My recent clients, Leta and Carl, spent over 20 years in their Hamden, Connecticut home. For years they contemplated selling but delayed -- hoping someday one of their daughters would want to raise their own family in the home. However, neither of their daughters had an interest in the property. While it is a beautiful home with over 2,800 square feet of open living space, it was in need of some updating.

Their daughters are like most of today's younger home buyers, who make up the largest groups of today's consumers. According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey, Millennials, the generation under the age of 33, and slightly older Generation X  represent over 60 percent of today's home buyers.

Younger buyers want an already updated home and with over 75 percent of the homes in New England built before 1990 that poses a challenge for today's older sellers, many who likely last updated their home's decor 10-20 years ago. Older, outdated homes give buyers a lot of reasons to cross the property off their list.

According to realtor Megan Stilwell Posner of Julia B Fee, who we recently worked with on her Irvington, NY listing, today's younger buyers only see "what is" and have difficulty visualizing how a space may look with a few simple changes. "I often walk buyers through a property and they'll comment that they don't like an area rug or paint color," she said. "Those things, which are easily changed or not part of the home at all, influence their decision and often will prevent them from considering a property."  For Leta and Carl's daughters it was even harder to envision their parent's home as anything other than what it looked like the past few years. 

With no family buyer, they brought in our team to stage the home and prepare it for a Spring sale. We staged and updated several key rooms - painting, removing dated wallpaper and replacing carpeting as well as updating light fixtures and installing new granite counter tops in the kitchen. We then selected modern rental furnishings to style the home to appeal to a young family.

Not only did the home look great but it attracted a buyer immediately - Leta and Carl's own daughter and her husband who prior to staging couldn't envision the home as an option.  After our staging they saw the home as move-in ready and chose to purchase the property before another buyer could make an offer.

Endless Summer
Creating A Coastal Retreat

Coastal decor is timeless and gives any home a laid back look and endless summer style. Balancing decor inspired by the beach and nautical themes with transitional furnishings creates a year round look. Our photo tour below of the Toll Brothers Columbia Model at Old Mystic Estates on the Connecticut coast features decor hand selected by our team and Pottery Barn to achieve this look. Warm neutral hues are complimented with various textures and finishes.  A few pops of bold color keep the look modern and will inspire your own beach retreat.

Great Room