Staging Birmingham Bloomfield Troy Clawson and Royal Oak

little things mean a lot-- what do you think?

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:12:31 -0600

almost a year ago I wrote a blog about taking it all off and how the extra details mean a lot.

Right now I'm working on two estate and the same time. This has really been a challenge. One is a nice little condo in Royal Oak that has been on the market for 2 years. Other units have been slowly selling around it and this one has stayed on the market.

The realtor brought me in thinking that I could do some magic.

The first thing that struck me was the front door knocker. Being a condo we needed to stay in the same theme as everyone else so I made a great change with a little polish.

This is what it looked like the first day.

And then the next day. Do you think this will make a difference?

The 2nd Estate is in Bloomfield Township. It was built in 1963 and has had very few updates. See they wallpapered the ceiling. This house has been a challenge because very very few of the electrical outlets and switches were grounded.

This is the old style electrical outlet

These were not grounded although the outlets had grounding wire in the wall.

They have been now replaced with three prong grounded plugs

We have also installed GFI where they are needed.

These things take a little bit longer when getting a house for the market.

Stage-Show-Sell, LLC feels that this investment will bring in an extra $10K. The buyer won't beat us up for bad electrical.

The Bloomfield Twp. home will have it's pre-listing inspection today.

Both of these Estates will be market ready in the next couple of days.

Watch for the before and after shots.

Stage-Show-Sell, offers affordable home staging solutions in the Birmingham - Bloomfield and surrounding areas in getting your home ready for the market. We service both home sellers and realtors. We have the experience, our own rental furniture and accessories to stage many homes. We specialize in Estate work. The house can be put into our hands for the whole process of getting the house on the market

stupid test

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:17 -0600

this is a stupid test to see if it will flow to my twitter account

Facebook, twitter, plaxo, AR Linked IN oh lord I have a head ache

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:48:19 -0600

Facebook, twitter, plaxo, AR, LinkedIn oh lord I have a head ache. Oh, and yes I have two Facebook accounts so I can protect my grand kids

I'm trying to stream line and get all my ducks in a row.

My AR should now feed into twitter but that doesn't appear to be happening. That's would be less step that I have to do.

LinkedIn and twitter are linked

Facebook appears to feed into Plaxo.

No wonder I have a headache

Of course today I created a page on Facebook. I have to keep up with the likes of Melissa Marro. How dare she be ahead of me in the technology field :-)

Today I learned that I can create a slide show on Facebook and that will send itself into outer space and feed into everything. I haven't tried it yet. Like who has time?

I think that I've created a monster.

All because I want to be better and market myself better and not be an old fart who's 80 steps behind all the younger, smarter and more tecko smart people out there.

Now I'm going to post this and see where in the world it goes.

TTL that Sunday is a day of rest and that I have one extra hour to drive my self crazy. Hope you all move your clocks back this morning.

Update tesitng the system. Will it flow into Twitter now? I deleted by twitter info and added it back in.

This is just another test to see if it will go thru now

Birmingham Cape Cod was Staged and had Offer Two Weeks after listing

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:40:12 -0500

Wonderful Birmingham Cape Cod had offer two weeks after listing.

This Birmingham home was staged by Virginia Tatseos and Stage-Show-Sell

Birmingham Cape Cod

328 George, Birmingham, MI 48009 View Map

This Traditionally Styled Cape Cod Home Has Been Updated Beyond Belief. The Kitchen Is State-Of-The-Art With Dark Cabinetry, Granite Counters, Top Of The Line Stainless Appliances, Water Filtration System And Ceramic Floors.
Upstairs, The Master Suite Has A Large Walk-In Closet With Built-ins, A Sitting Room, And A Bathroom That Must Be Seen. Glass Shower, Jetted Tub, Granite Counter Top, Skylight And Granite Floors.
The Third Bedroom Is Located On The Lower Level And Has Been Professionally Finished and Includes An Egress Window For Safety.
Additionally, There Is A Natural Fireplace In The Living Room, Central Air, Two Fifty Gallon (Newer) Water Heaters And A Large Deck Off The Kitchen That Is Perfect For Entertaining.
Call Today To Schedule A Showing Appointment, You Will Be Amazed At What You See!

This Home Was Successfully Prepared for Sale by
www.Stage-Show-Sell.com

Details

Asking Price:

$249,000.00

MLS:

29043099

Bedrooms:

Bathrooms:

Contact Info

Bill Bouscher
ABR, CRS, GRI, Associate Broker

Cell 248-225-9175
Dir 248-360-6800
Email | Website

Stagers fees are paid by the Insurance Company

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:15:03 -0500

Not really but the owners feel that way.

