GABE LEIBOWITZ
#6 PRODUCER AT WARBURG REALTY IN 2016 #1 IN TRIBECA OFFICE IN 2016
Redefining The Residential Real Estate Experience Through Dedicated Knowledge And Service.
As a born and bred New Yorker with a true passion for the city, it’s no wonder that Gabe Leibowitz took an immediate shine to the real estate industry. Armed with a deep love for the cultural fabric that binds the city together—and a passion for helping those who share that love find their dream home— Gabe quickly went from salesperson to owning his own firm in 2005. Aboveground Realty LLC, (he later renamed it “Skygroup Realty” in 2010) was created to fill the niche for those craving personal service with a deep personal touch. After a meeting of the minds with Warburg’s CEO Frederick Peters, he chose to merge his company into Warburg in June of 2015.
Born in Manhattan in 1979, Gabe has only taken a break from the magnificence NYC has to offer to attend Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, near Boston, for college. He holds his MBA from NYU Stern and lives with his wife Francesca, his son Julian, and his toy poodle Kiki in Brooklyn. In his spare time, he loves cinema—he was a film critic for years before discovering real estate— sports; fine dining; and anything involving his family and friends. In his first full year at Warburg (2016), he closed the most total transactions in the company and was the Tribeca office’s top-producing broker. He prides himself on being a one-stop shop for all your real estate needs in Manhattan and Brooklyn—to learn more, visit his website at www.gabeleibowitz.com
Throughout his career, Gabe has worked on sales transactions ranging from $200,000 to $13,000,000, and handled massive rental portfolios throughout NYC (he currently runs rental accounts that total over 300 units between Manhattan and Brooklyn). He lives by an unbreakable mantra of ethics, responsibility, professionalism, patience, and hard work for his customers. Gabe prides himself on treating each client equally, regardless of budget, and has loved providing best-in-class materials and service via an extensive team of marketers and associates. Providing this bespoke service to each client is something he holds dear, and is core to the ethos of Warburg. After more than twelve years in the industry, Gabe has a strong internal network of professionals such as real estate lawyers, mortgage bankers, home inspectors, architects, and contractors to help make his clients’ transactions as smooth as possible.
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FEBRUARY
JUNE
WINTER
RE-BRANDED ABOVEGROUND TO SKYGROUP REALTY
SKYGROUP PROUDLY MERGES WITH WARBURG
BECAME BOARD MEMBER NYU STERN CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE FINANCE
2010
MARCH
2005 REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR | CREATED ABOVEGROUND REALTY
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ATTENDED NYU STERN NIGHT PROGRAMS TO ENRICH INDUSTRY INSIGHT 2012—MAY 2015
2015
MAY
2015 MBA NYU STERN
2017
CREATED NYU STERN + WARBURG MARKET INSIGHT EVENTS BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTENT & COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY
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NEW YORK IS ALWAYS HOME SUSAN YANKOWITZ Playwright, Librettist, Mom
HERBERT LEIBOWITZ Writer, Editor, Dad
WATCH VIDEO
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800 TOTAL TRANSACTIONS & COUNTING
CONDOS CO-OPS TOWNHOUSES INVESTMENT MULTIFAMILY RENTALS
75—85% Total Sales Business in the past 3 years
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NEIGHBORHOODS HISTORICAL & EMERGING — Midtown West Prospect Heights Sunset Park Greenpoint Fort Greene Park Slope East Village Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Brooklyn Heights Financial District Gramercy/Murray Hill Bensonhurst Greenwich Village/West Village Clinton Hill Upper East Side Tribeca Midtown East Flatbush Kensington Upper West Side Harlem/Morningside Bed-Stuy
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Luxury Sales OVERVIEW OF SERVICES
• Customized Marketing Materials, emphasizing the qualities as well as the differentiating traits of the property to optimize the sale. • Strategizing and Producing high level events that ensure exposure. • Ethical & honest approach to all angles of the deal, that always has the clients best interested in mind. • Obsessive attention to detail in presentation; Photography, Floorplans, Aspirational Ad Copy • Timing in this industry is everything, 24/7 + 365 days we will be in communication. We are committed to keeping sellers apprised of all developments, responses & suggestions. This respectful proactive approach is what has served our success.
