"It's Only Weird if it Doesn't Work"

"It's Only Weird if it Doesn't Work". This has been the second NFL season this tag line has been reverberating through millions of homes.

Mis-matched socks, assorted rituals and talismans, and let's not forget the dreaded QUINOA BURGER.  And this summer "Fear the Beard" was the mantra as the wooly Boston Red Sox rolled on to win the 2013 World Series.

Sports superstitions-actions and practices born from back against the wall circumstances, fueled by fervent hope and anecdotal stories of success-makes total sense to the people practicing/believing them, "it's only weird if it doesn't work" is the perfect justification of the illogical, to non-believers.

DAMN>why didn't Home Stagers think of this line first??

Under reasonable circumstances, Real Estate is still a gamble; but the last few years...HA!

When The Refreshed Home first launched in 2007  Home Staging was largely a faraway concept in the Westchester County NY real estate  market; more entertainment, on cable. This market was hot, and the romance of fixer-uppers had not totally faded.

The  housing bubble burst shortly afterward, and the tide changed swiftly. The learning curve was steep, the naysayers were loud and cranky, and "weird" was one of their nicer characterizations... but it was a great time to listen and learn, meet people and define this new frontier of a business. 'It's only weird if it doesn't work' certainly was, and still is my attitude, just never put into so many words.

That was seven years ago. There are still skeptics out there...comments to a July 2012 NYT piece, Ruthless Came the Stager pretty much rang the dinner bell.  If you hadn't read the article first, you'd think animal sacrifices under the light of a full moon were one of the recommendations. And OHYES, I still delight in pointing out that not a single solitary dismissive or angry villager shared that they actually had ever worked with a Stager...yet every single  commentator who HAD worked with a professional Home Stager had something good to say. HA!

I will admit to owning Lucky Socks (literally, they say 'My Lucky Socks'-how could I resist?) but everything  I do (say, suggest, warn, or nudge someone on) is rooted in training, instinct, and experience; but most importantly, from seeing what works, what has put money in other sellers' and agents' pockets.

If you are thinking about selling your Westchester County house in 2014...or have had mixed or bad results with a listing already on the market, turn off  HGTV, and have a 10 minute conversation with me today about all the different ways your property can be bettered. I promise you, there will be no Quinoa burgers, and no animals will be harmed.

NEXT: The Refreshed Home: Numbers, and Reflections from 2013