I'm working on a condo of a lady who's carpet must be replaced.

We feel that with the large stains, that appeared out of no where, are so unsightly that the carpet must be replaced.

The owners daughter was very upset when I suggested that we have to replace the carpet. She wasn't so upset when I suggested that they file and insurance claim.

Isn't that what insurance is for? They are supposed to handle the unexpected accidents that happen.

]The insurace company is paying replacement costs for the carpet minus the $100 deductable. The owners now think I'm the most wonderful person in the world.

We are waiting for a check and then we will finish up the project.

This photo was taken with my cell phone and sent to my email as an attachment to my email :-)

I'm flummoxed with these two rooms- help me

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:50:04 -0500

Stage-Show-Sell, LLC is working on another Estate. This one happens to be in my home town of Bloomfield Hills.

We specialise in homes where the families generally live out of state and can't do the work that's necessary to get the home on the market.

Many of the rooms look "normal" with tons of wallpaper and old paint. These two rooms are a bit of a challenge.

This is the first floor laundry that's trapped in the 60s. The wall paper is now gone and I'm working on a new laundry cabinet & sink and floor. The cabinets above are small and not really appealing. We can paint the cabinets white or toss them out. My problem is that they are small. The lower cabinet will hold a large can of soup. The upper would hold two cans of soup back to back. Am I better off painting them or tossing them and putting in two plain shelves to hold the cleaning supplies?

I've seen this kind of hording before with this generation of owners. They have been through two recessions and several depressions and can't throw anything away.

The paper, flooring and cabinet have now been tossed out. The room is next to the laundry and garage. A door where I'm standing with the camera and one on the left going into the garage.

What do I put in there to show that it's a mud room? A catchall for coats, boots and other outdoor gear? This house has 5 bedrooms so I'm assuming that buyers would need such a room. The fix would have to be economical and most of it removable to keep the costs down.

Dark dark paneling you must go

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:19:39 -0500

Dark paneling was a status symbol for years. We think of it as being rich.

Rich is may be AND it's dark.

I had a difficult time convincing the owener of this home to paint the paneling. Now the room looks twice the size.

After

catch all room turns into a sitting room

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:13:32 -0500

This room has never been taken advantage of. The owner didn't need the space before selling it.

We finished the ceiling added a good flooring, paint and furniture

How Stage-Show-Sell saved this home from DIY

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:37:48 -0500

The home owners son has been working on the Do It Yourself project for over a year. Stage-Show-Sell came to the rescue.

The homeowner moved out of state and the well meaning son was working to get this house ready for the market.

The small home has few cabinets and the refrigerator and stove looking lonely by them selves

Adding a few cabinets and art made the room feel much bigger

Oak cabinets and the mircowave on the counter shrunk the room

Painting out the cabinets opened up the kitchen tremendously

To the right of the kitchen is a laundry room that left a lot to be desired. A full wall of open cabinets made a big difference

I realize that showing this photo is a little unfiar. Trash cans don't belong in the kitchen.

The home owner doesn't want or can't afford window treatments

They wallpapered the ceiling

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:41:03 -0500

We've posted about wall paper before and I hoping that we have some new solutions to this "trendy" problem.

This rooms appears to be the worst of the several rooms that I have to renovate.

Any suggestions? In the past I've used the downy and the scoring of the paper before steaming and neither has worked very well

Help

Stage-Show-Sell..SOLD in two weeks .Example #2 Birmingham

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:24:58 -0500

My realtor is real happy with Stage-Show-Sell...Example #2 Birmingham

This home has been on the market, priced was to high, for 18 months. The realtor that chooses to work with me :-) had the seller stage the home with, of course, Stage-Show-Sell and priced the home where it needed to be.

Price, Location and Condition is a winning combination that resulted in an offer in the first two weeks.

The vacant empty bath looked cold. It just didn't pop at all

Bath is very inviting now. The separate glass shower was a real treat for the buyer

This is typical of Cape Cod homes in the Birmingham Area.

The space at the top of the stairs, if not defined, is hard to imagine

Just a few pieces of furniture gives the room a purpose

The Master Bedroom was painted blue and of course vacant

It's hard to imagine where the furniture would be placed in the room

After with the right furniture placement facing the TV and fireplace

What dining room??

Very nice yard was easy and fun to stage.

We wanted to draw the eye to the back of the yard to show how deep it is.

Bye Bye Booties. I hate to see you go ..Bye Bye Booties

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:07:21 -0500

Bye Bye Booties. I hate to see your go Bye Bye Booties

Little play on words here. It came to mind after watching this weeks episode of Mad Men. Love that shoe.

