It’s a 4-part course that takes you through everything there is to know about staging vacant homes. It also includes valuable downloadable documents like sample contracts, a property preview checklist, and more – and best of all, you will earn the Vacant Staging Specialist designation once you pass the course!

Click here for more information or to register!

See What Our First Students Have to Say

“I just finished the class offered By Annie Pinsker Brown and I will be faxing the test to you. I am happy to say that I found the course to be very informative and explained in a way that is easily understood. Each step was detailed and Annie spoke clearly and slow enough that I was able to take notes without having to rush writing things down or pause the session.

The photo examples were very helpful. Especially because I am (and I suppose most people in the staging industry are) visually oriented so having them was a good tool. I almost would have liked to see more. I am glad I took the class. It was a good investment.”

Hedda Jason, Juxtaposition

The Vacant Property Specialist course is excellent and very detailed.  It’s a great course for a new stager, but is also an excellent choice for a RESA-PRO continuing education course. It is always informative to learn alternative ways to approach the process, with different style proposals and contracts, along with additional tips and ideas. It’s obvious that Annie put much hard work and effort to every detail of this course as it’s very well done!

Sherry Castaldi
Organized by Design

What’s Included

Part 1

- Pros and Cons of offering vacant staging to your clients
- Is staging vacant homes a good fit for you and your business?
- Vacant staging mistakes and how to avoid them
- Aquiring furniture inventory vs renting
- Working with furniture rental companies
- Business licenses and insurance
- The smart way to aquire inventory
- Storing, tracking and transporting inventory

Part 2
- First client contact
- Property previews step-by-step
- Taking Before Photos
- Formulating a Staging Plan
- Creating a bid
- Contracts
- Placing the furniture order
- Invoicing
- Scheduling your team
- Staging prep

Part 3
- Staging day
- Getting paid
- Post-staging marketing
- What happens when the property sells or the lease expires?
- 7 Steps to Staging Success
- Staging exercises
- Homework assignment

Part 4
- Vacant Staging Case Studies
- Before and After Examples

Handouts
- Client Contact Form
- Property Preview Checklist
- Sample Contract
- Sample Quote Form
- Shop/Pack List
- Vacant Staging Steps (detailed step-by-step checklist for staging vacant homes)

Living Room Before

As you can see, when you walked into the living room you were immediately faced with the back of a sofa and the TV was the focal point of the space.

Our solution was to bring in some smaller scale furniture and to reorient the room to open up the space and invite buyers in.

Living Room After

As you can see, not only did we create more seating in the space, but the space suddenly feels a whole lot larger when it’s’ not dominated by an oversized sofa.

This property sold for full price the same day it went on the market!

Here are a few more before and after photos from this staging success story:

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedroom After

Display Ledge Before

Display Ledge After

Patio Before

Patio After

For more information about Stage to Sell, vacant or occupied staging services, consultations, paint color selection, or furniture/accessory rentals, check out our website at www.StageToSell.biz!

10740 Ashton Ave.

Living Room

Dining Room

Family/Media Room

Office/Library

Office/Library

Kitchen

Kitchen/Breakfast Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

3rd Bedroom

Atrium

Listed by Daniel Bahr – CORE Commercial Real Estate. Call 818-231-2231 for more information or to arrange a showing.

So after 3 months of sitting on the market and $100,000 in price reductions, the seller finally agreed to stage it.

One of the issues with showing this home empty was that the second bedroom was directly across from the dining room and had no door.

Downstairs Bedroom Before Staging (open to dining room)

According to the agent, most buyers of this floorplan had sliding doors installed to wall off the room and create privacy, but this one had not been upgraded in that way. So as potential buyers finished their tour, they inevitably asked “Where’s the 2nd bedroom?” When the agent pointed out the open space across from the dining room, which was visible from most of the downstairs, buyers balked.

The space also felt a bit cold, as modern spaces can tend to when they are not furnished.

Our first task was to create a division so that the second bedroom actually felt like a bedroom. We accomplished this with a simple room divider to create privacy. Adding bedroom furniture, as well as a desk, also helped buyers envision how they could use the space.

Downstairs Bedroom After Staging

Next we added warmth with furniture, art and accessories.

Did it work? Well, after 3 months on the market, this place is now in escrow! I call that success.

This may seem like a strange job for a home stager, but I sort of “fell into” this line of work when I was asked to “stage” the common spaces in one of these properties for an inspection (read more about that here). That turned into a wonderful partnership with American Communities, with whom I’ve now worked on four separate projects (Witmer Heights, Carondelet Court, The Hobart and The Ardmore).  Since this type of work is so rewarding, I have been working to expand this part of my business and have now completed two projects with another developer, Abode Communities (Casa Dominguez and now Ivy Terrace).

I have been remiss in posting about Casa Dominguez, which garnered a good amount of attention for being the first LEED platinum certified affordable housing project in LA).

So this will be a 2-for-1 post about both Casa Dominguez and my latest project Ivy Terrace.

Casa Dominguez

For Casa Dominguez, located in East Rancho Dominguez, we were asked to bring in furniture, art and accessories for the entry, reception area and common room. We also furnished several offices and small conference rooms with office furniture and art. Since this was a green building, we went with a theme of natural materials in our use of artwork. Several metal and wood pieces were used (in addition to canvas art) to tie the spaces together.

As residents enter the building, they are greeted with beautiful art and plants.

Entry

The reception area offers comfortable seating in a beautiful surrounding while residents and potential residents wait to speak with management.

Reception Area

Reception Area

Reception Area

The community room offers a space for residents to meet and take part in on-site tutoring and classes.

Community Room

Community Room

Ivy Terrace

We have just completed work on Ivy Terrace in Van Nuys, where we were asked to furnish the reception area, a conference room, computer lab and several offices for management. Our theme for Ivy Terrace was to create the feeling of living in a garden.

As residents wait to speak with the on-site manager, bright reds and floral colors provide a welcoming feeling. Large comfortable chairs provide comfort and style.

Reception Area

For small meetings and classes, residents can take advantage of this bright and cheery conference room.

Conference Room

We couldn’t leave out the people who work here, so we brought in contemporary floral art for all the management offices as well.

Manager's Office

Finally the community room provides an open space for classes, meetings and resident gatherings.

Community Room

We are looking forward to working on many more of these affordable housing projects with these wonderful developers. Nothing could be more rewarding than designing spaces for such a deserving but often overlooked segment of the population.

Disclaimer: Please note that Stage to Sell is not involved with the design or architecture of the buildings themselves, or even – in most cases – picking finishes (with the exception of some paint colors). Stage to Sell chooses furniture, art and accessories only.

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.

Living Room After

Living Room After

Dining Room After

Master Bedroom After

Master Bedroom After

Master Bath After

Guest Room After

Guest Bedroom After

Guest Bath After

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

Price:   $418,900

MLS #: 10-453691

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

Living Room After

Family Room After

Dining Room After

Master Bedroom After

2nd Bedroom After

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

Price:   $769,000

MLS #:  10-453409

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

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.

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

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?!