Donna Schoby, Ready, Set, Stage! Fayetteville, AR

This is a great family home located at 1636 River Meadows Drive, Fayetteville, AR

Listed by Charlie Davis, Crye-Leike Realtors, Fayetteville, AR

MLS# 578843, List Price $260,000.00

New granite and stainless steel appliances. Located in East Fayetteville.

Follow this link for real estate flyer.

Staging consulation/kitchen upgrade provided by Ready, Set, Stage! Fayetteville, AR.

One of my add on services is cleaning.

I've owned a cleaning business for 5 years, so when I started my staging business it only made sense to use this business as a add on service. Most of the homes that I bid on need cleaning...so why not me?

This summer I was called to do a bid on a small home for staging. After viewing the home I called the out-of-town owner to tell him first the home needed to be cleaned. This home had been on the market for 12 months. We did the cleaning and was going to do the staging the next month. (working within the sellers budget) The home SOLD 11 days after cleaning.

Now this week again after bidding on a vacant that also needed cleaning...we were finishing up tonight as a Realtor came in to show the property. The buyers loved it (again this home has been on the market over a year) and the Realtor said "you may not need to stage" after all.

I must be one heck of a cleaner!

Come on Arkansas let's get it together and help Activerain grow in our state!

I was asked last week what type of online resources I use for my business. I mentioned Activerain among some others, the reply....oh they've been around for a while. Yeah....I wanted to ask why aren't you a ACTIVE member?

Benefits that I have personally received:

1) I have made a lot of new friends. Does this help my business grow? Of course it does!

2) It has helped me show up on the FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE!

3) I have received numerous contacts from out-of-state owners that have property in NWA.

4) I have received referrals from other stagers and Realtors that have friends or relatives in NWA.

5) I have been able to refer clients to Realtors in other parts of the state.

6) I can't tell you how much I have learned from other real estate professionals and not just stagers. We all learn from each other!

It takes a while to get to know each other, but keep on posting (and don't forget to reply to the comments you receive and also comment on other posts) this is how we get to know each other and will grow!

So come on Arkansas, let's invite others to join and take advantage of a great networking tool!

Oh yeah, please feel free to become a member of the Anything Arkansas group....we would love to get to know you!

As some of you know from my posts here on AR and FB, I was invited by the Arkansas Institute of Real Estate to be a monthly guest speaker for CE classes for Realtors.

I was very excited to be able to have an hour before agents each month to do a presentation on Home Staging.

I've only done two so far, doing another this Friday. But what I feel is already paying off is that last week I saw the instructor of these classes and he told me that since my last presentation that he had been contacted by two "new stagers" in our area. After asking the questions that I recommend in my presentation he said he quickly realized that they were hobbyist and had NO CONCEPT OF HOME STAGING!

He advised me to make sure I continue to educate our local agents on what to look for in a PROFESSIONAL STAGER!

I know stagers have said it before...but education is key in growing our industry!

Thanks to Tinker Hulsey Century 21 Indian Realty Jonesboro Ark and her post DOLL HOUSE DOOR PRIZE CRAIGHEAD COUNTY FAIR JONESBORO ARKANSAS Now I know where it all started!

I loved doll houses as a young girl. I would play in my little doll house for hours. I would even make my own furniture out of everyday household items. Is this where I learned how to work with what you have? Did I learn to stage houses from my little doll house as a young girl?

Thanks Tinker, this explains a lot about where I am today.

I also guess this explains why I bought my daughter a doll house when she was young. She didn't want anything to do with it ever...now at age 19, she could care less about decorating. She just moved into her first condo, and called me to decorate for her. She just didn't have an interest, she said you know what I like. So I did my thing!

Funny how things that happen so young in life mold what we will become.

Tinker, have fun at the County Fair!