Considering Property Staging?
Presentation is important when selling a property. From the moment potential buyers step foot inside the door, they need to be able to visualise themselves living there. A well-staged home helps to achieve this. Real sat down with Marita from Still Life Staging to answer all your questions about property staging.
What is house staging and why should I consider it when selling my home?
Staging is where we carefully select and position furniture, furnishings, plants and artworks to accentuate your home and property's style, creating an inviting and inspiring environment especially for your target market. Staging optimises your property value, increases interest engagement and sells it faster. An investment in us gives a higher return to you.
Full and partial staging are separate options depending on your situation. Full staging is for an empty home, partial is where we come in and help set your home up to look its best using your belongings, by decluttering, minimising and shifting things around.
What sort of difference does a staged house make to an empty one?
A staged home is much more appealing and inviting than an empty one to a buyer, it helps them imagine how the space can be arranged, what style of furniture fits and gives them a feel for the potential lifestyle experience at your property.
Do you stage every room in the house?
It is entirely up to you. We are happy to stage as much or as little as you like depending on your budget, recommendations of your agent and the key spaces of your home. Our free tailored quote would give you a range of options to consider.
Is it possible to have a staging consult where you suggest a few touches for me to enhance my current decor?
Absolutely. We offer free consultation and a tailored quote for your consideration, detailing the specifics of what we've discussed. Maybe it's just some contemporary artwork you need, or some fresh linen curtains, we're open to help however we can.
Why shouldn’t I stage it myself?
Fresh eyes make a big difference in how you arrange a space, we work together with the agent to determine a target market for your home; selecting from our quality collection of notable designer pieces to attract the attention of the right people. You're welcome to give it a go, but it's a big investment to buy everything you need to stage!
Can I choose the style that you stage it in?
We'll discuss the style and colour palette we think will work in your home during consultation, but we don't have a huge warehouse of stock. Our collection is inspired by the celebrated history of design, we're fond of clean lines, natural materials, quality made products and classic comfy minimalism. We like to use a mix of new and vintage, to help it feel welcoming and pre loved.
Can you stage a house that we are currently living in?
Yes. A partial staging option would suit you, where we can come in and help set your place up to look it's inspiring best using what you already have.
If you require some furniture we can discuss this, generally our furniture is considered display only though - to maximise its staging life and our investment.
Will you hang artwork?
Yes, we will be considerate of your walls though, selecting spots where things have been hung previously, or can fill holes if necessary when we deinstall. If you have a new build with no holes in the walls we can use Command 3M strips to ensure no damage is made.
How long do I keep the staging for?
We'll quote for a 5 week term. We offer weekly extension hireage after that time period. We'll pop in at the halfway mark to refresh the vases and water our plants.
What is your go-to styling tip?
Have a long term vision of style, materials and colour palette that fits your home, personality and lifestyle. Choose what makes you feel good in line with your vision and slowly build your collection over time. Try not to be lured by fast interiors fashion as it often promotes poorly made highly wasteful products. Always choose quality over quantity (less is more!), and support our local creatives.
What would you say your styling approach is?
As an experienced practicing visual artist my approach is compositional. I think of staging like an artwork, playing around with the positions and relationships between colour, form and line in a space; seeking to stimulate an emotive impact and generate a conversation.
How is your business different from other stagers?
We offer a full comprehensive garden to gate service, including property preparation work in addition to staging.
We're low waste advocates, using real plants, and quality products that last.
We have a low carbon impact, buying locally made or second hand first, plus our furniture truck is hybrid.
We have a unique style and collection to help your property stand out in the crowd.
