Michelle Finnamore

United Way's 50th Anniversary Estate on the Bay Designer Showcase Home has wrapped up with the gala being held on a star lit night on Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie. Michelle Finnamore of Advantage Staging was among 10 designers that were asked to redesign the 10,000 sq. ft. lakeside home to raise funds for the United Way.

It was a privilege to be part of a project that brought together the talents of many designers for a good cause that benefitted the community in a far reaching way.

Cheryl Tiegs was in attendance as the rep for Cambria Quartz which was used in the kitchen.

It turns out that we were both involved with the Live Green, Live Smart green renovation of a 50's ranch bungalow in Minnesota last year. The ranch bungalow is the first home in the world to be renovated to a Platium level of LEEDS and exceed the requirements by 17%.

I always say......it is a small world isn't it?

Kevin Frankish, host of Breakfast Television and Mary Dobson, feature designer on Cityline were our chauffeurs for the evening. Mary designed the laundry room and garage space which will be featured on Cityline October 27th.

My neighbour and good friend John Elms of Ultimate Car Rental

supplied a classic Rolls Royce for the evening as well. Along with

a few of my favourite cars like a '67 Corvette, a Maseratti and a classic

Pontiac Judge.

Here are a few of the images of the grounds that I staged to highlight the focal points of the property.

Bradford Greenhouses supplied the large urns with fall florals for the front

entrance.

UCA Branding installed window film to the cabana sliding glass doors to highlight the bar area.

Martin House Art provided 5 pieces of exterior artwork made from 65% post consumer recycled steel.

Iris in the garden was beautiful to see in the rising morning sun.

The lime green bench brought a smile to everyone when they walked up the path to the front door.

The eliptical steel ball was created specifically for the top of the 55 foot boat slip.

Recently I was commissioned by the Rainbow Mall to design a wall graphic memorial to the fallen Canadian soldiers who have served in United Nations Peace Keeping efforts.

It was a month in planning and execution and on Monday March 16th the dedication took place.

CFB Borden Base Commander Colonel Hamel, The Minister of Foreign Affairs Office representative Valerie Knight and veterans from the Angus and Barrie Legion along with the Army, Navy, Air Force Club were on hand to witness the solemn event. As four soldiers had been repatriated home to Canada in the previous days it was a poignant reminder that reflected the efforts of our peace keepers in Afghanistan.

The wall graphic shows a field of red poppies reaching up to a blue sky. There are 225 names of fallen soldiers written on the wall and sadly, four more to be added this past week.

Advantage Staging was proud to be part of this community event to show our support to the troops and their efforts to keep peace in the world.

Lately I have been finding that the smart Realtors are calling for a professional Home Staging consultation on every listing.

Why the change?

A few reasons.

With so much competition on the market right now, they realize that to make their listing stand out from the crowd online they need to get their clients motivated to prepare their properties for sale.

Realtors know that if they list properties not ready to show they will see their marketing expense balloon out of control.Properties that have not been prepared do not show well online. Bright paint colours and vibrant patterns do not allow buyers online to see the features of a home.

Plus clients are letting their Realtors know that they do not want to languish on the market like they see so many other listings in their neighbourhood.

With over 80% of buyers looking online for their next house, clients that decide to follow the suggestions that I make end up with a property that shows well online resulting in traffic to their listings.

6 White Elm in Barrie listed with Dianne Beauchesne with RE/MAX is an example of the suggestions that I made to market a home being carried out by the homeowner.

The main floor is very inviting and a family could see easily how this could be their new dream home.

In the perfect scenario, the vibrant colours in the children's rooms should have been neutralized to show better online. Overall the house shows very well and you can now see the features in each room of the house.

This property sold in 30 days for 98% of the list price. Another Staging success story.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceles.

Our local radio stations in Barrie, KOOL 107.5 and ROCK 95 are giving away a house with Zancor Homes. All you have to do is phone in and be caller number seven. You get a golden key and are invited to attend a party with all the key winners. One lucky person will find that their key opens the lock on the prize house and the dream prize house is theirs to call home. How easy is that!

Advantage Staging can be heard during this prize house give away contest at 8:30 a.m. each morning on KOOL 107.5 encouraging homeowners to have an advantage in the marketplace by Staging their homes for sale.

After all, when you win a dream home you still have to sell your old one and get the most equity out of it to buy the plasma TV with surround sound movie room, new furniture, landscaping, inground pool with cabana, hot tub...........ooops! I was dreaming of winning the prize house again!

There is one sure way to get attention in the marketplace. Do something that no one else is doing and you have a story to relate. The media will pick up your story and you can further the reach of the story through online blogging.

This idea is open to all Realtors and Home Staging companies in North America. I will provide the template to you so you can organize your own version of the event in your area.

Last year I was able to be featured on CBC Radio One ( a major radio station in our area), get TV coverage and several newspapers and the Habitat newsletter to cover the story.

It drew attention to all the participants and with the advantage of repeating the event yearly, you gain good public exposure in your area for a very worthwhile cause.

So what is the idea? How can you participate and be noticed in your marketplace?

Last year I organized an Art for Humanity Open House Tour for a Saturday in Barrie with 3 Realty companies providing the homes that were listed for sale and Staged by my company.

I also had the local Georgian College Fine Arts Program provide me with graduating students that would place their artwork in the homes. Each student was given a house in which to place their artwork as their own gallery. The students each donated one piece of artwork to be auctioned off to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

The day of the tour the Realtor was there to show the house. The artist was there for the public to meet and greet. A representative from Habitat for Humanity was there to take donations, let people know how to volunteer with Habitat and to supervise the bids on the artwork.

I have branded the event so that you don't have to think of anything- all the work has been done for you.

Just send your info to me to be inserted into the flyer and it will be sent back to you ready for print ads, online etc. There is a very small fee for this service as the idea is to raise money and awareness for Habitat. I did co-op advertising with the Realtors in the pull out Real Estate section to keep the cost of print advertising low.

What is your next step?

Realtors - Organize an open house tour with 4 -5 houses on the tour. You need permission from your client for the possiblilty that a TV crew or print media may be there to promote the event.

Home Stagers - Approach Realty offices to participate in the open house tour. I worked with 3 Realty firms to have enough houses to participate in the tour. Everything went very smoothly with all the participants.

Approach your local Habitat for Humanity to arrange reps for the tour day.

Approach your local college or any other organization that you think will be a good fit for this event.

The end result - one house sold from the tour, the Realtors were happy as they were featured in a new and attention getting way, Habitat was very pleased with all the exposure, the College Fine Arts Director and students were ecstatic with the opportunity to showcase their work and get experience in the real world and I gained the exposure in the marketplace I was looking for to grow my business.

If you would like to find out more, send an email to michelle@advantagestaging.ca with your questions and I will be glad to help you get your event organized.