Speaker 1:
It’s time for the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard, right here on 106.3 FM, KXnO. Now, Misty SOLDwisch and Heather Burnside.
Heather Burnside:
Good morning and welcome to the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard. I’m Heather, she is Misty. Good morning, Misty.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Good morning, Heather.
Heather Burnside:
It’s kind of been a misty weekend out all weekend.
Misty SOLDwisch:
It has been, yes. I’ve loved it.
Heather Burnside:
Foggy, little bit of precipitation. Did not slow down open house traffic yesterday.
Misty SOLDwisch:
No, we had great turnout. I think it’s when you’re out and about doing your holiday shopping, you might as well pop in and see a couple houses.
Heather Burnside:
Right. Shop for your house, too. Well, we have a special guest in the studio, Luise Morris from Green Door Home Staging. Good morning, Luise.
Luise Morris:
Good morning.
Heather Burnside:
So happy to have you. And it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but yet I feel like I see you all the time because I recognize Green Door Staging work almost as soon as I see it.
Luise Morris:
Well, thank you. That’s what we aim for.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, you do an amazing job.
Misty SOLDwisch:
So great.
Luise Morris:
Thank you so much.
Heather Burnside:
And it’s warm, it’s homey, it’s inviting.
Misty SOLDwisch:
It’s interesting.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah. And, of course, staging a home that no one currently lives in, that’s the whole point of making it feel more homey. And, yeah, I recognize your work right away, so it’s really nice to see you again.
Luise Morris:
Great, great. Nice to see you guys, too.
Heather Burnside:
If you want to call Misty and start the conversation, including talking to Luise if you’d like, 515-575-9950. You can also see Luise’s work in our home of the week, which is coming up later in the show, because you staged that home as well.
Luise Morris:
Yes, I did.
Heather Burnside:
In the meantime, Misty, you have your military holiday care packages. Did you get them sent off?
Misty SOLDwisch:
We did. It was so much fun. I think the best part, so what we did was we sent out, we let people nominate service people that are on active duty or in the military away from home for the holidays, little care packages. The best part of it was being able to see the messages that the family members were sending their loved ones. And a lot of them told a little bit about what they’re doing. And that just really tugged at the heartstrings for the team, and we were really thrilled to be able to send those out.
Heather Burnside:
You also had the team out shopping, too. Can we talk about what that was all about?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Oh, yeah. We for many years have been big supporters of the Children’s Cancer Connection. One of our team members, his daughter, they were part of the organization as care recipients when she was younger. And so that was a cause that he brought to us many years ago. And so we actively support all of their different, like we do their volleyball tournament, we do their dodgeball tournament, we do the fun things. But oh my gosh, the most fun is every year we adopt a family. And with that too, they tell the story of the family member that is under care for cancer. And then also, I love that we acknowledge that it has such an effect on the other children in the family and the mom and dad.
Heather Burnside:
Yes.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And having the chance to pamper them and help make their holiday easier when they’re going through so much, it was really great. It’s the great thing about this time of year, being able to do special things for others.
Heather Burnside:
Yes. And if you’re not familiar with Children’s Cancer Connection, we worked with them for years back in the day when I worked at KGGO, like the Rock Shop. All the proceeds went to the Rock Shop. And I got to meet a lot of the parents of children that have gone to Children’s Cancer Connection because they volunteered to help sell the clothing that raised the money.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, yeah.
Heather Burnside:
So every summer they have a camp for kids with cancer where your child can go away, be around other kids that are going through the same thing, and hopefully just not have to worry or think about being sick for a week.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah.
Heather Burnside:
And then they have a sibling camp, too, for the siblings of kids that are going through cancer treatment, also just being able to forget about everything for a week and be amongst other kids that are also going through the same thing they’re going through.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. Right.
Heather Burnside:
So yes, it is an amazing organization. And we were able to meet some of the kids that had gone through the camp, grown up, and now were there volunteering themselves.
