Stage To Sell

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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Staging a Vacant Los Angeles Home Adds Warmth to a Cold Space

Posted on 15 March 2010 | Comments Off

Today Stage to Sell completed the partial Staging of a beautiful townhome in West Los Angeles. When we initially previewed the home, we were happy to see that the homeowners had painted the walls a neutral taupe and had done a faux concrete finish on the fireplace. They had upgraded many of the fixtures and had basically done everything right. But still, there was something missing. Without furniture, the space felt cold.

Today it’s a whole different story. Now no buyer could say this space doesn’t exude warmth.

If you are selling a vacant home in Los Angeles, and buyers aren’t biting, call Stage to Sell, your Los Angeles Home Staging Professionals, to add warmth and bring in those offers!

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Los Angeles Home Stager Leads Crusade Against White Walls!

Posted on 9 March 2010 | No responses

It’s happened 3 or 4 times in the last month. I’ve walked into a Home Staging consultation for a Los Angeles home and the seller says, “Oh, you’ll be happy because we just painted all the walls white!”

Cue jaw dropping in shock and utter disappointment!

I just want to know who has been out there spreading rumors that home buyers want to see white walls?

Is it the TV shows about Staging?

I don’t think so – I watch enough of those and they NEVER paint a wall white. In fact, I think some of the TV Stagers go  a bit too far with color for Staging purposes. Remember, Staging is not interior design – we are trying to sell houses here!

So what makes sellers think it’s a good idea to paint all the walls in their home stark white?

“What’s wrong with white?” you ask…

1) White is very stark and cold. It tends to feel like you’re living in a hospital.

2) Generally all doors, ceilings and trim are painted white. If the walls are white too, there is no contrast whatsoever and it doesn’t allow the detail in the trim to show.

Here’s a great example of how adding color to white walls can instantly warm up a space:

In the first photo, you hardly even notice the plantation shutters because they’re the same white as the walls. In the second shot, the room feels so much warmer and more inviting. And those shutters really pop!

“Is there ever a time that white can work?” you ask…

Yes, there is always an exception to the rule. There are some more contemporary spaces that have a gallery-like feel. Using the correct art, you can make white walls work in that case.

But I implore you…before you paint your home in preparation to sell, please consult a professional Home Stager to help you select the appropriate neutral but warm color scheme that will have buyers beating down the door to make an offer!

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“Price gets you interest. Staging it gets you offers!”

Posted on 2 March 2010 | Comments Off

Gary Keller, author of “Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times” and Chairman of Keller Williams Realty appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America last week to discuss how to sell a home in a buyer’s market.

His most publicized quote from this interview (which has set Stager Blogs around the nation afire) is as follows:

“Price gets you interest.

Staging it gets you offers!”

Keller hit on a point that I often emphasize with my Los Angeles Home Staging clients. Right now we’re in a buyer’s market, and you’re kidding yourself if you think your buyers aren’t well aware of that fact!

Unless you create a sense of urgency for buyers to make an offer, they are likely to sit back and wait for your first (or second, or third) price reduction!

So how do you create a sense of urgency? That’s simple! Gary Keller has already told us:

1) PRICE

and

2) PRESENTATION (or STAGING)

Let’s look at both of these factors:

Price

If buyers perceive that the home is listed for an already competitive price (versus at or above market value), they are much more likely to move quickly to make an offer. Why? Because despite the market slump, everyone knows that eventually real estate will rebound. And if your buyer is looking for a long-term investment, s/he will have time to wait that out. If a home is perceived as a good value for the money, savvy buyers know they will not be the only ones interested and will be quicker to write an offer.

Presentation/Staging

The second way to create a sense of urgency with buyers is to make your home stand out from the competition. And the best way to do that is with Home Staging.

If your want your home to stand out from other similar homes on the market, you have to make your buyer fall in love with your home. Without that emotional connection, your house will just be one of many a buyer might consider based on price, condition and location. BUT if a buyer walks into your Staged home and falls in love with it, she will begin to “mentally move in” and to envision herself and her family living in – and loving – your home. Once the buyer starts picking out which room little Johnny will sleep in and which room she’ll use for her home office, you can be sure an offer will follow!

