Sassy Skelton

The annual weekend Christmas Market in Georgetown, CO concludes this weekend (December 13th and 14th). If you've never been, Georgetown is a classic example of an historic mining town. Featured in the John Denver movie, The Christmas Gift, Georgetown presents itself with its full historic charm while offering modern amenities too.

The town is located off of I-70W, maybe an hour from Denver (C-470) and well worth the drive. The Christmas Market offers an Outdoor European Market featuring Christmas Crafts and the main street hosts several unique shops for your enjoyment. A wagon ride through the town gives you some insight into the history of the town.

While you're there, perhaps take in lunch at Full Circle Cafe, alleged to be haunted by as many as 15 ghosts!!!! For a walk back in time, a visit to the Hotel de Paris Museum kept in authentic period decor!

For more information on Georgetown, visit their website here!

Happy Crimbo!

VERY VERY short lead announcement that the 2008 Colorado Springs Festival of Light parade is this Saturday, 6 December at 5:50 PM.

The parade is an annual tradition and runs down Tejon Street between St Vrain (start) and Vermijo Avenue (finish). Its usually pretty cold but well attended. Arriving around 5:30 PM should allow time to park and get a good seat along the street for a view. Lots of lights on floats and vehicles.

If you've not been, its worth checking out, especially if you have smaller children, just dress them warm and take a thermos of hot chocolate!!!

Happy Holidays!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We had a good snowfall this weekend which has made everything look very wintry. Of course, its supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow - but such is the weather in Colorado Springs.

Along the lines of planning family fun this holiday season, the 2008 annual Christmas Parade in Manitou Springs is a few weeks away. Mark your calenders for December, 13th starting at 12:00 PM. The parade runs through downtown Manitou Avenue and can be a great tie in to a little Christmas shopping along the quaint shops that can be found in Manitou.

Happy Holidays!

I just came across 2 success stories where home staging made a difference, and in COMPLETELY different parts of the country. Markets vary depending on the area of the country, but certain aspects hold true for real estate. There are a lot of properties on the market for sale, some owned, some are bank owned. Competition between sellers remains high, particularly for vacant properties.

In the first story, Monica Murphy of Preferred Staging, LLC did a fantastic job of staging this Fairfax, VA condo for sale. Through professional staging, Monica transformed an otherwise vacant condo into a home that any buyer could visualize living in as their own. That is the staging difference! Here are some of her before and after pictures to show what home staging can do for your property sale.

Before: Nice space but empty! After: Nice work!

Before: Empty! Will my furniture fit? After: Great sized bedroom! And Chic!

Home Staging makes a newly redecorated but empty space look elegant and inviting! The proof is in the pictures! For home staging in the Northern Virginia area, please check out Preferred Staging!

In the second article, We Stage Sacramento was hired by a realtor stuck with a listing that just wouldn't sell for more than a year! Though the Seller was not interesting in professionally staging the property, the realtor was, and paid for the staging with her own money...the house need something to get it sold....HOME STAGING.

The budget was small, but the impact of a little key updates and refreshing helped increase the buyer appeal.

Before After: A job very well done!

This house also sold....60 days after staging. AFTER sitting on the market in its unstaged state for more than a year. (Note that 60 days is currently the average time on market for staged homes.) This house saw about $40,000 in price drops over the year it sat on the market. The staging cost $2,500. Had the home been staged from the beginning it could have sold for close to the original asking price, and the home seller would have saved 10 months of mortgage payments as well. For home staging services in the Sacramento area, check out We Stage Sacramento!

Home Staging works. Its one proactive thing that sellers can do to improve the sale-ability of their home and to help get it sold faster. As the second example shows, its never too late to stage.

Think about it.

The potential 'loss' with staging is the $2,500 or so up front costs. The potential GAIN with home staging can be 10 times that...or more.

Copyright © 2008 By Staged Right Professional Home Staging. All Rights Reserved.

Took a welcomed break from my focus on home staging this weekend starting with helping at my kids school fall parties on Friday, followed by trick or treating in the Meridian Ranch neighborhood with friends. It was the first actual Halloween that the weather wasn't too cold, snowing, raining or some combination of these with the addition of high winds.

There were lots of kids about and some truely spectacular decoration displays. Gave us some ideas for next year! It also gave a little perspective on current market in the area. There were probably atleast 1 home for sale or what appeared to be a vacant home on almost each block we covered. Not uncommon for a town with such a large military presence and regular relocations of the active duty members.

Undeterred and undistracted, it was a great evening with the family and fun to see some of the other kids from school while we were out. Hopefully you each had a good Halloween weekend.

Now the focus is back to the business of home staging and helping those wanting to sell their homes in the Colorado Springs area get it done before the end of the year! Together we can get it done! Visit www.stagedrightcolorado.com for more information!