Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and home renovators who are so often our home staging clients. They understand the value of home staging. In honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Our Client Day), we asked Jusztina Paksai, realtor with Elyse Harney Real Estate and partner with husband Andy in EJ Home, a few questions. We’ve enjoyed staging a couple homes in northwestern Connecticut for Jusztina. Learn more about this dynamic real estate agent.
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and home renovators who are so often our home staging clients. They understand the value of home staging. In honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Our Client Day), we asked Jusztina Paksai, realtor with Elyse Harney Real Estate and partner with husband Andy in EJ Home, a few questions. We’ve enjoyed staging a couple homes in northwestern Connecticut for Jusztina. Learn more about this dynamic real estate agent.
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They understand the value of home staging. In honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Our Client Day), we asked Janet Nelson, Realtor, Litchfield County Brokerage of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, a few questions. We recently staged a cozy cottage (and its studio outbuilding) in Sherman, CT for Janet, which went under contract almost immediately! Read on…
Since moving to Kent in 1984, Janet Nelson has designed and built two country homes. She is intimately familiar with the building process and has experience in interior design; these skills perfectly dovetail with her successful real estate career. Janet specializes in long-distance clients and transactions in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Becoming a Realtor 28 years ago offered me the flexibility and freedom I wanted.
Michael Bowman Photography
William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty offers me the tools and support I need to make my career a success. You also have to listen to your clients and ask questions to help guide them through the process.
Everyone appreciates the beauty of the Northwest corner and what it has to offer. We have rolling hills, covered bridges, hiking trails, great eateries and lots of beautiful homes, antique and new.
Lack of inventory has been the biggest challenge, leaving many disappointed buyers losing out in multiple bid situations.
Our goal with this smaller home was to make it feel bright and open — a home where you can happily settle into for long winter months…and all the other months as well. Michael Bowman Photography
I have seen many homes over the years that have been decorated by Staged Ryte. I recently sold a house they staged in Sharon that my buyers were attracted to because it was staged beautifully. Dawn and her crew are terrific, talented, flexible and a pleasure to work with.
Learn more about Janet and her listings here!
Want to learn more about Staged Ryte’s home staging, design consulting, and more? Or just go ahead and contact Dawn Trachtenberg for a phone conversation: 917.543.4590. Email: dawn@stagedryte.com
Want to bring some brightness to your home and not spend too much? Whether you’re staging your own home or you just want to live a happier life with better light quality, you can brighten up your home with these 5 budget-friendly tips.
Remove the curtains and/or blinds This is our first go-to trick when staging a home that feels dark. In this case, the homeowner also painted the walls white for a major transformation with home staging. Here’s a before and after.
Looks like a completely different room, doesn’t it?
Bring in table and floor lamps Obviously, right? More lamps offer more light. You don’t need to spend a fortune on high-end chandeliers and and designer end-table lamps. You know all the affordable furniture & accessory websites: Wayfair, IKEA, Overstock, West Elm, and many more. We say shop local! Go check out the local second-hand and vintage stores. Here in the Berkshires, you can’t throw a lightbulb without hitting an antiques store. There’s also Goodwill.
Lighten up your furniture If you can afford to go out and buy new sofas, chairs, ottomans, and rugs…terrific! If not, invest in a quality sofa cover that’s a lighter or brighter color. New bright pillow covers. A fresh white duvet cover. A lighter rug.
And when we say “lighten up your furniture” we also mean you can remove some of the clutter — curate your furniture. Create seating spaces that allow for easy movement and conversation areas. Use a light area rug to define the space and leave the surrounding space clear.
Work with what you’ve got Dark walls or paneling that you can’t or don’t want to transform? That’s okay. Look at the example below. The knotty-pines walls morphed from dark and heavy to a charming natural accent when we lightened up the furniture (and removed the curtains, of course).
Mirrors This is an age-old design technique. Glass mirrors are first documented in the 3rd century! Candle-holding mirrored sconces helped to brightened very dark rooms. (We stumbled on this history of the mirror…fascinating!) While we don’t use many mirrored candle sconces, we do place mirrors across from windows. We recently did this in a charming country house. We strategically placed 3 mirrors on different walls (the one below in a bookcase!). And we used a mirrored cocktail table.
Clean your windows 😂 You’re welcome.
Cover photo courtesy of Dan Alden Country Real Estate Services.
Come to our BIG Staged Ryte Warehouse Sale for antiques, vintage, and modern furniture and accessories. Our 5,000 square foot warehouse just can’t hold it all; so when we need to get new pieces, something else has to go.
Grab a friend and come shop for furniture and accessories!
