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Kate Hart

Kate Hart is Coming to a HomeGoods near you! Learn Tips and Tricks to Transform any Room on a Budget

09-04-08
Kate Hart

Have you ever seen a room in a design magazine and wanted to create a similar space in your home, only to discover the pillows you admired cost more than your mortgage?! Well real people like you and me have real budgets! In my job as a home stager, I come across this challenge all the time and have learned many ways to give a room an instant new look without breaking the bank.

I am excited that as part of HomeGoods' new "Designer is In" events in the coming weeks, I will have the opportunity to share with you in person and online my tips and tricks for updating your home-affordably! I will be appearing at four HomeGoods stores near Philadelphia. Some of the topics I plan on covering in my presentation are:

•· How to make your rooms look 15 years younger with just a few simple accents

•· How to add color to a room and create a dramatic change without a single coat of paint

•· How you can instantly transform the style of any room

Also, make sure to bring your design questions, pictures of any rooms you are working on, fabric swatches or photographs and ideas that inspire you and I will be happy to consult with you and answer your questions.

If you cannot make the store events, please post your design questions here and I will be happy to help.
Plus, after each in-store event, I will blog about the questions that came up at the store events and the shoppers I meet.

Hope to see you at my presentation. I will be speaking three times a day at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm. At the following HomeGoods:

September 13
St. David's Square
550 East Lancaster Avenue
St. Davids, PA

September 20
Airport Square Shopping Plaza
Bethlehem Pike & Upper State Road
Montgomeryville, PA

September 27
Marlton Crossing Shopping Center
Corner of Rte. 73 & Rte. 70
Marlton, NJ

October 4
Concordville Town Centre
501 Town Center Drive
Glen Mills, PA

I look forward to meeting you in person at my area HomeGoods stores and helping you create inspiring rooms on any budget! KH

Making Models Work: Who is your target buyer?

05-16-08
Kate Hart

Below are photos of a model condo unit we staged for a builder in Lower Merion Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia. This is actually the 5th time we have staged this model! Each time we stage the model unit it sells, and the builder asks us to move it to a new location in the complex. Buyers love the staged unit and since that is the unit they want, we have to move it.

The unit we are staging is the same as all the other units. So why do buyers insist on that particular unit and not another? Buyers are attracted to the look of the model and emotionally begin to connect to the space. I think this particular model works because it is designed to intentionally appeal to the typical buyer for this complex: an active adult that is downsizing from a tradtional home or a single woman that is a working professional. We have done more contemporary models for other properties but the classic look of this space is something buyers love because it shows them how their things can look in this space.

Philadelphia Home Staging Statistics- Home Sellers Get Multiple Offers!

05-16-08
Kate Hart

Home Staging is a key factor in successful home sales for many Philadelphia area home sellers. Below are 3 recent case studies of projects we completed last month. As you can see no matter what the budget, home staging was able to help each home seller with their specific needs.

Home Staging Consultation: Total Cost $300.00

Delaware County, Wayne Pennsylvania

Days on Market Pre-Staging 6 months

Days on Market Post- Staging 2 weeks

We were contacted by the home seller's Realtor to assist her client with getting a new look for her home. The client was downsizing after living in her home for 35 years and raising 4 children. The home owner had a flair for decorating but the home was overly personal. When buyers entered the home they immediately noticed all her lovely things not the home's architectural features. We met with the home seller and came up with a plan on how to enhance each room. We shared some advice about how to make the home feel more spacious and less personal. The most dramatic transformation was removing her many decorative area rugs and rearranging the living room and den to showcase the space and the hardwood floors her home offers. The home seller was able to use our advice to stage her home and received an offer 2 weeks after staging.

Home Staging Enhancement: Total Cost $1600.00

Montgomery County, Wynnewood Pennsylvania

Received 2 offers within 72 hours of first showing

Prior to putting their home on the market this Spring this home seller contacted us to give them a plan on what they needed to do to make their home more appealing to potential buyers. They had lived in their home for only 2 years and were relocating to a new city for work. They had enjoyed the home but had not spent much time decorating or settling in. The result was that the home looked cold and uninviting. We started by giving them a staging consultation or report of what they needed to do to make sure each space was in top condition. This included cleaning carpets, repainting and washing windows. We then gave them a proposal for our team to accent their home with our accessories to give it a more completed look. The results were fantastic- the rooms felt warmer, more inviting and welcoming. Buyers agreed- they got 2 offers within days!

Standard Home Staging for Vacant Home: Total Cost $4970.00 ***

Chester County, Wayne Pennsylvania

Received Offer 23 days after staging

*** Total cost for 90 days. Client is now moving items to another property to be staged.

Our team was asked to assist a local home builder with one of his spec homes. We had successfully staged other homes for his Realtor and he had seen work that we had done for other home builders that he was acquainted with. We met with the seller and gave him a complimentary staging estimate. He hired us to fully stage the first floor of his home. After the staging was completed the Realtor took photographs for his on-line site and began to market the home. During the first week on the market the buyer viewed the property. Two weeks later they visited again and made an offer. The home builder was so thrilled with the results that he is moving the furniture and accessories to another spec home 2 miles away

Home Staging on the News- Tune in TODAY at 5:00 p.m

03-06-08
Kate Hart

If you are a Philadelphia area home seller and you are looking for ways to get top dollar for your home then tune in today to the 5:00 news on channel FOX 29 to learn more about home staging.

We had the pleasure of meeting with reporter Michelle Williams today at one of our client's homes to give her some quick and easy tips to make resale homes more show-able.

Cleanliness, clutter control, the condition of your home, and making your home more competitive with new construction homes were all issues we discussed with our home seller.

If you are not able to catch the show you can view it on-line at www.fox29.com.

HERE IT IS!!! It aired twice yesterday. take a look. kh

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=5961632&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Thank you to Fox News, Michelle and Alix our home-seller for this wonderful opportunity to educate consumers on the value of preparing your home for sale.

Kate Hart & Reporter Michelle Williams- Kate's wearing the green jacket again!

A cluttered kitchen- we are selling the space not the stuff!

A kitchen in need of a makeover to make it more saleable.

Home Staging Featured in Main Line Today Magazine's Real Estate Issue

02-19-08
Kate Hart

Extra extra read all about it!

Home Staging is featured in this month's issue of Main Line Today magazine as a means to help home sellers market their homes. (see story on page 63)

The real estate issue focuses on the local real estate market, where to buy now, and interviews area realtors to get to the truth of what is happening with home sales in our market- still going strong!

I want to personally thank Senior Editor Tara Behan for including me in this story and also congratulate the area Realtors I work with that were part of this story:

Scott Furman, Remax Classic St. David's PA


Carol Aaron Prudential Fox & Roach Haverford Home Marketing

Dana Zdancewicz and Laura Caterson, Prudential Fox & Roach Devon PA (thanks for the staging plug!)

Bebe Forster Weichert Realty in Wayne PA

Ady McGowan Prudential Fox & Roach Wayne PA

George Raleigh, Long and Foster Wayne, PA

Congrats to all the other Realtors that took part in this educational issue. The magazine hits newsstands on Wednesday. Make sure to pick up a few copies for your home sellers as I am sure this issue will be a hot topic.