I've always put a basket of Blue Booties (shoe condoms) for those rainy/snowy days. We hate to see the hard word that we've done go bad with wet shoes.

Now with all the Asian families looking for properties in our areas I thought I would try something a little different. They like to take their shoes off at the door and slip into slippers.

The little booties don't last long and the price is about $1 a pair. These slippers were $1.99 and should last longer.

oh yes, there is a pair of blue booties for those who can't try something new

Stage-Show-Sell..Sold .Example #1 Royal Oak

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:09:29 -0500

My realtor is real happy with Stage-Show-Sell...Example #1 Royal Oak

Like many stagers I've been working on a good relationship with a realtor. After several months and many successful sales he BELIEVES

He knew that this house would have sold for tens of thousand less without the work of Stage-Show-Sell.

We had an offer within a couple of weeks, which un-fortunately fell apart when the buyer lost his job just before closing.

The home continued to receive great attention from the buying public and had another offer shortly.

The Original Post

The point is Not can-t-we-all-just-get-along-stagers-vs-realtors-vs-sellers-

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:24:13 -0500

This post has had many comments. A lot of them quite negative about stagers.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1210453/can-t-we-all-just-get-along-stagers-vs-realtors-vs-sellers-

The point is that it really bothers agents that we get paid when we do a project. Some of us do creative financing and even get paid at closing.

The issue really is Why Don't Agents Demand to be paid at least partially at listing?

Why do agents take over price listings and then complain that they are not selling?

Or that the house is in terrible condition and they put bad photos on the MLS?

Agents you work hard. Really hard at getting listing to the closing table. I've been in your shoes and know how expensive it is to hold listings that don't sell.

Isn't it time that the sellers but some of their money upfront? And payment along the way? At least to make your expenses on the property?

No other profession works like this. Why do you?

Isn't about time for a new pricing and payment policy?

Maybe that would stop these sellers who want to overprice, not clean up and not co-operate with agents who want to show the house.............just to see what will happen in the market.

Stagers should be paid at the time the job is done. My attorney bills by the hour and expects payment every month. My Dr. wants payment at time the service is performed. Ditto with dentist and every other professional that I work with.

Time for NAR and Realtors to start changing the way you are paid.

Limited budget staging Stage-Sell-Sell...........Accepted offer #3 Warren

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:11:27 -0500

Realtor is real happy with has fast this went pending.

This Estate had very limited budget for getting it on the market.

We had to choose between getting rid of the yellow walls that just didn't make it with the dark green carpet. We also had very old kitchen flooring.

We choose to paint the walls, put in a new floor and keep the staging simple.

Curtains removed and walls painted

It’s Going to be a Hot Summer! Get Out Your SPF (Sales Preparation Formula)

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:16:29 -0500

Sellers get your homes ready with Professional Staging.

This summer houses are going to move.

Via Bob Corcoran (Corcoran Consulting & Coaching):

Mark my words, the summer of 2009 will be a hot one for real estate sales. And the absolute worst mistake you can make is not to be prepared.

Economists, analysts and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) are predicting first-time home buyers will turn up the temperature on the 2009 real estate market. In fact, NAR announced that 53 percent of all home sales came from first time buyers in March of this year.

Why? Well, first timers have plenty of incentives. Of course there's the $8,000 tax credit in the stimulus bill for first-time buyers that earn less than $75,000 ($150,000 for couples).

Next, there are the super low interest rates and extraordinarily low home prices (the average cost of an existing home in 2009 is about $20,000 less than a home listed during the same period in 2008). Then, add the fact that first-time buyers don't have a home to sell, and you have a clear forecast for a fertile summer.

So how do you take advantage of this superb selling scenario?

First thing is Know who you're going after.

Any archer will tell you it helps if you can see the target before you shoot. Who are first-time home buyers? According to Quantcast, a research company in San Francisco, Calif., 2009 first-time home buyers look like this:

58 percent female

41 percent are between age 18 and 34 (59 percent are 35 and older)

62 percent are Caucasian (26 percent African-American, 7 percent Asian and 4 percent Hispanic)

80 percent have no kids

35 percent earn between $30,000 and $60,000

58 percent have some college education

Also, know that they're likely anxious. Allay those fears by acknowledging their anxiety, then focus on all the benefits of building equity in a home (something they can't do while renting) and push home warranties (some studies have shown homes with warranties sell 23 days faster than homes with no warranty coverage). Also, talk about all the other buyers you've helped. If others are buying, then it must be okay.

Bob Corcoran

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Jolly jumper, tricycles roller skates and staging supplies What do they have in common

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:47:36 -0500

What does a Jolly Jumper

Tri Cycles

Baby swings

running boys

roller skates

and staging supplies have in common?????????????