Friday, May 5, 12-5
Saturday & Sunday, May 6 & 7, 10-4
Location: Staged Ryte, 21 Business Park road, Ashley Falls, Massachusetts
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They understand the value of home staging. In honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Our Client Day), we asked Julie King, Regional Manager for the Litchfield County Brokerage of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, a few questions. Read on!
My own search for a home here in the Litchfield Hills. Like many second home buyers, my husband and I embarked on our search while working full time in Manhattan. This got me thinking about the unmet needs of second home buyers in the Litchfield Hills and how the skills developed in my career as SVP Director of Client Leadership at Ogilvy were transferable to real estate. My interest in securing a real estate license accelerated when we moved to the Litchfield Hills full-time and expanded our weekend cottage into a home. In 2014, I retired from Ogilvy and embarked on my mission to become a REALTOR. In 2018, I joined WIlliam Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. In 2021, I became Regional Manager of our Litchfield Hills Brokerage offices in Kent, Litchfield, Salisbury, and Washington.
A keen understanding of human nature and how buyers and sellers make decisions.
We staged 6 Rug Road in West Cornwall, Connecticut. In less than a week it received multiple offers and went under contract. Photos: Michael Bowman.
Turning our client’s ideal into a reality. For example, when my husband and I decided to buy a second home our ideal was to wake up to exceptional views, enjoy breakfast on the porch, hike local trails, explore hidden gems, and share our love of this area with friends and family. And we did and it is incredibly rewarding to do the same for our clients.
Dispelling the myths of what’s happening to the real estate market. Much of the media reporting focuses on the major metro markets where demand has softened. In our market, we continue to see an influx of buyers seeking homes here. With demand high and inventory low, our prices remain stable.
Kent, Connecticut staging from a couple years ago.
Sometimes we like to do the unexpected.
I discovered Staged Ryte through our team in the Berkshire Hills - they had been working with Staged Ryte and shared your work with us. We were impressed and continue to be.
Engagement without fear as people grow more confident about their ability to contend with Covid. Personally, I’m looking forward to entertaining as we complete the renovation of our home in Washington. We started with the outside last spring and will finish the inside by summer. Just in time to shop the warehouse sale at StagedRyte! [Editor’s Note: Thanks, Julie! Our Warehouse Sale is May 5, 6, and 7 at 21 Business Park Road in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts.]
Thanks, Julie! You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn and follow Litchfield Hills William Pitt on Facebook and Instagram.
We get asked some version of this question often, “Should I stage my small, moderately priced home?” Or “Do I need to stage my home? It’s not a luxury listing!” “Does home staging really matter for moderately priced homes?” Yes. Yes you should. It matters!
No matter a home's price point, staging makes a SIGNIFICANT difference because ALL homes need to appeal to a buyer.
Here are some statistics from the most recent Profile of Home Staging by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). But keep reading for examples of stagings for homes listed around $400,000.
91% of buyers' agents say home staging had an affect on most or some buyers. Only 7% said it has no effect!
82% of buyers’ agents say that staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home.
83% of agents say that [great] photos are more important than ever. Let’s face it, buyers are shopping online and the photos need to eye catching or they are swiped away. Home staging creates great photos!
Watch this as Dawn talks about a few of our stagings.
Now on to specifics about why to stage a smaller and/or moderately priced home. Home buyers in moderate price ranges care just as much about where they live as those hunting for million dollar listings. Who doesn’t desire a place where we can see ourselves living our best lives?
Moderate Home 1! This home received an above asking price the first week on market. We staged; we un-staged; and were very happy, as were the realtor, sellers and buyers.
Staged Ryte staged two homes in 2022 priced at or below $400,000. And they were relatively small. In both cases, the realtor told the home owners that he could sell their homes for one price if they didn’t stage, and he could sell for a greater price when staged. Both owners agreed to staging (who doesn’t want more money?).
Moderate Home 1 was a complete renovation. We came in and fully staged the home…and it received multiple offers over asking in the first week. This was one of those homes where we stage…and then come back in short order to un-stage. We love when this happens and don’t mind one little bit.
Moderate Home 2 was an older lake cottage. We styled the home and it received an offer in the first week. The home owners ultimately decided to take the property off the market and keep the home.
On another note, we staged a luxury property that had been removed from the market because it wasn’t getting much interest. We came in styled and staged it, and the realtor tells us showings have more than doubled.
Moderate Home 1: Empty to Homey.
Our staged homes show more, receive offers more quickly, and sell above listing. You don’t need to have a luxury home to benefit from home staging. Any sized home can benefit! Most important rooms to stage? Living room, primary bedroom, and kitchen.
