Several months ago I was inspired by a blog post written by Michelle Minch about her first staging experience http://activerain.com/blogsview/1923538/my-first-home-staging-job-2001 . So today when I am trying to decide what to write about, I decided the best place to start was at the beginning of my staging career.
I started selling real estate after we purchased our first home and the agent that worked with us made it seem so simple and so much fun. I enjoyed looking at homes. I had a brand new credit card with a zero balance, a little money in my savings account, and a new baby that I wanted to spend more time. It seemed like the perfect time to get started. Little did I know that interest rates would hit 18% later that year. I was getting into real estate when others were leaving the industry
(not unlike the past few years). The good thing about getting into real estate when times are hard, is that you develop really good skills to survive. My real estate teacher told us that less than 2% of us would still be in real estate within 5 years of getting our license. I was not a quitter and was determined to be in at 2%. Somehow I survived and actually did very well. I raised 4 children while maintaining a successful real estate business. I learned early on, that with small children at home, it was easier for me to work with listings because it gave me more control of my time. As a listing agent, I helped sellers prepare their homes for the market and was "staging" homes before staging was a term we used in real estate. As the market began to change in 2007, I started advertising my staging services to my sellers and the local newspaper featured several local REALTORS that offered home staging services to their clients. I received a call from a lady living in Maryland. Her son had a home in Roanoke that "needed help" and she wanted to know if I was interested in working with him to prepare the home for the market.
Below are a few of the before photos:
After Staging
I had no furniture and accessories for this project so I pulled things from my own home and the moving company that moved the excess stuff out for the sellers had a red sofa and chair that he let me borrow. This home sold in less than a week and I was convinced that there was a need for staging services and rental furniture for vacant houses.
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