My basement

My basement uses through the years has changed constantly. The boys were small and we used the Jolly jumper attached to the rafters. My laundry was in the basement and it's the only way I could get my laundry done.

As they grew older the basement had swings and punching bags.

When the winters were really bad they learned to bike and roller skate.

The next step in the basement life was holding the family computer. My son was in the 4th grade when we purchased our first computer system.

Boys grow up and it changed again. Mainly it became a place to dump things.

This winter I decided to make the basement usable again.

It now holds my Staging Supplies. It will never be neat and totally organized because supplies keep coming and going.

The basement is not large enough to hold the furniture. That's spread out through the house.

Painted ceiling and walls. Shelves for tons of art and decor

Please note the exercise equipment and inversion machine.

There's no dust on them because I use them.

No more hunting for the right table cloths or curtain

My TV is hidden on the shelves for my enjoyment and company while working and exercising

These shelves once held the kids toys and now they hold 86 pillows

Closet for all bathroom supplies

Art work and more art work

I love this room. It used to my my husbands tool room. It's been taken over with lamps and flowers.

There is space for me to frame art and experiment

This closet used to hold the kids out of season snow clothes and now hold a dozen or more trees

Stage-Show-Sell, offers affordable home staging solutions in the Birmingham – Bloomfield and surrounding areas in getting your home ready for the market. We service both home sellers and realtors. We have the experience, our own rental furniture and accessories to stage many homes. We specialize in Estate work. The house can be put into our hands for the whole process of getting the house on the market

Faux Food Playing with jello. Will it pass the eye test updated

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:44:15 -0500

I don't want to invest in a bunch of faux foods so I've been playing with my own creations. Will my Jello pass the eye test?

I used a old receipe for finger jello and adapted it a little.

Not everyone drinks coffee in bed

For those who would prefer the table

The Jello lasted two weeks before I had to toss it out. Now I'm looking for other ways.

The realtor said no staging....won't even mention it to the seller. $90,000 later

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:28:09 -0500

The agent said no staging and the Seller Can't afford it and she Won't mention it to them.

How many times have you heard this?

How can agents decide for the sellers what the seller can and can't afford?

The blog I did on fiduciary responsibility says how I feel about that.

It should be in every agent listing package that they have a stager on their team. They should recommend that the seller talk to a stager. Don't assume that the seller can't afford it.

The agent on this home has now helped the seller reduce the price by $90,000 and it's not going to be a short sale.

Don't you think SOME staging could have helped out? It's hard to say where the wallpaper ends and the bed begins.

Same house. This is the 2nd bedroom??

We know the seller is an Obama fan

Now look at the office that makes you want to get right to work

Dining Room?

Stagers Can Help Sellers from going thru one price reduction after another. We can stop you from helping to sell the competition

The agent of this home didn't know about Staging when this house was listed for a long time.

Should I add a inspector to my team?

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:16:39 -0500

90% of my staging jobs are Estates. The owners passed away or are moving into a simpler life.

Usually, the owners haven't taken care of the home like they did when they were younger. Thing have accumulated too much stuff.

When I Orchestrate the Staging to make sure that eveything is done within their budget, I look for things that are newer standards for living that weren't there when they moved in. Things like GFI in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room are in place.

I listen for leaking toilets and dripping faucets.

Would it be better to hire an inspector myself as part of my team and of course add it to my price OR suggest strongly to the family that they get a pre-listing inspection?

I like taking care of issues before listing and not have the agents have to deal with when an offer comes in. My team in on sight so it all makes sesse to me.

Do any of you hire inspectors during the process?

The Fraud Files Blog - interested in learning home staging - read this first!

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:08:08 -0500

Public be aware and potential stagers be careful.

Staging is not something that you be learned with an "online" study. It takes hands on training and a knack for doing it right.

Via Melissa Marro www.StagingAndRedesign.com www.RedesigningCharleston.com (First Impressions):

Today I received an email from a coworker and about fell out of my chair reading it. I'm not really sure why, since I took my position as Executive Director of Certified Staging Professionals it seems that I get a lot of these emails, but for some reason - perhaps if you read the article you'll understand - this one bothered me a bit more than usual.

By author Tracy Coenen who is a forensic accountant and fraud examiner in Chicago and Milwaukee who investigates white collar crimes, including cases of financial statement fraud, embezzlement, tax fraud, and insurance fraud. She is the author of Expert Fraud Investigation and Essentials of Corporate Fraud and more than 100 articles on fraud featured in industry publications.

http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2009/06/03/buying-a-job-with-haverhill-home-staging-questionable/

If you are even considering getting into the home staging business and taking a course... be sure to read this. Remember, if it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is....