How is your home going to stand out from the rest? Do you need a refresh for your home to show at its best in photos and when home buyers are visiting? We dove into our archive for this blog post, “The Biggest Home Staging Mistakes.” Some good tips for styling on your own.
Want to understand our process from walk-through to proposal to staging? Read this blog post “How Does Home Staging Work?”
2023 is going to be a tougher market than the past three years. Home sales have slowed; there’s more inventory than there was just after COVID, when so many people were moving to the Berkshires, Northwestern Connecticut, and Dutchess Couny, NY. Each home needs to stand out from the rest.
Bottom line, home staging matters for all homes at all price levels. Follow us on our socials especially Instagram @stagedryte to see our stagings and staging life. And contact us when you’re ready to stage!
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They understand the value of home staging. In honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Our Client Day), we asked Elyse Harney Morris of Elyse Harney Real Estate a few questions about how she got into real estate in the Northwestern Corner, the secret sauce of Elyse Harney Real Estate's success, and looking to the future of real estate in the Berkshires, Massachusetts, Northwestern Connecticut, and Dutchess County, New York. Read on!
My parents were the innkeepers of the White Hart [in Salisbury, Connecticut]. And so we grew up with a hospitality mindset. I went to Cornell School of Hotel Administration and went on to work at five star hotels in the Caribbean, Hawaii, and others. We eventually wanted to move back home where there are no natural disasters! We had to think about where we wanted to educate our kids.
Hospitality is an amazing learning ground for real estate. My mom, Elyse Harney, started Elyse Harney Real Estate at the age of 50 and wanted to keep it in the family. So we came into the business. I’m the lead broker. My husband Scott runs the business side, including marketing.
And now we’ve been doing this for 16 plus years! Elyse Harney Real Estate celebrated its 35th anniversary last year.
Hospitality is a cornerstone. Our greatest strength is our talented agents who are creative ambassadors for our region. We have 34 agents in our Connecticut/Massachusetts/New York area. Many of them came to real estate through hospitality like I did.
You constantly have to build strong relationships. You also need to stay on top of the industry trends, including marketing trends. And pay attention to detail.
It’s interesting, prior to COVID, buyers often only wanted to look at a specific town, like Salisbury or Litchfield. Now people are more aware of the region: you don’t have to be in Connecticut, you can be in the Berkshires or Dutchess County, New York.
This Elyse Harney Real Estate listing in Alford, Massachusetts went under contract within one week. The home owners said, “Thank you for the beautiful way you staged our family home. You clearly had the magic touch! We are grateful…for your creativity and hard work.” See more testimonials. “After” photo by Sonja Zinke.
Accomplishing a goal! Seeing our home buyers flourish in their new communities. We love encouraging buyers to get involved with what they're interested in, maybe its history, so we guide them toward a town's historical society. I often bring clients to the Salisbury Ski Jump, even when it’s not winter. The following year we’ll see the kids there taking lessons or they’re attending the Jump. When people get involved with their communities, they’re more likely to love the area and encourage their family and friends to move here. And recommend us to their family and friends.
New Listing; New Staging
31 Robin Hill Road in Lakeville, Connecticut is a mid-century modern home renovated by EJ Home and listed with Elyse Harney Morris and Jusztina Paksai of Elyse Harney Real Estate. We staged this home for contemporary living. It was offered up to us beautifully empty and ready professional staging. We grounded the great room with a darker rug, sofa, cocktail table, and chair. And we allowed the furnishings and accessories in the rest of the home to emphasize light and bright. Photo by Sonja Zinke.
Staying ahead of this ever-changing market. Lack of inventory right now. Staying ahead of the competition. And evolving our practices to be 10 steps ahead. Home staging is part of this…
Instagram! Dawn had transformed a farmhouse in Southfield, Massachusetts. I couldn’t believe how it was transformed—as you went from room to room you could see the lifestyle Dawn had created.
Staged Ryte has done a log home for us that’s on the market right now. It significantly increased the number of buyers who want to see the house.
Staged Ryte transformed this log home, staging every room. The living room—truly a great room— features large furniture, grounded by an area rug, that manages to make the space cozy…and spacious. Photo by Sonja Zinke.
I did research, saw Staged Ryte’s positive reviews, and their professional approach. Dawn’s eye for design and large inventory helps to put homes in their best light. We’ve closed on houses because of what she created. She knows her audience. It’s like smoke comes out of her ears when she’s assessing a house. She doesn’t settle on a design until it’s perfect. We work collaboratively together so we’re all part of the same team.
Every year we have exceeded our goals—and we’ve set lofty goals for 2023! We’re excited to take on that challenge. We also want to strengthen our market share in Dutchess County and the Berkshires.
