Standing Out In A Buyer’s Market

By Nancy K. Crevier

As a real estate agent with Prudential Connecticut Realty, it is Beth Caldwell-Cluff’s job every day to assist people in making decisions related to the selling and purchasing homes.

“Buying a house is an emotional process,” said Ms Caldwell-Cluff from her upstairs office overlooking Church Hill Road in Newtown. “[The house you buy] is where you’ll raise your family, or make an entrance into a new town and community.”

As a licensed interior designer with 20 years of experience, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and a house staging specialist, though, she has created a business, beth & company, to address the details that give home sellers an edge in what has become a very competitive market. Not only that, having moved in and out of various houses around the country ten times in the past 20 years, Ms Caldwell-Cluff is personally acquainted with the dos and don’ts of selling a home. Being a licensed interior designer and a real estate agent gives her company an edge.

“It give me insight into the whole process. Properly pricing and preparing a property is so important today,” said Ms Caldwell-Cluff.

Real estate, interior design, and house staging are professions that go hand-in-hand, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff, and beth & company has found house staging, in particular, to have been of increasing interest in Newtown in the four years since she began offering that service to home sellers.

House staging is the art of preparing a house for market. In what has become a buyer’s market in real estate, it is essential to think through the preparations to sell, she said.

There are several steps to preparing a home to go on the market and the first one begins outside, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff, and then extends indoors.

“You’ve heard of curb appeal?” she asked. “It is true that it is important to make a positive first impression, and what a buyer sees when they pull up to the home can make a big difference.”

The home staging consultation that beth & company offers includes a written strategy for recommendations she makes to the homeowner. The recommendations can then be implemented by homeowners on their own, or beth & company can be used additionally to provide services to fulfill the strategy. As a real estate agent, she offers the basic consultation to her Prudential clients at no cost. Her service otherwise costs $375 for the initial consultation, an amount that is easily recouped when the home sells. “I think of myself as part of the team — homeowner, agency, realtor. I like to take the team approach,” she explained.

While each consultation is geared to the individual situation, the first and foremost advice she gives, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff, is to unclutter, both indoors and out.

“Get rid of that canoe that is in the front yard. Clean out the basement, clear out the garage. Have a tag sale or rent a storage unit. I say, a dumpster at the end of a driveway is a beautiful thing,” she said. A clutter-free environment can help people see the “bones” of a house and play up the positives, Ms Caldwell-Cluff said.

Cleanliness is not only next to godliness, but the next step in the plan to prepare a house for sale. “Clean,” urged Ms Caldwell-Cluff. “Weed. Remove any overgrown trees and brush. Inside, if you have hardwood floors, have them buffed and polished. Replace carpet if you need to do so. Fresh paint is always a good idea.” If the thought of pulling dust-bunnies out from under cabinets and chasing down cobwebs seems too time-consuming, Ms Caldwell-Cluff has a stable of home cleaners, painters, lawn maintenance companies, and handypersons upon whom she can call to assist homeowners. “Make sure the windows are washed, everything is clean. Make the house sparkle,” she emphasized.

The motivated homeowner in Newtown will move on to the next suggestion once the clutter is cleared away and the house is a haven of cleanliness.

“Repair what needs repairing,” she advised. “Try to look at your home with a buyer’s eyes. Buyers today are looking for hidden costs.” Where five or six years ago, buyers might have been willing to negotiate on repairs, in the overstocked market that exists now, she said, “Buyers will just move on to the next house. The inventory is so large, they do not need to negotiate.”

Ms Caldwell-Cluff passed on a tidbit she shares with clients that she learned as a home seller from her own real estate agent years ago.

“It has stuck with me,” she said. “He said, ‘You have to go in and erase any potential problems before the buyer goes in.’ That is even more true now than ever.”

Neutralizing a home is another aspect of selling that is often difficult for sellers to latch onto, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff. “There’s a color I call ‘relocation beige’ that I always paint my house when we move,” she said. “Neutralizing a home will help it to sell. Bright colors should be painted that ‘relocation beige’ and ‘themed’ wallpaper should be replaced with something neutral. You don’t want the buyer to see your personality.” Family photos and knick-knacks are distracting, according to this interior expert, and should not be displayed. These are items that will need to be boxed up and moved anyway, so it should be viewed as simply getting one step ahead.

Pets pose a special challenge. No matter how friendly or beautiful, sellers’ pets need to be crated or out of the home when the house is being shown, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff. Any kind of pet odor must be eliminated, even if it means that an old, furry friend has to be boarded for a period of time.

 Selling a home is stressful, and for families with teenagers or small children, issues around privacy and change to their environment may arise.

“I try to enlist the help of teens, and be openly thankful to them and the work they put into making their rooms part of the selling process. I’m not the parent, so it is sometimes easier for them to hear from me what we would like to see happen. I’m like Switzerland — we negotiate. It’s the same when there are small children involved, or even people who are retiring.”

The final step for home staging is the fun step, said Ms Caldwell-Cluff. “Now it’s time to ‘dynamize’ the home. It’s like putting a scarf on, or adding accessories to an outfit. What can you do to make it pop?”

Beginning once more outdoors, she recommends fresh mulch around plantings, decorative displays of seasonal, new plants and the addition of bushes to fill in gaps and give a lush appeal to the house. Inside, fresh flowers, bright lighting, scented candles burning, and soft, classical music in the background adds atmosphere. With the decluttering step, any unnecessary furnishings or those in need of restoration have already been stowed away, so a cozy afghan tossed over a sofa back or an overstuffed pillow tucked invitingly into the corner of a loveseat is all that is needed to create a picture of contentment.

Home staging, explained Ms Caldwell-Cluff, takes advantage of the items a client already has, looking at them in a new way. Her company also has a large inventory of accessories that can be rented to develop an inviting look right up through the building inspection.

“It is important for the building inspector, as well as any potential buyer, to feel that this is a home that has been cared for through the years,” she said.

Preparing a home for sale in today’s market can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, but when spent wisely, the money will be recouped at the time of the sale. A home that has been regularly maintained and updated will require less preparation, so even if a homeowner is not planning to put his or her home on the market in the foreseeable future, upkeep should never be put off, she said. “What you are doing is offering good value for a good product.”

Plan on spending at least one month prior to listing a home to prepare it for sale. “Use as much time as you can,” advised Ms Caldwell-Cluff. “It seems there is always more that needs to be done. We’re not in a boutique market anymore. Sellers have to remember that there’s a lot to choose from and do what you can to make your house stand out from the crowd.

 “Create a warm, welcoming atmosphere that says, ‘This is home,’ because that is what a buyer wants. A home,” Ms Caldwell-Cluff emphasized. House staging, she believes, is a tool that can move a house from being “For Sale” to “Sold.”

For a home staging consultation, contact beth & company at 994-4849.