Stage To Sell

Staging a Spanish Style Home in LA

Posted on 13 July 2010 | Comments Off

Last week we had the pleasure of staging a beautiful Spanish style home for Russell Roney of Zip Realty. This amazing pool home was built in 1924 and still has many of the original period touches, but it has been updated with new paint throughout and a granite/stainless kitchen. You can’t beat the location where you can walk to trendy neighborhood restaurants, shops and places of worship. Minutes from The Grove yet private enough to escape it all.

631 N. Martel, Los Angeles. MLS#10-463635

Call today for a showing! 323-697-5157

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Los Angeles Stager Takes on a Santa Monica Bungalow

Posted on 12 July 2010 | Comments Off

We just staged this beautiful home in Santa Monica for Rodeo Realty agent Revi Mendelsohn. The property was completely remodeled and is now ready for even the most discriminating buyer!

827 Wilson Place, Santa Monica

Contact Revi Mendelsohn at 310-963-7384 for a showing. Hurry, this one will go fast!

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Staging a Beautiful Los Angeles Craftsman

Posted on 10 July 2010 | Comments Off

A couple of weeks ago we were contacted by investors who had meticulously renovated a gorgeous 1919 Craftsman home in Los Angeles. They had brought in a few accessories to add a homey feel to the property, but there was no furniture (save for a too-small dining room table). Not surprisingly, they weren’t getting the buzz they’d hoped and – worse yet – no offers. So they called Los Angeles Staging Company Stage to Sell to up the “wow factor.”

We knew immediately why this home wasn’t selling. Despite its beautiful bones and spacious rooms, the layout confused even the most savvy buyer. With a very long and narrow living room, a small space right off the living room that no one knew what to do with, and 3 connected bedrooms on the top floor, buyers were stumped. All it took was the right furniture to help them figure it out.

In the long living room, we created two distinct seating areas – one to take advantage of the beautiful fireplace, and the other to be the TV watching area. Suddenly the spaciousness of the room didn’t feel so overwhelming.

Oh, and that awkward space off the living room (visible above through the opening)? Now it’s a library/office – a bonus to any home.

Now for the 3 adjoining rooms upstairs. When this home was built, they added doors that led from one room right into the next, and planned for those doors to stay open for light and flow and to give the space a suite feel. But for today’s buyers, that equates to fewer bedrooms (if indeed it’s used as a suite) and less privacy.

Since putting a lock on the middle door wasn’t an option, we used a door stopper to make sure the doors remained closed during showings. The 3rd room that was attached to the middle bedroom was very small, so we decided to stage it as a playroom off of a young child’s room. Now the open nature of that bedroom to the playroom seems more of a feature than a deterrent to buyers.

The master bedroom didn’t really need much help at all. This is a very large and bright room. We simply brought in the furniture, art and accessories to showcase it properly. Mission accomplished!

Now we’re just waiting to hear that this beautiful home is SOLD!

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Culver City Staging Success Story

Posted on 17 June 2010 | Comments Off

If you follow my blog, you may remember my recent post about Staging a Culver City home right in my own neighborhood. As a Home Stager in Los Angeles, it was such a pleasure to work so close to home! Well, I had to wait for it to close in order to share the good news, but here it is. This one sold in five days, in multiple offers, for $44,900 over asking! Not only is that good for my business, it’s great for my own personal property values!

Here is a testimonial from the Realtor. I’ll admit I got a little teary reading this one.

“I can’t say enough about Annie…not only is she a real professional, she goes beyond the call of duty… This home was vacant and the seller was out of state, so all the correspondence was conducted via email, and having a very particular seller, details were a big part of it…She did not disappoint either myself or my seller!  The staging was done on time and our first Broker’s open brought out a huge turnout due to the fabulous photos that I was able to post after the staging was complete in enough time to tantalize the buyers. We had four offers right away and it was in escrow within 5 days of hitting the market, I say that’s a REAL SUCCESS STORY! Thank you Annie once again for making me look good and doing what I promise my clients, have the home in the best condition you can, and they will come! Looking forward to the next opportunity to work with you!”

-Claudia Border, GRI

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Staging a Prime Westwood Condo

Posted on 2 June 2010 | Comments Off

Last week Stage to Sell was asked to transform a Westwood rental property into a prime condo, fit for its great location. First we recommended that the owner update the paint in the master bedroom and a few fixtures. Then we went to work bringing in furniture, art and accessories that would appeal to young professionals or students who might be looking to buy in this area.

Due to its proximity to UCLA, it is probable that this two bedroom condo might be purchased by a UCLA student (or his/her parents) for use while the student is in school. For this reason, we made sure it felt as if there was plenty of room for a bed and a desk in both bedrooms, in case the buyer wants to rent out the second bedroom to another student.

As a professional home staging company, it is crucial that we take into account who the target buyer is for any property. Then we must make sure that our furniture choices will appeal directly to the chosen demographic and make the property irresistable to our target audience!

Here are photos of this fabulous condo.

Property Address: 1840 Camden Ave #106, Los Angeles, CA 90025

Price:   $418,900

MLS #: 10-453691

Listed by: Regner Globus, Amazing Grace & Assoc. 310-476-7722

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Staging a Mar Vista Family Home

Posted on 31 May 2010 | Comments Off

Last week we had the pleasure of staging an adorable, but vacant, Mar Vista family home. It had been used as a rental for awhile, so the homeowner invested in paint, new flooring and cosmetic fixes. Then they brought in a professional home stager to make it feel like home! Here are our after photos.