Staged right now, 36 Whitford Road in Sharon, Connecticut is a gorgeous estate. Staged Ryte staged the magnificent home as well as the guest house and pool house. Photo by Sonja Zinke.
One of my mother’s goals is to conserve more land and educate buyers and sellers about conservation. Harney & Sons, also a family company, donates to the 1% for the Planet fund. We have strong connections with the Columbia and Dutchess Land Conservancies. The Housatonic Valley Association and Scenic Hudson. That’s important to us.
Looking for more work/life balance. Focusing on health, family and friends. More time out paddling, biking, hiking. We have a puppy, Cooper, a golden retriever. I look forward to seeing my newlywed daughter in Napa soon. Visit our son in Hawaii; he works for NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] as a marine biologist. A trip to France. Life is good.
Every quarter —or so—we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They are the ones who understand the value of home staging to sell homes fast. We asked Jason Lemon of Lemon Properties a few questions about himself and his very busy business in Connecticut’s beautiful northwestern corner. We have staged two homes for Lemon Properties and look forward to more! Read on!
Actor Jayne Atkinson and husband actor Michel Gill had decided to sell their home. Their son was launched and they were ready to move on to new adventures. Jayne’s realtor, Leslie Chesloff of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Real Estate, recommended that Staged Ryte come in to advise on changes and updates, such as painting. We immediately hit it off with Jayne. (Honestly, who wouldn’t…she’s so warm and charming.) Staged Ryte transformed the interiors so well that Jayne and Michel decided to love their home and not put it on the market. A first for us!
Dawn sat down with Jayne in her refreshed 1920s home in the Hill Section of Great Barrington and had a conversation about the home staging process and outcome. Watch the video! Jayne says, “I know you staged the house so that it would look good but somehow you captured my whimsy and brought in gorgeous color. It just helped me relax. Staging it gave it this crisp, clean new look.”
Jayne especially loves the orange-hued throw pillows. The living room colors tied in with an orange and blue rug in the primary bedroom that Jayne never knew quite what to do with.
Atkinson and Gill may be most recognizable from their roles as Secretary of State and President on the popular Netlix series, House of Cards. Both are seasoned performers on stage and in television and movies. Atkinson loves the Berkshires and supports theatre companies and cultural institutions. She most recently appeared in WAM Theatre’s “Miscast Cabaret” benefit at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in July.
Actor Jayne Atkinson played Secretary of State Catherine Durant; Michel Gill played President Garrett Walker.
“Jayne was ready to sell! We walked through the house together - room by room - and identified furniture and accessories that should be edited or removed," says Dawn. "Then we made recommendations on paint colors and trim, brought in furniture, bedding and accessories to supplement and to help prospective buyers understand what their lifestyle could be like in the home." The dining room was completely transformed - piano, dining table, rug, chairs and accessories removed and replaced.
This was the first time a Staged Ryte client decided to keep their home based on its staging. They even purchased many of the staging furnishing, artwork, and other accessories. Trachtenberg says that it’s not unusual for home buyers to see a staged home and ask to certain buy pieces.
Watch the lively conversation between Dawn and Jayne on Staged Ryte’s…and please subscribe to our new YouTube Channel.
And the work continues. There are still some pieces to be sourced and brought into the home. Then Jayne and Michel will be ready to move back in!
We’re VERY excited about this project! In cooperation with digital canvas company WHIM (onawhim.com), we staged a unique property in New York City’s Oculus Center using 20 WHIM Digital Canvases, and curated NFT digital art, to create a one-of-a-kind new living space experience. We bet you have questions…
Digital Canvases + Home Staging + NFTs. Digital Canvases replace traditional pictures, paintings, posters and photographs.
For those of you who don’t know, a digital canvas is a specialized display that replaces a traditional wall hanging picture, poster, painting or photograph with the added ability to change what is seen through an App on a smart phone. Think of it as a smart speaker for your eyes!
NFT’s are a new type of secured digital artwork becoming influential in the crypto-currency collector art scene. We were able to design a space at the Oculus Center that changed its feel and esthetic to accommodate mood and taste. We used WHIM’s Digital Canvases, NFT art and an almost limitless access to wall art and photography, and added in the right furniture and decor, for an intriguing installation. (You can see Dawn in action here.)
Digital natives want to buy properties that showcase their lifestyle and culture. Some of the luxury homes that we stage will benefit from staging with digital canvases displaying NFTs. Interesting!
Up and coming digital natives, those who identify with crypto currency, NFT and Web3, will want to buy properties that reflect their lifestyle and culture. It’s now common to have smart home technology, fully connected home and smart appliances: digital canvases on the walls will become equally as common - especially for luxury properties. We are the first to incorporate digital canvases and NFTs into some of our stagings.
