A Home Staging Presentation at Netter Real Estate

This past Thursday, March 5th, I did a presentation about Home Staging for Netter Real Estate in West Islip, NY. The talk, which was scheduled to last for a half hour, stretched out to nearly an hour in length because of the many questions the real estate agents had about home staging and what our company can do for their listings.

We showed many before and after pictures of our work - especially the kitchens we have renovated with faux finishing techniques that not only save home sellers a lot of money but also time and demolition costs - not to mention mess! We also showed the realtors actual samples of cabinetry finishes - as well as countertop, tile and floor finishes. The realtors were very surprised to see the dramatic changes to homes that are possible - and more amazed by the cost savings. For as little as $2000 on up to $10,000 (depending on the size of the kitchen and the techniques used), a home can get a beautiful kitchen face lift that will help sell the home quickly. It is so important that kitchens (and bathrooms) be in the best shape possible when you put a home up for sale.

I want to thank Jim Netter for allowing me to present my company's talents to his staff. I would also like to thank realtors Theresa Little and Diane Scalza of Netter for introducing me to Jim and for using our company to improve their listings.

The Importance of Improving Your Kitchen When You're Selling Your Home & How to Spend Your Improvement Dollars Wisely

Over the weekend I read an article about an older woman who has to put her home up for sale and so she hired a home improvement company to help her renovate. She is selling her home for about $300,000 - and her renovation costs are over $40,000. Most of the cost is going towards the kitchen. While I have not seen the home and cannot account for its condition, I have to say that if this were my home - I would not spend that much money for a renovation on a $300,000 home. A $700K and up home - yes...but not for a lower end home.

Last fall, we worked on a 40 year old condo on the North Shore (a Netter listing) that had a listing price of $319,000 and I decided against going with brand new kitchen cabinets from Lowe's that would have cost $4,500 (including installation). Although that's a very reasonable price, we still had to do a lot of other work in the kitchen to bring it up to today's standards. Since the cabinets were still in good shape, I decided that a good paint job and new knobs would be the right financial decision for the homeowner. The backsplash also needed replacing - but that would be costly. I suggested that we could do a textured decorative finish that would resemble tumbled marble over the existing tiles. We redid everything else in the kitchen (several new appliances, new ceramic floor, wallpaper removal and painting, new sink and countertop) for a total of $7350. The condo sold very quickly for $6000 over the listing price.

Here is a before photo of the kitchen...

...and after!

If you are putting your home on the market and you need to update your home, it's important to invest wisely in updates. Don't over do it - or worse, under do it. A kitchen that is move in ready is a huge selling point for your home!