Property Address: 12041 Clover Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

Price:   $769,000

MLS #:  10-453409

Listed by: Elizabeth Puro, Teles Properties 424-202-3249

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Los Angeles Stager Does Traditional

Posted on 30 April 2010 | Comments Off

If you’ve been following my blog lately, it may seem as if all we do are modern homes. Though modern staging is a big chunk of our work, you may be surprised to know that we work on more traditional homes as well.

Case in point: our latest Staging job at 1533 South Point View.

The Realtor (who is flipping this home) called me after reviewing – by her estimation – 15 different Stager websites! I was very flattered that she chose Stage to Sell.

She is a huge believer in Staging (don’t you LOVE clients who already “get” us and what we do??) and knew that this home would sell quickly and for top dollar only if it was Staged.

Here are the “after” photos of our work.

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Los Angeles Stager Takes on the ’70s!

Posted on 28 April 2010 | Comments Off

When I got the call, I will admit I was intrigued. A 1970s Ray Kappe architectural property was how the agent described it. How on earth were we going to make the ’70s appealing to today’s buyer?

When I visited the home, I fell in love with it. Sure there was some deferred maintenance that would have to be addressed, but the height, the light and the materials were to die for!

Now the only problem became what type of furnishings to use with this style of architecture. I needed inspiration. Luckily the agent, Mary Young of Prudential in Santa Monica, tracked down these amazing pictures of the home in 1975 when it was photographed for a magazine!

Now the gold shag carpet in the living room probably wouldn’t appeal to today’s buyer, but seeing the home in its former glory really got my creative juices flowing.

Here’s our modern interpretation of this 1970s classic. According to the agent, 200 Realtors came to yesterday’s Broker’s Open House. Looks like this one won’t last long!

Photography by Michael McCreary

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LA Home Stager Keeps it in the Neighborhood!

Posted on 22 April 2010 | Comments Off

A couple of weeks ago I received a call from a repeat client who had a new listing on Wagner St. I commented on the fact that I myself live on Wagner St, but didn’t think it was the SAME Wagner St. I mean this is Los Angeles after all. There must be at least 4 or 5 different Wagner Streets within 10 miles of here. But this one turned out to be MY Wagner Street, right here in Culver City.

As any professional Home Stager will tell you, we spend probably a quarter of our work week in the car, driving all over town from one listing to another, and back and forth to our storage facilities. So I was incredibly psyched to be able to Stage a  home right down the block. I even gave this client a really good deal on the price for the convenience factor. Budget was an issue for her, but for my own sake as well as hers, I wanted to make sure I did everything in my power to keep both our property values high!

This home is a gorgeous mid-century design, with beautiful built-ins and a stunning fireplace. The layout would be confusing to buyers if the property were shown empty because of the very long living room that’s divided by the fireplace wall. By placing appropriately scaled furniture in just the right arrangement, it will now appeal to even the most particular buyer!

Oh, and when we were almost finished Staging, but didn’t have quite the right vases for the coffee table, we just walked down the street and picked them up. How great is that?!

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Los Angeles Home Stager Takes a Palisades Home from Drab to Fab!

Posted on 18 March 2010 | Comments Off

We were recently called on to Stage a new listing – a beautiful 4-bedroom home in Pacific Palisades. The family had moved out, but left behind some of their furniture and a few accessories for us to use. We were asked to “fill in the blanks” with the necessary furniture, art and accessories to give this property some Wow Factor!

Here was the living room in its original state. The piano took up so much of the space that there was no room for a proper seating area. The furniture was not in scale with the size of the room and did not draw your eye to the beautiful fireplace or the high ceilings.

By removing the piano and adding two large sofas flanking the fireplace, we focused the buyer’s eye on the features of this room that we wanted them to notice. A rug and throw pillows warmed up the space and added some much-needed color. We used the homeowner’s coffee and end table that were originally in a different room.

This room had a perfectly good sofa set, but the coffee table and end table blended into the rug and didn’t pop at all. There was also no cohesiveness between the colors in the rug, throw pillows, and art.

By adding new occasional tables in a dark espresso finish, the light sofas didn’t feel as washed out. We tied in the black and gold in the rug with the art and throw pillows to create a finished elegant look. New lighting and accessories finished the transformation.

This is how most occupied homes look when I first come to see them – they are chock full of family photos and personal items. Remember sellers… we are not selling your stuff, we are selling your house. And with all that stuff everywhere, buyers won’t be able to see the features that DO come with the home.

By removing the clutter we were able to see the added functionality of this wet bar. We also tied this space into the adjoining family room by using the same colors in the art.

This master bedroom felt anything but restful. The bedding did not fit the bed properly and the extra lamp and chair felt out of place.

We added a chest dresser to show buyers there was plenty of room for storing their clothes. Then we moved the seating area to the opposite wall (you can see a chair and end table peeking out in the foreground of the above photo). We updated the bedding, art and pillows and used a plant to create this luxurious and restful space.

This headboard and matching bedding felt like they belonged at grandma’s house, not in this elegant and updated home.

We switched out the headboard and bedding for more neutral ones, added updated lighting, a reading chair (the same one you saw in living room “before” shot) and a plant. That’s all it took to transform this room.

But the proof is in the pudding.

According to the Realtor,

“I got an offer on my sister’s home at the first Broker’s Open…The wife came on Friday, she brought her husband on Monday. They fell in love with everything in this home.”

Now that’s what we like to hear!

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