“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

Blog_tag

What To Look For When Choosing A Home Stager

01-23-09
Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the growing number of home staging training schools popping up to make a fast buck, the result is a glut of "Home Stagers" in the marketplace with absolutely no experience and no idea of where to start. Are you willing to put your client's largest investment into the hands of someone without the expertise necessary to get the results you need? This could turn out to be a very costly mistake.

Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting a Home Stager:

LOWEST QUOTE/FREE CONSULTATIONS

Beware of Home Stagers that come in at a much lower bid than the others. Usually it's reflected in the quality of accessories and furniture that they will provide. Some Home Stagers may offer you free home staging consultations. As my parents always told me, "nothing in life is ever free". There's always a catch and in this case, it may be that he or she has absolutely no experience and may give your client potentially harmful advice.

WEBSITE

Make sure that the Home Stager has a professional website; not just a "cookie-cutter" mini-site provided through their training school. In today's world, anyone serious about doing business must have a website. If the Home Stager you are considering does not have one, perhaps he or she is more of a hobbyist. Having a website demonstrates that the Home Stager means business and takes a serious approach to what they do. Make sure you look for testimonials from other Real Estate Agents as this speaks volumes as to their credibility and capability.

PORTFOLIO

When interviewing your Home Stager, ask to see a hard copy of his or her portfolio. If they don't have a hard copy version, you should pass on this person. In today's world of technology, with the click of a mouse, photos can be taken from another Home Stager's website and passed off as someone else's work. If the Home Stager did in fact do the work, they will have photographs that they can show you. They will probably have several photos of the same room taken from different angles. This is one way of proving who actually performed the staging if there is a discrepancy. A "Copy and Paste Stager" would not be able to supply these other shots.
Also, if the Home Stager's portfolio consists of only a few photos, there's a chance that these are probably photos taken from a group staging project at their training school and not actual work that the Home Stager completed on his or her own.

STOCK PHOTOS

This really falls under the Portfolio heading, but is so important that it deserves its own heading. When checking the Home Stager's website, be sure that the portfolio section of their website isn't made up of stock photos. The portfolio should only contain their work so as not to mislead the public. Look for the True Portfolio logo on their website. Not all professional Home Stagers will have this logo, so don't base your decision just on that, but the logo is one indication that these are in fact photos of their own work.
true portfolio logo

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Ask for proof of insurance coverage; both commercial general liability and errors & omissions insurance. A professional Home Stager will not set foot in a client's home without having proper coverage. The liabilities are just too great (for both parties).

BUSINESS CONTRACT

Ensure that the Home Stager uses a contract as part of their business practice. There are some Home Stagers that don't. You want to make sure that your client is protected.

REAL ESTATE STAGING ASSOCIATION

Lastly, but certainly not least, check RESA's website at www.realestatestagingassociation.com to see if the Home Stager is a member. All members are held to a strict code of ethics. Some RESA members have also chosen to participate in RESA's Staging Excellence Alliance program which is similar to a Better Business Bureau for Home Stagers. It will give you added comfort to know that they subscribe to the standards set out by that program.
Current RESA Member
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when hiring a Home Stager. The decision should not be taken lightly since there is a lot riding on it. Don't be left looking like the bad guy with your client if something goes wrong. Make sure you do your homework before choosing your Home Stager.
~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 2009 Charlene Storozuk, DeZigner DigZTM. All rights reserved.
DeZigner DigZTM is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The Owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently servces as Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information about DeZigner DigZTM, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.
45 Comments
Blog_tag

Local RESA Home Stagers Visit Hamilton Carpet Mill Outlet

01-14-09
Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

On behalf of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth Real Estate Staging Association, I would like to thank Bob Birthelmer, Owner of Hamilton Carpet Mill Outlet who so graciously welcomed our group to his carpet warehouse this week, and what an impressive warehouse it is, I might add. It is one of the largest in the region. As you can see, Bob went out of his way to make sure that everyone was well looked after. He even went so far as to hire caterers to put on a beautiful meal for us, complete with Wolf Blass wine!