• Team Assistance | We provide knowledgeable & personable support at all times to show your property. • Born and raised in Manhattan; Brooklyn Resident for last 13 years. This personal deep insight of the city’s history, market, and neighborhoods/boroughs allows for the optimal pitch to buyers. • Maximum & customized exposure through all traditional marketing channels and social media. • MBA from NYU Stern; this gives us a real-time advanced understanding of investment strategies, & market conditions.
The Ultimate goal: to eliminate any reasons why your home isn’t selling other than price and macro market conditions. We strive for perfection, transparency, & work ethic 00
Landlord Services OVERVIEW OF SERVICES
• Positioning your property for success means paying incredible attention to detail regarding creative services. We ensure consistency and brilliance across all channels; photography, graphic design/layout, and copy writing.
•R enewals •L eases •C onstant Communication | Support •P ricing Expertise and Custom Creative Strategies for all Market Conditions
•C oordination with tenants to ensure • I stay very close to my personal network that showings are perfect, well before of investors and buyers, a large part of they vacate, giving the best odds of my strategy is to understand the needs peak rent and no lost income of my sphere. This ensures personal •T wo Showing Agent | Available at maximum exposure for your property all times to the RIGHT buyers. • I mpeccably Organized Paperwork | • My involvement regarding the strategy Our editing and review process is a to sell your property also includes my team effort, we areproud of our extensive support for tasks that go beyond brokerage into thoughtful process. seamless delivery of all documents
It is our goal that as an owner all you need to do is approve the application + pricing + countersign leases. We do the rest, with passion, long term expertise and care. 00
Testimonials “
We didn’t meet Gabe through a friend or referral; we met him at a jam-packed open house for one of his listings. We came without a broker, and interest in the apartment was intense.Yet, despite the traffic that afternoon, Gabe took the time to connect with us and make sureour questions were answered, met with us twice after the open house and followed up withanswers to our questions in a thorough, prompt and professional manner that truly stood outfrom the majority of brokers we had met over the course of our long and frustrating search for an apartment. And, while we ultimately did not get the apartment, we were most impressed with how transparent and responsive he was throughout the fraught bidding process -- somuch so, that when Gabe reached out to us shortly after with some well-chosen and well edited listings, we didn’t hesitate to go out with him. We were so glad we did. In addition to being highly personable, Gabe quickly zeroes in onwhat works and what doesn’t and why, and aims to show you listings that reflect what youwant you want and need. But, he also takes the time to search for something special you might not have considered, a good value or perhaps something just outside of your zone that might fit the bill. As creative and thoughtful he was during the “search” phase, it was when we finally found an apartment and during the bidding and closing of the deal that Gabe’s talents andprofessionalism really shone through. Gabe offered tremendous insight and guidance during the bidding process and presented our offer in an exceptionally written and thoughtful letter that would have impressed any seller. Our offer was quickly accepted and the process that followed, from the financials, forms and co-op process went smoothly and efficiently, thanks toGabe.
“
We had such a great experience working with Gabe. We were thinking about buying a new place a few years back and felt like the broker we were working with was pushing us to sell our apartment without spending too much time thinking with us about where we would end up afterwards. A good friend recommended I touch base with Gabe just to get a second opinion. Gabe spent the time to go through what we were thinking about, tell us what made sense to him and what could pose as stumbling blocks -- and he did it all without any expectations from us. The three homes he sent us as a follow up were nicer than anything we had seen and it was a no-brainer to immediately engage Gabe and work with him moving forward. In a 3- month time span, we sold two apartments and bought a house. It was a stressful and delicate balancing game between all of the moving pieces, personalities involved, decisions to be made and money to be invested -- we could not have done any of it without Gabe and his team. He was reassuring when we needed him to be and he was great at pushing us to fight for what we wanted when it was warranted. My friends all know Gabe now -- many of them have worked with him to buy and sell their own homes and everyone has loved working with him. Real estate is an obsession for New Yorkers but when it comes to buying or selling your own home, it’s not a game -- these are among the most expensive and fraught decisions most of us will make in a lifetime and ultimately, we are all just looking for a place to call home in this vast City. Working with Gabe means having a trusted partner who can handle the stressful aspects of the process, be a cheerleader, and cut the crap when it comes to giving an honest opinion. YAY Gabe, it’s fun to be your cheerleader now.”