For the traditional home buyers, having the ability to adapt the pictures, posters, paintings and photographs on the wall to their taste will add to a home’s perceived value. By allowing a broker to pre-set what is seen on the walls to a particular client will make the property more appealing and personal.
We’re honored that Staged Ryte is the first home staging firm to incorporate digital canvases, NFT art, and digital art to enhance the stories we tell with staging. And we're planning to incorporate NFTs and digital canvases into curated home stagings in NYC, the Hudson Valley, NJ, Connecticut and the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Stay tuned!
We loved collaborating with WHIM and look forward to bringing digital canvases into our home staging in New York, the Berkshires, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Most home owners haven’t embarked on home staging journeys before. It’s often their realtor who recommends home staging. So the question we get most often (before how much does home staging cost) is how does home staging work? Well, we’re here to tell you.
Let’s break down the home staging process. We’ve simplified it here, but you’ll get the overall idea.
It’s a Process!
From first home visit to measurements, pulling furniture and accessories to trying different artwork, home staging is a thoughtful process.
Home staging always starts with a conversation - often with a realtor to help us understand the seller's needs and the optimal buyer.
The next conversation is with the home owner. As home stagers, we need to know if the home will be vacant or furnished. Does any work need to be done to the home before staging?
We tour the home and take copious photographs and notes.
We create a comprehensive home staging plan which informs the proposal we send to the home owner. With the home owner’s go ahead, we send our Staging Agreement and with that and a deposit, we are on our way to staging.
We then dive into our home staging warehouse to pull sofas, cocktail tables, dining tables, bed frames, mattresses, carpets, accessories, etc. Sometimes we have to go on shopping excursions to fill in where needed (we don’t mind).
We now have space in our Ashley Falls facility to pre-stage - set up a room to see what else we need or if another color scheme, living room chair or pillow might work better. This has been a great benefit to our design process.
Once everything is finalized, we load up our truck and head out to stage the home. Small homes can take a day; large homes can take multiple days. Staging doesn’t happen in a matter of hours as it seems to on our favorite HGTV and Magnolia Network shows. We will often make multiple trips back to the warehouse if we need to swap items out, add more furniture or find just the right last accessory to complete a room.
Sometimes homes are staged for months, sometimes days! Then it's time to pack, wrap and bring it all back.
Measurements are our friends. Measuring saves us from lugging a too-large sofa to a home - only to then have to take it back to the warehouse.
Ahhhh. This is our favorite step: a beautifully staged home…right before it goes under contract and we need to move it all out.
Contact Dawn…
This is probably what she’ll be doing when you call. 917.543.4590. Or click here.
Our process works. We see it happen over and over and over again.
Staged homes sell faster and garner up to 6% more than unstaged homes. It’s so worth the home owner’s or developers investment. And it’s so worth our time and expertise.
Look through our Metro and Country galleries to see dozens of single-family homes, city apartments and condos where we’ve worked our process and our magic.
Do you love a tag sale? We do! Do you love an art trunk show? We do! Join us May 20 - 22, 10am - 3pm, at 21 Business Park Road, Ashley Falls, Massachusetts. Our home staging warehouse tag sale also offers an art trunk show featuring abstract artist-in-residence Kari Kroll on Saturday, May 21, 3pm - 5pm. Meet Kari, grab a beverage and peruse large and moderately-sized contemporary art, and her unique “luxe littles.”
Spring is the PERFECT time for cleaning out and freshening! And we have new pieces coming in so need to let go of other items. Honestly, our 5,000 square foot warehouse can hold a lot but we’ve pushed way past 10,000 pieces of art, furniture and accessories. Help!
“Every home is unique. Our collection is so extensive, we can access everything we need from our home staging facility…but sometimes a home calls for items we don’t have,” says Dawn Trachtenberg. “Or we find furniture and accessories we know will serve us well - so we buy them. These tag sales help us to keep our inventory fresh…and we love an organized warehouse! We’re happy to pass on pieces that we’ve used and loved.”
Pieces include:
Original mid-century modern furniture
Contemporary furniture
Vintage & antique pieces
Tables and Chairs
Dressers and vanities
Storage
A diversity of art
Accessories
Again, the tag sale is:
Friday, May 20, 10 - 3
Saturday, May 21, 10 - 3; Kari Kroll Art Trunk Show Reception: 3 - 5
Sunday, May 22, 10 - 3
Follow artist Kari Kroll on Instagram! And if you don’t follow us on Instagram, please do! Questions about the tag sale? Contact us or give Dawn a call: 917.543.4590
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They are the ones who understand the value of home staging to sell homes fast – and to the right buyers. So, in honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Your Client Day), we asked Dan Alden of ACRES - Alden Country Real Estate Services a few questions about himself and real estate in the Berkshires.