Mark Tomlinson, Consultant and Cert. Instructor at Hamilton Carpet Mill Outlet very kindly agreed to put on a presentation for our local real estate staging chapter on the various flooring options available. He specifically focused his presentation on flooring applications suitable for home staging purposes. I have to say that I have never met anyone else as knowledgeable about flooring as Mark was. The detail that he went into was very much appreciated by everyone.

Hamilton Carpet Mill Outlet is located at 2799 Barton Street East in Hamilton. If you're in the market to purchase flooring, give Mark a call at 905-544-9265. I'm sure he will be able to answer all of your questions.

------

Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The Owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves as RESA's Regional Vice-President, Canada. She is also founder of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth Real Estate Staging Association. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

0 Comments
Blog_tag

Selling Your Home In An Economic Downturn. What You Should Know.

01-13-09
Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

It's finally caught up to us. We've done well to dodge the bullet this long, as times have been tough in the U.S. real estate market for quite some time. Although properties are starting to sit on the market for longer, we still haven't taken the same hit as our friends south of the border.

What does this mean for homeowners who want to sell? Regardless of economic conditions, there will always be people looking to buy a new home for many different reasons. You may not be able to command the same listing price that you could have several months ago, however, the upside is that if you are also purchasing a new home, chances are you'll pay less now.

To take advantage of some of the deals that are out there, you need to have that 'sold' sign on your lawn as soon as possible. To do that, your home has to be presented in the best way possible to stand out from the rest. Bringing in a professional Home Stager will make that job much easier for you.

In challenging economic times, some homeowners are reluctant to have their homes staged. They feel that since they won't be realizing the same gain on their sale as before, there isn't money on the table to spend on preparing their home for sale. This is one mistake that can come back to take a bite out of your bank account.

If houses are sitting on the market for longer, it stands to reason that during that time of limbo, there gradually becomes a larger number of properties on the market for buyers to choose from. Do you want to give potential buyers a reason to pass on your home and go on to the next one? After all, there will be many "next ones".

-----

Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves as Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information on us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

8 Comments
Blog_tag

My Favourite Kitchen Staging Transformation of 2008

12-30-08
Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

Kathy Nielsen of Georgia Interior Solutions LLC, has posted another challenge to all of her home staging peers. This one is to share photos of our favourite kitchen staging transformations from 2008. And a challenge it was, as first, I had to establish exactly which room in the house the kitchen was. After quizzing my Husband in a round-about sort of way, I figured it out - the room with the appliances :-).

All kidding aside though, these are photos of a vacant property that I staged this year. I wanted to make the property feel lived-in, so I did a "company's coming" theme and staged a vignette for entertaining. A small table and chairs were also added to help define the eat-in area. I think it helped to give some life to this otherwise empty home.

Here are some 'before' & 'afters':

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Dezigner Digz is a home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and is the founder and current President of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth Real Estate Staging Association. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

9 Comments
Blog_tag

My Favourite Home Staging Transformation of 2008

12-29-08
Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

It's hard to believe that in 2 more days 2008 will be but a memory. Where does the time go? In reflecting over the year, I have met many wonderful people that have welcomed me into their homes and put their trust in me to help get their largest investment (their home) ready for sale. They had many different reasons for moving, but one thing they all had in common was their determination to get their properties looking their best. I also had the privilege of working with some amazing real estate agents this year.

Kathy Nielsen of Georgia Home Solutions LLC, has encouraged all of her peers on the Active Rain real estate network to share their favourite home staging transformations of the year. I have a lot of favourites, but if I had to choose, I would say that this was my "most favourite" staging transformation for 2008. In fact, the Real Estate Staging Association featured this living room on their website banner for the month of November which was very exciting for me. Here are a couple of photos that I'd like to share:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As 2008 draws to a close, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my clients and the real estate agents that I had the privilege to work with for their business and wish everyone a healthy, happy and successful New Year!

------------

Dezigner Digz is a home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and is the founder and current President of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth Real Estate Staging Association. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

20 Comments