Misty SOLDwisch:
That is, I think, a really great testament to the impact of the organization, that so many of the kids that were part of it now actively participate in kind of the next generation. So, yeah, so special.
Heather Burnside:
All right. Before we really get down to the nitty gritty of talking about staging, we want to talk about realtor.com’s most popular home of the week. And Misty, you talk all the time about how you should, if you’re making updates to your home or doing anything different, let’s make it so anybody could walk in and feel like they could be at home in this house. And the owner of this house said, “Thanks to the advice. I think I’m going to do the exact opposite of that.”
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, and I love checking out what is it about a house that makes it the most popular home of the week in the entire United States? And I guess blending in isn’t going to happen, going to make that happen, right?
Heather Burnside:
No, it’s not. So this house is in Burdette Street in Ferndale, Michigan. It’s listed for $165,000.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yes. Very modestly priced, affordable.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah. And from the outside it just looks like this cute little ranch home.
Misty SOLDwisch:
They’ve painted the brick, which is something we’ve talked about as a great suggestion.
Heather Burnside:
Yes. They have staged the outside spectacularly.
Misty SOLDwisch:
They could-
Heather Burnside:
Maybe trim down the-
Misty SOLDwisch:
-the juniper bushes. But.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah, there’s maybe a bush or two that could go. But yes, they’ve painted the outside. They have the door. It’s green door. It’s a green door.
Luise Morris:
I saw that. I love that.
Heather Burnside:
So yeah, it’s a sassy door color, which also grabs attention. But then basically, Misty, the entire house is just one enormous man cave.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right.
Heather Burnside:
Do they ever explain what looks like a stage is? Is that what that is, is a stage in the corner of the living room?
Misty SOLDwisch:
It kind of looks like it.
Heather Burnside:
It’s just like this raised platform.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Were they trying to pull off a home theater effect?
Luise Morris:
I think they’re trying for stadium seating so they could all have different levels to watch the big game.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Oh, there you go.
Heather Burnside:
That could be.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Maybe Busch nailed it.
Heather Burnside:
So you have the stadium seating in the living room, or a stage, whatever.
Luise Morris:
Karaoke night.
Heather Burnside:
Yes. Obviously the bathroom looks like it’s straight out of Las Vegas. Red walls, a really weird accent shelf over the toilet.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And the toilet is kind of elevated as well, like you step up to where the toilet is.
Heather Burnside:
It’s a throne, it literally looks like a throne of sorts.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I have had a couple of different bachelors over the years that built their own homes that selected the black toilet and the black sink. That was a total man statement.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
In the early 2000s.
Heather Burnside:
Yes. This home also features a tiger printed wallpaper in one bedroom. I can only imagine that maybe he decided Tiger King was it?
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think that was Tiger King.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Inspired for sure.
Heather Burnside:
There’s a basketball hoop out back with a Detroit Lions floor. And I’m saving the best for last because in the bathroom, or sorry, okay, first of all, I forgot about the beer dispenser above the toilet and the Jagermeister tap in the shower, because you never want to be too far away from having your next drink, apparently. I mean, I’ve heard of shower beers, but that’s taking it to a whole new level.
But in the kitchen, there are two urinals.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And it’s because the kitchen has a bar, like a serving bar, but then on the side facing, the bartender would be behind it.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
The people that are, they would have the convenience of two urinals right there.
Heather Burnside:
So if you don’t, yeah, you’re busy drinking, you’re talking to the bartender, and you don’t want to be bothered to go to the bathroom, the good news is there’s two urinals right there at the bar. I don’t know how you stage that.
Misty SOLDwisch:
How would you work around that, Luise?
Luise Morris:
I’m not really sure that you can work around that. My concern is this house is only 972 square feet, nice, cute size. How many people are you going to have over that you need two urinals in addition to a bathroom. How big are your parties? What’s going on there?
Heather Burnside:
I’m totally agree.
Luise Morris:
I’m more interested in that.
