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Staging for Occupied Homes? Yes we can!

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Home Stager with Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging

It’s a commonly held misconception that home stagers only work on vacant homes.

But what if you’ve got 3 kids, 2 dogs and a pet parakeet, and plan to live in your home while it’s on the market? You may think that staging is not an option for you. Now I can understand why you might think that, because there are stagers out there who refuse to work on a home unless it is completely empty and they can start with a “blank slate.”

Though it’s true that it’s easier for stagers to start from scratch so that we don’t have to incorporate your existing furniture with what we may need to bring in, there are home staging professionals (including myself) that actually enjoy working on occupied homes!

In fact, staging occupied homes is one of our specialties, and we offer a low-cost staging option that can give you the look of a staged home for a fraction of the price.

The way that I work with occupied listings is to start with a Home Staging Consultation. During a consultation appointment, I will spend 2-3 hours touring your home and making a detailed, room-by-room written report listing what can be done (using mostly what’s already in your home) to prepare it for sale. This might include rearranging furniture to highlight architectural details or views, de-cluttering, neutralizing the decor, painting or minor repairs.

In most cases, you can take this report, check off everything on my list, and there’s no need for me to ever come back to the property. Sometimes, however, there may be certain items that I recommend that you rent or purchase in order to complete the staging – art, accessories or even furniture. In that case, if you prefer to rent these items (and have no use for them in your new home), a professional stager can provide a quote to rent you the necessary items and set them up, putting the finishing touches on your home to really make it shine.

CLICK HERE to see some before and after photos of my most recent occupied home staging. We'll show you what we did and the dramatic results!

 

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Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz

"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"

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Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.

Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.

Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times , Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine .

If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website . There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos , as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.

Comments(28)

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Tori Toth
Tori Toth, International - Howard Beach, NY
888.667.6643 NYC & Beyond, HSR, SAR, RESA, LIBOR

Annie all the homes that I've ever staged have been owner-occupied, I;m dying to get a vacant to start with a clean slate. Nice work.

Oct 07, 2010 09:33 AM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Julia - Sorry to hear you're not getting much work in vacants. We still do a lot of those here in LA. But occupieds are on the rise, which is a great thing!

Kathy B. - It's great that you have Realtors who call you to do this for every listing. I have a few of these as well and this job was for one of those smart and savvy Realtors. She really understands the value so she pays for the consultaiton and the sellers pay for any additional rentals and staging.

Sally - Keep plugging away at it - it's all about educating the Realtors. Perhaps send out a sample consultation report in one of your newsletters showing the types of recommendations you can make for occupied listings and make a real push to get that type of business.

Kathy S. - I agree it's a lot of fun to see what you can do with what's already there. I really enjoy it!

Oct 07, 2010 09:36 AM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Tori - Thanks! I guess it's different everywhere. We are lucky that we get a good mix of both here.

Oct 07, 2010 09:37 AM
Heather Cook
Beyond the Stage Homes - Kitchener, ON
Delivering beautifully staged spaces

Annie - awesome post and I'm glad you're shining a light on the fact that most professional stagers have great, low cost options for homeowners who are planning on staying in their home while they're selling it. 

Today for example, my partner and I spent two hours helping a client and her realtor add the WOW factor to her home. We moved furniture around, de-cluttered knick knacks and then created beautiful focal areas in each room and added accessories. For less than $500 this home owner had a home which she said "I can't believe how good it looks .. I want to stay here!" After re-assuring her realtor that she still intended to list, she gave myself and my partner huge hugs and said she loved what we had done.

So yes home owners, you can have your home staged and still be able to live in your home while its on the market!

Oct 07, 2010 11:29 AM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Annie: Very well put! A home staging consultation by a professional home stager is great for do-it-yourself types. They can do all or part of the work recommended and then hire the stager to do the rest. A lot of the real estate agents we work with have made a home staging consultation a part of their listing package. Its a great way for listing agents to differentiate themselves from other real estate agents the home owner might be interviewing.

Oct 07, 2010 03:13 PM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Heather, thanks! Sounds like you guys did an amazing job for your client! Congrats on a job well done.

