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Statistics
U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a staged house sells, on average, 17% higher than an unstaged house..... Read More >>
Design Tips from Dinah at Homestagers
Fashions come and go, so when redesigning your home’s interior, it makes sense to choose neutral tones that won’t date too quickly. This advice comes from Dinah Malyon, director of homestaging and interior design company DMI Homestagers.
Dress your house for Success
Sunday Start Times Article on improving the value of your home with House Dressing
Latest Newsletter
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WE ARE GOING CUSHION MAD! Dinah has been working on a whole new range of fabulous cushions coming into our retail showroom in the next few months– These will be available to purchase at 33 Garfield Street Parnell.
RETAIL SHOWROOM We have a beautiful new showroom opening in April. Open to the public Mon-Fri 9-5 for Retail sales and Interior design service. For interior design service please call to make an appointment.
GOING GOING SOLD! We have removed 47 house lots of furniture from properties since the beginning of May. 40 of those properties had sold! That is a wonderfully high success rate especially coming into winter. A good sign that together we are doing the right job
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF HOMESTAGING….
Home sellers long ago discovered that small touches could
boost selling prices – fresh flowers, the smell of freshly
baked cookies. Now a real estate developer, Centex of
Dallas, is adding in beautiful people.
The experiment in what’s called “staging” is simple: Home buyers enter a home and see not just furniture but real people – actors – playing out the life they might lead there.
The Centex program, which its creators call HomeLife, has been used twice so far at Milestone, a 166-house development in Santa Clarita, about 25 miles north of Hollywood.
In one performance, the ‘model’ family spent about three
hours pretending it was Mom’s birthday. They baked a
cake, sang happy birthday and the children drew and
framed a picture – of a Centex house. The original cast
included a former Baywatch hunk, Jaason Simmons, in the
role of Dad.
How we can help. . .
We want to help you sell your property as much as we can. We are offering a few homestaging
extras
Things to remember when choosing your Homestaging company.
We will come and open your home turn lights on, candles lit, music playing, doors opened – helping your agent to be relaxed and ready to welcome purchasers! This service should be organised with your consultant prior to the open homes.
We have a new range of music to play through our stereos provided to help create that all important
ambiance!
We are providing fresh herbs in the kitchens, and plants on outdoor tables where necessary.
We will also come and clean the furniture every couple of weeks
We have 14 years experience in Homestaging and almost 20 in Interior Design so when you are using our service you know it will be reliable, consistent and professional. Dinah and Philly always know how to read a property well so that the furniture will suit any style of home.
We have a range of new original Art works to complete an installation. We look forward to hearing from you for an obligation free quote!
Statistics
U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a staged house sells, on average, 17% higher than an unstaged house.
Statistics suggest staged homes sell at an average of 6.32% over what they are listed for. Non staged homes only average 1.6% over the listed price.
A staged house sells faster: The New York Village Voice reported that the average number of days on the market for a staged house was 13.9 versus 30.9 days for an unstaged house.
DID YOU KNOW Only 10% of home buyers can actually visualize the potential of a home.
CHECK THIS OUT
LOCATION LOCATION DMI has moved into a wonderful new warehouse in Parnell.
We are now the corner of Garfield Street and St Georges Bay Road.
RETAIL SHOWROOM We
have a beautiful new showroom
opening in April. Open
to the public Mon-Fri 9-5 for retail sales and Interior design
service. For interior design
service please call to
make an appointment with
Dinah.
SENIOR CONSULTANT Philly is back in homestaging action from 10 months away on maternity leave.
FRESH SPACE NEW LOOK we have new Brochures, flyers and cards arriving in the next few days so look out for these, we have even given our logo a new look!
The changing face of the way we live?
Well its hard to believe we have arrived in the year 2010. Yet our cars are not levated, and most of us don't have a robot at home making the dinner. We do however enjoy the benefits daily of amazing advancements in technology, but it’s a far cry from what we expected back in the 80’s.
