The January meeting of RESAnj was held at a house for sale.

We conducted our meeting -- essentially a marketing mastermind where everyone gets 10 minutes each for the group to focus and brainstorm on their specific business -- in the standard way.  2 hours of work, with snack and fellowship!  I couldn't find my US flag, but we faced the neighboring school and reckon that we honored RESA's Rules of Order just fine.

We journeyed around the table, trying desperately to stick to 10 minutes per person and lastly got to me.

"I'd like your opinion on this house.  It's my house.  It was on the market for 6 weeks in the Fall as a test.  3 sets of people came back 3 times but no offers.  Of the over 70 realtors who saw the home, only one said -  there's too much stuff in here:  you should have hired a stager.

Now, it's back on the market, at a new price, and we have to sell it.  We began this plan 5 years ago, obviously not anticipating current market conditions. So, my friends, I ask you... what would you do if you were staging this house?"

Graciously, energetically and enthusiastically they threw themselves into the task and began to move things around.  I promise you, I had checked my ego at the door (no, I heard that, I really did) and listened carefully as 6 very different professionals worked together to re-think a space.

i wa fascinated at what they took out.  When you live around it all the time, you simply don't see it all. And one DOES get emotionally attached to things, even us.

Wait there's more -

This is what the rooms had looked like before -

And now afterward

The Dining Room Before And After

The Foyer Before and After

Thanks, guys.  Thanks for helping me emotionally disconnect from my home and see it as a property for sale.  If anyone has cleaner, clearer photos, please send them along and I'll swap them out.

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Many have asked if I kept it that way?

Er...well, to be honest... no.

Haven't you ever heard of the Great British Spirit of Compromise?

Plus, my realtor likes a lusher look.

Plus...I dunno, I wanted to add back in what fees to me like lifstyle "tells" but could just as easily be a certain look I'm married to!

A house sells best when it has been neutralized, and then styled to illustrate value in the price band.   I couldn't have neutralized without the boot in the pants to get all of the extra stuff out (well, moved to another part of the home); the rest is just styling with accessories.

What it looks like now:

For more information on RESAnj chapter meetings, please check the notices in the RESA-nj group here on Active Rain and on Facebook.

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Juliet Johnson has been involved with marketing luxury homes in suburban NJ for the last 7 years, with home staging techniques and social media.