As a professional Home Stager in Los Angeles, I can attest to the fact that the well-priced single family homes and condos that we Stage are selling QUICKLY and in MULTIPLE OFFERS for OVER ASKING.

Want proof? Here are just a few of our recent results:

So remember when you’re preparing your home for sale that there are two important factors to consider if you want results like these. As Gary Keller so nicely put it, “Price gets you interest. Staging it gets you offers!”

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Home Staging = Real Estate Therapy

Posted on 1 February 2010 | Comments Off

Today I had an experience that reminded me why I LOVE my job as the owner of a Los Angeles Home Staging company. It reminded me that I do so much more than help people prepare their homes for sale. Some days I am also a Real Estate therapist. Today was one of those days!

With all the craziness in the Los Angeles real estate market, I have been very busy in the past few weeks. So much so that, in order to fit in a client who needed some help selling her home, I arranged a consultation for a Sunday afternoon. When my client came to the door, she seemed quite surprised to see me. “Did we schedule a consultation for TODAY?” she asked. “Isn’t today Sunday? Why would I do something like that?” I reminded her that we had picked a Sunday because of my busy schedule and, though very flustered, she invited me in to wait while she finished up a class with a student (she teaches music to children). When she came back she began to explain why she was so discombobulated. Here was her situation…

She had, just the day before, held a garage sale to both get rid of some of her excess clutter and to help with her dire financial situation (she’s likely headed toward a short sale). She had gotten up at 5am and didn’t finish until 11pm. In total, she had made $80. She was exhausted, stressed, and – within minutes of sitting down to tell me all this – she was crying. First I asked her to take a breath. I told her that in my profession, I meet people in every type of financial situation. I told her that selling is never easy. It is always stressful and emotional, but doubly so when you are being forced to sell. She seemed to feel better just from hearing that I understood. I asked her to trust me. I told her that I had only her best interest at heart and that I could help her out this bad situation. I told her the homes I’ve Staged in the past month have been selling in multiple offers, many in their first week on the market. She seemed to relax a bit, so we began.

As she walked me through her house, I immediately realized that her biggest problem was room-usage. She had a 4-bedroom house which had 2 offices, a recording studio and an enormous music room, but only 1 actual bedroom. She also had no dining space. With all these offices and music equipment, the house felt cramped when it was actually pretty big.

I immediately got down to work…First we had to take the computer out of the living room, move the table (which was being used as a desk) over and set it up as a dining table. We had to remove the oversized coffee table in favor of a smaller one (she had something usable in one of the bedrooms). We had to remove one chair, and we had to move the large TV cabinet out of this small room.

On to the bedrooms – we simply didn’t have enough of them! But there was an office that she barely used anymore. I asked her to remove all the office furniture in the room, including the desk, chair and some temporary shelving that had been screwed into the walls. I told her to set up the futon from the garage as a bed, and to use one of her extra tables as a nightstand. Then she only needed to open up the curtains to let the light in, remove the old dirty rug, and suddenly she would have another bedroom. She loved this idea and seemed to get excited as we moved on to the next room.

This room was technically a bedroom (and a large one at that), but it was currently being used as a recording studio. It was an unfortunate situation, but it could not be helped as this woman was not in a financial position to shut down her business while her home was on the market. By removing some more shelving, storing a portable keyboard in the garage when it wasn’t in use and moving a small sofa out of the room, buyers would be able to visualize where their bed could go and could easily envision the space as a functional bedroom. She was really getting excited now!

We moved on to the next room. She had all the pieces in place. The furniture just had to be rearranged slightly to fit the space better, and then we were on to the biggest issue – the master bedroom. The master had been turned into a music room for her students, with a huge grand piano taking up the back half of it. The closet doors had been removed and she had any number of beautiful and exotic musical instruments filling the space meant for clothes. There were about 5 or 6 odd chairs sitting around, making it look sort of like a waiting room. There was also an awkward door that lead directly into another bedroom, which made it not feel as private as a master bedroom should. But this room was BIG! It could fit a grand piano – mind you – without feeling cramped!