Dan says, “I choose to work with Staged Ryte because I appreciate their professionalism and the added value they bring to my listings.” Thanks, Dan!
Q. How long have you been a realtor? And why did you get into real estate in the Berkshires?
A. I have been a realtor for 17 years. I was born and raised in the Berkshires, and grew up working in the antiques business at Bradford Auction Gallery, where I learned to appreciate the history and the value of a wide range of antiques & collectibles and the “art of the sale” (anyone lucky enough to have experienced a Bill Bradford auction will know exactly what I mean). I attended college in Chicago then returned to the Berkshires where I worked as a sales manager for various local and national gift and manufacturing companies. After deciding the Berkshires weren’t such a bad place to live after all, I built a house in New Marlborough and the intersection of this process with my sales experience and local knowledge led me into the real estate business.
This home in Becket, Mass went under contract so quickly that we didn't even have time to share “Just Listed!” photos on Instagram!
Q. Houses have been moving like hotcakes in the Berkshires. What are the challenges and benefits of this type of market?
A. The biggest challenge in this market is that expectations and anxieties are running high on all sides. While many sellers are expecting (and often getting) top dollar for the properties, for every property that sells there is only one lucky buyer but often many frustrated under-bidders, and as an agent it can be very stressful to be the bearer of bad news and manage that disappointment. The benefit of this market is that where it used to take 4 to 6 months to sell a property, it now may take only a matter of weeks or even days.
This occupied Sheffield, Mass home was staged by Staged Ryte and went under contract within a days.
Q. What do you find most rewarding about real estate?
A. The things I find most rewarding about real estate is getting to know the histories of the properties I sell and playing the role of matchmaker between sellers and buyers of unique & interesting properties. It is a fascinating process and always full of surprises that keep me on my toes.
Q. How did 2021 into 2022 go for you?
A. The past two years have been quite a blur and I have to keep looking back at the calendar to keep perspective on how crazy it has been. There are houses I’ve sold and resold in the same period of time that would normally play out over many years so time really feels compressed.
Q. What are you looking forward to for the rest of 2022?
A. I’m really looking forward to enjoying a laid-back Berkshire summer and taking advantage of our local arts & cultural offerings. We have so many amazing creative and artistic venues around here, and if I’ve learned anything in the past couple of years it is to not take any of it for granted.
Learn more about Dan Alden and ACRES - Alden Country Real Estate!
Blue is by far people’s favorite color. In fact, according to the popular real estate/design site Apartment Therapy , 42% of women and 30% of men prefer it over all other colors. We have seen this in our own experience as home stagers. Blue is the most common color we encounter in homes, on walls, bookshelves, carpets, cabinets, tiles, and sofas.
Here are some tried and true techniques that we employ when we work with lots of beautiful blue.
When we are staging a room with lots of blue walls, we treat blue as a background color and bring in a lot of whites, neutrals and pops of color to diminish the strength of the blue. We transform blue from the primary color into one of a number of important colors. Painting your walls blue? Here are 50+ Perfect Blue Paint Colors.
Sometimes we feature a bold blue pattern on furniture or accessories to make a statements with blue - we want to intrigue visitors’ eyes. Try a large floral patterned sofa in different shades of orange, which is a natural complement of blue. We employed this technique with a home that was languishing on the market with no offers. After the owner followed our advice, the home sold within two weeks for $50,000 over the asking price. In this photo, we used navy blue and orange to create energy. Below we used dynamic contemporary art in blues and blacks to draw the eye up.
A blue and white color scheme is timeless. If you have a lot of blue in a room, try balancing it with large swaths of white--on baseboards, ceilings, window sills, bannisters--to create a sophisticated and soothing atmosphere that will be pleasing to many people. Guaranteed. (If you love blue and white together, follow the Instagram hashtag #blueandwhitecrush ← we use it sometimes.) Here are more tips from Homes and Gardens on how to decorate with blue.
If you have a large space of flat blue color, like a wall, use accessories with shiny finishes and textures that catch and reflect light. If your blue surface is shiny, try the opposite--nubby textiles and textures. This holds true for any large area of one color.
