Don't you just hate it when vanity gets the better of someone, particularly someone you want to reference by looking at their business card. Have you been to a Broker's Open, collected all the REA's cards, gone home and not been able to match the cards to the people you met?
I promised myself that would never be me, but sure enough, looking at my new professional photo taken at the 2011 RESA Conference and comparing it with my active rain profile picture of 2006, I think... all I can say is how time flies when you're having a good time. How the years do pile onto your, well, my face.
So, taking my own advice I've put up a picture of me now. Took courage, but I did it.
Here's the old, er younger, me you might be familiar with from the puddle.
Can I encourage others to follow suit? Craig? I met so many wonderful old and new colleagues at RESA, and I'd like to be able to recognize and follow you here on ActiveRain. Let's keep it real and current. We are who we are...WONDERFUL!
How DOES a Home Stager establish PRICE?
Q: What will it take to make this transition from this? Seriously.
A: Vision. Time. Effort. Inventory.
First some questions for YOU-AND for the STAGER...
Q: Is your house Vacant?
A: What kind and how much furniture will we need for this property? What will our moving expenses look like?
Q: Is your house Occupied? Are there kids, pets, smokers? Neatniks or slobs?
A: What are the issues will to overcome to interest buyers in this property?
Q: How old is the place? Good repair? How many different colors does it sport? Wild ones? Wallpaper? Fashionable furniture in today's taste or twenty years ago?
A: How far outside the box will we have to reach to make this one irresistible? And, are the sellers going to follow our advice on prestaging work like painting and changing out furniture etc?
Q: Are we talking about a condo, bungalow, McMansion, full out palace? How's the neighborhood?
A: What level and how much inventory of furnishings and accessories will we need to invest in this home to make it shine?
Q: Who is the target market?
A: Who do we need to keep in mind for this one - hip young professionals, families?
Q: What is the price point of the house?
A: All our inventory is appropriate to homes of one level or another, but what specifically will this one require to get it sold?
All logical questions for a price quote, right? But that's not the half of it... Each property is also unique...it's YOURS.
So, how DO YOU get a PRICE from a Home Stager?
Invite a Show Smart Home Staging professional over for a Staging Consultation to understand what your home needs to maximize your ROI. Not free (‘cause the work starts when your Home Stager walks in the door), but extremely valuable, cost effective, and necessary to give you a fair price.
That's when the design happens. A staging color palette is chosen... appropriate scale and quantity of furniture and furnishings decided... room use determined... curb appeal addressed... and finally a cost estimated to boost your property to amazing!
Be suspicious of overcharging OR undercharging if a firm price is quoted without even setting foot in your home. Like anything, you typically get what you pay for. DC area Home Stagers are NOT created equal. Show Smart Home Staging is tremendously proud of our SUCCESS rate of consistently getting properties of all kinds all over the DC metro area SOLD since 2005. And, isn't that why you're hiring a professional Home Stager...MAXIMIZING YOUR BOTTOM LINE. You owe it to yourself to hire a pro...call Patricia in Rockville at 757 619-9789 to schedule your Show Smart Home Staging Consultation, get a fair price, and get your home SOLD.
There are more Before and After Pictures and the Virtual Tour on the transformation of this third-floor walk up condo on http://showsmarthomestaging.com/1910-gerogetown-condo-in-dunbarton-oaks/
The occupied unit for sale in this gorgeous 1911 building Show Smart Home Staging staged recently seems larger, fresher and will definitely be more appealing to buyers.
[The Building]
For the BEFORE pictures and more, please visit Occupied Georgetown Cond
SOLD!
...Not to a buyer at the first Open House ...Not to a buyer the first day on the market Staged. But...SOLD!... to the VERY first person to see it Staged! Now, that's a first...for me and the owner. Located on North Carolina Ave SE DC, immediately across the street from DC's historic Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, this now beautiful home looked well renovated, but cold and uninviting when we met. Rehabbing is great, but not enough to grab buyer's heart strings. The property had been finished and on the market for months unstaged with little or no traffic and no takers.
Here's the kitchen...
One of the two Bathrooms...
The Master Bedroom....
Staging simply warms up a property and shows its potential, don't you think?
See more pictures and the accompanying Virtual Tour on my blog.
Okay, the rule of thumb for investors is to buy the worst house in the best neighborhood, right? But, how do they find it? Easy. Look, I'll show you!
