Seller’s Guide

Getting rid of clutter is first on every stagers list. Your goal here is to make your apartment look like an expensive hotel suite. Start by removing all but a few accessories from the tops of furniture . Buyers want to be able to picture the room with their own things in it. Leave 1, 3 or 5 accessories per room preferably  arranged in an odd-numbered group.  Odd number groupings of accessories have been shown by studies to be most eye appealing.  In this process, remove anything personal including family pictures, pipe collections, most of your art collection,  most books and all magazines, toothbrushes, soaps and shampoos from the shower etc.

• Clean & Clear Counter Tops. Counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom and dresser tops in the bedrooms should again either be completely empty  or have 3 decorative accessories arranged in a group. Pack up old pots and pans and leave only a few new looking ones in your kitchen cabinets along with only one set of good dishes and glassware. Clear out the refrigerator and pantry leaving only a few attractive looking food items. Remove magnets, notes and pictures from the refrigerator door.
• Bath & Closets. Have only one or two colors of coordinating towels in the bathroom.  Remove as much as possible from your medicine cabinet – buyers do look! Closet space is at a premium in New York and has been the decision point  on more than one apartment . Your clothes closets should be no more than half full. Pack the remainder in wardrobe boxes available from Sofia Storage Centers or other box sales stores.
• Pack-up Now. Pack everything else in clean moving boxes.  Use up, give away or throw away excess food items. The mistake many busy New Yorkers make is trying to sell their Manhattan apartment with a lived-in look ….. forget about it.
• Inventory for Storage. Once you know how many boxes of packed accessories you have, next take an inventory of your furniture. Unless your apartment is already sparsely furnished, you are trying to identify between 1/4 and 1/3 of the furniture that you are going to temporarily store. A properly staged condo appears to have much more space than a truly lived in apartment.  If you have a dining room or dining area list  all but two or four dining room chairs for removal. If you have a china closet or breakfront either list it for removal or if possible, have the top section removed and leave the bottom section as a server. If you have two dressers in a bedroom, consider putting one on the list along with the coffee table in the living room.
• Art Work. If you haven’t taken down excess art work, do it now and pack it in a storage center art carton designed for size of the particular  painting, print or work of art.
• Technology. Its best to use this an opportunity to get rid of all old technology in your apartment including old TV’s and stereo systems, especially ugly wiring. It’s okay to display flat screen TV’s, laptops and e-pads but try to take a minimalist approach.

Check if there is one available on a short term (3 month) basis in the basement of your building. If not, visit a storage center in your neighborhood with a list of the number of boxes you have packed for storage along with your list of furniture you will be storing. 

Now that you have removed the clutter, take a survey of your condo or co-op’s bones. You should first do this yourself and then if you are still uncertain, get a second opinion – perhaps from a professional.

Start by clearing your mind and look at the space as if you were seeing it for the first time. Try to do this in an organized way starting with the floors and slowly working your way to the ceiling and writing down everything that needs to be corrected,

• Does the wooden floor have worn spots or large scratches?
• Are vinyl or composite floors shining clean
• Are both the tiles and the grout spotless in the bathroom and kitchen ?
• Are all rugs and carpets clean?
• Are floor vents clean and new looking?
• Are baseboards newly painted ?
• Are heating and cooling units and their covers freshly painted or new looking?
• Do the walls have cracks or need to be patched
• Are the walls dirty?
• Are the windows and blinds/shades/drapes clean?
• Are the doors clean ?
• What do the ceilings look like ?
• Are both the kitchen and bathroom(s) updated?
• Is there still too much clutter or too many personal items out or in cabinets or closets?

Do what needs to be done to compete in the New York Condo/Co-op or Loft Market.  As we said earlier,  of the major tasks needed to be done to stage your apartment,  you can either do them yourself or hire a professional to do them for you.

• Remodel the kitchen and/or baths if they need to be updated.  Do this first as it has the potential to create a great deal of dirt and dust. Some kitchen & bath remodelers provide free design services which can save substantial sums or you may prefer to use a designer or staging professional to help you through this project. One word of caution. It is best to replace outdated appliance, cabinets and bathroom fixtures with the level of quality that your condo or co-op commands. For most in Manhattan this means higher end replacements. If you cannot afford remodeling, it is better to clean up existing appliances rather than installing cheap replacements. In this case, and only if your kitchen and baths are outdated,  you may want to replace just the sink and toilet and upgrade bath accessories adding quality toilet paper holder, towel bars and wall or chandelier lighting. Even in New York you should be able to do all this for between $1,500 and $2,000 using quality fixtures . Pendant lighting can make a big statement when placed over the kitchen counter. If necessary, replace the refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher and faucet with quality appliances, if you can.
• Repair walls and ceilings as necessary, patching and painting. Nothing makes a difference like a fresh coat of paint. Consider painting the baseboards and ceiling moldings off-white and walls in neutral tones. Again you are looking to appeal to the broadest possible market and neutral colors will make a major contribution in that direction.  If you need to hide imperfections in walls and ceilings, flat paint is the best but is very difficult to clean. Generally egg shell or semi-gloss are the best for living and bedrooms as they reflect more light -making the rooms appear larger-and can be washed.  Doors, baseboards and kitchens are areas that get dirty easily and are usually painted with high-gloss but if you are staging, you can also use egg shell or semi-gloss to cut down on the appearance of imperfections.  Selecting paint color can be tricky. The easiest way to stay safe is to pick  a color card with 3 to 5 shades of  a single neutral  color, like beige, and then use the two or three lightest shades.
• Clean drapes and rugs if necessary. Even if they are clean, have a friend check for odors. Spray with an  upholstery “freshener” if there is the slightest hint of an odor.
• Room odors. Since opening windows to air out New York City apartments is not an option, use a plug-in air freshener in each room. Do not cook smelly foods even if it means eating out more often.
• Clean windows and blinds. New York City windows get filthy fast. Washing windows usually tops the most hated household task list. Give yourself permission to pay someone to clean your windows or if you are ambitious, do it yourself. Make sure your windows are cleaned at least once every three months that you have the apartment on the market. Hopefully you will only have to do this task once. At the same time clean blinds and shades and replace the latter if grungy.
• Replace or repaint dirty, rusty heating and cooling vents and radiator covers.
• Clean and repair floors. Hardwood floors are a desirable feature found in many older Manhattan condos and co-ops. If they show wear, they should be refinished. A 14′x22′ living room should cost in the hundreds of dollars to be properly professionally refinished- sanded and stained with two coats of polyurethane . Tile or natural stone floors can be cleaned with the proper commercial products as can grout. Vinyl or laminate flooring should be replaced if worn.
• Flowers are inexpensive in Manhattan but provide natural brightening to any room. As a minimum, place a new floral arrangement in your living room once a week.

Now find a great realtor to help you sell your apartment. Our sources have found that it pays to use a realtor who is a top seller in your neighborhood. Invite the realtor in to your staged apartment and ask them for any final staging advice.

If you have a spouse, or a roommate, make sure you both understand and acknowledge that moving is ranked by psychologists as one of the most stress-inducing experiences in life. While you are both still relatively calm, stop and talk over the coming challenges – you’ll get through them better if they are acknowledged rather than ignored until they hit you. When you do sell, do not engage in recrimination such as “We could have gotten more if you didn’t leave your smelly socks around.” Virtually everyone is affected to some degree by buyers and sellers remorse.  Beat this feeling by celebrating with a close friend.