Speaking Up about Home Staging

Ok, Ok, I've been inspired!!!  Thanks Kathy Nielson for the challenge and everyone else who has blogged on their favorite transformations of 2008.  This was a really tough decision for me.   I've had so many homes that I've dearly loved and some that really amazed me when I looked at the before and after photos.  Ultimately I guess the one that I loved the most - the one that really surprised me the most when the product was done was a little house in Summerville, SC. 

The homeowner called me after reading about our services in the Post & Courier.  The article was actually about HGTV Real Estate Expert, Terry Haas, who had just moved to Daniel Island, SC (one of our better burbs).  I was also mentioned in the article as was our website, etc.  The homeowner had done a little research, visited our website and liked what she saw....

These are the photos of the home from when I did my initial consultation.  At the time, the homeowner wasn't sure that she was ready to sell right away.  She wanted to take the proper time and consideration to sell the home - to do it right.  (When are we lucky enough to hear them say that?)

  

 

These homeowners had only lived in this home less than a year.  They didn't need to move but didn't love the neighborhood.... not because it wasn't a good neighborhood, but rather because this was a younger neighborhood - a starter neighborhood - and they were retired.  They wanted to be more in their own demographic. 

As you can tell from the above photos, this creates its own dilemna.  Their furnishings, etc are a little more fitting to their personal demographics than a younger mid 20s demographic.

About two weeks after our consultation I received a call from the sellers that they found the perfect home for them and put an offer on it.  (So much for no hurry getting the home ready!)  With this, they decided to hire us to stage their home after they moved into their new one.  Because of the change in market, they were going to list the home for less than they paid for the home and now they were going to have 2 mortgage payments - on retiree income.  This meant we better be good at what we do.  It definately counted.

    

  

Another reason this was one of my favorite transformations is because this home was done as part of a class project.  Two of my students were local and became team members (David Moon & Bonnie Mizzell).  I clearly remember David saying after class that when we were picking out furniture from the warehouse he was sure it would look awful.  He didn't like many of the choices and felt we were 'scraping from the bottom of the barrel'.  We did not have much left in stock and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming when you are new knowing what will fit together and how the end product will work out.  I think this was a valuable lesson.  Sometimes, it's the accessories and attention to detail that pull it all together.  Because we had a basic fluid color scheme and all of our furniture was more or less transitional, we were able to create a cohesive look. 

This home did a great job of appealing to it's demographics.  The home was one of the quickest sales in that neighborhood and the buyers even purchased some of the furniture.

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

Sometimes I could really kick myself for forgetting before photos.  The cabinets in the below photos started out stained a very dark brown.  My assistant, Sue, painted them for my client, added new hardware and did some light staging.  We still knew that this mirror was a huge problem, but with the weekend coming, we left for the day and I took some photos for the agent to use until we could fix the problem on Monday......

 

The mirror, which had lost much of it's silver was a huge eyesore.  Adding some molding around the edge, paint and caulk and this space was transformed.  To me, the mirror actually made the room feel 'gross'.  This was a simple and cost effective fix. 

*(note:  it was also recommended that the carpet be replaced in this $94,000 townhome, but the owners had a very limited budget and they did not change it out.)

 

Now if only I had taken the before before so you could have seen the difference paint made on the cabinets!!

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

 

I've been away from AR for a while now, with so much on my plate that I simply haven't had time.  In the summer I was better able to balance everything, lately I've come to the conclusion that I just need to stop and slow down a little.  2009 is rapidly approaching and I've been working on my business plans, with a lot of preparation and computer time needed to get everything done and ready to go.  That left me wondering how many of my AR friends are really ready for 2009! 

• Do you have a written goal list?  Are you using visual cues (photos, etc) to help inspire you?
• Do you have a plan of attack?  It's not enough just to know what you want, you have to figure out how you are going to get there!  Knowing you want to go to New York is great, but if you live in Omaha, do you know how to get there before you get in the car?  If not, you may end up in Dallas!
• Have you compartmentalized your goals into smaller chunks?  Looking at them as a whole can be overwhelming.  If you've got a plan of attack you can break them into smaller goals which makes it far more doable.  "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!"
• Have you created exciting rewards for yourself?  For the women reading this, chances are if that is $$ then you better figure out a new reward.  We rarely actualy work for the money, regardless of how much we need/want it.  We will work for purses, shoes, perfume, vacations, jewelry, etc however. 
• Have you figured out what you'll have to give up to get there?  Oh come on, you don't think you can get there without giving up something do you?  We will all have to give up something - time, chocolate, shopping, dinners out, yoga - something.... are you willing to give up what you have to give up to get what you want?  If not, then figure out a new goal because you probably won't achieve it!
• Do you have a support system?  For some this means that you need people around you who will help pick you up when you fall.  For others that may mean someone you can run around yelling, "na na na na... Ha!  I told you I could do it!" and proving them wrong.  Depending on your personality type, one works better than the other for you.  Having both is really great! (but maybe just do the dance in your head... My best motivation in this business has been my ex-boss - everytime I succeed I know she sees it and it annoys her to no end.... that pushes me harder and harder! sad, but true)

Ok, so now are you still ready?  Are your bases covered?  Me, I still have work to do..... which is why I'm on this computer now actually. 

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

 

This was probably my favorite of the four units.  Almost everything in this home was newly purchased with very little left in our inventory after the busy season we've had.  This great 3 bedroom home is located in beautiful Hampton Lake.  If you haven't already checked out the ammenities in the additional photos you should!  Sandals Resorts have nothing on this subdivision!

