After lending her talents to both the residential and the commercial side of interior design for the past 10 years, President and Owner of JSK Interiors, Jessica Stewart Kern decided to do what many had predicted years ago; start her own design company.
Jessica was trained in the business of home staging by internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, President of Six Elements, Inc®. “I identified with Debra’s structure and organizational side paired with the artistic vision in what she does,” says Jessica. “I learned at an early age of how the two can, in fact, be successful.”
Jessica worked for a Fortune 500 company for many years, followed by design school and now years of experience in the field of interior design. She continues by saying, “I am both a left and right brained thinker, the creative and analytical. I’ve seen most designers lacking greatly in this area. I feel so blessed that I really help people with my talents in their time of need.”
Organization and project management skills look through the eyes of an artist; a rarity indeed.
A STAGING EDUCATION
If it’s a buyers or sellers market one thing holds true for both, you have to make your house stand out from the menagerie of other houses out there. Now is not the time to worry about spending $5,000 in order to get a quick return on your $375,000 home!
If a house doesn't sell within those first critical weeks when one hopes for lots of activity, interest and multiple offers, most agents have to recommend a price "adjustment" of at least 5%. On a $325,000 price tag that comes to $16,250! This is money right out of your pocket! Take the action now; before the house is listed, before the open house and before your listing is stale. Avoid this money running right through your fingers.
Having a naked house has the potential buyer focusing on every nook and cranny no matter how minor because that’s all they have to look at. Dress up for goodness sakes! Staging is just that, having your home look its best for the big show; the best attribute, the best feature, the best asset. People have the intention of shopping with logic but they end up buying with emotion!
M O N E Y
For some, your biggest financial assets are your homes and home staging or real estate merchandising can help make a large return on your investment by selling your homes sooner, not having to come down on your asking price and allowing you to focus on the other stresses of buying and selling your real estate. How this is all orchestrated can mean tens of thousands of dollars back to you!
There will forever be buyers and sellers of real estate; one searching for the other. We see it on shows like Designed to Sell, Curb Appeal, Hidden Potential, Get It Sold!, Secrets That Sell on HGTV and Sell This House, Move This House, Flip This House on A&E. The theme is, appealing to your buyer – it just makes sense!
T A X D E D U C T I O N
Home Staging costs, consultation fees, advertising costs and commissions are tax deductible as an expense in preparing your home for sale in many cases (IRS Publication 523, 2007 Selling Your Home). Check with your CPA or tax expert to determine if you qualify.
W O R D T O T H E W I S E
To real estate agents, JSK Interiors is your absolute secret weapon! I encourage you to get that competitive edge above your fellow agents, who perhaps, haven’t quite “caught on” to the latest way to become aggressive in their sales. All the better for you when you can have photos of a staged home on your listings site.
If you keep doing what you’ve always done, there’s no one to blame when you get what you’ve always gotten.
We make your job so much easier by addressing the personal things that plague an occupied home, so you don’t have to. The best part being the confidence you will have showing a home that has been marked by the JSK Interiors’ seal of success!
M O T I V A T I O N
Home sellers, want to be motivated to call and get moving? Ask yourself a very uncomfortable question, “What will I do if I have this house on the market for six more months? How am I going to afford these mortgages?”
A C T I O N S T E P S
1. Call or email JSK Interiors to set up a paid consultation to meet at the home site. If you are a realtor and the home is empty, we can go to the property and conduct the survey on site and provide you and/or the home owner with a proposal.
2. A room by room walk through will be conducted with the owner. Suggestions, information and actions will be taken to put you immediately on the right path. A copy of all suggestions and recommendation items that were discussed will be provided to you.
3. Decide what items, if any, you have the time and desire to take upon yourself and what you would like JSK Interiors to take care of for you. Most are lacking the time and inclination to start and complete this process. We are full service and can quickly and efficiently handle all of the recommendations made for you.
Consult, project manage, installation, completion. It is done!
JSK Interiors is proud to be a member of the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA™) to advance professionalism and excellence in accordance with continuing education and as a leader in the industry.
“One in five properties is staged, and for good reason. Staged homes typically fetch 7 percent more than comparable unstaged properties and sell twice as fast.”
Home Magazine, June 2007
Coldwell Banker Realty tracked 2,772 properties, ranging in price from $229,000 (U.S.) to $4.8 million, in eight major U.S. cities.
It found that while the average home was on the market for nearly 31 days, the typical staged home sold in just under 14 days.
And while the average home sold for a mere 1.6% over the seller's asking price, the staged homes went for a hefty 6.3% more.
MoneySense Magazine
“The results can be dramatic: After Gould staged a home that had sat on the market without an offer for six weeks, the owner received three offers within days and sold at 98% of the asking price. Her fee was modest when you consider that the owner was going to drop the listing price by $50,000 but called Gould first.”
Readers Digest
It takes a little effort to move a home when the market has turned. There's a reason that developers show model homes furnished. People envision themselves living there much more readily if there are attractive, cozy furnishings…If the stager provides the furnishings, the cost will run between $2,500 and $7,000 for most homes.
CNN Money