Are you planning to sell your home? Or are you a realtor selling a home? We can stage it to maximize your sale price. Call us today at 917.543.4590 for a consultation or click here to contact us. If you don’t already, follow us on Instagram and/or Facebook @stagedryte
We’re stagers, not real estate agents…but we do have a front-row seat for home sales. We know what helps a home to sell faster and for a higher price…but when to put it on the market? Zillow says that the best time of year used to be May but that’s moved to March as of 2019 (everything went a little sideways in 2020…). Of course, the best time to list a home depends on location and region. Local realtors know best…chime in here with your expertise, realtors! We do have a few reasons to stage a home for winter sale. Here’s what we know…
Winter staging we did recently in Litchfield County.
A home that presents warm, cozy & move-in ready will sell faster in the winter than a home that's not prepared.
Why list and stage in the winter?
People visit to ski. Maybe they fall in love with the area and on that blustery or rainy day, they'll go visit houses. You want to capture those visitors with your listing and in-home experience. Remember, we want to present a lifestyle to prospective buyers, not just an empty house.
People may not think that listing a home in the winter is the right time, but you will be fresh on the market and capture looks because there aren't many listings. If your home is staged, it will be a superstar and garner a great price.
Staging the home during the winter season prepares it for the spring and new lookers. If a home has been on the market but hasn’t moved, we always recommend to take it off the market, stage it, and relaunch for winter/spring. All eyes will be on your listing.
If your house needs a refresh and relaunch. talk to us. http://www.stagedryte.com/contact
Be fresh on the market and capture looks because there aren't as many listings as spring/summer.
We appreciate the new article in The Lakeville Journal! The focus is on our new home staging facility in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, and why it helps to stage a house if you want to sell it. Dawn and editor/realtor Cynthia Hochswender also get into some detail on the three stages of staging:
Fluffing
Staging
Interior Design
Here are Dawn’s recommendations for zhuzhing (or fluffing) a home to ready for photos and sale, as she shared them in the article. Of course, we always recommend you bring in a home staging professional…
“Too much big furniture in a room is not a good thing. Two recliners and a huge leather easy-sofa might be comfortable for you and your friends but it won’t help you sell your house.”
“‘Take down the window treatments. It lets in more light, which is important.’ The curtains or shades can also dominate the way a room looks and feels. It’s possible but unlikely that a potential buyer will want the same window treatments as the seller.”
“The wall of family photos and awards is too much. The buyer needs to focus on imagining themselves in the space, not be distracted by your diplomas.”
“Buy new white towels and new shower curtains. Use fresh new bed linens (and iron out any wrinkles or creases). Many bestselling house photos show stark white rooms, often with black trim. Trachtenberg feels that might be getting overdone. ‘How many people want to live with all-white walls? You want to draw people in’”
We did it! We welcomed realtors, developers, friends and family to our new storage space in the Berkshires on Friday, October 15. Our 5,000 square foot home-staging facility houses over 10,000 pieces of furniture and accessories and, we’re proud to say, visitors were pretty stunned by what they saw. (We’re still feeling pretty stunned ourselves…)
Our new facility is located at 21 Business Park Road in Ashley Falls. And it’s a very important piece for our continued growth! It’s now a warehouse, showroom space, and office perfect for our woman-owned company serving the Berkshires, Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, Eastern New York State, New York City and New Jersey.
“Because we have enough furniture and accessories in stock to stage 15+ homes at a time, we have a lot to manage,” Dawn Trachtenberg said at the grand opening. “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to remove eight sofas or multiple tables and chairs just to access the one particular piece we needed for a staging project. Now we can see everything at a glance. This storage facility is a game changer for us.”
We’ve always been thrilled with the outcome of our stagings, it’s just that the process was often challenging. The term “making the sausage” comes to mind here…the final product is amazing, but you didn’t want to watch it being made. This new space makes all items accessible.
The new storage facility houses:
10,000 pieces of furniture and accessories
1,000 books
500 pillows
90 dining room chairs
30 sofas
450 pieces of wall art, including over 200 original works.
Sofas, cocktail tables, chests of drawers, and other large items needed to be organized and tucked away (as well as you can tuck away a large piece of furniture and still have it visible for easy access). The shelving structures necessary to organize all of this stock were a vital component for this project’s success. The massive shelving units are out of the former C. A. Lindell Hardware and Lumber yard in Canaan, CT. We figured if the shelves could hold hundreds of pounds of lumber, they could hold our furniture and accessories.
Unlike some home-staging companies, we own all our stock: no additional furniture rental costs are passed on to clients. Our philosophy is to never stage in a “cookie cutter” style. Dawn says, “We believe that every home tells a story – and you need to tell that story to the right buyer. Our attention to detail and ability to understand what buyers want is unmatched.”
A special thanks goes out to the team that worked lots of hours to get everything in place. Lot’s of elbow grease, muscle, creativity, and endurance made this home staging dream come true.
