Enjoy!

Name: 

Jason Saft

Location: 

New York City

Profession

Founder & Chief Magic Maker

Staged To Sell Home

I’ve been a real estate agent for almost 20 years. My favorite part of the process was always working on other people’s homes to get them ready for sale. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of decorating my room, rearranging rooms in my house, and spending time on Summer break decluttering the house. Over the years I organically created my home staging & design firm while selling real estate in New York City. 

I’m often in the warehouse by 7 am preparing the daily installation while pre-planning our next project. It’s not uncommon to be in 5 different project sites in one day, I get around the city by bike and I can cross over a few different bridges to get to different boroughs. I love being able to see the city so close up and being in different places, creating different spaces that connect to different people.  

Because my design work is so specific to staging homes that will be for sale, I focus on creating visually memorable homes that are highly functional during showings. My home staging designs are like creating advertising and theater at the same time.    

 My job is to ensure that the design drives a buyer searching online to click that thumbnail image over 100 others and ensure that before they have visited the home they have emotionally committed to buying it. Then once they are in the home everything needs to look, feel, smell like their dream home.

Because I’ve been a real estate agent for almost 20 years I approach my projects differently.  

I know what buyers look for in a home and I also have a deep understanding of the different audiences based on geography.  I also own all my own inventory, so I can design a Park Avenue Classic 7 while working on a downtown loft and a Brooklyn townhouse all at the same time while crafting a look that visually and emotionally connects to each audience.

Find something you want to take to the grave. I find that when you buy the things that you can’t imagine being separate from, you can’t go wrong. If you see something you pass up and think about it at night… or the following day, that’s the piece you should buy and make the focal point of the room.

Take your time designing and setting up. Everyone is in a rush to get things done and that often means people end up buying everything from one place, at one time and it will look and feel so dull, so fast. The best homes are created over time from trial and error and displaying the things you love. 

The best way to make a space feel larger is to expand the vantage points using well-placed mirrors to reflect any natural light and views coupled with properly scaled furniture and rugs.   

 It may seem contradictory but small spaces benefit from using larger furniture pieces to anchor the room. A large area rug is also a great way to enhance a room’s scale. 

Keep your eye on the prize and remember everything you are doing is to enhance the appeal of your home to someone else. Declutter as if your life depends on it. Downsizing your personal possessions will naturally lighten up the space and help you prepare to move at the same time allowing others to see themselves living there. A fresh coat of paint throughout is the most cost-effective thing you can do. 

I love the ability to walk into an empty room at the start of the day and leave a fully layered (and clean) home at the end of the day. 

On the street. The streets of every town, city are filled with art. Just look up and around.