Its very interesting to see where the future of architecture and design is actually heading. At DMI we always make sure we are moving with the times and keeping up with trends. It seems that as we head into the depths of the 21st century tomorrow's homes are very different again from what we had thought. Yes, floor plans are evolving and expanding to accommodate the changing patterns of our lives but many architects and designers are actually drawing upon ancient materials and building techniques for inspiration and resources. Perhaps the most exciting and most important trend in home design is the increased sensitivity to the environment where Architects and engineers are using simple building techniques and biodegradable materials. With the interiors we are working on there is a huge amount of natural fibers, eco friendly flooring and fabrics all with a very simple, soft feel. We are still seeing a lot of floral wall coverings, and the colours are lovely duckeggs, linens and khaki. So In a time when everything should be steel and synthetic we are seeking a effortless elegance of days gone. We want comfort and soft lines. So when we will be living in the Jetsons sky-high high tech home? The question is when will we ever want to? As humans we always revert back to nature and we love to surround ourselves in textures and materials that reflect this. It is important to keep our homes and lives sensitive to this.
How we can help
We want to help you sell your property as much as we can. We are offering a few homestaging extras.
Things to remember when
choosing your Homestaging
company.
We will come and open your
home turn lights on, candles
lit, music playing, doors
opened –helping your agent
to be relaxed and ready to
welcome purchasers! This
service should be organised
with your consultant prior to
the open homes.
We have a new range of music to play through our stereos provided to help create that all important ambiance!
We are providing fresh herbs in the kitchens, and plants on outdoor tables where necessary. We will also come and clean the furniture every couple of weeks.
We have 14 years experience
in Homestaging and
almost 20 in Interior Design
so when you are using our
service you know it will be
reliable, consistent and professional.
Dinah and Philly always
know how to read a property
well so that the furniture will suit
any style of home.
We have a range of new original Art works to complete an installation. We look forward to hearing from you for an obligation free quote!
Interiors
Design Tips from Dinah at DMI Homestagers
Fashions come and go, so when redesigning your home's interior, it makes sense to choose neutral tones that won't date too quickly. This advice comes from Dinah Maylon, Director of Homestaging and Interior Design company DMI Homestagers.
“Interest can be created through
accessories – cushions, throws, rugs and
curtains – rather than tying yourself down
to a particular colour scheme by choosing
bold colours for large items,” she says.
The current look is less structured than
it used to be, she says, as homeowners
look for a more comfortable, casual feel.
Furniture choices do not need to be limited
by the style of the home. A rolled armchair
may look good in a modern home, while a
low, square sofa can not only suit a modern
home, but also an older villa or bungalow.
When redesigning an entire home, the
kitchen and bathrooms are usually the most
in need of a major makeover. “Kitchens
and bathrooms are often the part of a
home that needs modernising the most,
as these areas may date,” Dinah says.
Use lamps rather than wall lights, and avoid
hanging lights if ceilings are low, she says.
As well as offering an interior/exterior
design service for new and older homes,
DMI Homestagers also assists developers,
homeowners and real estate agents
to achieve sales by creating the best
possible first impression. Dinah has a
wealth of experience in all these fields.
Working in Auckland and Wellington,
the company operates a comprehensive
property staging service, providing furniture
and accessories for private homes, show
homes, display units and apartments.
Drawing from its stock of designer
furniture and accessories, which is updated
constantly to reflect the latest trends,
the company furnishes interiors to suit
a home’s design and target audience.
“Kitchens and bathrooms are often the part of a
home that needs modernising the most, as these
areas may date,”
Dress your house for success
Greg Ninness reports on ways to improve the value of your home when it is for sale.
MOST PEOPLE realise how important it is to have a property looking its best when they put it on the market, but it can be tricky deciding where to draw the line when undertaking improvements before sale.
That is especially true with big ticket items such as having a house repainted or a kitchen refurbished. Vendors must decide whether they would be likely to recoup the cost of such work from a higher selling price or would be better off saving the money and selling the house as it is.
Nicky Rhodes, a real estate agent with Harcourts’ Milford office on Auckland’s North Shore, said taking care of little things could often make a big difference to that all important first impression.