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Apr 9, 2024
Best Time To Buy
More houses for sale, the prospect of lower interest rates, and the likelihood of improved capital gain make this the optimal time to buy a home in Kerikeri. The Kerikeri market is experiencing a unique moment in time right now. Prices have settled into their new normal, lots of new stock is coming to the market and increased buyer activity is resulting in multi-offers. Some economists are suggesting that interest rates will start to decrease sooner than expected and predicting house prices to increase over the course of 2024. I have a view that the Reserve Bank has over-crunched the economy and will play catch-up policy easing from late this year. So, if I were borrowing at the moment, I would probably take a mix of 6 and 12 month rates. “Tony Alexander Economist. For buyers, this means that for the first time in years it will likely get easier to service a new mortgage over time rather than harder. This combined with expected capital gains, means now is a great time to buy. More stock means more competition for vendors. Presentation and pricing are more important now than ever. The ones that do, are likely to see a successful marketing campaign with possible multiple offers that will result in the best possible price in the current market. We expect the current market conditions to remain steady while the economy is correcting itself. First home buyers are back and this is a welcoming sign for a healthy property market. There is always a reason why someone wants to either move up or downsize. In a steady market you will find that the gap between what you are buying and what you are selling isn’t as huge. It doesn’t matter where you are, good houses always seem to find buyers, no matter what’s happening in the market. Right now is a sweet spot for buying. If you want to find out more about how our unique, high-performance system can help you achieve your property goals please give us a call or pop into our office anytime. We would be glad to show you around and make you a coffee while you are here.
Mar 27, 2024
Property Investors back in business, the bill heralding property tax change is released.
At long last, and after various “amendments” to the pre-election promise to restore interest deductibility for residential lending, the bill that will change the law to deliver on the promises has been released. This contains mostly good news for property investors. Sense and fairness are being restored in some measure. Perhaps now we will hear less from uninformed journalists reporting that “tax breaks” for landlords are to be reinstated. The ability to take a tax deduction for interest on money borrowed to buy an income earning asset, that every other industry enjoys, could hardly be described as a tax break. So what are the key changes? Interest deductibility the be phased back in for residential lending. Brightline to be returned to two years from 1 July 2024 Depreciation on commercial buildings to be removed from 1 April 2024. What’s not being done? The much-hated loss ring fencing rules that are a targeted measure at residential landlords remains, meaning that if your restored interest deductions tip you from profit to loss, these losses can only be offset against residential rental income, not your other personal income. The detail in the bill has provided answers to some of the nagging questions that remained when we were reliant solely on political promises to map our property strategies. Here are the key take aways. Interest deductibility. Residential interest deductibility will be as follows. 2024 year 50% (not the 60% promised in the coalition agreement). 2025 year 80% 2026 year 100% Importantly, the deductions will be available for all residential property, regardless of whether it was acquired before or after 27 March 2021. So, if you purchased a non-new build property after this date, you will gain 80% deductibility for the 2025 year. Accountants have been waiting for clarity on that point and thankfully, it is there. If you find yourself with a tax liability for a sale within a brightline period, you will also be allowed to claim the interest you have thus far been denied a deduction for against the brightline gain. Brightline The changes restore brightline to 2 years for brightline end date sales that occur after 1 July 2024 ie, for agreements entered into post 1 July 2024. The complex time and land area apportionment rules associated with the main home exemption will be simplified. The main home exemption will again apply as it did originally when the land has been used predominantly (more than 50%) for most of the time the person has owned the land. In a surprise and welcomed move, the current rollover relief provisions will be extended to include all transfers of land between associated persons provided the transferee was associated to the transferor for at least two years prior to the transfer. This change recognizes that transfers between associates, that include things like normal estate planning measures, are not the speculative land transactions the brightline rules were originally designed to capture. Hallelujah, some sensible flexibility that will reduce the incidence of unintended consequences from the brightline rules is to be introduced. Removal of depreciation on Commercial Buildings. One of the measures designed to fund tax cuts to middle income earners was the removal of the 2% depreciation deduction on commercial buildings. This is included in the bill and will apply to the 2025 income year. The ability to depreciate separately identified fit out and chattel item’s remains as these items are not buildings. On that point, remember the purchase price apportionment rules apply to commercial acquisitions, these rules bind both vendor and purchaser to the same split between land, buildings and fit out, so the fit-out value of an acquisition needs to be determined and negotiated with the vendor. You can no longer simply commission a fit-out valuation after settlement. So, there you have it, these are the tax measures designed to restore a functioning private landlord sector in New Zealand. Back in business. Written by Mark Withers - PKF Withers Tsang https://pkfwt.co.nz/meet-us/mark-withers/