What should I do to get my house ready?...
By Elaine McArdle, Globe Correspondent, 5/9/2004
Paint the kitchen mint green.
It sounded like terrible advice to David and Kate Rizzo, who were
selling their Marblehead home and wanted professional guidance on how to
showcase it. ''It is not a color we would have selected ourselves,"
admitted David Rizzo, who preferred the kitchen's white walls.
Still, the couple put their faith in Maureen Reddy, a designer with
DaVinci Designer Gallery in Winthrop, which specializes in ''staging"
homes for resale. The bold color would highlight the floor tile and oak
cabinets, insisted Reddy, who also suggested they rearrange furniture in
the family room and turn a bay window into a sitting area with pillows.
The Rizzos' home sold in four days for the asking price of $789,000, and
the couple is convinced that Reddy's work was the key to their success.
''It showcased our house in the best possible light and presented it in
a way that allowed people to envision themselves living there," said
David Rizzo. ''The bottom line is: We are thrilled with the process and
the results."
Popular on the West Coast, staging homes for resale is growing in
popularity in Greater Boston. Even in a sellers' market, homeowners and
realtors are seeing the benefits of having a design professional suggest
the best way to highlight a home's features.
Reddy charges $350 to go through a home, take photographs, and write a
report with recommendations for changes that homeowners can either make
themselves or hire her to do. Some brokers include staging at no extra
cost to real estate clients.
The basic philosophy of staging is simple: Emphasize the house itself
instead of the personal belongings inside it. Let potential buyers focus
on the architectural features -- the ''bones" -- so they can imagine it
as their own. ''The benefit is that you know you've done all you can to
showcase the home in the best manner, and you don't second-guess
yourself later," said the Rizzos' broker, Michael Cannuscio. ''You've
made the best effort in creating an environment buyers will find
attractive."
This story ran on page H1 of the Boston Globe on 5/9/2004.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
DaVinci Designer Gallery - Maureen Reddy
mo7bridge@aol.com
Read another home staging article...
Staging 101
Staging is HOT now, but…