Heather Burnside:
They must be legendary.
Luise Morris:
Must be. Absolutely.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah.
Heather Burnside:
Forget the pictures on realtor.com. I want to see the pictures of this guy having his Detroit Lions game day party.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I want to know where he moved to.
Heather Burnside:
Yes.
Luise Morris:
Right.
Heather Burnside:
What does that house look like?
Misty SOLDwisch:
He probably got married. And she was like, “No.”
Luise Morris:
I was just wondering if there was a wife or a girlfriend.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, clearly not living in this home.
Heather Burnside:
Clearly not.
Misty SOLDwisch:
There is no way.
Heather Burnside:
I know. And I don’t know what I would think if I walked in and saw that a man had a urinal, two urinals in his kitchen, and a Jagermeister tap in the shower. I would think, “You have a problem, I think.”
Luise Morris:
I wonder who bought it, what they plan on doing with it. Maybe it would be a really great AirBnb.
Misty SOLDwisch:
That’s exactly.
Luise Morris:
For a unique experience.
Misty SOLDwisch:
That is exactly what I was thinking. Although it would be really hard to keep people from having parties there.
Luise Morris:
Absolutely.
Misty SOLDwisch:
As an AirBnb.
Heather Burnside:
Boy, and if the Detroit Lions were better, you could really have a nice Airbnb. But who wants to go all the way to Detroit and rent an AirBnb to watch the Lions? Anyway, no matter what you’re going to do with it, the three bedroom home did get multiple offers, Misty.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I’m not surprised, with that kind of traction.
Heather Burnside:
And that kind of traffic. And they say all the time, I guess blending in doesn’t mean you’re going to get the most views. So this certainly stuck out, that’s for sure. All right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
But when we were talking before the show, Luise was saying that having urinals in the home here in central Iowa, it is not unique to Ferndale, Michigan. We have them in central Iowa as well.
Heather Burnside:
Hold on. Really?
Luise Morris:
Absolutely. I was in a home recently, listed for over a million dollars, and the basement in this home is incredible, movie theater room, just gorgeous, bar, tricked out lighting. Beautiful. But the main bathroom downstairs, which adjoins a guest room, has a urinal. And they were so proud of it and it was built with that and the homeowner just loves his urinal in the basement.
Heather Burnside:
That blows my mind. I mean, if you’re going to install a urinal, why not just go ahead and put in a toilet that everyone can use?
Luise Morris:
Well, there was that also.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, okay.
Luise Morris:
So they were side by side.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, now I really don’t get that.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, I mean the other side of that, literally, the bidet, right?
Luise Morris:
Yes, that’s true. Yep, absolutely.
Heather Burnside:
I understand the bidet more than a urinal. I keep hearing great things about bidets. How often do you see those around central Iowa? Not just included in the-
Misty SOLDwisch:
I don’t see them very often.
Heather Burnside:
You don’t?
Misty SOLDwisch:
I mean, I think fancy homes, like homes that were considered a luxury home in the ’80s? That was the thing. Maybe ’70s, late ’70s through the ’80s. I think now the bidet-toilet integration thing is-
Heather Burnside:
Yes, it’s all combined now. It’s not often that you see one-
Misty SOLDwisch:
Oh, we are living in a wondrous time.
Heather Burnside:
Yes, aren’t we?
Misty SOLDwisch:
So much better for staging your bathroom.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, technology.
Misty SOLDwisch:
When it’s just one thing.
Luise Morris:
What I tend to see sometimes in homes is the people that it’s not built in, but it’s something that they’ve purchased and they put on top. And typically in a staging consultation, I will tell them to take that out because-
Misty SOLDwisch:
It’s distracting.
Luise Morris:
It’s distracting. And you don’t want your buyers that are touring the home to start thinking about body functions. You just don’t.
Heather Burnside:
Washing your body parts.
Luise Morris:
You just don’t.
