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LOUISVILLE TIMES,
LAFAYETTE NEWS, ERIE REVIEW
(COLORADO)
August 13-19, 2003 -Business Section
By Quentin Young, Reporter
All dressed up
Erie woman works to help homes look their best for buyers
Call her picky.
But Marjorie Van Name doesn't care how long a client's kitchen has
been painted mauve, or how accustomed he's become to that worn recliner
in the middle of the living room.
She'll tell him to repaint the kitchen and toss the recliner.
Van Name's not there to indulge her clients tastes. She's there
to get the home sold.
Van Name founded her company, Dress Your Home For Sale, in late
February on the suggestion of a friend who is a Realtor at Coldwell
Banker.
Her business transforms liveable homes into sellable homes by providing
clients with a customized program of adjustments and improvements.
She refers to the process as "staging."
Often the changes concern details---whether a picture is right
for a certain wall, where to accessorize, "furniture flow."
Home sellers can easily obtain generic lists of guidelines on how
to improve their homes for showing purposes.
Van Name believes these can be only so helpful.
For example, she said, these guidelines often suggest removing
from a room half the items it contains.
But for people who keep their homes sparsely decorated and uncluttered,
this might prove poor advice.
Van Name personalizes staging principles for her clients.
"Even armed with a list, they're probably going to miss a
lot of stuff, "Van Name said.
She said home sellers often mistakenly leave in a room certain
items that are distracting to potential homebuyers.
"You don't want anything too interesting or too gorgeous,"
she said. "You don't want people to stop and say: "Wow,
that's a beautiful crystal."
Otherwise, their attention is diverted from the home itself, which
is where it should be fixed.
She recalled inspecting the home of one client who had an odd looking
apparatus sitting between the bed and night table.
She spent more time wondering what the object was than admiring
the room.
The object turned out to be a medical device to assist the client's
breathing, and it had no place in Van Name's staging program for
the house.
Van Name said it takes about two hours for her to inspect a client's
home and produce a list of suggestions.
The process begins the moment she pulls up to the home, because,
she said, she's a big believer in "curb appeal."
"By the time I reach the door, I already have ideas,"
she said.
She does not participate in the implementation of her program.
She leaves that to clients, so they may act on or reject her suggestions
as they please.
Jerry and Joan Kerr are in the process of selling their home in
Erie, and enlisted Van Name's help.
Jerry Kerr likened Van Name's work to the detailing of a car.
"It's kind of like detailing a home," Kerr said.
Van Name suggested adding some plants to the Kerr home, hanging
a wreath on the door and rearranging some furniture.
"She was right," said Kerr of the new furniture positions.
"Once that happened, it opened the whole place up."
Kerr said he has used the generic list of suggestions in the past.
"Having worked with both types, it's really obvious that she's
got it down really well," Kerr said. "Marjorie does have
a keen eye and pays close attention to detail."
Businesses like Van Name's are rare in Colorado.
While doing research for her company she discovered they are the
norm in California, where the term "staging" is in common
use, she said.
Van Name's goal is to market herself to real estate agents, who
can offer her services to their own clients as an extra perk.
She already works closely with one real estate agent, Andy Burnett,
of Prestige Realty
"For them, it's an incredible marketing tool," she said.
She believes her services are especially helpful today, when competition
in the real estate market is so extensive.
For more information, call 303.926.1110
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