IF this doesn't sell you on staging, nothing will

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:15:25 -0500

I had to share this with everyone.

Via Kym Hough, Home Staging Professional Green Trainer, CSP, RESA, Danville, CA (www.Staged to Sell & www.StagersLIST.com):

I was at a property yesterday and chatting with a Realtor about the value of staging. He started to chuckle when I said "It's hard to believe anyone in their right mind would put a house on the market without staging." Of course, it helped that we were standing in a listing that my crew and I had recently staged and put on the market so the evidence was right in his face.

He told me that some people really are just simply not using both sides of their brain when they put a house on the market. He told me I simply must got to http://www.lovelylisting.com/ to see for myself how many people aren't staging!

I took a moment this morning to do just that and checked out the listings on the California part of the website http://www.lovelylisting.com/search/label/California

These are actual shots from the MLS.

Yes, they are simply unbelievable but check out the sixth set of photos. Yes, that is a crime scene folks. Evidence markers and all.

There is staging and then there is staging. Staging a crime scene will not help you sell your home.

Dead animals and Guns on the wall. Plastic high chairs in a messy kitchen. Carpet in the fireplace. These are May 2009 Photos from the MLS! Look for yourself. Yes, they are good for a laugh, but very sad at the same time.

Yes, statiscs show that 20 or more photos on the internet will help you sell your home twice as fast BUT that is only if that house is prepared for market and the photos reflect a beautiful listing that will attract buyers.

For more information on Staging Your Home to actually sell go to www.Staged-to-Sell.com

Kym Hough's Staged to Sell is the Premier Home Staging company in the San Francisco East Bay. Staged to Sell provides excellent Home Staging and Design to Live services to the Berkeley, El Cerrito, Orinda, Lafayette, Danville and the entire East Bay. For more information go to www.staged-to-sell.com

Painting the frame made the painting POP

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:58:48 -0500

I love finding neat inexpensive pieces of art and tweaking them. This piece is an original and dated 1941. That's pretty cool I think.

This picture was used in a staging a few months back

I used it here because the gold frame complimented the brass on the fireplace and the ceiling lights.

This is what it looks like after painting the frame a very soft white.

advice on refinishing hard wood floors and decks

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:42:50 -0500

Seems like every house I work on now has hardwood floors that need work. Yesterday I posted a blog on how Murphy Oil Soap saved the day for me for one room. Today, I'm interested in how to refinish the floors.

The reason behind this is decks. My logic is that refinishing a hard wood floor is not that much different from cleaning up a really bad deck. This deck below, from my last job, had a wheelchair ramp up to the house. This will put 99.9% of buyers off.

The ramp before the handyman attacked it.

We used $50 worth of deck cleaners and brighteners and power washed to get it the best we could. Then we sealed it with Cabot clear.

It really looks good.

I'm thinking that I could have taken a sander for hardwood floors and sanded the deck. That would have meant no chemicals and the look would have been more consistent. The area that had a outdoor rug is lighter than the rest of the deck.

I'm definitely not trying to put the professionals out of work. They would be called in at the drop of a hat for a large deck. A deck of this size would be cost prohibitive on most of the Orchestrating Estate jobs that I do.

Has anyone used a floor sander on a deck?

The local Home Depot has a floor sander that it rents by the hour and day.

Will this work for the decks too!!

I've very curious about this because my son's deck needs to be re-done. We are all do it yourselves :-)

We tried paint strippers and power washers and it still needed to be sanded. The logical thing was for us to try sanding one section before stripping and amazing this worked. We can now skip the process of paint removers and brighteners and just sand. There are many really nice hand sanders on the market and I figure it would take us months of weekends to finish the job.

Will the hardwood floor machine work for this process?

Murphy's Oil Soap Saved the day

Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:13:49 -0500

I was recently working an Estate in Warren Michigan. The owners had passed and it was time to sell. Those who follow me know that this is my forte. I love it.

This last home had carpet in one room that had to be torn out. No if and or buts it had to go.

Tearing it out was easy. The hardwood floor underneath had a few issues that were difficult to deal with. Do you remember the yellow padding that be used to have under carpets? The kind that turned to dust when it was old? Well that the problem. The padding was stuck to the floor.

I tried scraping. I tried a wall paper steamer. I tried every fancy cleaner for hardwood floors.

Finally, I was reminded that for an oil problem I should use an oil product. The old padding were petroleum based.

The problem was solved. Murphy Oil Soap and a floor scrubber and it was in good shape