1. Look only in great neighborhoods, duh! Okay, that was a give away.
2. Look for an extended length of time on the market and price reductions.
3. Look only at homes meeting 1. and 2.
4. Then, look for minor repairs that haven't been made, such as one broken spindle in the front railing that greets you as you near the front door.
5. Look for odd or stale color schemes like a bright red and blue bedroom...
...or the ever popular early 90's pink and blue palette.
6. Look for any outdated decor, such as even custom swag drapes.
7. Look for brass anywhere!
8. Look for needy bathrooms...Yuk!
9. Look for underwhelming kitchens.
10. Look for amateur, sloppy or missing staging.
Okay, I could go on, but you get the point. Please forgive the poor quality of these pictures. They were taken furtively at a well attended open house. You see, this is a real property that just came off the market, sold to my sons (smart boys who listen to their Mother!) for around $200,000-$250,000 under market! Doesn't that just prove the point?
So, if you're the investor, here's your guide. But, if you're a seller, take note and get busy before your property becomes somebody's else's great investment but your low balled, stale sale.
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We raise your bottom line quickly and beautifully by transforming your vacant or occupied home, townhome, or condo into a picture perfect property that sells, fast! Lg JPEG photos and virtual tour too
The Value of Show Smart Home Staging
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Show Smart Home Staging
includes a Complimentary Professional Virtual Tour of your property widely broadcast on the web.
gives you an idea of how prospective buyers will see your home on the web.
The sample is from a small 1964, 3-bedroom townhouse in Rockville that had sat on the market for a year vacant. It sold the first week after Show-Smart Staged it!
Remember...
- Over 90% of home buyers start their search online.
- The better a home shows online, the more perceived value it has.
- The more perceived value, the more traffic it generates.
- Increased traffic equals more chances to secure a buyer.
- The result?
Professionally Staged, your property virtually sells itself.
Call Show-Smart Home Staging today in Rockville MD at
(757) 619-9789.
... In retail it's called Merchandising,
In real estate it's called Staging.
Home Staging works like this: This living room becomes
THIS LIVING ROOM!
More examples of
BEFORE STAGING AFTER STAGING
These images on the left are a sample of what buyers saw online on the MLS before Staging. Cover the right side and imagine the listing online. Now, cover the left side and see the difference. The benefits of Staging are clear...to buyers. The cost to stage this house was less than 1% of the list price (including the furniture and accessories). Selling real estate is serious business. It requires serious planning and sometimes serious money to get the job done. The first price reduction taken on this property before Staging was over 6% and did nothing to increase showings or sell the house. Stage your house...optimally before putting it on the market, but certainly before taking a price reduction. Fact: Over 80% of buyers look at pictures online first when deciding which properties to view. How do yours look?
NOTE: Professional Home Staging is typically TAX DEDUCTIBLE. Ask your accountant.
Complimentary Professional Virtual Tours photographed and produced in-house are among Show-Smart Home Staging's most sought after services. NOTE: Show-Smart also films and produces virtual tours for a fee on properties we haven't staged.
Show-Smart! Staged properties CURRENTLY on the market (Look fast. They are selling fast!)
3 Bedroom 2 Bath 1883 Row House 708 N Carolina Ave SE DC Eastern Market area Capitol Hill Hurry. It's gorgeous!
SOLD to first couple to see it staged on the day we staged it!
5 Bedroom 3.5 Bath 1911 Row House 125 Randolph Place SE DC Oops! Sorry, you missed this one.
SOLD first day of staging!
4 Bedroom 2.5 Bath SFH 8214 Dragonfly Ct Laurel MD Hammond Hills Under contract within the week of Staging.
3 Bedroom 2 Bath SFH 7819 Yorktown Dr Alexandria VA Just Staged really cute, expandible 1952 bungalow on a 1/3 acre in Historic Hollin Hall Village (Mt Vernon) Don't wait! Oops, you waited...SOLD.
1 Bedroom 1 Bath Condo 4029 Benton Street NW DC Glover Park Offer pending within first month of Staging. SOLD.
1Bedroom 1 Bath Condo 5410 Connecticut Ave NW DC Chevy Chase Under contract within first month of Staging. SOLD.
http://www.8810eggertdr.com/wfPhotoGallery.aspx Lovely home in deep Potomac. SOLD.