— NAZLI PARVIZI
Gabe truly stands out; he has tremendous integrity, high ethical standards and genuinely caresabout building relationships with his clients. So many buyers are happy to say goodbye totheir brokers at the closing; we were glad to say that Gabe had become a good friend, someone with whom we will stay in touch on a personal level and to whom we will reach out again professionally should we be in the market to buy or sell real estate in Manhattan.”
— ANDREA KAPLAN 00
FOR MORE PRAISE THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF PLEASE VISIT GABELEIBOWITZ.COM/PRAISE/ 00
Featured listings: Featured listings:
Marketing Materials
GGAABBEE LLEEI IBBOOWWI ITTZZ
Featured listings:
56 56 Leonard Street, Apt. 46E46E Leonard Street, Apt.
81 81 White Street, Apt. 3E 3E White Street, Apt.
priceprice : $12,995,000 : $12,995,000
master bath MASTER SUITE 14’7” x 21’4”
cl
wic
fp
BALCONY 6’ x 22’3”
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GREAT ROOM 43’4” x 28’
wic
p.r.
BEDROOM #2 13’3” x 12’8” w d
bath
THE FLOORPLAN The numbers are impressive enough: 3,371 square feet, with a great room that’s more than 1,250 square feet; a terrace that’s more than 435 square feet, plus two additional balconies, including the 133-square-foot one off the master suite; 12-foot-high ceilings; four en-suite bedrooms; not one but two private elevator banks. But numbers alone can’t capture the magnificence of Residence 46E at 56 Leonard.
cl FOYER 21’4” x 9’6”
BEDROOM #4 15’5” x 11’10”
service entry
private elev.
bath
56 Leonard Street, Apt. 46E
81 White Street, Apt. 3E
351 East 51st Street, Apt. PH7A
28 East 10th Street, Apt. 7F
price:
$12,995,000
price:
$2,995,000
BEDROOM #3 13’3” x 12’10”
cl
Featured listings: bath
priceprice : $2,995,000 : $2,995,
wic
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BALCONY 7’ x 12’9”
priceprice : $11,500/mo. : $11,500/mo.
GABE LEIBOWITZ
56 Leonard Street Residence #46E TERRACE 29’3” x 15’
28 28 East 10th Street, East 10th Stre
351351 East 51st Street, Apt. PH7A East 51st Street, Apt. PH7A
priceprice : $2,995,000 : $2,995,000
cl
private elev.
warburg realty, as the exclusive agent, represents the seller of this property. all dimensions are approximate.
ITZ
56 Leonard Street, Apt. 46E price:
6
81 White Street, Apt. 3E
$12,995,000
price:
7
$2,995,000
price:
$11,500/mo.
price:
$2,995,000
ABOUT US
WARBURG
1 9 0 0
1880 THE ME TROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF AR T opened
1874
Our heritage is part of the City’s cultural fabric.
on 5th Avenue with support from Jacob Schiff, Frieda Schiff Warburg’s father, a philanthropist and advocate for the arts, civil rights and the disadvantaged.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HIS TORY was founded as Ulysses S.
Grant laid the cornerstone for the first building on 77th Street. Today, the museum continues to inspire and educate through its many exhibits, including the Felix M. Warburg Hall of New York State Environment.
THE 92ND STREET Y
The new YMHA opened its doors at 92nd and Lexington, becoming a celebrated symbol of community, family, and personal growth. Felix M. Warburg was an integral founder of the institution, to which he donated the Heinsheimer Memorial Annex.
1870s1930s FELI X & FRIEDA WARBURG
Great grandparents to Warburg’s CEO and devoted patrons of the arts, both were actively involved in positively impacting New York through social work and philanthropy. Their influence resonates in many of today’s cultural and health-related institutions which they helped to establish.
1934 THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET
was co-founded by Edward Warburg, and first performed Balanchine’s famous “Serenade” at the family home in White Plains, NY. The following year, the NYCB held its first season at the Adelphi Theatre.
