Why can’t I just tidy up and put it on the market, see what happens?

While tidying up is important, buyer’s expectations have changed.  Buyers are comparing your property to a new build at the same price point.  To receive an offer close to asking price, we need to compete at that level. Consider your last trip to a mall.  Retailers have geared their entire store – lighting, displays, colors, traffic flow, etc. – around how to capture and keep your attention in their store. Same with restaurants. Same with advertising firms. Truth be told, staging has been used as a marketing strategy for years, and with more competition every day around us, it’s a technique that is here to stay.

My (sister, mother, friend) is good at decorating. Can’t they help me?

Great, they can help you with decorating your new home, however, decorating isn’t staging. Staging is a science and has nothing to do with your personal taste or lifestyle. Certified home stagers direct their skills at what today’s home buyer is looking for. We study statistics on demographics, psychographics and top design trends. Our job is to create a marketing story to get your property sold.

Whoever buys will want to make changes on their own, so why should I pay to update anything?

Most buyers looking at investing time and energy into making changes on their own are also looking for a deal and will use this as a negotiation point. Homes in need of repair or long overdue for an update will sit and wait for that special buyer, or cost you a price reduction. Today’s buyers are not as interested in home improvement projects as they were in the past.

How does home staging benefit me?

Home staging at its core is marketing. Staged homes sell for 1-5% more than their un-staged counterparts, so you can maximize equity at the closing table. They also provide optimum presentation so listing photos will catch the eye of more buyers. Finally, they create a 3-D visual experience as buyers walk through the property. We’ve also seen that staged homes can increase an appraisal value which could be just what the banker needed to approve the buyer loan.

My real estate agent knows how to prep my home. Isn’t that enough?

If your agent is a certified home stager and offers staging as part of their listing service, that could be a solution for you. Many agents have the best of intentions when trying to help you prepare your home for the market.  However, savvy Realtors partner with a stager in order to bring the best of both worlds to their client. Doesn’t a room look larger when it’s empty? Actually, rooms are perceived smaller when they’re empty because there is no furniture to provide proper space perspective. But not every room needs furniture, just the key living areas where family living takes place and furniture arrangement can be tricky for buyers to envision.

I’ve never worked with a designer before – what should I expect and how do I work with you?

My goal is that you feel seen, heard, and communicated with throughout the project. When you work on a project like this on your own, you don’t have someone to consult that has experience and training. With me, you will.  There are different services with varying levels of involvement, so depending on your preference, I can be involved a little or a lot.

Can I keep some of my favorite pieces of furniture and work with them?

Absolutely! A home should be a reflection of the person living in it, and if you have favorite furniture, or artwork, or family heirlooms they should be part of the story you tell in your home. The goal is for you to love being home and love your surroundings, so pictures or colors or favorite pieces of furniture need to be part of the design story we create and implement.

How long will my project take?

Each project’s specification and scale are unique, just like you and I are unque.  I can give you a general idea of what’s reasonable, much of that depends on how quickly you can make decisions based on the options given to you. While it’s fun to watch the HGTV shows where it all gets done in an hour or less, to do a project right takes thought and planning.  If you have a deadline on when something must be done, let’s talk about that right away so we can determine what is and isn’t possible.

Will you pull permits, hire and schedule trades people for my project?

While I can give you names of excellent trades people, I am not a general contractor or a full service design firm.  Pulling permits and hiring trades people for your project is out of the scope of what I can do for you.

What can you help me make with on a project?

I can help you select all the finishes connected to your project – paint color, type and style of tile, countertop, cabinets, flooring, mantle trim, lighting, drapery, furniture, room accessories. I do have trade relationships where I can obtain special pricing and I gladly share that with clients that hire me.

Can we do a before and after like in the HGTV shows?

You bet! That’s part of the fun of doing a project is seeing where it started and where it finished.  You, too, can have amazing before and after’s to enjoy and celebrate your accomplishment!