I have always believed in the benefits of staging a house for sale but until this weekend, had not experienced the true power of the process. Allow me to share...
Client from Toronto had a property in London that was being rented. When she decided to sell the property a few years ago, she listed at a fair price, then dropped 5k, then dropped another 5k, and when there was still no takers, considered dropping another 15k. She took the house off the market and let the tenant stay longer.
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by her agent. She was ready to put the house on the market again and this time was open to the idea of staging. The agent, who is a friend of mine, paid for the consult. After seeing my proposal, the homeowner engaged me to carry out all the suggested work and whatever else I may feel would be beneficial to sell the house.
I started the project on April 12 and it was the beginning of a nightmare. The tenant was uncooperative about moving out for us to prepare the house. When he finally did move, he left behind a load of garbage and the homeowner was not around to remove anything from the property. The agent and I dug in and turned it around. After some minor renovation to the basement, some paint, cleaning and carpet steaming, I was finally able to move my furniture in to stage on April 19. Showings had been held off until today, the 21st but another agent really wanted to take her clients through on the 20th. The house was completed at 5pm April 19th and SOLD after the first viewing at 10am on the 20th for near the asking price of 5k more than her first listing price two years ago!!!
I am elated to see all my hard work pay off but, at the same time, a little sad that only one client got to see my work...LOL. Here are a few pics for you to check out. I will always believe we make a difference!
Befores.... Afters....
Comments(25)