If there were bare patches in a lawn it would be worthwhile having them sown with grass in time for the open homes, she said.
And if the homeowners were halfway thought landscaping their property, it could be worthwhile finishing the job.
Moldy or stained paths and driveways could be water blasted and if the exterior of the house was grimy or mould a chemical wash could make a big difference.
But what if it was obviously due for repainting?
Rhodes said that probably depended on what the rest of the property was like. If everything else was perfect and the exterior paintwork was the only problem, then it would probably be worth getting it painted before putting it on the market, she said.
Although buyers could factor in the cost of repainting in their offers, some people did not want the inconvenience of having to get the house painted once they moved in, and would move on to other properties, potentially making the property harder to sell. If the house had already been repainted and needed no major work, it would increase the pool of potential buyers.
But if the interior of the property was also tired or there was other major work which needed doing, then there was probably no advantage to having the outside repainted. That’s because the property would appeal only to buyers who were prepared to undertake the work anyway, so just fixing one problem and leaving others was unlikely to provide a benefit.
Inside the house it was a similar story.
If owners had substantially renovated a house but one room was left unfinished, it would probably be worth the cost of completing the job, Rhodes said.
Otherwise potential buyers would just focus on the room that still needed attention and may adopt a mindset that the property was let down by that particular room and still needed work.
But if the house was merely dated and needed a complete refurbishment, it would usually be best to leave it as it was.
Many buyers were attracted by the idea of being able to redecorate a home to their own tastes and that could work in the vendor’s favour, Rhodes said.
Some vendors might decide to give a room a quick spruce up by painting the walls, but that was not necessarily a good idea, she said.
If you painted the walls, it may make the curtains and ceiling look shabby and if you fixed those up it may draw attention to the worn carpet.
So it was easy to spend more money than was originally anticipated without necessarily recouping it from the selling price.
However, small items of maintenance, such as fixing cracked tiles, chipped bench tops, removing stains or patching holes in carpets and fixing broken light fittings should be taken care off.
And owners should always make sure that any sticky windows or doors were fixed, Rhodes said. Potential buyers loved opening doors, windows and cupboards, and if they were sticky it made them wonder what was else was wrong with the property and start looking for other faults.
Many buyers also required a pre-purchase inspection report, and sticky windows or doors could also prompt property inspectors to look for other problems, Rhodes said.
Regardless of the level of work carried out, one thing Rhodes always recommended to her clients was to have their property professionally photographed.
The quality of a photograph on a website or in an advertisement could make a big difference to how many people contacted the agent or attended an open home.
“I’ve rarely seen a good one taken by an agent,” she said.
The cost of professional photography was usually only around $300.
If a property was empty when it was sold it was essential to have it “staged,” filled with good quality furniture and furnishings supplied on short-term hire.
Dinah Malyon, the founder and managing director of DMI HomeStagers, the largest company specialising in that market, said 90% of the properties it furnished were vacant, either because they were investment properties without a tenant or the owners had already moved.
DMI has an 1800m2 warehouse in Auckland and another in Wellington, in which it stores everything from sofas and beds to vases, artwork, towels and bathroom accessories and kitchenware, everything to make a home looked lived in. And the company stocks a wide range of styles to suit almost any type of property.
The cost of completely outfitting a three bedroom home with all of its furniture and accessories for five weeks, (allowing for a four week marketing campaign and a week to set up and pack up) was $2,643.
Malyon said the average cost of furnishing a couple of bedrooms for five weeks was $800-$1,000 while a complete lounge makeover might cost about $1,100.
DMI would store the owner’s own furniture during the marketing campaign.
Rhodes said such a move could be very effective.
DMI also offers a service called “fresh perspective”, where a professional designer would visit a property and recommend changes that could improve its appeal.
Suggestions could range from changing the colour of a wall to replacing drapes or furniture, hanging artwork on a particular wall or cleaning the outside windows and sills. This cost $337.50.
Malyon said DMI was also often called in by the family of an older person who had moved out of their home before it was put on the market.
“We go in and remove the doilies,” she said with a chuckle.
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