A peek at a recent vacant staging.....

Well, back in July, my business partner and I worked on a home with a real estate agent we do a lot of work for. We have worked out a staging deal with him for vacant homes he has where we use his furniture, but our accessories. It's a win win for everyone.....he pays us our time and rents our accessories for only 30 days, he moves in his heavy furniture he owns--so his staging costs are a lot less......and every time we do this with him, he calls us to come get our stuff well before the 30 days is up. This particular property was under contract in 5 days, with 35 showings and 5 offers--over asking. Usually in these properties, there is quite a bit of work to be done prior to staging, so really these pictures don't capture what all went into it. But, we come in and help determine what definitely needs to be done based on budget....flooring, paint colors, cabinetry, hardware, light fixtures, etc. The final staging part can be a little "trying" since some of the furniture may be dated (i.e. basement furniture), a little ruff around the edges (i.e. kitchen table, not to mention it had no chairs!)...however, he did purchase a newer couch and chair for this property we were much pleased with. You can't understand the seriousness of that until you see the pictures of the living room furniture he had us use in the first property! We learned from that first property, that we can even make "crap" look good...well, that will have to be another posting!! But, even that property was under contract in less than 2 weeks...but it just goes to show, not everyone has "showy" furniture, it's all in how you arrange it and present it (or in this case, how many throws and pillows you can use to hide the flaws in the couch!!!! :o) ) Not all properties can be brand new rehabs or new model homes or the budget isn't there for a full out staging with all the brand new furniture. But, this property is another perfect example that Staging helps to sell properties of all values.......it's all in the merchandising! (and don't forget price too.....can't forget that.)

By the way, I'm still searching for my before pictures of the outside of the house and the living room.....those are just as dramatic, but you can't tell that now...so just enjoy the shots!

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