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'Twas the Month Before Listing and All Through the House . . .

By
Home Stager with Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon CCB #180695

'Twas the month before listing, when all through the house
the owners were nervous, and began to grouse.
It was time they decided their house to prepare,
in hopes that some buyers soon would be there.

There was no time to rest all snug in their beds,
images of projects danced in their heads.
"What to do, where to start." I said with a snap.
"A buyer‘s not going to just fall in our lap!" 

Bring in the stager and stop all this chatter,
See if they can tell us what improvements really matter.
In this poor economy to sell in a flash,
we must learn how to give our house some panache! 

Architecture to highlight and spaciousness to show
do you think the bottle collection and moose head must go?
Before the realtors and buyers appear,
the need for a plan and strategy was clear.

The stager appeared, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment she was just the trick.
In rapid succession the ideas they came,
she saw all the problems and called them by name:

"The Clutter! The Dirt!
The dated decor!
Deferred maintenance!
And papers galore!
We‘ll stage it all from the front to back door!
And make sure it‘s the house
All buyers will adore!"

With that, her pen -- it began to fly,
preparing a plan for success to try
the before photos they showed quite a mess,
and many more issues we must address.

It‘s time, she said, with little ado
To be painting your interior a neutral hue
Your sofa is gaudy and condition is poor
A slip cover will transform it, she began to implore. 

From pressure washing the walk and driveway too,
we started on the prioritized list of much to do.
Cleaning, decluttering - there was no looking back,
the extra clothes, the photos and collections to pack. 

The windows! How they sparkled! The rooms! How airy!
Opening the closet door was no longer scary!
The master bedroom fabulous décor did sport,
Reminding viewers of a relaxing resort.

More lighting and décor gave the house a new look
All done with very little stress to the pocketbook!
The photos now prepared for buyers online
Showed a property that could be described as sublime!


With a series of comps to compare all the fixings
All fears were allayed; we would have a great listing.
Our realtor can now market in so many ways,
And assured us a sale in a matter of days.

One after the other, with comments to share;
Realtors on tour agreed, no house would compare.
Every room was inspected, our efforts made clear,
A buyer could be expected, we had little to fear. 

The Open House, a gala event
They came dropping their cards and compliments were sent.
The buyers were plentiful, all in the queue -
The color of money, oh what a hue!

The offer it came, with the speed of a missile
The key was the Stager, oh what a pistol!
And our realtor exclaimed as we closed with delight,
"Happy selling to all, and to all a good night!"

 

 Creative Concepts and Contracting -- more than just happy holiday greetings -- a plan of action for home sellers!  Contact us for home staging recommendations that will set your home apart and become memorable to buyers!

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Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Cathy - you are too kind -- just was hard to find a good word to rhyme with flash!

Laurie -- thanks for reading -- I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Connie - thanks for your good wishes and happy holidays to you too!

 

Nov 30, 2008 09:35 AM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Cecily - Yes I started this ditty (in my head about 5a.m.) and then my hubby helped finish up a few rough spots -- yes -- I'm using it in my December newsletter -- so I'm glad you thought it was clever!

Karen - I'm disappointed -- I thought I was the first one to think of such a ditty!  Glad to follow your leader!

Donna and Kathy -- Yes now that Thanksgiving is over - time to get into the Christmas season!  We just returned for vacation and wow -- it's December! (where did November go!) 

Nov 30, 2008 09:37 AM
Melina Tomson
Tomson Burnham, llc Licensed in the State of Oregon - Salem, OR
Principal Broker/Owner, M.S.

Margaret,

I'm a little late reading blogs, but this was really funny.  I flagged it, in case the AR gods want to feature it.  Well written.

Dec 01, 2008 03:36 AM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Thanks Melina!  Okay -- here is another confession - - - I never knew you could flag a post for anything other than spam . . . I've given my brain another wrinkle I'm learning so many new things today!

