Service helps sellers clean home for sale

Pioneer Press - March 18, 1999

Thinking of selling your home? It is not enough to light scented candles or display containers of potpourri to make a home inviting to prospective buyers. Real estate professionals advise that before putting a house on the market, homeowners should give it a thorough cleaning, and get rid of "stuff" such as out-of-season clothing, collections, and odds and ends no longer used. But then there's the question of what to do with belongings homeowners don't want to sell or give away just yet.

A new kind of custom storage service called Store to Door was recently introduced in Lake County to help people with this task.

Store to Door, which is based in Lake Forest, delivers portable containers and packing materials, if needed, to the homeowner who packs their things in them and Store to Door returns to pick them up. The storage cubicles cost about $69 per month to rent. The unit measures about 5 feet wide by 8 feet deep and 7.5 feet tall.

"Each pod holds up to two rooms of furniture", said Robert Bens. "When you have moved or need your items, we will redeliver to any location".

Store to Door puts the storage pods in a climate-controlled indoor facility with 24-hour surveillance and security.

This is the first Store to Door in Illinois. The idea came east where it had caught on quickly after it was first introduced. Darla Terrel knows. The broker-manager of Koenig and Strey's real estate office in Deerfield use the service when she was in charge of five real estate offices out side Boston. She said it proved to be a great help for organizing homes and getting them in top-notch selling condition.

"When Store to Door was introduced, it proved very popular with people getting ready to move. Ninety five percent of the older people who were scaling down told us they did not like to deal with the problems of getting rid of things." Terrel said.

"This way, they could either box up the items they wish to keep or have someone do it for them", she said. "Then they loaded them in the pod and called to have it taken away to the indoor storage location." Customers have access to their pods. "After adding items, customers can retrieve them at any time," Bens said. "This is very helpful for those getting ready to move who are not ready to part with certain belongings. Some of our clients tell us they are saving things for a later pickup by their children or other relatives."

The point, Realtors say, is to create an open feeling in the home. By thinning closets of seasonal clothes, removing unused toys and furniture items, owners can improve chances of a quicker sale.

"Typically, the first thing buyers do when they walk into a home is to open the doors of the closets, pantry and even the garage," Terrel said. "Storing unneeded items for that length of time pays off big time when a sale happens quicker." First appearances are very important, Realtors talk about curb appeal but after that the focus is on the interior of the house, its condition and what it offers. "If the closets are jammed full of clothes and other objects, it is hard for the buyers to envision their own things in the home." Said Carol Manthei, a broker with the Grayslake office of Poe and Poe. "I generally advise people to remove half of the furnishings. Prospective buyers will get a better feeling for the house because the can envision how their furniture will fit."

Manthie has worked with executives and their families who relocate frequently. "Sometimes they are moving boxes from one place to another, and they haven't opened some since the last move. That's about the time to open the box, look at the items, either sell them or give them away.

Store to Door, which began in the Boston and Washington, DC markets, opened in Illinois toward the end of last year. Store to Door is at 13820 Business Center Drive, off Route 176 near Lamb's farm.

Before becoming one of the five co-owners of the firm, Bens worked for Iron Mountain Records Management, a Boston based company that stored financial records for other firms.

"The idea for Store to Door originated when customers asked if they could store other office items and inventory until they needed them, he said. "It seemed a natural expansion would be to include the service to residential real estate market."

For more information call Bens or his representatives at (847) 549-5700.