ready set sold: Some perspective... - 10/21/11 05:31 AM
I've been working with buyers for a couple of months now, a lovely couple merging two families.  I spent many Sunday mornings with them touring Montreal West Island homes for sale, looking at comparables, discussing neighbourhoods vs price vs features.
We had an appointment scheduled on Monday to write up an offer on one particular property, a great home for sale in Beaconsfield, Quebec.  It was going to be a great start to my week.
One hour before the appointment, she called, her voice breaking, to say that they would not be coming to the appointment, that they were putting off their … (9 comments)

ready set sold: 3 Things I Thought I Knew About Selling Real Estate Before I Actually Started Selling Real Estate - 06/29/11 02:28 AM
I'm feeling confessional...again.  So here are 3 things I thought I knew about selling real estate...before I actually started selling real estate.
#1 - Before
"There's no excuse for a house not looking great in MLS pictures.  And seriously?  You couldn't get the cat out of the bedroom long enough to take a picture?"
 After
Sometimes real life gets in the way of a home looking smashing in pictures.  And while it is certainly the real estate agent's job to make sure the quality of the pictures is stellar, and the photo of the bathroom features more than the toilet (with … (42 comments)

ready set sold: Did you consider location before your flip flopped? - 04/08/11 07:26 AM
Did you consider location before your flip flopped?  I didn't think so.
When you first saw the house on MLS, it was probably too good to be true.  Or rather, it was so bad it was good.  But here's the thing: Even when you flip houses, the 3 most important things in real estate are still location, location, location.
So it doesn't matter how well you did the wood floors.  It doesn't matter that you put in new bathrooms.  And it doesn't matter that the paint is fresh and lovely.
What matters is that you invested all of that time and energy - and your … (12 comments)

ready set sold: We are all artists. - 04/07/11 01:33 AM
I've been reading a lot of Seth Godin lately, in particular his blog.  Lately, Seth has been pushing us to push ourselves - not to work harder or faster, but rather to work on the things that matter, the things that can make a difference to the way we, and the world at large, think, feel and do.  He encourages us to take the risks that must be taken to create "art."  
I've also been watching American Idol with my 9-year-old.  Again, artistry has been the theme, and in this case too, the judges have been pushing the contestants to create … (12 comments)

ready set sold: I refuse to expect the worst in people. - 02/11/11 12:58 AM
Warning: This is a bit of a rant.
My son lost his iPod Touch on the bus yesterday.  Today, the bus driver returned it to him.  I was not surprised - I was happy, but not surprised.  Others were surprised. 
I absolutely refuse to expect the worst in people.  
"Ha! Poor girl. Is she ever gonna get used!!"  Anyone thinking that? 
And sure, I have been used from time to time.  But I'd much rather get bamboozled, stepped on, disillusioned, or used once in a blue moon than to go through my life with every encounter tinged with cynicism just so that I can avoid … (20 comments)

ready set sold: All work and no play...may lose the job. - 02/08/11 11:09 PM
I had an "audition" for a strange yet intriguing Montreal home staging project last week. Of course, I didn't know it was an audition, but I guess it would be safe to assume that all of our first contacts with clients are auditions, right?
We went through the house room by room, top to bottom, and the whole time, I was doing what we home stagers and real estate agents do best: problem solving.
I was eyeing the space critically.  And while I did celebrate the great features of the home, my attention was focused on the not-so-great features, the ones that … (17 comments)

ready set sold: Quoted in an On-Line Article on Home Staging - 02/07/11 05:27 AM
Last week, a writer from PropertyWire.ca interviewed me for an article on home staging and its impact on the home selling process.  PropertyWire is a new Canadian on-line community of real estate and mortgage professionals.
The PropertyWire article on home staging, "Staging as Added Value to Your Business," is geared more toward real estate agents, but anyone buying or selling a home may be interested to see home staging discussed from the viewpoint of industry insiders.
For the record, though, I'm not big on the whole cinnamon / baking cookies thing before a buyer comes to visit.  It can seem so contrived.
And I don't think all family pictures need … (10 comments)

ready set sold: What do your friends think of your business? It's worth finding out... - 01/28/11 01:00 AM
A couple of nights ago, I was out for dinner with my girlfriends, and though the evening felt like a group hug for my soul, I also learned some important lessons about my business.
1. "I was afraid to ask you to help me find a home because I know you're so busy and I didn't want to burden you."
What?!?  Oh for the love of Pete.  Have I really created the impression that I'm too busy to help out a friend who needs to find a new home?  Yikes, I guess I have.  First of all, I'm not too busy to help anyone.  … (44 comments)