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
Frieda Warburg donated the family mansion at 1109 5th Avenue to become New York’s Jewish Museum, dedicated to the enjoyment, understanding, and preservation of the artistic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people.
19 44
1939 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART Edward
Warburg, great uncle to Warburg's CEO, originally co-founded MoMa as a club at Harvard University. As a founder of the Museum of Modern Art, Mr. Warburg served on the museum's board of trustees for nearly three decades.
We understand that We understand buying or sellingthat a home or selling experience. a home isbuying a life-defining is a life-defining experience.
UP P ER E A S T SIDE
T R IBE CA
FL AT IR ON
As part of our commitment to building a healthy and sound community, our flagship location on Madison Avenue has established a partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering, a global health leader based in the UES.
Known for its cultural organizations, the neighborhood is home to a thriving arts community, and our Tribeca location celebrates local artists with curated gallery shows.
As the hub of New York’s high-tech sector, the Flatiron District is home to our newest office and site of an incubator for real estate start-ups. It functions as a base for our community events and a focal point for our partnerships.
office: 654 Madison Avenue
office: 124 Hudson Street
office: 18 West 21st Street
Warburg Realty is one of Manhattan’s leading luxury real estate firms. Founded in 1896, the Warburg Realty isresidential one of Manhattan’s leading luxury residential company has a longstanding tradition of integrity and real estate firms. Founded in 1896, the company has a longstanding service which has kept it at the forefront of New York tradition of integrity and service which has kept it at the forefront estate for over 100 years. The firm’s brokers are of New York realreal estate for over 100 years. The firm’s brokers are strategically located throughout Manhattan to guarantee strategically located throughout Manhattan to guarantee every every Warburg client the quickest access to New York’s Warburg client the quickest access to New York’s finest properties finest properties and purchasers. Warburg’s offices and purchasers. Warburg’s offices include its 7,000-square-foot include its 7,000-square-foot flagship location at 654 flagship location at 654 Madison Avenue, a new Flatiron office at 18 Madison Avenue, a new Flatiron office at 18 West 21st West 21st Street, and a new Tribeca location at 124 Hudson Street. Street, and a new Tribeca location at 124 Hudson Street.
Think big, big, stay stay small. Think small. We have consciously kept our company small because it allows us to We have consciously kept our small because give each client the kind of absolute attention necessary for acompany successful allowsover us toquantity, give each the kind of absolute outcome. With our focus on itquality weclient meticulously select our agents and the tools they use. We viewfor technology as outcome. an attention necessary a successful With our extension of our white-glovefocus service, and we leverage it to enhance on quality over quantity, we meticulously select —not replace—the highly customized our agentsWarburg and the experience. tools they use. We view technology asmean an extension of our white-glove service, and we In real estate, larger firms can more bureaucracy to navigate, but working with Warburg affords youit direct access to New York’s highly customized leverage to enhance—not replace—the best agents, carefully overseen by oneexperience. of the most Warburg Inrespected real estate,and larger firms can mean knowledgeable senior management teams in the industry. more bureaucracy to navigate We but don't working with Warburg aspire to just being big—we deliver better. to New York’s best agents, affords something you direct access carefully overseen by one of the most respected and knowledgeable senior management teams in the industry. We don’t aspire to just being big—we deliver something better.
We Weare areimpeccably managed and privately held. impeccably managed
and privately held.
tenure as agents.
Cutting-edge real estate technology is transforming our industry at every level, from the way we
Each year MetaProp NYC selects the best real estate technology startups to participate in an Each year MetaProp NYC selects the best real estate technology startups to participate intensive 22-week incubator program in New York City, where they receive expert guidance in an intensive 22-week incubator program in New York City, where they receive expert guidance and andmentorship from from top industry leaders to help build their promising young companies. mentorship from from top industry leaders to helpventure build their promising young companies. The program The program culminates in a Demo Day for partners, investors, capitalists, and the media.
culminates in a Demo Day for partners, investors, venture capitalists, and the media.
