Monica Murphy, ASP, IAHSP, RESA

You've seen it on the news... Washington DC and the surrounding metro area is virtually paralyzed.

I can remember only one other time in recent memory when the Federal Government shut down due to snow, and that was back in 1996 when I worked for the National Park Service. We had 2 days off, and that was unheard of. I think its going to happen again this week, as we are now under a storm warning (not a watch, which means it could happen, but a warning, which means it will happen). The National Weather Service is predicting another 10-20 inches on top of the 31 that we've already had (at least where I live, west of the city. See my previous blog for some snow pictures - and comments from Vancouver, where there is NO snow.)

The problem is that the sun has been out for 2 days and its melting the top layer of snow, but then it all freezes overnight. So now we have packed snow with ice on top. Great for sledding, as my kids can attest to. Not so much for driving on side streets.

Schools have already been closed for the rest of the week, and of course there is no school next Monday, President's Day. After this week, schools will have had 9 snow days. Luckily, Loudoun County has the equivalent of 15 extra days built into their schedule, so highly unlikely the kids will have to make up any of those days.

Well, even though the non-essential part of the government is shut down, the rest of us have to keep working. As my father used to say, small business people are the backbone of our economy, so we just have to keep plugging along.

I've certainly been busy today - more than I thought I would. I've been scheduling new appointments, and rescheduling others for this week. This forced house arrest has allowed me to focus more on my marketing strategies for the spring. I've also been able to tend to my inventory, which sometimes gets pushed to the end of the priority list. And I've been able to spend some more time here on AR, reading blogs, gathering new ideas, always learning something new.

Oh, yes... and we are indeed preparing for the next onslaught!

I recently read where there was no snow predicted in Vancouver, site of the Winter Olympics, between now and February 12th, and that they have to truck in snow from other locales.

HELLO, VANCOUVER! YOU CAN HAVE MY SNOW!

Of course that's not feasible, as I'm in Northern Virginia. But as of 11:00am today, we've already had 27 inchesout here in the suburbs of Washington DC, with at least 6 more inches to fall before it's all over.

As I'm sure you're well aware, the Washington DC metro area is in the midst of a massive snowstorm - perhaps the worst in recorded history for this area. The most to have fallen was 28 inches in January of 1922 in Washington DC. We will definitely surpass that - at least here west of the city!

Its also believe that the biggest snowfall for this area was way back in 1772, when both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson wrote in their diaries about a 3 foot snowfall. Of course, this was before records were kept, but I tend to trust our Founding Fathers. Hey, wasn't young George supposed to have said, "I cannot tell a lie"??

Here are some other photos for those of you who are snow starved.

This is what greeted me when I opened my garage door. I backed my van into the driveway to make it easier to get out (when and if I ever get out):

No mail for us for the next few days... and snow and ice on the lamp post:

But you've got to admit, it is pretty...

Staying warm and cozy in Northern Virginia!

All the best,

Monica

Staging vacant homes are always a lot of fun for Preferred Staging. It's a great creative challenge to walk into an empty house and then envision how it will look furnished and accessorized. Although it's not quite as simple as it sounds. Room measurements, zones (like space between furniture, walking paths, dining versus living, etc.), floor and wall colors, windows placements, and natural light all have to be taken into consideration.

We staged this fabulously renovated 1937 townhouse on 4^th St. SE in Washington, DC. The developer had really made this a showcase house with a huge kitchen, wonderful modern baths, a spacious master bedroom, and beautiful hardwood floors. The front and back yards and patio are perfectly landscaped, too.

The approach to staging row houses like this one is to consider the long and narrow living space and the presentation. How we stage to present a house may not necessarily be how the new owner is going to arrange their furniture to live in the house. Our goal is to stage the house with the best possible layout and arrangement so the house shows well, and potential buyers can see not only how much space there is, but also what furniture and how much furniture can fit into a room.