Thanks to all who came to our open house. If you’d like a tour, contact Dawn Trachtenberg at 917.543.4590 or contact us (button below).
Read a Berkshire Eagle article about our business and the new space.
It takes a team to tackle a project like this. Thank you to our hard-working staff!
For YEARS we have successfully staged homes for sale while storing our ever-growing collection of furniture and accessories in multiple storage spaces. We’ve staged dozens of houses, estates, cottages, apartments and condominiums and done it well; from NYC to the Berkshires and in between. We have dreamed of having one large facility where we could house our thousands of items, pick and pull for any property regardless of location, and see all of our inventory all under one roof. We have good news…
We look forward to telling you about our home staging process and how we manage over 10,000 pieces of furniture and accessories (much better now with a 5,000 square foot storage facility)!
We will launch our new home staging storage facility on Friday, October 15, 4pm and 6pm 21 Business Park Road, Ashley Falls, MA in the beautiful Berkshires.
And YOU are invited to our open house.
Stop in for a tour, enter our raffle for a stunning 24” x 36” custom commissioned abstract painting by Staged Ryte’s artist-in-residence Kari Kroll, and enjoy bites and beverages catered by Rubiner’s Cheesemongers.
You can Follow Kari Kroll on Instagram and see her amazing art.
Questions? RSVP below or call or text Dawn at 917.543.4590.
Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They are the ones who understand the value of home staging to sell homes fast – and to the right buyers. So, in honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day, we are excited to showcase Anna Kolberg, licensed Real Estate Salesperson with The Corcoran Group. We just staged a wonderful apartment in Bushwick/Brooklyn, NY for Anna and the results? She’ll tell you about it. But first, let’s learn something about Anna.
Anna joined Corcoran with 10 years of real estate experience in NYC as a property owner and an investor. In addition to their two-family primary home in Williamsburg, she and her husband, a sales director for Corcoran Sunshine, own several income-producing properties which they’ve gut-renovated, managed, and substantially increased their value.
I am based at the Williamsburg office. I cover all of NYC, but specialize in the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick.
Anna Koblerg’s client needed a quick turnaround time on this Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY listing. Staged Ryte delivered on the staging and Anna sold the apartment in two weeks.
Since January, the velocity in the real estate market has picked up considerably. In certain segments of the market, we are seeing multiple bids above asking. Inventory in Brooklyn is low which makes it even more competitive for prospective buyers. Buyers need to be ready to go and submit their strongest offer from the start, or they risk losing out. [Editors Note: Brooklyn’s second quarter saw the highest number of closed sales on record.]
I always try to be upfront with my clients about the state of the market, so they know what they are getting into. Buying or selling a home is such an emotional experience. I find that people can remain calm if they know what to expect and are prepared for a situation. Arming them with information and a game plan is just one way I help my clients keep their cool in a hot market.
I find it rewarding to help someone achieve a goal that they may never felt possible (such as buying their first home or selling their property above ask in 2 weeks.) My clients enjoy working with me because I work tirelessly and do whatever it takes to help make the buying or selling process as easy as possible for them. (You would not believe some of the things I have done!!)
As a property owner and landlord myself, I have experience with finding undervalued properties and renovating them to increase their worth. It is extremely rewarding to help someone find a "diamond in the rough" — something that not only excites them, but is also a sound investment that helps them achieve financial independence.
Working in real estate is challenging, but it is also fun! Where else you can spend the day with a friend, exploring different neighborhoods, checking out properties and call that work?
2020 was an interesting and challenging year for everyone. Real estate agents had to pivot on a dime and quickly figure out how to adapt a very personal, face-to-face process to a virtual one. The online classes Corcoran's Agent Studio offered definitely helped us make this transformation in stride. While it was definitely not "normal," I learned a lot about resilience, and enjoyed the extra quality time with my family. I guess I am a "glass half full" kind of person!
Summer is usually slow for real estate agents in NYC. But this year is anything but normal! I guess we are still making up for lost time due to COVID. I expect Q3 and Q4 to be just as busy as Q2. So hold on to your hats!
We needed a quick turnaround on our staging so that our listing could hit the market asap. Nancy and Dawn promised a quick service at a great price and they truly delivered! The quality of their work exceeded my expectations and they were also fun to work with!
Staged Ryte took a half furnished apartment and made it look fresh & stylish. I think people could see themselves living in that space, and they wanted to live there. Every single showing, someone commented on the furniture and some even asked to buy it. We had multiple offers in the first two weeks and went into contract at asking!
Thanks, Anna! Learn more about Anna at at www.corcoran.com.