By partnering with MetaProp, Warburg Realty supports and encourages the growth of innovative technologies in the real estate sector and is Warburg uniquely positioned to gain inside access to their the growth of innovative By partnering with MetaProp, Realty supports and encourages products andservices. In addition to contributing professional guidance and funding, Warburg technologies in the real estate sector and is uniquely positioned to gain inside access to their products and also provides workspace for the MetaProp team in our Flatiron office.
FREDERICK WARBURG PETERS Chief Executive Officer
CLELIA WARBURG PETERS President
services. In addition to contributing professional guidance and funding, Warburg also provides workspace for the MetaProp team in our Flatiron office.
MEET METAPROP NYC’S ACCELERATOR CLASS OF 2016
CAMILLE DUVALL-HERO Sales Director Flatiron
STEVE GOLDSCHMIDT Chief Information Officer Senior Vice President
Technology & Innovation
Cutting-edge real estate technology is transforming our industry at every level, from the way fortoproperties to how we communicate with clients to we search forsearch properties how we communicate with our clients to the wayour we renovate andthe way we renovate manage ourRealty’s homes. Warburg is co-founding partner manage ourand homes. Warburg President, CleliaRealty’s Peters, isPresident, co-founding Clelia partnerPeters, of MetaProp NYC, the country’s premier real estate technology nexus and accelerator. of MetaProp NYC, the country's premier real estate technology nexus and accelerator.
Warburg Realty is a privately held company
Warburg Realty is a privately held company that been operating since Led by that hashas been operating since 1896. Led1896. by CEO, Frederick Warburg Peters, and President, CEO, Frederick Warburg Peters, and President, Clelia Warburg firm is committed Clelia Warburg Peters,Peters, our firm our is committed totomaintaining the highest standard of ethical of ethical maintaining the highest standard business practices industry-wide. Warburg Warburg business practices industry-wide. agents are guided by one of the most respected agents are guided by one of the most respected and highly experienced team of Sales Directors and highly experienced team of Sales Directors with a combined total of more than 40 years a combined total more 40 years inwith the real estate business, andof each withthan an in the real estate business, and impressive roster of deals throughout theireach with an impressive roster of deals throughout their tenure as agents.
Technology & Innovation
BRENNAN ZAHLER Sales Director TriBeCa
KEVELYN GUZMAN Chief Operating Officer
CHARLES RUSSELL Sales Director Upper East Side
EDISON RODRIGUEZ Information Technology Director
ANNETTE GALLO Chief Marketing Officer
Strategic Partnerships Our partnerships expand our reach, from Palm Beach to the Houses of Parliament. To extend our commitment to global service, Warburg is exclusively aligned with the most powerful international and niche brokerage firms. Our strategic partnerships extend far beyond the five boroughs and into major global cities, opening a world of markets to our clients. These select partnerships allow us to offer a seamless client experience. Instead of a simple referral, each partner is a genuine extension of the Warburg brand and our core values.
ABOUT
Warburg Partnerships
barnes-international.com Founded in London in 1994, Barnes International Realty has established its presence as a leading global luxury brokerage with 45 offices and over 400 consultancies around the world. Headquartered in Paris, France, Barnes is a premiere real estate agency with an extensive portfolio of high-end residential properties and a roster of high-net-worth clientele. As part of our partnership with Barnes, select Warburg Realty listings are strategically positioned in our co-branded Financial Times advertisements, distributed to our vast network of international real estate professionals, prominently displayed in the windows of Barnes International Realty's global offices, and/or featured in Barnes Luxury Homes, a biannual luxury lifestyle and property magazine which is published and distributed worldwide.
hamptonsrealestate.com
Saunders & Associates is the largest and most active locally owned real estate brokerage in the Hamptons. The firm represents more than $2 billion worth of Hamptons real estate and sells many of the area’s highest priced properties. Saunders has over 180 agents and offices in Southampton Village, Bridgehampton, and East Hampton. Warburg exclusives are shared among and viewed by our well-connected Saunders partners.