Of course, if a buyer walked in on staging day, they would probably stand there shaking their head wondering how we're going to make it all work. It's CHAOS (or in home owner parlance, Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). But it's all controlled creative chaos - yes, we actually know what we're doing! - and at the end of the day the final results speak for themselves.

Before: During:

After:

Check out this house and others that we've staged at our Gallery.

All the best,
Monica

Imagine this phone call:

(ring, ring)
Caller: "Hi, I want to put my house on the market in about 2 weeks. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 and a half baths. How much would you list it for?"

I highly doubt any agent is going to give a quote over the phone to this hypothetical client. Obviously, not only do you need to see the property, but you also need quite a bit more information before you can make a fair evaluation of the property to price it correctly.

Would you ask a painter, contractor, or anyone else to whom you intend on paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars to provide you a quote over the phone without having them first see the work that needs to be done?

Staging is no different, and is this is why Preferred Staging doesn't give quotes to stage properties over the phone or through an email without first having seen the property and evaluate what is needed.

Just like a Realtor determining the correct market value of a house, we need to take into account all the variables. Is the house vacant or occupied? How many rooms need to be staged? How big are the rooms? Do we need to take measurements? What is the layout of the house? Is it an open floor plan? Is the house traditional or contemporary? Where is the placement of the windows and doors, and how much natural light do the rooms receive? What colors are the rooms? Do they need paint, and would you like us to recommend colors? You get the idea.

Take for example a house in Arlington that we staged last year. It had a living & dining area, a den (of sorts), 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen and separate laundry area. The tricky part to this house was that it is only 750 square feet - total. (I've been told its one of the smallest houses in Arlington.) Had we not seen the house to understand the layout and traffic flow and taken measurements, we would not have been able to stage it properly and present it to its best advantage, which eventually led to it being sold in just 10 days.

We professionally stage all of our properties so that they will not only show to their best advantage, but will also stand head and shoulders above the competition. Preferred Staging prides itself on the quality of our work, quality of our accessories, and our attention to detail, and our success can be seen in how quickly our staged homes sell. Like you, we just can't achieve this level of professionalism and success through a phone call or email.

All the Best,

Monica

I was on a consultation earlier this week for a Realtor who hires me for every house she lists. I really like this Realtor, and she always seems to have the nicest clients - mostly young families that are moving up to a larger house. Such was the case with this consultation.

I met with the wife, who is currently a stay at home mom. If I didn't know any better, I would never have known that there were 2 boys under the age of 3 in the house. The house itself was spotless and completely decluttered. (And the boys were very well behaved!) She was a dream client.

What made it so easy to work with her was that she already understood the value of staging, and she and her husband had already made great strides in preparing the house for sale. They had already packed away personal photos and sentimental items, and put into storage those items they didn't immediately need as well as about half of the boys' toys. They had cleared out closets to make room to store what needed to remain at the house. All repairs were made, walls were freshly painted, and little maintenance touch ups were planned for this weekend, including washing all the windows.

The only problem was that when it came to decluttering, they went a bit too far. Not much - just a bit - which is something I often see. In the zeal to declutter, and the fear or concern that various furnishings or wall art may be too style specific, or that people won't like the current owners' furnishings and style and therefore not like the house, sellers put away too much and the house is left lacking that special touch of personality and charm - the very elements that can help sell the house.

Of course we wanted to use what the seller already owned or could borrow from friends and family. So some art work will be put back into the living room, which will really add charm to the space. White candles will be replaced with gold ones for warmth, and a large faux plant will be added to a shelf to add some life and color. Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again - "faux" is NOT a 4-letter word! And in this case, it's the perfect solution for this mom, as she doesn't have to worry about dirt on the floor or broken pots or ripped up leaves if her boys get to the plant.

If you find you have clients in a similar scenario, where they need to declutter but aren't sure what to keep and what to pack, a walk through consultation may be the solution. A trained and experienced professional stager can provide the guiding hand needed to help keep the personality and charm in a house.

All the Best,

Monica