Misty SOLDwisch:
You want them to envision the dream of living in the home. Not the-
Heather Burnside:
Not the realities.
Misty SOLDwisch:
-reality. Exactly. Exactly.
Heather Burnside:
Okay. And that’s just a little bit of the advice that Luise has, and we’re going to really dive into home staging. What it’s supposed to accomplish? Why you should do it as far as getting the most value out of your home? And great advice like that. Lose the bidet before we show your home, okay? That’s just some of the things coming up next on the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard, right here on 106.3, KXnO.
Barbara Corcoran:
Hi, I’m Barbara Corcoran. I built the number one brokerage firm in New York City by marketing luxury homes to the most qualified buyers. What makes the difference today in your area? The same thing. Custom marketing to the right buyers. In Des Moines and Central Iowa, the agent I trust is Misty SOLDwisch. Her personalized marketing plan sells more homes for more money. If she can’t find the right buyer on your deadline, she will buy it. Get the best marketing for your home, go to SOLDinCentralIowa.com and put more money in your pockets.
Heather Burnside:
It’s time to Get Misty With It, as we check out the Central Iowa real estate scene. What’s new this week, Misty?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, we have been talking every week about the number of new listings on the market, the number that go under contract. And it really was very confusing, but as you start breaking it down, it started making sense going, “Why is it that so many more homes are going under contract than hitting the market?” We saw that from the time we started the show two and a half years ago, till-
Heather Burnside:
Just recently.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I remember the date. July. It was July 3rd that it changed. So we’ve continued to see the inverse of that happening. And it just is showing that the market is normalizing. This week there were 216 new listings that hit the market. About half as many as what we see really any other quarter of the year, including, yeah, any other quarter of the year.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And it makes sense. I mean a lot of people are like, “Why would someone put their home on the market right before Christmas?” Well, there’s a lot of reasons, and there’s buyers and sellers both have reasons for entering the real estate market at this time of year. But there were 208 homes that went under contract. So very, very close to the same number of homes went under contract as what entered the market. 258 closings happened this past week. So it’s definitely, I think that a lot of what we’re seeing for the number of closings, it is down because of where interest rates were in August and September. We’re getting those closed out. But it’s so much easier being a buyer on the market, in the market, right now than it was a year ago, than it was six months ago.
Heather Burnside:
And there are buyers that still feel like, “Well, this isn’t a great time to buy because of interest rates, or there isn’t as much inventory.” But I think that if you take the time to go look, you are now going to have more time to figure out which home you like.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yes.
Heather Burnside:
And we’ve talked 100 times about interest rates. That’s a temporary thing. You marry your house, date the rate.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And interest rates have gone down just a little bit again. There’s a lot of different things that we can do, but especially if you’re renting, at today’s interest rates, you are still going to have a lot more buying power than what your monthly payment versus rent.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And so there’s always advantages, just depending on what way you want to take your journey.
Heather Burnside:
And if you’re thinking about putting your home on the market or you need to put your home on the market, why would you do it now? I don’t know. Last 20 years, every time we’ve moved, I’ve moved in December or January.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And it’s so funny because, yeah, I mean, most of my moves that I have made have been in that December, January timeline as well.
Heather Burnside:
People do it.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Just anecdotally, we know that it makes a lot of sense.
Heather Burnside:
And we have Luise Morris in here from Green Door Home Staging. Again, thank you so much for joining us, Luise.
Luise Morris:
Happy to be here.
Heather Burnside:
Tell us a little bit about you and your company and why staging consultations are so important as far as getting the most out of your home.
Luise Morris:
Well, as you guys said, my name is Luise. The name of my company is Green Door Home Staging, and I started it in 2014. We relocated from the East Coast here due to my husband’s job. And I decided I was going to do what I wanted to do when we moved here. I was a realtor prior in Rhode Island and always enjoyed helping people get their homes ready, so I had pretty good background with real estate. And the part that I really liked was the house, not the negotiations, but helping the house to really shine. So I thought, “Well, I’m going to start a staging business.” And with anything, it takes a while to get going. And of course I knew zero people when we moved here.
