I was checking out the HGTV newsletter and I stumbled upon this roman shade and was amazed by what she used to make it.  So I thought I'd share it with my AR friends!!  She should be a stager don't you think!

http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/ViewItem.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b&itemguid=cf75d7b3-1dec-45b8-a5a8-1f9a5efde115

Becky

Stage it and they will come!!!  After going back and forth with the homeowners they finally agree to Stage the home, this was Weds evening.  So the realtor tells us it had to be done Friday, Good Friday, as it was open on Sat.  So we ran around like crazy on Thurs nite, we had to chose instock furniture from the rental place, which didn't get delivered until 7:30PM Friday nite! Nicole had been waiting for it since 1PM, she had to leave at 9:30PM.  I stayed until 1AM to finish it off.  We called the owners in the morning to tell them it was all set, ready to show, they said huh, or we thought you were doing it next Friday.  The open house is that Sunday!  Got to love it!!  (it was a good thing we did it because the next Friday we were doing another rush job this time for a TV piliot - more to come about that)

We figured this home would be a hard sell.  It's a cute little ranch 1200sq ft.  However when looking out that great big window in the livingroom you are actually looking at the side of a huge grocery store.  But it gets even better, the huge window in the Master looks out onto the street and accross the street is the side of a super Walmart, with all the trucks parked in the bays!  Location Location Location??

But then it happened - the first open house 15 groups through and a few hours later they had an offer!!  Everyone loved the furniture and the layout.  

Sttaging can make a difference, the location was not very desirable and the layout was difficult to see when it was empty.   

The homeowner switched the lamp and the plant around and when we got home we realized we didn't have any after pictures of how we did it.  It's was 1am ya know!

Walmart is just to the right of the view in the window!

Let us help you get your home Sold Today!!

With so many homes on the market today it's important to do everything you can to assist in the sale of your home. 

This is where the "homeowners book of info" makes a nice gift and helps the buyers see that you have cared for you home.  This book should be displayed on the counter during all showings, let them know what they are getting, it will just add to there interest in the home.

Buy a Binder with several clear plastic pocket pages.  In these pockets insert all your instruction books for your appliances and any items that are being left with the home!  Also include any warranties or receipts that might be important.  Such as new windows, new siding, new roof, new furnace or any upgrades that you can show proof the work was done.

Place additional Pictures of your home - showcasing the outside of your home during different seasons.  If you have a fall tree that colors are breathtaking or an apple tree that has pink blossoms in the spring, provide pictures. Do you have a pool and it's closed for the winter, show it in it's glory with the water glistening in the sun! If you have land provide pictures of it, showing the boundaries as well.  Are there breathtaking sunset or sunrises, or a sledding hill out back!  PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!

Finally add a welcome letter.  (Please check with your Realtor on the finished copy of this letter for input) Have several copies so buyers can take this letter home and reflect on it in there decision making process.

Provide a "neighborhood information sheet" for the potential buyers.  Include information such as locations and names of school, if there are other children in the area.  Recreation Information including list of parks, sport clubs, recreational clubs, theaters, museums, libraries etc.  List the local grocery stores, malls, dry cleaners, restaurants etc. 

Contact information for electricity, gas water and trash and give average cost for the home.  (they can call and ask for this information, so why not provide it up front)

Any other information that you have found helpful living where you do, like there is a flea market at the school every Sunday morning in the fall, or the one nice thing about living on this main road is we are always plowed first in a snow storm, or any other interesting trivia that might make your home stand out!

When you have "Staging Sells Your Home" come in for a consultation we work with you to get your home ready to sell as well as many suggestion like the one above, every little detail makes a difference in todays market.  Call us today for a consultation!

Don,

Thanks for creating this group - what a great idea.  I see other members who belong to a local group or two, but never check to see if Rochester had any. Well we do now!!  Thanks!

Nicole and I are home stagers - we help sellers present their homes in the best light, with the use of furniture ararrangements, color, design and decluttering.  We work with several local realtors, as well as homeowners.  