N I E S U R FO
S E H C T I P R E N TA L
Marketing Plan Presented by Agent Name
Proper Pricing & Pre-Marketing Preparations MARKETING
Your Property
Proper pricing through detailed market analysis of comparable properties to achieve top dollar for your property Professional photography of the property A professional floor plan A detailed and curated property description A showsheet for the brokerage community and consumers Schedule a series of open houses Prepare and distribute a targeted e-blast to be sent out the day the property hits the market to over 8,000 New York residential real estate agents
Property Launch When your apartment hits the market it is immediately syndicated through REBNY's state-of-the-art listing system to 15,000 residential agents serving the local New York marketplace. This process, which includes daily updates, ensures your listing gets optimal visibility from potential buyers throughout the city. Advertise the property on Warburg’s website, as well as on • • • • • •
Streeteasy.com Wallstreetjournal.com Zillow.com Trulia.com Zumper.com New York Bits.com
Distribute digital invitation announcements to the brokerage community for each open house Report feedback from brokers and prospective buyers on a regular basis
Marketing Materials
Marketing Materials Professional Photography to showcase your property. Interiors
Expert photographers, property surveyors, graphic designers, and copy editors work together to create elegantly branded marketing materials that showcase your property to its best advantage.
Floorplans
Postcards
Just Listed.
414 East 52nd Street, Apt. 6C
Just Listed.
45 East 66th Street, Apt. 2-W
Just Listed.
95 William Street, Apt. 3B
Details & Exteriors
Staging Your Home Staging your home can make the difference between a quick sale and a stale listing. A recent survey found staged homes receive offers 72% more quickly than unstaged homes. A thoughtfully staged home allows prospective buyers to envision themselves living comfortably in your home. Successful staging achieves three goals: 1. It identifies the target buyer based on the home’s architectural style, location, size, and price. 2. Selected furnishings, paint, and home accessories come together to paint a picture of the lifestyle to which the target buyer aspires. 3. A feeling of home is created and relayed both in person and through photographs for marketing purposes. before
after
| REAL ESTATE
The Art of Home Staging JAN. 22, 2016, by TIM MKEOUGH Like many sellers, Fran Sarro and David Waite were initially reluctant to stage their apartment. Their agent, Anna Kahn, an associate broker at Halstead Property, had already helped them declutter and identify home improvements for their two-bedroom ground-floor co-op at 134 West 82nd Street. Following Ms. Kahn’s advice, the couple had spent about $45,000 tearing out carpets, installing hardwood flooring and new light fixtures, painting, repointing brick and replacing siding on a wall in the rear garden. But they stopped short of hiring a professional stager to swap out their furniture and art. “I was extremely skeptical,” Ms. Sarro said. “I couldn’t see why things that I had collected over my life, sparsely placed, would be a problem.” They listed the apartment for $1.85 million in June 2014. Then they watched, dismayed, as it sat on the market for six months, while they gradually cut the asking price to $1.65 million. “I had over a hundred showings, and could not sell it,” Ms. Kahn said. “Not one offer.” The couple took the place off the market that December, and at Ms. Kahn’s behest, sent for the home stager Nahila Chianale, the owner of NCC Luxe in New York. To Ms. Chianale, the home’s décor was too eclectic, “like Victoriana meets ’80s meets Ikea,” she said. She instructed the couple to empty the apartment, except for one small bench that she deemed attractive. Then, for about $26,000, she had the kitchen cabinets, shelving, doors and door frames painted white, and moved in an entire home’s worth of contemporary furniture, including shapely clear acrylic dining chairs and a white pedestal table, an Italian linen sofa and a chrome-and-glass coffee table placed atop a cowhide rug. When Ms. Kahn relisted the staged property last April for $1.495 million, “the place was mobbed,” at the first open house, Ms. Sarro said. A bidding war ensued, and the apartment soon went into contract for $1.8 million, before closing in July. “I can’t believe how it worked out,” Ms. Sarro said. “I still shake my head.” The practice of home staging has long elicited strong reactions. Agents and professional stagers point to examples like the Sarro-Waite apartment, and say staging can usually help a home sell faster, and for a higher price, offering a larger return on the investment. Homeowners, reluctant to spend the money or admit that their decorating choices might not be catnip to buyers, are often loath to pay strangers to impose their tastes on their premises.
that rooms were large enough for regular sofas and queen-size mattresses.
which sold for $5.35 million, $850,000 over its asking price, this past October.