Michelle, :) I couldn't have said it better myself.

Oct 07, 2010 03:36 PM
Beth Lester
Beth Lester Designs - Torrance, CA
Home Staging & Interior Decorating

I read this on facebook today.  Great article.  I have a page on my website with a couple of these stories to try to encourage others to make that small investment.  I wish I had more of these consults.

Oct 07, 2010 03:42 PM
Cindy Bryant
Redesign Etc. Home Staging - Houston, TX
"Houston Home Staging Pros"

I see so many un-staged homes that are online that desperately need to be staged.  If only buyers, rea's would recommend stagers to sellers, all would benefit.

Oct 07, 2010 05:10 PM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Beth - Thanks! Good idea to put some of these stories on your website.

Cindy - I know what you mean. I honestly think most people never even think of staging if they're living in the home. It's sad because they're leaving $ on the table.

Oct 07, 2010 06:23 PM
Kathy Smiley
Rodeo Realty ~ Fine Estates Westlake Village - Newbury Park, CA
"Real Estate results that make YOU smile!"

Annie - if only more clients were educated by their agents how important home staging is. The homes definately sell faster when staged properly!

Oct 08, 2010 04:38 AM
Sheila Kennedy
J29 Project - Rochester, NY

It is funny how different it is depending on the ara and the stager.  I rarely do vacants - I would much rather do an occupied home.  Honestly I enjoy the challenge of helping them making their homes look show ready with what they already have.  I know there would be benefits to bringing in all new inventory, but I have had to really get creative and that is fun!  I know occupied staging works - I did it in my home.  Although I will share that my daughter had about had it right before the house went under contract.  She told me she was tired of living in a museum! We needed to sell this thing already!  Two days later we were under contract!

Oct 10, 2010 02:19 PM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Kathy - so true! The agents are often the first point of contact with sellers, so we rely on them to help get the word out.

Sheila - yes it's different for every stager. Glad your own house sold so quickly - I've often wondered if I'd have to hire another stager to help me if I were to sell my house or if I could do it myself. :)

Oct 10, 2010 03:51 PM
Judy Colburn
ProStaged Homes - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Glendora, San Dimas Covina, Home Staging

Great job Annie. Love the kitchen and master makeovers!

Oct 11, 2010 05:07 AM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Judy, thanks! I think the master was my personal favorite!:)

Oct 11, 2010 05:30 PM
Kristine Ginsberg
Elite Staging and Redesign, LLC - Short Hills, NJ
NJ Home Stager

Great job - love it all as I'm sure the homeowner does! Personally, I think a lived in home needs staging just as much as a vacant home. We are too attached to our "things" and don't have the ability to be objective. If I were selling my home, I would probably consult another stager for this very reason!  -- Really love the master too!

Oct 13, 2010 04:07 AM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Thanks Kristine. It's very true that we often get too attached to our things and can't look at them objectively.

Oct 14, 2010 04:50 AM
Jo Potvin
Design To Market LLC - Cincinnati, OH
Home Staging Cincinnati - Design To Market

I usually find that it is more difficult for sellers to dive in to the staging process when they live in the home.  We have found that assisting sellers stage their occupied homes relieves them of a lot of the stress they might otherwise feel in trying to get everything accomplished.  The impact on making these changes to occupied homes is always astounding to the seller and their Realtor.

Oct 27, 2010 04:25 PM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Jo - I think that's true. Most sellers are willing to do the work - they just need the consultation report as a roadmap. Much of the initial work that they do (before we come in) is sorting and packing. Then we add the finishing touches!

Oct 28, 2010 03:53 PM
Eve Rusakova
Studio 74, Home Staging and Redesign - Toronto, ON
Home Stager, Toronto, ON

Another great example of how minor transformations can make a huge impact on houses' look.

Tha fact is that not a lot of people believe what a good home stager can do to their house while they live in it. Our job as home stagers is to educate people on that.

Nov 16, 2010 01:50 PM
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Eve - I agree. It's all about education!

Nov 17, 2010 03:19 AM