It's great to see Rochester on the "Map" now!

Becky  

Do you think I went a little overboard on staging this house?! 

 Just Kidding! This is actually my own house.  It's a Raised Ranch, with the 3 main rooms at the top of the stairs.  It's hard to tell but it had a 3ft sink wall and a 12" cabinet on each size of the stove, that was it.  It had a sliding glass door, the garage door and the pocket door you see here in the 1st picture. 

But after 2 years of planning, did I say planning I meant to say over-planning, rethinking every choice 20 times.  Isn't doing your own house the hardest thing, we do it all day for everyone else but we panic when it comes to our! A wall came down, a window opens to the living-room, to create that open concept.  Now I can watch HGTV while I burn my dinner! (My daughter gave me a sign for Christmas that says, "Dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off"!!) I would have loved for both walls to come down, but the cost to do that was huge!  So after about 8 wks, of living in dust, it all came together, just in time for Christmas.  I mean just in time we finished the 20th!!  

I know I needed to stage it better, you know actually put stuff around, but after that cramped country kitchen, all those clean open counters seem so grand to me.  Like I died and went to heaven or something.  So the fake plant of the ledge was an attempt to warm it up. It failed! The one thing that I hope a new kitchen would do for me didn't happen thought - it didn't make me a better cook! 

Becky

P.S.  I still need to figure out this picture thing they all became one picture and I can't get them apart?

Below is a link to a nice article that HGTV has in there bi-month newsletter.  It covers allot of good point and issues that home owners have.  It also makes the art of staging seem like a big task, it offers allot of ideas but not much on the hows to's.  Making wrong decisions in home staging can hurt your bottom line as much as leaving your home unprepared.  Usually the homeowners had allot of ideas for there home, the difficult part, is selecting the combination of ideas that will give your home the best overall appeal to the most number of buyers.

The pictures in this article show bright orange walls, a sewing nook, and it suggest that pale purple walls can be one of the new neutrals.  Having a home stager help you make these decisions, will keep you from making wrong choices that might reflect poorly in your homes showing.   Choosing a good stager to prepare your home for market, is allot like choosing a good hair stylist to cut your hair for the big job interview, either way doing it yourself presents a big risk that might save you money but not get you the offer!

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_design_tips_techniques/article/0,,HGTV_3384_4594695,00.html  

"Staging Sells Your Home" can help you make the right decisions to make your home show its very best.

Call us today!

When we sit down with a home seller we ask them if they have every shop for anything. It seems like such a stupid question, it's a little like asking them if they breath. 

Yet,"Big Business" invests million or dollars and thousands of hours, to romance you into buying a product, everything from the design of the item, to the wrapping, to the advertising.  Many people do not realize how much the "art" of merchandising is represented in our world today.  Even more so they do not realize how much they are influenced by it. When you watch TV commercials, read ads, or look at a products packaging, you are hopefully "sold" on what they are trying to suggest that their product can do for you.

Car commercials show cars flying around winding roads, swimming through creeks, and heading up a mountain side.  It says buy me and you too will have wonderful weekends like this!

The new furniture commercials show families having fun in a room, if you look close they hardly show the actually furniture. It's says shop here and you to will have fun with your family.

The toaster box on the shelf, has a picture of a bagel with cream cheese piled high with strawberry's cut ever so perfectly. It sits on a beautiful piece of china, with orange juice in a wine glass, a rose and a newspaper. None of these things come with the toaster, nor can they be preformed by the toaster.  It says buy me and you to will have wonderful morning to relax and enjoy life.

Home staging it about showing buyers the potential of the home. The home doesn't come with the furniture and pretty accessories any more than the toaster comes with the cream cheese & orange juice. However using the marketing tools and techniques that business' uses to sell there products is how home sellers need to address the task of selling their home as well. 

At "Staging Sells Your Home" we are ready to help you prepare your home for sale using the current trends and marketing techniques that all business' use when they are selling a product. Let us turn you home into a product for sale today.