Today, they are increasingly tackling all-out transformations that aim to present compelling contemporary design, while projecting a complete aspirational package.
“It’s the complete opposite of what I like,” Mr. Beaujard said of his overhauled space. But, “now, you see the proportions of the apartment better. Even I was surprised.”
“It’s not just about solving a problem now, but much more about presenting a lifestyle to prospective buyers,” said Jane Saidenberg, the design director of Studio D, a staging company with offices in New York and San Francisco. “People want it to look like a shelter magazine, or like something they’ve seen on TV. It’s more elevated than it has been in the past.”
In mid-January, after it had been on the market for one and a half months, Mr. Beaujard accepted an offer for his apartment, which had been listed most recently for $2.695 million.
“The bar has definitely been raised. The glamour apartment is really what sells,” Mr. Balzano said. “People will walk out if it looks ugly, or they think it’s dark, claustrophobic or has other warts they don’t want to deal with.” The reason, said Frederick Peters, the president of Warburg Realty, is simple: “In New York, in recent years, there have been so many opportunities in newly constructed buildings where you don’t have to do anything, that buyers have lost both the appetite and ability to see through years of debris.” Robby Browne, an associate broker at Corcoran Group Real Estate, shares this opinion. “Things have changed, in terms of people’s expectations — they expect apartments to be bright and fresh,” he said. “That’s a result of all the new developments coming on the market, where they have beautiful sales offices and staged apartments where everything is done.” That’s why Mr. Browne recommended a complete home staging for a co-op his team is selling at 170 East 78th Street. This was even though Architectural Digest magazine had featured the place in 2011, describing “an ethereal dining room modeled on a czarist winter garden” and one of the two bedrooms as “such a perfect Empire bijou, with striped silk on the walls, an exotic nude over the mantel, and a steel campaign bed, that you half expect to meet Napoleon’s ghost.” Ghosts, even Napoleonic ones, don’t play all that well in today’s market. “Ten years ago, I would have never suggested it,” Mr. Browne said. But in the age of the television series “Million Dollar Listing” and online real estate porn, more buyers expect up-to-the-minute style. After being convinced that ornate furniture and heavy fabrics are now turnoffs for most buyers, the apartment’s owner, Jean-Paul Beaujard, an antiques dealer and decorator, moved out, sent his things to Lockson, a moving and storage company, and paid Meridith Baer Home about $20,000 to do away with the First Empire.
But as staging has evolved over the past decade, many real estate professionals say it has become more important — and more sophisticated — than ever.
“Today’s buyer doesn’t want that look,” said Ms. Baer, a Los Angeles stager whose company has expanded into other cities, including New York. “They want sheer or linen curtains, and they don’t want the home packed. They want a cleaner, simpler lifestyle. And more flair and fun.”
“It always makes a difference, and is essential in this market,” said Richard Balzano, an associate broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate who frequently refers his clients to stagers and even pays for the preliminary consultations.
Ms. Baer’s team carted in white sofas and chairs with clean lines, laid down textured sisal rugs, installed a wood slab coffee table, transformed a formal dining room into a casual family room, removed the offending drapery and painted cream walls white.