Heather Burnside:
You met a good one in Misty.
Luise Morris:
I sure did. I sure did. Yes, that was very fortunate. And I’ve met some great people and made great relationships. But now the business is really rocking and rolling, and I have a great time almost every day. It’s a lot of different homes that I’m in, and it’s very exciting.
So I guess one of the basic things we do for most of our clients is a staging consultation. And that’s typically the home is occupied and we go in and we really help them to visualize what the home can be because your home is now a product once it’s on the market. And you have to kind of detach yourself from that. So the goal with the staging consultation is to help you prepare your home to get the most profit.
Heather Burnside:
And you don’t necessarily, I know that you do stage some unoccupied homes, and even some homes that are occupied you’ll bring in some furniture.
Luise Morris:
Yes.
Heather Burnside:
But you can do a staging consultation and stage the home using the homeowner’s own things too, right?
Luise Morris:
Yes. Yes
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, and a lot of times from our point of view, we want them to have that professional advice, a professional opinion, on how they can work with what they have, and then the things to focus on. Because, I mean, I’m sure you find this, Luise, that sometimes the things that the homeowner thinks are a big deal, you’re like, “No, nope.”
Luise Morris:
Absolutely. All the time.
Misty SOLDwisch:
But then things that are really glaring to you from your professional perspective, you’re like, “Ah, you got to do something about this.”
Luise Morris:
Yes.
Heather Burnside:
What are some of those things that might not seem like a big deal to other people that you’re like, “Oh my God, it’s got to go.”
Luise Morris:
I would say kitchens and bathrooms are the areas with typically the biggest opportunity because somebody will see nothing wrong with having so much piled on top of the countertops, stuff on top of the refrigerator. And I was explaining that they just don’t have enough room for all their stuff.
Heather Burnside:
That’s the last message you want to send to buyers.
Luise Morris:
Exactly. Exactly. I’m like, “Your cabinets have to feel comfortable when you open them that you can fit stuff.” You don’t want somebody to walk in here and say, “Wow, there’s no storage.” And that’s exactly what it looks like. And just things like soap on the counter, anything related to cleaning, any products or things that reflect daily life. We’re kind of selling this dream that when you buy this house, you’re going to be neat and organized. You’re going to cook these nice meals. The house is always going to be clean, your laundry’s going to be done. So this is what we want to reflect. You need to have your laundry picked up. You need to put all the bathroom things away. Nobody wants to think about that.
And Kleenex boxes, that’s a big thing. I’m always, “Put your Kleenex boxes away. Nobody wants to think about your runny nose.” And people look at me like, “You want it to look like I don’t live here.” And I said, “Absolutely. That is exactly the goal that we’re looking for.”
Misty SOLDwisch:
And I think that’s where people sometimes get surprised and I mean, other times they’re like, “Yes, of course. I never even thought about that.” But it’s really helping people change their mindset when it’s on the market.
Luise Morris:
Yeah, it’s absolutely a product. It’s no longer your home. You completely have to detach yourself. And family photos, of course, are a big thing. And around here, people do photo shoots and they have these tasteful, beautiful family pictures and they’re, “Why do I have to take this down? This is art. This is my art.” And I realize that, but also, it’s very distracting to the buyer. And the buyer can’t visualize themselves living there if they’re looking at your beautiful family, wondering how they know you. “Do I go to church with you? Do my kids go to school together?” And now they’re off on a different tangent instead of focusing on the home.
Misty SOLDwisch:
And I literally have seen that happen so many times. Like, “They look so familiar.” And they sit there and think about that the whole time while they’re touring the home. “Oh, yes, I remember. That’s where I met them.”
Luise Morris:
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Heather Burnside:
It’s funny, after talking to both you and Misty, the first time, a couple of years ago about home staging, I looked through the photos of the home that we bought and we bought it from a real estate agent, and she did a really good job of basically everything you said.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah. The seller was a real estate agent, yeah.
