The Staging Prince is pleased to announce the Grand Opening of its homeowners’ consulting business — preparing and presenting homes for sale in the lower Hudson Valley.  Based in Rockland County, The Staging Prince’s goal is to maximize the homeowners’ equity on sale.

The Staging Prince is also pleased to announce its affiliation with veteran staging consultant Maureen Henry of Rockland Home Staging (who wrote these blog posts).   Ms. Henry, through her vision of what will grab a buyer’s imagination, lit the way to a sale for many Rockland homeowners.  Now she is moving on to a career in teaching and passing the torch to Jerry White of The Staging Prince.

“The Staging Prince’s timing is excellent,” Ms. Henry noted, “since the value added by staging (beyond simple decluttering) is becoming recognized in Rockland as it has been in Westchester.  Many agents recommend that their clients hire a professional stager because staged houses typically sell faster and for more money than unstaged ones. Buyers’ agents like to show staged homes because they can count on their looking good.”

“I expect that professional staging consultations will become de rigueur in Rockland,” Mr. White said, “and that agents will offer to sponsor them to help them win listings.  Some Rockland brokerages now pay for initial staging consultations as part of their listing service, splitting the modest cost with the listing agent on closing.  Any further costs for needed home  repairs, upgrades and staging itself is paid for by the homeowners, an investment that will pay off for the seller in a better price and a faster sale.”

While it is advantageous for homeowners to stage their home before the first open house so it will be 100% ready to show, The Staging Prince will also provide consultations after listing, focusing on barriers to sale.

Call The Staging Prince today to get started 845-875-4561 or 201-505-0005.

I tell clients all the time that clutter eats equity. The best way to illustrate my point is with a simple before and after photo:

If clutter is keeping buyers from seeing the potential in your home call Rockland Home Staging today. We can help you weed through the clutter and get your home sold.

Rockland Home Staging
(845)731-9510

This is an extreme close up of an item you've probably all seen.  Can you figure it out?

So help me out here and hazard a guess.  I think it might be too easy. 

Sometimes transforming a room is as simple as adding a coat of paint $50, Replacing the lighting $50 and decluttering $0. You don't need a ton of artwork, accessories and distractions. Staging is about showcasing the space, the floors, windows and architectural details. In the after pictures below the space is the star.

BEFORE                                                                                            AFTER

Call Rockland Home Staging for to sell your home quickly and for top dollar. Let us take the guesswork out of getting your home ready for sale. (845)731-9510.

You be the judge:

Exterior Front Before:                                                                        Exterior Front After

Here is a close up of the garden:

The after photo does not even do the landscaping justice. There is a lovely Japanese Red Maple and a Weeping Cherry tree along with various red and green shrubs.

Home staging really begins at the curb. This is a lovely home but before you could not even appreciate how pretty it is because of the overgrown trees in front. With a minimal investment this home has turned into a swan. The total cost for ripping out the old trees, installing more than 15 new trees and shrubs, planting flowers, edging and mulching the garden was only $1600. This 5 bedroom colonial is due to hit the market on Monday. Hopefully it will sell quickly. The inside is just as pretty as the exterior!

If you are selling your home in Rockland County NY contact Rockland Home Staging to help you take the guesswork out of getting your home ready for sale.  (845)359-5112.

Sometimes home staging is just a matter of rearranging the furniture to make the space appear larger and more aesthetically pleasing.  Rockland Home Staging recently did a consultation with the owner of a one bedroom condo. The unit was overpowered by the large entertainment center and bulky furniture. We had a budget of $0 for this project.  I was called in to to a consultation and the homeowners did all the heavy lifting! Here are the results.

The photos on the left are the actual MLS photos, mine are on the right.  I think choosing a good angle and having a wide angle camera also help.

BEFORE                                                                                                 AFTER

BEFORE                                                                                              AFTER

By separating the entertainment center and placing the two pieces on the side of the windows we really maximized the space. The hutch that was to the right of the window fit perfectly in the entry that was previously bare. Even with no budget staging can make a difference.

If you would like to schedule a home staging consultation call Rockland Home Staging at (845)731-9510. We'll help you take the guesswork out of getting your home ready for sale.

Many of the homes in Rockland County NY were built in the late 1960's and early 1970's and have not been updated since. Thes homes are often characterized by dark paneling, velvet couches, matching custom window treatments and brass fixtures. While these furnishings may have been perfect for the 70's they hold no appeal for today's young buyers.

