being. Statistics prove that professionally staged homes sell faster and for more money than comparables that are not staged. Furthermore, with a surplus of inventory, the competition for any home seller today is greater than it has been in years. With more than 90% of buyers shopping first on the internet, the website marketing is the key to attracting traffic to a listing. Viewing the property, buyers need to fall in love within minutes – the first impression is that powerful to buyer decision making. Professional home staging is not decorating – it is marketing, pure and simple.

Would any business launch a product into a competitive market in an unattractive package or damaged condition? Of course not. Because the only way that type of product will sell is at a significant discount! Staging is not an expense – it is an INVESTMENT- in fact, the best short-term investment a home seller will ever make. Just compare the financial return from a profitable and quicker sale (which also reduces monthly carrying costs), with the interest the banks are offering for 6-month CDs.

The choice of a professional home stager, is a critical decision that should only be made in consideration of many criteria – and certainly not just on price! In many cases, the savvy real estate agent already has a professional stager working on their marketing team. If the agent can’t recommend a stager, then the home seller needs to base their decision on the stager’s expertise, experience, track-record, professionalism and portfolio. Of course everyone has budgets and professional stagers will do their best to get the biggest impact for the client’s investment. However, it is wise to listen to the professional stager’s comprehensive consultation and recommendations before making any final decisions on what should be invested in the staging project. Home sellers today have too much at stake to be “penny wise and pound foolish.”

Certified Staging Professionals understand the importance of explaining to sellers what needs to be done to get their homes market ready. As consultants, we accept that it is our responsibility, not only to showcase the strengths of a property, but also to address the weaknesses – even when some of these issues might be sensitive in nature. The bottom line is that this is a marketing collaboration between the seller, the home stager and the agent to achieve the highest possible return on the sale of the property in the shortest amount of time.
The Certified Staging Professionals training does not only teach staging techniques and tips but also sets the highest standards of ethics and professional responsibility. It is the most comprehensive home staging training program available. Unlike the on-line training companies, CSP provides trainees with hands-on staging experience and incomparable after-training support. I am confident that the CSP home staging training program is the best investment budding home stagers can make in themselves and their businesses. I am extremely proud of being a trainer for this exemplary organization and am pleased to share my diverse experience and expertise with all my trainees.

I am looking forward to my upcoming home staging training classes in New York City (Oct. 17-19) and Ottawa (Nov. 2-4).

For more information, please visit www.csptraining.com and www.ingenuitypizzazz.com or contact Nairn Friemann at nairn@ingenuitypizzazz.com.