Heather Burnside:
So I know how much it matters to just be able to walk through a home and it’s completely a neutral slate. There was maybe one picture of the people that lived in the house in the entire thing.
Luise Morris:
Yeah.
Heather Burnside:
And what are some other ideas or suggestions? Because one thing that I notice every time I walk into a Green Door Staged Home, again, it doesn’t look staged, it looks lived in, and I think you do it with colors and textures and tiny little things that you do, like casually hang a cute hat on a hook.
Luise Morris:
Yeah.
Heather Burnside:
It will look lived in and warm, but yet completely neutral.
Luise Morris:
Yes. So we just try to emulate a really comfortable lifestyle. We do try to add in a lot of different layers, so with pillows and throws, but nothing over the top, but just enough to add interest. And the idea is to keep your eyes moving around the house at the whole time. So there might be a display on the coffee table with a book that’s opened and some greenery with that, so you look at that. And then you look at the wall art, and that’s kind of the same color family as the pillow. So your eyes just keep moving around and seeing all these interesting things.
But yet there’s enough blank space for your eyes to take a break too, so you can then see the features of the home. So we really try to bring out the features of the home, whether it’s a fireplace, a great wall of built-ins. The house that we just staged last week for Misty had this cute little enclosed, this glass cabinet in the dining room, and we put some dishes and kitchen stuff in there. And it just kind of gives you these cute ideas like, “Oh, I could do it that way and it would be really pretty. And I love this.”
Heather Burnside:
I’m looking at it right now. And as Luise is mentioning, and we are by the way, with Luise Morris at Green Door Home Staging, the home of the week, Misty, has been staged by Luise. 807 Oak Park Avenue, Des Moines, 149,9, and this is a cutie, And you did such a wonderful job staging it.
Luise Morris:
Thank you.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah, three bedrooms. One of the best features of this home is a fantastic location. It’s right across the street from McHenry Park, walking distance to the Highland Park shopping area. And there’s some cute little places that have popped up there.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, Highland Park Bakery.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Exactly. But it’s got a great living room that opens to a dining area. And just like she said, I mean, there is an adorable built-in hutch that we have on display with all the, I love the white on white tonal that you did in there, and it really offsets the wood paneling that is in that room, which was a surprising feature that we really were taken by, weren’t we?
Luise Morris:
Absolutely. My first thought was, “This should be painted white.” But after I staged it and the table had the same wood tone, I really love the way white and wood work together, so I thought it was very charming.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah. I like too that the ceiling had a really nice quarter round trim around the top that was the same color as the paneling, so just some nice details. But one of the bedrooms does have laundry hookups in it as well. So there’s some flexibility if someone wanted to have main floor laundry. But otherwise, there’s an amazing amount of potential in an unfinished basement. In that neighborhood there is alleyways behind the home, so you get great curb appeal without the driveway and all of that stuff. The one car detached garage and a little garden shed is back behind it. But 149,900, that’s a lot of living space that is move-in ready at that price.
Heather Burnside:
And it does. It looks amazing. And, again, you do such a great job. When I talk about the textures, as soon as you walk in the door, there is a throw rug with those beautiful chunky blankets with the big weave. I am trying to find one for our living room. That’s how much I love the blankets that you use to stage your home. And why is it that all the pillows need to be chopped at the top, little V?
Luise Morris:
Well, so for one thing, a higher quality pillow can be chopped. A lower quality pillow cannot be chopped.
Heather Burnside:
Ah.
Misty SOLDwisch:
So it shows the quality.
Heather Burnside:
Okay.
Luise Morris:
So it shows that it’s a better pillow, whether it’s down synthetic or feather filled. You can get a nice chop out of it and it’s just puffier and you sink into it, whereas if you buy a 9.99 pillow-
Speaker 6:
From the Jethro’s Barbecue Studios, KXnO AM Des Moines.