In the past, many stagers focused on decluttering and implementing minor tweaks in furnished homes. Or they appointed vacant apartments with basic rental furniture to prove
Ms. Baer, who has a long list of celebrity clients, added that her firm used a similar approach to stage a Greenwich Village penthouse owned by the actress Julia Roberts,
Many sellers have heard the staging edicts to paint all their walls off-white, and to remove all personal photos. Perhaps they have even heard that they should set the dining table with plates and glasses, or bake cookies before showings for a pleasing scent. That advice does not hold much water today, said Sid Pinkerton, the owner of Manhattan Staging. “I’m doing more accent walls than I’ve ever done,” he said, including individual walls covered in dark brown lacquer, bursts of coral or aqua paint and patterned wallpaper with a rainbow of color. “People are looking for more personality,” he said. “It used to be more innocuous, where you didn’t really want to convey a sense of style. Now, it’s gotten a lot more modern.” Although few stagers would recommend leaving an entire wall of baby photos in an apartment, a handful of attractive photos in handsome frames might actually help create the right environment. “If a photo shows the family on vacation, maybe someplace warm and nice, that ties into a lifestyle a buyer might want to emulate,” said Donna Dazzo, the president of Designed to Appeal, a staging company that operates in New York and the Hamptons. Meanwhile, setting dining tables and baking cookies now seems contrived. “When I see a tray on a bed, with a coffee cup, I think, ‘Oh, come on,’ ” said Anne Kenney, the president of the New York staging company Anne Kenney Associates. “Does anybody really live that way? Today’s buyer is more sophisticated, so they don’t want to see phony.” David C. Salvatore, the creative director of Edge Mid-Century Designs, a staging and vintage furniture company in Clifton, N.J., and a salesman at Warburg, noted that a good staging job shouldn’t look like a stage set. “The biggest compliment I can get,” he said, “is when someone walks in and asks if it’s staged, because they can’t tell.” Mr. Salvatore recently staged a three-bedroom prewar co-op at 975 Park Avenue for an estate sale listed by his colleague Dorothy Schrager, an associate broker at Warburg. It was a respectable apartment, with lots of dark wood and built-in shelving, that just wasn’t moving after being listed in June 2015 for $5.999 million. Before putting it on the market the first time, “We removed some items, but didn’t have the heart to get rid of a lot of things that were meaningful to us,” Laurie Goldberg, a daughter of the late owners, wrote in an email. That turned out to be a problem. “People loved the layout, but couldn’t envision the apartment’s potential,” she noted. “They thought it was tired looking and needed too much work. They couldn’t get past the dated look of the furnishings.”
After the apartment sat on the market for six months, Ms. Goldberg hired Mr. Salvatore to stage it in December for about $20,000. He had the majority of furniture and accessories removed, carpets and many of the built-ins torn out, wood floors buffed and two bedrooms that had been converted to offices returned to their original function. Then he brought in distinctive contemporary furniture with a light and airy appearance, including leggy living room chairs upholstered in a zebra-print fabric and twiggy side tables with glass tops, along with sculptural ceramic vases and figurines for a little charm. Earlier this month, Ms. Schrager relisted the staged apartment, now priced at $5.3 million. She said the number of prospective buyers touring the property had increased. One downside of such comprehensive interventions is that staging is now generally more expensive than it used to be. Since Mr. Pinkerton started staging New York homes 13 years ago, “staging has almost doubled in cost,” he said. “A small staging for me used to be $4,000 or $5,000. Now, the smallest ones will run about $10,000.” Staging a two- or three-bedroom apartment can cost about $20,000 to $30,000, not including the cost of moving and storing existing furniture. Staging a much larger apartment, or a townhouse, can cost $100,000 or more. For sellers who aren’t ready to make such an investment, but are willing to do work themselves, some stagers also offer consultations and provide written recommendations for a much smaller fee. Barbara Brock, the president of the New York staging company Sold With Style, offers home evaluations for $250 that assess market readiness and detail suggested improvements. When Jeffrey Davis and Betty Wang were preparing to list their three-bedroom co-op at 181 East 73rd Street for sale, their agent, Mr. Balzano, hired Ms. Brock to evaluate the place. Her suggestions included repainting baseboards to freshen them, cleaning bathroom grout, replacing some furniture, hanging art on bare walls and reducing clutter. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Mr. Davis said. “She pointed out a lot of very interesting things that a buyer might see.” Mr. Davis hired a building handyman to do much of the work, and rented some replacement furniture from Churchill Furniture Rental for three months, for a total of about $4,000, before listing the apartment for $2.695 million earlier this month. There was just one suggestion from Ms. Brock that he refused to accept. The bedrooms occupied by his two sons are painted spring green and turquoise, and Ms. Brock wanted them painted more neutral hues. “She was adamant about painting my kids’ bedrooms, which I totally disagreed with,” Mr. Davis said. “If people can’t see through a paint color to buy an apartment ... ” he added, stopping midsentence in disbelief that such a seemingly minor thing could derail a sale. “My wife and I decided not to do that,” he said. “These are kids’ rooms and they’re happy colors.”
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