Dec 01, 2008 08:41 AM
Josi Underhill
Decor By Josi - Portland, OR

Margaret,

I love this "Poem" it is funny y thank you for share the Christmas Spirit! Love your blogs!

Josi

Dec 01, 2008 09:14 AM
C Tann-Starr
Tann Starr & Associates, Inc. - Palm Bay, FL

I love Dr. Seuss. This is awesome! Simply awesome... :-)

Dec 01, 2008 09:24 AM
Kathy Riggle
STAGING SMART N SOLD - Houston, TX
Houston Home Staging

What writing talent!! Great post, Margaret-how long did it take you to compose this?

Dec 01, 2008 09:30 AM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Josi - I'm so glad you like it -- it was fun to do!

C Tann-Starr - Actually Clement Clarke Moore is the original author of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," which legend says he wrote on Christmas Eve in 1822 during a sleigh ride home from Greenwich Village after buying a turkey for his family. But - I'm so glad you liked it (I like Dr Seuss too!)

Kathy - Well, I don't think this qualifies for writing talent -- but it was fun!  I played around with it for about 30 minutes and then my husband made some tweeks to it and finished it up!  We were on vacation and so since I didn't have a job to write about . . . had to come up with something!  Thanks for the lovely compliment!

Dec 01, 2008 01:07 PM
Thom Abbott
MyMidtownMojo.com |770.713.1505 | Intown Atlanta GA Condo Living - Atlanta, GA
Midtown Atlanta GA Condos For Sale

Now that's what I call creative! I loved it! I'm flagging for a feature! It's worth it!

Dec 01, 2008 02:13 PM
Anonymous
Susan Thompson

I just thought this was so creative and fun - had to post a comment even though I'm not a member.  This was a great idea.

Dec 02, 2008 12:37 AM
#22
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Thanks Thom and Ray - I just learned this week about that flagging for feature option . . . never knew it existed before!  Thanks for your kind words and for reading!

Thanks Susan -- You need to be joining Active Rain -- lots of great things to learn - especially for members.  It's a great place to network. 

Dec 02, 2008 06:47 AM
Virginia Tatseos
Stage-Show-Sell - Bloomfield Township, MI

I love it

Can I steal it, copy it or whatever?

I'm nowhere as clever with words as you.

Dec 02, 2008 10:58 PM
Shobha Vyavahare
stagewithme, Greenville, South Carolina - Greenville, SC

wow what a wonderful poem, loved it, Happy Holidays and Happy staging.

Shobha

Dec 02, 2008 11:26 PM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Virginia - Now no stealing - but I'll share my secret -- go online and there are websites where you can find rhyming words - how cool is that!  You can be brilliant easily yourself!

Shobha - Thanks - I'm just now getting into the swing of the holidays but I must confess -- I'm always happy staging!

Dec 03, 2008 12:29 AM
Melody Botting
Broker Associate PenFed Realty - San Antonio, TX
You Deserve The Best

You had me laughing pretty hard this morning!  Thanks for the boost!

Dec 03, 2008 12:30 AM
Melody Botting
Broker Associate PenFed Realty - San Antonio, TX
You Deserve The Best

  Congratulations!  Your post has been featured in Club Chaos.

Dec 03, 2008 12:32 AM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Melody -- I'm glad to give you a laugh and thanks for the feature in Club Chaos! 

Dec 03, 2008 01:21 AM
Maggie Baumbach
Search Homes for Sale in Maryland at HelpShop.com - Reisterstown, MD

A great one, I am emailing to to my husband next. 

Dec 03, 2008 07:08 AM
Margaret Oscilia
Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting, Salem Oregon - Salem, OR
Home Stager, Salem Oregon

Thanks Maggie for reading this post -- glad to spread some good humor wherever we can! 

Dec 04, 2008 12:28 AM
Anne West
Coldwell Banker - Chicago, IL
Your Guide to Real Estate on Chicago's North Shore

This is fabulous...just made my day! Thanks for your awesome creativity

Dec 04, 2008 02:08 AM