Advanced Destaging Techniques, 101 - OR - How to Destage After the Blizzard of the Century

One of our favorite houses that we staged back in November sold (not too bad with the holidays and a snowstorm in December!), and destaging was scheduled for Monday, February 8^th.

With the arrival of "Snowmaggedon" (as President Obama called it) that weekend, no one was moving come Monday (see "The Winter Olympics Need My Snow!!") The furniture rental trucks were buried at the warehouse, and only 3 drivers were able to make it in. Things were better on Tuesday, but the driveway and front walk to the client's house hadn't been cleared of the 25+ inches of snow yet.

(A bit of background: The original owner of the house had passed away last year, and it was up to the family to sell the house. The executer of the estate lives in the Northern Virginia area, but not close enough to stop by the house on a regular basis. So snow removal was a bit of an issue, and had to be taken care of via hiring someone by phone.)

Then came Round 2 on Wednesday the 10^th. Not as much snow as 4 days prior, but blizzard conditions with 25-45 mph winds, freezing temperatures, and white outs. It was brutal out there, and no one was going anywhere, not even my dog. (Those mailboxes were completely dug out the day 2 days before. Check out the drift up to the front windows on the house in the back; its about 2 feet of snow on top of a low hedge.)

Finally, the furniture pick up and destaging was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Main roads were clear, the trucks were out, and Preferred Staging was ready to go! The only question remaining was if the driveway and front walk had been cleared.

We were assured on Thursday morning that the snow removal would be taken care of and we would have access to the house by 1pm.

We arrived shortly before 1pm, and indeed the drive and walk were cleared... but only wide enough for a car. (Remember, the snow removal had been arranged over the phone.) The street itself was plowed to only one lane, and the driveway was plowed to a perfect "T" with the street with sharp and high corners of snow at the edges of the drive. It looked like the hired plow had backed into the neighbor's driveway across the street and just drove straight into the client's driveway to clear the snow. I could certainly get my van into the driveway (and eventually into the garage which made loading so much easier), but I knew the truck wouldn't make it.

First things first - we needed the key to get into the house. Now, the lock box was on the back door, which certainly wasn't a problem. All that was required of me was to trudge through the 25 inches of snow around the side of the house and to the back porch. Thank goodness the realtor showed up while we were destaging and moved the lock box from the back to the front door so locking up was easy!

Back to the truck and our driveway problem. The truck arrived about 10 minutes after us, and it was impossible for it to get into the drive. Staying out on the street wasn't an option, as the street ends in a cul de sac and the truck would have totally blocked traffic.

As luck would have it - and I really do mean LUCK - there were 2 bobcats and a backhoe down the street clearing the snow from the intersection and drains. I sent our Senior Preferred Stager, Lynn, to flash her brightest smile and see if one of those bobcats would come down to our drive and clear the snow for us.

Five minutes later she's back. "He's coming down the street and will do it for 20 bucks!"

As luck would have it AGAIN, the bobcat operator was a truck driver by profession and knew exactly what our problem was and how to take care of it. In 20 minutes he had cleared the way for the truck to back safely into the driveway so the 45 pieces of furniture in the house could be removed. What was also great was that cars coming and going could pull over into the now opened areas to allow others to pass. So it was a win-win for everyone!

Just goes to show the great lengths - and depths - a good staging company will go to for its clients!

P.S. - We're supposed to get another 3 inches tomorrow. Yea.

All the Best,

Monica