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

 

It seems that it has been so busy lately that I've just not had time to be here.  I feel I left this hanging a bit only revealing 2 of the 4 Bluffton Models that my assistant, Sue and I worked so hard on.  This model, The Edisto, was the smallest of all four of the units, but it certainly has some amazing features.  If you haven't already, make sure you take a look at the 'additional photos' to check out the ammenities at this incredible community.

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

This is a beautiful home located in Saltgrass Pointe in Mt. Pleasant, SC.  My team - Bevin Googer, David Moon and myself had to work around the clock to get this home done.  We have been completely swamped and trying to complete projects was getting a bit down to the wire.  The great thing about having a team though is that we can all pitch in to get things done ON TIME!

Much of this furniture was brand new for this project, adding to the timeline and to some degree breaking the budget, but I definately think it was worth it!

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

This is a fabulous newly renovated Charleston Home located in the downtown area.  Bevin Googer, my business partner and fantastic stager on my team completed this property just before Christmas.  The budget was modest and so was the timeline!

This home is offered at $2,295,000 and is located South of Broad.  Take a moment to enjoy this fully restored customized home.

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For information on home staging in the Greater Charleston Area or for information on staging training programs, please contact Melissa Marro at 843.822.2622 or email me at Melissa@RedesigningCharleston.com

I'm so excited to make this announcement I can hardly contain myself!  I've been waiting patiently for everything to be up and running on our website so people could visit and check things out themselves...

As of January 2009 Linda Barnett of Home Matters in Indianapolis, IN will be our newest Staging & Redesign instructor.  Her class out of Indianapolis, IN will help fill a need in the staging and redesign community that we've both been trying to figure out how to fill!

Linda will be teaching both our original 5-day Staging & Redesign course as well as a 2-day agent course.  To sign up or view more information on these courses, please visit, www.StagingAndRedesign.com. 

 

Linda Barnett's Bio -

Linda founded Home Matters Home staging and Redesign in 2004. Home Matters was the first home staging company in the Indianapolis area and it has become one of the fastest growing staging companies in the Indianapolis and surrounding county markets. Linda is dedicated to educating the public and other stagers about home staging and elevating the level of professionalism throughout the home staging industry. To this end, the Home Matters team has been active in a nationwide series of roundtable forums, an international network of home-staging blogs, and educational seminars for realtors, and builders. Linda�s extensive body of successful work earned her a nomination for the 2007 Professional Stager of the Year Award from Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) and was nominated affiliate of the year by the FC Tucker Real Estate Company in Indianapolis. Linda and her team have been featured in numerous media, including The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis House & Home Magazine, Indianapolis Business Journal, and REAL ESTATE Lifestyle magazine, Fox 59 News and WISH-TV. Linda recently served as the technical editor for Wiley Publishing, Inc. for a new home staging book. The book is entitled "Home Staging for Dummies" by Christine Rae and Jan Saunder Maresh.

Linda´s background as a former Realtor, owner of a Gift Basket and Event planning business and Certified Interior Decorator has served her well in the Home Staging Industry. She feels she has found the perfect balance of creativity while helping people with their "Home selling Matters".

317-209-9801 www.homemattersllc.com

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No, really.... I was in the kitchen baking cookies when my husband came in to let me know that today's episode of King of the Hill was about home staging..... I had to stop what I was doing, take a break and go watch the show he had paused for me.  Here is the condensed story line.

 

Peggy Hill apparently works as a Realtor (she actually said it correctly - yeah!) and only has 2 weeks to sell a new listing or she will get fired.  She decides that she needs home staging....

Hank Hill, Peggy's husband after being told of the plan asks what staging is... (I love this answer - not because it was right, but because it was funny)... Staging is where you fix up the place, bring in fresh flowers, clean it up add furniture, etc making it look good so they will forget how bad their stuff will look in the home.

Well, she arrives at the home to check it out for the first open house - inside she finds a very large woman on oxygen, an old man practically dying, and another man who is running around the house like a fool doing push ups, etc.  The interior is completely paneled, with awful artwork, dead animal heads, etc... oh yeah, there is also a ferret that the very large woman keeps kissing (apparently on the mouth as it is the banter of later conversation).  Needless to say this house is not going to sell like this....

She comes up with a new plan.  She hires attractive actors to play homeowners (to distract them from the 'ugly people') and to tell the tale of how wonderful the home is - how it can change someone's life.

After working with the actor's for a week, concocting the most elaborate play regarding this house, she tries a dress rehearsal at her home - with guests, etc - and ends up receiving an offer of $25K over asking... mind you this is HER house and it wasn't for sale.  Hank is none too pleased.

The rest of the show is them trying to get out of the contract without having to pay a penalty and without ruining her now shining Realtor repuation.  The answer apparently lies with hiring the most thorough home inspector in town... and of course dismanteling half the house to fail the inspection. 

So.... is this when you know the industry has taken to a new level?? When we are represented in spoofy cartoons?  Also.... what do you think of the actor idea to stage the house.... pretty funny indeed.

This was probably my favorite of the four homes to work on.  The sunroom specifically would be my ideal get away.  They already have some prospects on this property and they may be purchasing the whole shabang including furniture, artwork, etc.  Fortunately for other buyers they have more of this model available... Me, I will miss some great brand new pieces that we purchased when we staged this unit!

If you didn't check out the ammenity center in my last Hampton Lake blog, please make sure to check out the additional photos at the end of the show.  This place is better than Sandals!!