Now would be a good time to mention that this woman had an interior designer friend who had already come over to help her figure out how to best showcase her property for sale. Though I love and admire interior designers, they are in the design business, not in the Real Estate business like I am. They know what looks good, but they don’t get into the heads of home buyers to figure out what a property needs in order to make it SELL.

This woman’s well-meaning interior designer friend had suggested that she move her grand piano into the room she was now using as her bedroom and move her bed into what was supposed to be the master bedroom. Now without having seen this house, you might think that would be a good solution. BUT…there were a couple of problems with this idea:

1) Due to back problems, this woman slept in a twin sized bed with special mattresses that helped her condition. Putting a twin bed (or even a full-size futon which she had in another room) into a bedroom that was large enough for a grand piano would have looked ridiculous and never would’ve sold buyers on the space…and

2) The room she was using for her bedroom was IN NO WAY large enough to fit a grand piano! Though it was a very nice-sized space for a bedroom, with that monstrous piano in it, it would’ve felt too small for even a twin bed. It would have been literally wall-to-wall piano.

But I had an idea… Since her formal living/dining room was small, since she didn’t have a bed large enough to fit the master bedroom, since she needed her piano to remain in the house while it was on the market, AND since – with our adjustments – buyers would see they already had 3 other bedrooms in the house, we were going to transform that master bedroom into a spacious and buyer-friendly family room!

Remember that small sofa that had to come out of the recording studio? And remember all those extra chairs that were in the piano room? We had everything we needed to make this space work. Suddenly the closet without its missing doors became the perfect spot for the oversized TV cabinet that was currently taking up space in the tiny living room. The loveseat and two of her extra chairs would go in front of the new TV closet, with an extra ottoman as a coffee table and a small rug she had lying around to tie the seating area together. The piano would remain in the back half of the room, showing buyers that in addition to there being plenty of room to hang out and watch TV in this room, there was also a really large space in back for a game or homework table, a kids’ play area, or even (gasp) a grand piano!

As our consultation came to an end, I noticed that the seller had a big smile on her face. I asked her if she felt a little better now that she had a plan. She said that she did and that she was so relieved. Whereas she had started our session in tears, by the end she felt confident that she knew what it would take to get her house sold and had the tools she needed to do it.

So here are some things I was reminded of today:

1) Staging is not just about design. I’m in the Real Estate business, not the design business.

2) Sometimes Home Staging = Real Estate Therapy. Some sellers need more than just a “to-do list” in order to prepare their home for sale. Some need reassurance, some even need a hug. All of them need a solid plan to relieve the pressure and stress.

3) Just because things don’t start off the way you planned, they may end up better than you could’ve imagined. Even if you show up to a job with a client in crisis, you just may leave with a confident and motivated seller who has the tools s/he needs to get the job done.

And THAT is why I love my job!

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Just Staged – Celebrity View Home in Manhattan Beach!

Posted on 10 December 2009 | Comments Off

This beautiful home, listed by  Kofi N. Nartey of SOTALOT Realty Group, will impress even the most discerning buyer. And not only that, you get a FREE Porsche if you buy it!

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228 34th St, Manhattan Beach

$3,600,000

HOUSE, VIEW, AND CAR! Buy this amazing house and get a new 2010 Porsche 911 Convertible!

Celebrity beach home. 2 blocks to beach. 1 of the largest rooftop decks around. 1700sqft Rooftop features: 3 separate sections, lounge chairs, built in grill, sound system, and a bed! White water ocean views. Oversize 4 car garage. 4th bedroom space was added to master to create huge master suite with a patio. Upgraded kitchen. Din. room. 2 living rooms, full bar, chef’s range, & more.

Open House Info:

Friday, December 11, 2009 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Sunday, December 13, 2009 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Listing Agent:

Kofi Nartey

kofi@sotalot.com

310-849-5634

Photos by Adrian Tiemens for Photos4RealEstate.com.

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