Providing Services to Prepare the Home for Sale

One of my favorite memories of smells is when I was living in my parents home.   Many many years ago.

We didn't have a clothes drier for years so the linens, baby diapers (long before papmpers) were hung outside, summer and winter, to dry.

Funny thing about hanging clothes outside in the winter is that they would freeze first and then dry.  They were so soft and smelled wonderful.

This memory came back to me when I was in Bed Bath and Beyond last week.  They had a new product, to me, that's an Odor Neutralizing Gel Beads.  I had to open one package to see what it was like.   I hate the room sprays etc that smell worse than the odor that we are trying to get rid of.  

The package that I picked up was called Sunwashed Linen.  It has a very delicate smell. 

 

Before I use it in any home that I stage I wanted to try it out in my own home.   

It worked beautifully in my Laundry Room with a few artificial flowers.  They look just like the jell beads that we use in our arrangements.

 

 

 

 

 

Next I tried the Apple Cinnamon and was pleased at the way it looks and smells.    

Believe that I now have some new ways to freshen up some staged homes.

I thought that I would beat my head against a wall last week and approached a realtor with my staging and photographic skills.

Our prices are very reasonable and we are very good at what we do.  She was amazed at the job of a condo transformation that she has listed.   She thought the photos and virtual tour were great.  Yet she will not allow me to talk to any of her other clients.

She said that she likes her photos and the way the houses look.  She is appealing to a more Artistic Client (buyer)

Why wouldn't she try to appeal almost everyone instead of the few who might find these artistic?

 

This is her photos on the MLS of a bathroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the photo of the condo that I staged.

This is a similar style master that she has listed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One that I staged

 

The internet presence is so important.  Why would a realtor not let me talk to their clients and explain what I can do for them and the internet presence that I can give them?

I use the furniture that the owner has and add a few of my own things to kick it up a notch.  I take the photos, add them to the MLS if the agents allows me to and do a virtual tour.

The homes and condos that Stage-Show-Sell, LLC stage generally get offer in 2 to 3 weeks.

These homes have been on the market a long time AND have had price reductions.   Staging is so much cheaper that the first price reductions.

Artistic or?

 

Sellers talk to a stager before you list your home OR if you have been on the market for awhile without an offer.

 

 

 

 

It can be very expensive to have items that are only used for one thing.

Yes we do charge rent for our items when we stage but it takes a lot time to recuperate the expense and breakage.

Recently I purchased two mirrors to hang on a wall.  One was to hide an ugly circuit breaker box on the left side of a window.  The other was to balance the look and went on the other side of the window.    I took marker pens and wrote cute things i.e.   Call me when you get home, on one of them.  The other had a grocery list.

They were purcahsed at Target and we horrible to hang.  I think someone was drunk when they attached the hangers to the back.  I could not get them to hand straight without poster putty on the corners.

I thought I'd never be able to use them again.

 

This week, the dinamic duo, used one for a bed table.

Clever we are

The home owner loved it.

 

 

 

Bill Bouscher of Prudential Great Lakes Realty gets it.  He understands staging.   Company statistics for 2009 indicate that he was number one, in closings, for December and ninth in his company for the year.

What makes Bill so successful?  He is a professional.  He understands the power of getting the home ready for the market.   His team approach of using Stage-Show-Sell, LLC to prepare the homes and his pricing strategy have made him successful.

Every home that we teamed up on, when the seller used his pricing, had an offer within two weeks of hitting the market.  The sellers who didn't use his suggested listing price stayed on the market longer.

Their homes had offers within two weeks when the sellers agreed to reduce the price to his suggested lising price.

 

Price, condition and location are the keys to a successful closing.   Bill Bouscher and Stage-Show-Sell, LLC is the successful team.

 

Are Stage-Show-Sell,LLC and teamwork the key   to his success?

 

 

 

Tomorrow I get to de-stage this Royal Oak home.   I'm very proud to say that again it had a MULTIPLE offers within  two weeks after staging.   This time it will close.

The realtor is singing my praises.   The owner loves me She knows the reason is selling is the staging.   She asked me not to de-stage until the papers are signed.  That doesn't work here.  We must de-stage before closing or she will have to pay rent to the purchaser.   That gets real messy.

 

Please all of you keep your fingers crossed that this house closes Friday at 3.

 

Transaction closed with record breaking speek.  Everyone is so pleased.

 

Staging works

 

 

Tis the season to be de-cluttering.  Thought you all thought I was going to say Jolly.  :-)

Well I do wish for the Jolly but I want to stress the de-cluttering.

