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The Boulder County
BUSINESS REPORT
(COLORADO)
Volume 22, Issue 18 August 22 - September
4, 2003
By Elizabeth Gold, Business Report Correspondent
Service offers suggestions to improve odds of home
sale.
Dress Your Home For Sale promises good first impression
After a friend called for input on home decorating, Marjorie Van
Name, an art major in college, realized her talent had business
potential. Based in Erie, Van Name started Dress Your Home For Sale
in February, offering for-a-fee suggestions on what homeowners could
add or take away from their homes to improve the chances of selling
it.
ERIE --- Homeowners wanting to sell their homes need every edge
they can get to draw in buying customers.
According to Marjorie Van Name, most people have gotten so used
to their homes that they overlook a lot of the details that will
stand out to potential buyers---details that will attract as well
as detract their interest.
Her brochure reminds homeowners putting their house on the market
that there's only one chance to make a first impression. And she's
building a business around her sense of knowing what needs to be
added or taken away to increase the chances for that first impression
to be good.
Van Name launched Dress Your Home For Sale, Real Estate Enhancement
Services at the end of February. An art major in college and the
one friends called for input on home decorating, Van Name realized
her talent had business potential.
"I'm addicted to Home and Garden TV and realized that people
were doing this kind of thing for a living," she said. "It's
big in California and not at all only for people with bizzilian
dollar homes."
Van Name categorizes her business as the home staging part of the
real estate process. The homes she's worked with tend to fall in
the 1,500 to 4,000 square foot range.
"I don't even get out of my car when I drive up to a property---I
just focus on getting a sense of what draws me in and what doesn't,"
she explained. "My job is to come in and let people know from
A to Z what they can do to appeal to a wide range of buyers."
Van Name concentrates on what she calls "curb appeal,"
the look of yard, sidewalks, lighting, traffic flow, closets, individual
rooms, garages and basements. Her suggestions are customized to
each home. She walks through a home with the realtor and the homeowner,
taking notes and commenting on as much or as little as she's hired
to do. Each person gets a copy of the suggestions.
"I always talk about light bulbs---opaque and high wattage,"
Van Name said. Cleaning windows inside and out tends to be the first
suggestion she offers. "I tell people how to use what they
have most optimally by maybe moving things around or buying some
accessories to warm up rooms."
She provides a list of affordable places to purchase accessories---from
specific store names to general used bookstores---with the idea
of keeping expenses down while increasing the appeal of a home.
"A lot of people are on a shoestring---maybe they've lost their
jobs---and sometimes they don't want to do what needs to be done,"
Van Name explained. "They have to figure what they want to
do to bring their house into competitive or optimal shape or they
may need to think about lowering the price."
Van Name started in her own neighborhood to jump-start her business.
"There was a house in the subdivision where I live that was
always changing Realtors, and I saw that the owner then planned
to sell it," she said. "I went over, picked up a flier
and told them I'd be happy to help them out for free because it
would help me out, too."
Soon after, the owners decided to try another Realtor and invited
Van Name to meet him because he liked the things she'd done. She
continues to work with the Realtor, Andy Burnett with Prestige Real
Estate.
Van Name charges by the hour and, on average Realtors hire her
for one hour. She considers two hours to be the general amount of
time required to do a thorough job, however. "That's about
how long it takes for homeowners to make the shift from 'This is
my home' to 'This is a commodity." Homeowners purchase the
additional time.
Van Name invested about $4,000. to set up Dress Your Home For Sale.
The funds have covered brochures, an additional phone line, attorney
fees and advertising. She's still working to cover the initial expenses
of setting up business.
Getting listed on Tom Martino's referral Web site was one of the
first marketing tactics Van Name initiated. "I knew I didn't
have a lot of letters behind my name and this isn't a well-known
thing," she said. "He gives me credibility."
An application to be considered for the referral list is on Tom
Martino's Web site. If accepted, a business pays to be listed.
"The good news about my business is that I don't really have
competition, and the bad news is that people don't know about it,"
Van Name said. By mid-July she had worked on about 15 homes.
"I'm concentrating on working with Realtors right now and
will market to homeowners soon," she said. "For-sale-by-owner
people need a lot of help, and Realtors could be using their time
a whole lot better than poking around in people's closets."
sidebar:
"My job is to come in and let people know from A to Z what
they can do to appeal to a wide range of buyers." -- Marjorie
Van Name, Owner, DRESS YOUR HOME FOR SALE
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