Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!
I hired a stager to stage one of my listings in November of 2006. This condo was in a beautiful location, but the market was slow and there were 3 other listings in the same building with the same floor plan. Also, this was a very small two bedroom condo - only 900 sq. ft. - with the fireplace extending way into the living room and taking up a lot of space.
I just came back from the California Association of Realtors convention where I heard Barb Schwartz speak. Barb is the founder of the Accredited Staging Professionals - www.stagedhomes.com. She is also a wonderful lady, full of great stories and I was quite inspired!
Being ever a good student, I decided I had nothing to lose. I scheduled an appointment with my sellers immediately. I advised them that in this market, we would be better off hiring a professional to help us showcase their home. We priced the home correctly, the advertising and web marketing was implemented, now it was just a matter of getting buyers to be charmed by the way the condo showed.
Results: The pictures after the staging was completed were fantastic! I have taken many and added all of them to the MLS along with a personal website (www.160Hudson.com) for their condo. The feedback from agents and potential clients was excellent. Many of them insisted on seeing the condo even though it was much smaller than what they wanted to buy originally. I am happy to report that we sold the condo only $2,000 under asking, but $9,000 over the last sale in the property. Yeah!
So... see for yourself - what do you think?
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