Click below for more samples of recent Show-Smart staging projects. Find a home similar to your home to see how fantastic yours will look when it is professionally staged. Remember, it's not so much the age of a property, or whether it is occupied or vacant, but how it shows that counts.
Can you even tell which were vacant or occupied from the virtual tours? That's the point, to make them look fresh enough for prospective buyers to feel they want to make them their own. Hint: Only one of the four below was occupied. For the answer, look below.
When homes look this good for a relatively small, usually tax-deductible expense and sell 50% faster and 6-10% higher than comparable unstaged homes, it is simply smarter to put your home on the market Professionally Staged, to Show-Smart!
Leisure World - A Show-Smart! Staged 2-Master Luxury Condo
Misty Knoll - A Show-Smart! Staged 10-year-old Single-Family Home
Windy Knoll - A Show-Smart! Staged 20-year-old Single-Family Home
Calvert Lane - A Show-Smart! Staged 40-year-old Single-Family Home
Call Patricia at SHOW-SMART Home Staging (757) 619-9789 now to discuss transforming your property to Show-Smart enough to bring on the buyers in a hurry.
ANSWER: Misty Knoll was owner-occupied at the time of Staging. And, with a 6-year-old child in residence!
THE SHOW-SMART! 5-STEP HOME STAGING PROCESS
FOR VACANT PROPERTIES
1.
Professionally Staging a Vacant property begins with a working Consultation. The Show-Smart designer will walk the property, conceptualize a design plan, take pictures and measurements, and note aspects of the property to feature.
2.
The Owner is presented with a Proposal/Agreement outlining the cost of Staging to include the cost of furniture and the accessory package for 30 days.
3.
Show-Smart determines and identifies the list of specific items to be used to Stage the property and establishes the Staging Date. Payment is due before Staging commences.
4.
Staging begins and typically is done in one day.
5.
When the property sells, Stager will supervise pick-up and remove all of the staging material. Destaging is included in the fee.
SHOW-SMART! HOME STAGING SERVICES
FOR OCCUPIED PROPERTIES
1. Call today for a FREE telephone consultation to explain your staging needs.
2. Schedule a two-hour working consultation to establish exactly how to make your home Show Smart. This time can be used in one of two ways. You may choose to have us visit your home and verbally identify changes that need to be made, such as furnishings to rearrange, remove or add so that you are confident in staging your home yourself. Also, we are happy to provide you a room-by-room written report of our ideas for an additional sum.
3. Or, you may choose to have us simply conceptualize a staging design plan and offer you a proposal for Show-Smart! Home Staging to complete the staging for you.
...Either way, you will be confident that your home will Show Smart!
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT SHOW-SMART! HOME STAGING
"The couple that came Sunday to our first open house (after staging) remarked, 'This place is so huge! It looks like a model!' They went and wrote a contract today!! Thank you for staging our house. It paid back so fast! It was definitely worth it." April H., Homeowner (1,500 SF single family home).
"Standing here empty for a year, I thought it was just the market. But, since staging, I've had more traffic in 2 weeks than I had all year! And they stay longer and ask good questions. I don't think it'll be long now," Mary S., Realtor.
"What a difference Staging made in the condo. It is so much warmer and more inviting now than before (vacant)." Irina T., Realtor.
"I did everything I could to renovate the house just enough...nicely, but not too much for the market. But, it looked cold, and every tiny flaw showed. Staging brought it up to par to get it sold." Mr. H., Investor.
"Wow! This is awesome. Maybe we should raise the price now." Harry L., Homeowner.
WHAT SHOW-SMART HOME STAGING WILL COST
Staging by Show-Smart is very cost effective when you weigh the value added by a potentially faster sale and higher sales price. The real question should be how much will it cost you not to stage. Carrying costs include bank loans, double mortgages, subcontractors, and cleaning crews not to mention headaches and stress while the unstaged property just sits unsold. Statistics show that Professional Home Staging is an investment that saves you time and earns you money.
Staged homes sell on average 50% faster and from 6-10% higher than unstaged ones. A Staging phone consultation will cost you nothing and will generate an individual proposal for your property. Since each home is different, a staging estimate can be quoted after a brief conversation. With nothing to lose and a faster, potentially higher sale to gain, call SHOW-SMART HOME STAGING today at (757) 619-9789 to get answers about staging your property in the Washington DC area.
NOTE: Check with your accountant. Professional Home Staging costs are usually tax deductible as a selling expense.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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