ready set sold: Thankful Thursday - January 2011 - My Ya-Yas - 01/27/11 08:18 AM
I have a love/hate relationship with January.  I love the feeling of renewal and fresh beginnings that comes with the first month of the year.  But by the last week of this torturous, outrageously long, cold, dark, icy month, I'VE HAD IT!
And so it was that last night I dragged my sorry, grumpy self out of the house for dinner with some of my girlfriends at a local restaurant, Steak et Frites, here in Kirkland, Quebec.  This is a group of women I lovingly call my Ya-Yas, so named after the book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells.  (If you haven't read it and you're … (23 comments)

ready set sold: All the home staging in the world won't sell an over-priced home. - 01/25/11 06:49 AM
"All the home staging in the world won't sell an over-priced home."  That's what Nairn Friemann, a great New York home stager, told us during my first day of home staging training back in 2007. 
I was reminded of those words today as I went out to preview homes for sale here in Montreal's West Island and saw a beautiful house that's just come on the market. 
The home is gorgeous: not too country and not too modern, well-renovated kitchen, nice lot, no loud colours to turn off buyers, no disproportionately large furniture eating up entire rooms, stylish accessories, lovely art and … (12 comments)

ready set sold: Do numbers matter? In an address? - 01/05/11 08:44 AM
Do numbers matter?  I know some do, like the asking price of comparable properties, the number of bedrooms in a home, the prime interest rate, the number of times you have to try on jeans to find one pair that actually freakin' fits.     
I'm sorry. Did I say that out loud? [Sigh.]  Moving on...
What about the numbers in an address?
There's a home for sale in my market with an address of 666 Spooky Lane (close enough).
Do you think it's throwing off some buyers?  I do.  So do my husband and my clients.
What's your take on it? 
 
… (15 comments)

ready set sold: Honour and Real Estate: Like peanut butter and chocolate? - 12/16/10 02:25 AM
I've always been proud of what I did for a living.  I was a criminologist for 18 years, and though I sometimes got flak for working for the federal government, people usually had the impression that what I was doing was honourable, that it would help make our world a wee bit safer. 
When I stayed home for 5 years to raise my two sons, that too was honourable.
When I left criminology and started my Montreal home staging business, that was at least interesting and gutsy.  I thought it was honourable too - helping homeowners get the most from their investment, … (17 comments)

ready set sold: The Next Best Thing Since Jeggings? - 11/23/10 06:02 AM
What's the next best thing since jeggings, you ask?  Well, it could just be a calendar that answers the world's most asked question: What's for supper?
An artist friend of mine, Jennifer Boudewyn, and her friend Jodi Steinberg, a chef, have come up with an ingenious product: Jen and Jodi's Friendly Kitchen Calendar and Recipes.
This calendar suggests menus for supper Monday to Friday of every week of the upcoming year, complete with recipes, side dish suggestions and...get this...a grocery list for shopping for everything you need!  AND, they assure us that it will NOT mean cooking every night of the week since some dishes are cooked … (9 comments)

ready set sold: Thankful Thursdays - September 30, 2010 - 09/30/10 02:31 AM
Have you ever read one of Susan Mangigian's Thankful Thursday posts?  They're so heartfelt and genuine, they're inspiring.  So here I am, doing my first one.  I'm afraid it's going to sound cheesy, but here goes anyway.
I've always been a bit of a perfectionist.  ("...a bit of...?"  My sister is laughing her head off right now.)  While I have high expectations of others, they're not nearly as high as the expectations I have of myself. 
And when I make a mistake, I get really upset.  Really, really upset.  Oh you may not see it on my face...or do you?  But if you could see inside of me, you'd … (14 comments)

ready set sold: Go On, Take the Risk - 04/24/10 03:09 AM
New Year's Eve 1990. I'm newly single. My best friend and I plan to travel from Ottawa (where we live) to Montreal for some guy's annual New Year's Eve bash.  But there's a snowstorm outside.  And she has a terrible cold.  But we go anyway.  And I meet my future husband there -- he's the "some guy" having the party.
December 2007.Out of the blue, I call JJ Jacobs, one of the biggest Montreal real estate brokers, and ask her if she would be willing to meet with me to brainstorm about my Montreal staging business, Ready, Set...Sold!.  She sounds busy...and a bit irritated.  Yikes.  … (17 comments)

ready set sold: Staging Montreal Condos: Way More than Smoke and Mirrors - 02/16/10 08:31 AM
The proof is in the pudding: staging is way more than smoke and mirrors.  In this case, it helped an agent in my office sell a vacant Montreal condo that she had had on the market for a year. A year! 
Our vision: to make the condo appeal to a young and hip clientele.  Being located within walking distance of two of Montreal's major universities, this was prime real estate for students and/or students' parents looking to make an investment while at university. 
Once staged by Ready, Set...Sold! Inc., a Montreal home staging company that I started three years ago (before I got my real estate license), … (15 comments)