Staging a property is a lot like getting dressed for a first date. In dressing for a first date, we make sure we are well-groomed and select clothing that highlights our best assets. We avoid calling attention to the negative, because it may be turn someone off, before they have gotten to know us. Each time your property is seen by a prospective buyer, it is a “first date” for your property. Therefore, your objective is to make a great first impression by showing your property “all dressed up” and “well-groomed”. The process of “dressing up the place” and “grooming” is called Staging.

1) CLEANLINESS IS YOUR FRIEND. Your property must be really, really clean. Not surface clean, “spring cleaning” clean. It needs to smell good and it needs to shine. There’s no amount of pine cleaner smell that can simulate clean. In fact, it shouldn’t smell like pine cleaner, at all. It should just be clean. Shine is good on floors, windows, blinds, tabletops, appliance fronts and all surfaces in the bathroom

2) CLUTTER IS YOUR ENEMY. Buyers want to feel that they will have places to put things when they move in. The seller’s junk all over the place communicates that there aren’t enough closets, cupboards and drawers. Sellers often don’t “see” the 7 cereal boxes lined up on top of the refrigerator, because they are used to seeing them there. Buyers will notice the cereal boxes and will be left with the impression that there’s not enough cupboard space in the kitchen. Less truly is more. Remove some items from drawers, bookcases, closets and medicine cabinets. A prospective buyer will think there is ample storage because there are lots of things stored inside. It works in the reverse for some reason. Room for more, allows the buyer to think there’s a lot of storage space.

3) REPAIRS ARE A MUST. Many little repairs left undone, do not come across as, individual small things, which need to be fixed. They accumulate and convey the impression that the property needs a lot of work. They also communicate that the property isn’t special enough for someone to care about. Additionally, moving is a lot of work, so not making extra work is important. Fix everything that needs to be fixed. Paint the hall that has needed to be painted for 5 years. Replace the light fixture that’s slightly goofy. Throw out the worn out mat by the door and replace it with a new one.

4) DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. Once you put your property on the market, it is open to public commentary. Your goal is not to have people agree with your taste. Your goal is to attract as many buyers as possible, in order to sell the property for the asking price. If you need to tone it down, throw it out or rearrange it, do it. Try not to take it personally and remember that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.

5) HIRING A PROFESSIONAL CAN MEAN MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET. A pair of new, fresh and creative eyes may be critical. A client of mine purchased an apartment that had been languishing on the market for many months. A few months later, he was transferred and put the apartment back on the market. We made only the most minor cosmetic changes to the apartment and yet he rapidly received many offers. The offers were for more than he had paid for the apartment originally, for more than the asking price and for much, much more than my fee. We had simply cleaned and polished the place until it was deep, down clean. We painted every room a bright white since the apartment had little natural light. (All the rooms had been painted gray when he bought it.) We turned lights on before each open house, brought in fresh flowers that looked and smelled great. We packed away items that would keep prospective buyers from imagining themselves living in the space. It was the same dark apartment whose windows opened on an air shaft, but it didn’t matter anymore. We had created an environment in which people wanted to live and this was reflected in his selling price.

Coops, condos, coops, condos, a house
A one family, a two family, a penthouse
A ranch, a Victorian, an old brownstone
All I wish for, is an abode of my very own

A five hundred plus foot square by square
A cozy little den with a big comfy armchair
A fistful of blue sky and a patch of leafy green
All will give life to my dreams n a lovely sheen

Prospect Park West, Park Slope and Kensington
Windsor Terrace and Carroll Gardens, all beckon
Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Sunset Park, Clinton Hill,
All these hoods are quite savory and give me a thrill

New York, city of dreams, five suburbs, a wonderful skyline
Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island are fine
But my heart is set on one, only one corner and that beckons
Of all the five boros that make New York, and that is Brooklyn!

Prospect Park, Public Library, Museum, Botanical Gardens
Academy of Music, Grand Army Plaza, and lovely Fountains
Food Coop, shops, restaurants, churches, schools with griffin
All have a distinct flavor and I wish with all my heart to fit in

Coops, condos, coops, condos, a house I need
A fistful of blue sky, a patch of verdant green
An abode of my own is my wish that is quite ardent
And now I will achieve this through a competent agent!!!

“We shape our dwellings, and afterwards, our dwellings shape us”
Author: Winston churchill,, 1874- 1965, Bristish Statesman, Prime Minister

Bina Gupta is an Indian American poet. You can read more poems by Bina at http://www.binaguptapoetry.com/