By Jove, I Think They Got It!
Well, here I go bravely into the world of blogging! I just wanted to share some insights I gained from my most recent staging.
Two weeks ago I was contacted by a young couple relocating to another state. Their primary concern was the empty living room and dining room. We made an appointment for a consultation since they thought they would go the DIY route.
As I pulled up to the house, I started to get a sinking feeling as the curb appeal was awful. Half of the front yard was torn up and the rest was overgrown. It didn't get better as I entered the home. This couple had purchased the house about a year ago, thought they would be here a long time and began a long series of home improvement projects. The problem was that they hadn't finished anything in any room! Walls were partially painted, trim and baseboards removed, hardwood floors pulled up with bare underlayment exposed, and the list goes on...
I prepared a report for them and walked them through the steps they needed to take. Their budget was beyond stretched and they realized that they would probably lose money on this house so I knew that there was no way to push for bringing in professionals for the projects or to do anything else extravagant. They thanked me and I didn't hear from them again. Every few days I sent them an email with a few more budget saving ideas, some of which I found here on AR. Suddenly a few days ago they called to say that they had just found out that they had to be in their new state within days and that they needed me to do the staging. With a lot of trepidation, I headed back and was most pleasantly surprised. They had worked their rears off and finished up every single thing on my list and even some of the optional things! To save them money, we agreed to stage using as much of their existing furniture as possible. In the end, we only had to bring in a small table and chairs for the nook.
The day after the staging they left town, then called me asking me to do them a favor tweaking something minor in the house . This required going back to the house (a 20 mile drive each way from my house). At first I was highly annoyed and thought to myself that they should call their Realtor since I was only paid for 1/2 day of staging. Then after I thought about it, I realized that there were two good reasons to go back. One, their agent is a very busy agent with a major company who I didn't have a relationship with prior to this. Secondly, this couple was demonstrating that the lessons I had tried to teach them stuck and that they were now looking at all of the details with their "buyer's eyes".
Their agent is quite amazed at all we accomplished and I am happy that this couple GOT IT and put in the work to make this transformation happen. I think we all came out winners on this one!
Kathy Alexander - GreatStages
Before After
Comments (9)Subscribe to CommentsComment