House Dressing

Local firm help sellers reinvent their homes, By Carol Dunbar BRANCHVILLE - As anyone buying or selling a home will attest, it’s not only location, location, location. It’s also the way it looks. According to Debra Brodhecker of House Dressing - Decorate to Sell, there is a difference in the way people live and the way they sell their house, and it’s her job to advise on that difference. Soon after launching her business last December, Brodhecker’s assessment was reinforced after one of her first clients had a buyer a week after instituting the changes suggested by Brodhecker. Brodhecker’s expertise in makeovers comes in part from her experience as member of a military family. Because of the little choice as to where the family could lived every time they were relocated, they always bought “fixer-uppers” and made “do with what we had,” she said. Eventually she realized others could benefit from her talent. “Friends often asked me to come help arrange their homes,” Brodhecker said. “I started talking to people in real estate, did some research on the Internet, and decided it was a business I could do.” To expand on her flair for decorating, Brodhecker took courses in design psychology, which teach how to use the same techniques and principles used in retail to sell homes. “It is no longer your home but has become a product on the market, and it’s competing with all the other products on the shelves,” she said. The service provided by House Dressing - Decorate to Sell includes an assessment of the seller’s home and a report with suggestions on changes designed to highlight the home’s best assets and make it more appealing to buyers by presenting the home’s potentials. The process usually takes about two hours. “The biggest problem is that people have a lot of stuff, and my job is to allow prospective buyers to imagine themselves living in the home. They need to see their own things in the space and to be able to see the house rather than the residing family’s collectibles and family photographs,” she said. “A home must be welcoming, but not personal.” In addition to her consulting, Brodhecker can direct homeowners to professional craftsmen and technicians if the project needs it. “Everyone is worried that the real estate market has slowed, and this is a way to counteract that trend,” she said. House Dressing is located at 75 George Hill Road, Branchville, 07826. Brodhecker can be reached at (973) 534-3540 or by e-mail at dressedhouse@gmail.com.