Sometimes all it takes is a coat of paint, a slip cover and a few throw pillows to update this look of the home. This home was transformed for under $400.00. These simple inexpensive changes have brought this home into the 21st century.

Home staging does not need to be expensive to create dramatic results. At Rockland Home Staging we will work within your budget. in most cases we can work with things you already own to create a look that will appeal to a broader range of home buyers.

Call Rockland Home Staging today to take the guesswork out of getting your home ready for sale.  (845)731-9510.

Have you guys heard of You Publish.com? It is a way to share any files, eBooks, movies, pictures or any type of file you can think of.   It is kind of like eBay for files. 

Youpublish just came out with a Group Feature.  It makes it easier for people to share information. Stagers can post articles, forms, power points, word documents and even jpg files.  You can give them away for free or charge for them.  You can offer things for as little as $1.00 or name your price.  This could be a great resource for stagers to share materials they have created. I think it could be almost like a home staging training company without the affiliations.

The home staging group home is here:

You can join by visiting  youpublish.com/referredby/rhsmoe.

I posted this a while ago when I first found out about Youpublish:

I created a home staging presentation designed for stagers to teach classes for Realtors®.  It was originally intended for a typical three hour continuing education class - it is 35 pages in length. I teach these classes through my local board of Realtors®.  Agents are required to take a number of classes to maintain their real estate license.  The home staging class is one of the most popular classes offered by our local board of Realtors®.  It blows doors on the Mold Class!!!

It can be hard to come up with enough material to teach a three hour class and speaking for that length of time can be intimidating.  This PP has all the facts you need and will help you stay on track.  There are little breaks built in where the agents play a little staging game called: Stage that Room.  It works out great because it gets the audience involved so the stager is not talking through the entire thing.

This PP is fully customizable and there is space for your logo and tagline.  Stagers can also shorten it to accommodate 20 minute office presentations or hour long library programs. 

All the work has been done for you.   Here is a sample page.  Check it out at :  youpublish.com/rhsmoe.

Have something you'd like to sell on You Publish?  Join here: youpublish.com/referredby/rhsmoe, I do get credit for referring people.

I was just reading Todd Clark's blog where home buyers did not want to purchase the home because it had granite counter tops.  The buyer said that granite can give off radon.  At first I thought it was one of those urban legends or an exaggerated tale that happens one in a million, but the dangers may not be so far fetched.

The Marble Institute of America reports that “radon is a naturally occurring gas generated by the decay of trace amounts of uranium found in the earth’s crust throughout the world. It is an unstable gas that quickly breaks down and dissipates in the air.” 

In 2008 the Marble and Granite Institute of America conducted their own study and found granite counter tops do emit radon and some colors have a higher change of radon leakage than others. Crema Bourdeaux has the highest radon levels followed by Tropic Brown and Baltic Brown. Most manufacturer will say that these gasses will be dissipated by the home's ventilation system. As you can imagine the debate of the safety of granite counter tops in the home gets pretty heated. You can read the study HERE in PDF format. 

All natural products, especially stone, minerals, and sand, contain trace amounts of some radioactive elements called NORMs (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Mineral) that can produce measurable amounts of radiation and sometimes radon gas. It has been said that there is no more threat from granite than from the air outside. Read article.

If you are planning on installing granite counter tops in your kitchen you can check with the manufacturer. Many are advertising radon free counter tops.  If you already have granite counter tops in your home you can purchase a kit to test the radon levels. There are several available on the market.

When it comes right down to it I think people could find a possible environmental threat almost anywhere.

This subject is fairly new to me so if you have any more information or opinions I'd love to hear them.

I recently went into a home where an agent had given the homeowners some Home Staging tips. She told the clients to take everything off the kitchen counters leaving them bare. She suggested painting the house a nice neutral white and using spray to neutralize the odor in the home.

Sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous.

There is more to home staging than getting rid of the clutter and neutralizing the home. No one wants to live in an institutional setting with no warmth or personality.

Professional home stagers are trained in current decorating trends as well as proven home staging techniques - in most cases it helps to hire a professional.

If you think you are ready to give home staging advice or stage your own home try taking this quiz from the National Association of Realtors.  It a simple 10 question quiz.

If you are considering home staging and live in the Rockland County NY or Bergen County NJ area call Rockland Home Staging today.  We will take the guesswork out of getting your home ready for sale.  (845)731-9510.