This time of the year we give gifts and we receive gifts.  Some of the gifts we really like and others well we could really do without.

Now before grabbing all those gifts and shoving them in the closet take a hard look at what you already have.

What you all ready have a dust buster?  and now you have another one !!    Decide if you want to return the new one (Good luck) without a receipt and get half the money the gifter (think I made up that word) paid for it.  Toss out or donate the old one and get a income tax credit for it   (my favorite is donating things that work)   Or a really fun thing is to thing of who really needs one and put it away for re-gifting during the year.  Put a tag on it so you know who its for AND MARK YOUR CALENDAR for that person birthday that you already have the gift.

Great time to be singing Whistle While You Work and enjoy.

Dump that closet that's always been too full.  Throw everything on the bed from your closet.   Put them in stacks of sizes.  Yes we all have severl sizes in our closet. Toss out the ones that are too big because none of us want to go back there.   Toss out the ones that are several sizes smaller than what we are wearing.   Let's face it, no matter how many New Years resolutions we make to exercise and loose weight, it's going to take time to get there.   Time means style changes.   The clothes are ugly by the time we get down to the weight we want to be AND when we get there we deserve new clothes.

 

Get your kids in on the action.   Have them dump their toys out and decide which one are complete.  Which ones they haven't played with in a long time and are still good for donating and which ones need to go out the door. This really makes the kids feel good when they know that their toys are going someone else for someone to play with.

Oh right, they are all collectibles.  Right.  They are only collectible when you are buying them.  Not when you are selling them. I know because of all the estate sales   The truly great toys like Lego ...keep for your grand kids.

Pretend you are moving and do you want to pay someone $$ for shipping things that you haven't used for years.

Now go out there and make this time your Boxing Day.  Box things up and get rid of them.  It will make you want to sing.   Tis the Season to be Jolly Fa La La La La La La

 

 

 

December 2009 this condo was prepared for sale by Stage-Show-Sell, LLC

Taking is from the 1960s to now should help the marketing of the condo

Cleaning is more than dusting a vacumning.  It's looking at the house with a buyers eye.   First impressions count that's why it's important from the front door be clean and shinny and that includes the doorknobs.  The windows need to sparkly and show the outdoors

These small and economical changes to the condo will bring the buyers in.

 

 

I know that you all think that I'm making this stuff up.  No way.  This is an actual estate that I've been working on.

The family loved living with wallpaper and saw no need to change it.

The home is now neutral, warm and inviting

Yes the closet was wallpapered

♠

Wallpaper is gone and hardwood floors exposed

The closet paper matched the walls of the master bedroom

This is the same room.  The paper is done and the hardwood floors exposed.

 

I can't tell you what a pleasure it has been to work on this home and make this transformation.

♠

Two months of preparation including the estate sale.

Please vist my posts on the kitchen transformation

Changing the Family Room

The laundry room transformation

Bathroom♠

 

Old ceiling post 

I realize that I'm miking this project into several posts :-)

There is no way that I'm going to work my heart and soul out for two months and put up one set of before and after pictures.

 

 

This was one of the ugliest bathrooms that I've ever seen.  The wall paper itself was bad.  The shutters, yellow tiles and yellow sinks added to the eye strain.

I love the flower toilet seat

 

I was expecting mold under the paper since it was a damp room and the shutters allowed no light.  It was a surprise to find good walls underneath

 

The double sink was replaced with a sink sink and a marble looking counter top

Th medicine cabinet and and light fixture had to stay for economy purposes.

We used the same mirror and framed it.

I have a wonderful crew.  Wall paper strippers, painters, electricians.

My husband helped me with the mirror framing and Marianne Sweet helped with the staging.

My crew is wonderful.

There is one sink now instead of two.  This gives a little counter space.

The cabinet's 3rd drawer, next to the toilet, has two shelves for items and a built in waste basket.

Stage-Show-Sell, LLC does more than stage. We do everything that is necessary, within the budget, to prepare the home for sale.

We look forward to feedback from agents and buyers

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I wrote and asked for AR help

i-m-flummoxed-with-these-two-rooms-help-me

I read all of your advice and did what I could with the budget given me.  This home was a little different than the homes that I normally work with.  The family was 'very close' in watching the process.

Most of the estates I work with I'm given a little more free ride with the preparations for sale.

 

After

Given free reign I would have  replaced the sink with a bigger laundry tub.  The cabinet would have accomodated it.

The carpet was removed with the wallpaper and shelving

Given my way.....I would have removed the wall between the laundry and mud rooms, making it much larger.  My process would have been cheaper too.

 

To see more of the process and photos click on the last photo