Atlanta Georgia Home Staging : March 2009

Solutions for Selling Part III - It's all about the photos!

If you've read it once, you've likely read it a thousand times; prospective buyers are using the Internet to begin their search for their next home.  That statement alone speaks volumes to the importance of your photos. Prospective buyers, in the comfort of their home, will spend time reviewing home after home in order to create a list.  If you're a seller, your objective is to make that list.  

Knowing how important the photos are to the seller and to the agent, I make it a priority to take the best pictures I can for each of my staging projects and provide the photos to the agent and to the seller at no additional charge.  Yes, it took an investment in a great camera and yes, it takes an investment of my time.  However, to me personally, it's worth every dime and every minute.

In summary, beyond pricing the home correctly; using a strong agent to market the home; and ensuring the home looks incredible (thru staging, of course), having great photos is one of those must-have items.

Here's a recent home I staged in Atlanta Georgia:

Kitchen eat-in before staging: 

Eat-in Kitchen After Staging:

Here are some close-ups that I did just for fun:

I'm calling this photo "the fern."  Clever. Eh?

Apples (which has become part of my home staging signature):

I'm calling this one Mugs!

And here's a little something I created using Picnik.  I'm going to forward this to the agent as I think it would make for an excellent photo to have on a flyer.

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Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

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About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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How to arrange a living room.

We often see many posts (mine included) that speak to the importance of two very key rooms within the home; the kitchen and the master bedroom. And with reason - they are truly important areas of the home when you've placed your home on the market.   

However, the living room is another "key" room that needs attention.

In this before and after example, you'll see that we leveraged the majority of the furniture items that the seller owned.  The only furniture piece we added is the small stand next to the chair.  In addition, the accessories played a key role in how the room appears after staging:

Here's what the living room looked like prior to staging:

Here's the after (slightly different angle):

Photo taken by Kathy Nielsen - HomeStagingAtlanta.com.  NOTE:  As part of our staging service, we provide the after pictures to the agent and homeowner for use in their marketing of the home.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Solutions for Selling Part II - Keep it Simple

Let's face it, if you've lived in your home for any number of years, it's likely that you've accumulated a lot of things.  Some we inherit, some we purchase because it's an absolute "must-have" and others just seem to magically appear.  Regardless of how these things came into existence, it's important to understand that when you place your home on the market, these things have a way of cluttering up our space.  

The challenge most homeowners have when preparing their own home for the market is understanding what needs to go and what needs to stay.  And for those items that should stay, the next challenge becomes how to display what's left.  Homeowners also need to consider if there are pieces that need to be added that would further add warmth and help showcase the home.

Let's review this first "before" picture in detail.  The obvious is that there seems to be a lot of "new" items sitting on the dining room table.  And it's true.  During my verbal consultation when I first previewed the home, it was apparent that there was a lack of art work.  I also knew the homeowner could benefit by purchasing new bath towels.  In this before picture, the homeowner had gathered these items and had them on display for me to see on the dining room table.

Now let's review the "after" picture and I'll further explain what we did.  Yes, the items being removed from the table made a huge improvement.  However, there's a big item that was removed.  Can you spot it?  It's the rug under the dining room table.  If you find yourself wondering why - wonder no more.  One of the features of this home is the hardwood flooring.  Not only was the rug covering too much of this feature, it was also dating the room.  The two topiaries used on the buffet came from her garage. As you can see, with the exception of one added piece of art work (on the opposite side of the mirror) we used what they homeowner already had and by design we kept it simple!

Photo taken by Kathy Nielsen

For ideas on how to bring purpose to a room, visit my blog titled Solutions for Selling Part I.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Solutions for Selling Part I - Home Appeal

As a professional home stager in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm often asked for solutions that will help grab the attention of the prospective buyers.  And with reason; the more "appealing" we make a home, the more it will stand out from the others on the market.  

In the case of this home, we had a spare room (located to the left of the entrance as you walked in) that lacked purpose.  If left as-is, it surely would have left many a prospective buyers wondering how they could use this room.

Here's the "before" picture (see below).  As you can see, the room already has a perfect neutral color for the wall; an incredible rug and a gorgeous built-in bookshelf.  However, the room lacks appeal.

Here's the "after" picture.  The solution for this room, given the built-in bookshelf, was to turn this into a home office.  Perfect for the homeowners as the wife works from home.

(photo taken by: icatch360)

I'll be posting more "solutions for selling" ideas so be sure to subscribe to my blog.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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As Atlanta's premier home staging company we understand that the tasks associated with preparing your home for sale can be overwhelming.  With vacant homes sitting idle, to occupied homes needing de-cluttering and perhaps repairs, the list for homeowners seems to get longer and longer with each turn.   Not knowing where to begin only adds to the frustration.

Our home staging solutions, from key room staging to whole home staging, eases the stress and worry associated with preparing a home for the market.

Here's an example of a vacant home (with a few scattered accessories) that we had the good fortune of staging today. The "before" pictures were actually taken this morning.

Before Picture:

After Picture:

Before Picture:

After Picture:

And here's a slightly different angle on picture #2 above:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Stagers Do it With Style

What style you ask?  It's the number one question asked by many of the vacant property owners that I've had the good fortune of staging their home.  And it's a question I never mind answering.

Let me begin by telling you what it is not:

It's NOT about my style; my preferences, likes and dislikes.  It's not about me, the professional home stager

It's NOT about your style (the homeowner).  While on the surface that may seem harsh, I mean no disrespect.  There's a good reason, trust me.

So... the answer as to what style will be used for the vacant home?

It's about the potential buyers that will be visiting the home.  Within the real estate industry, this is often referred to as the demographics.  In other words, are the buyers going to be young, middle-aged or in retirement?  Will the majority of the potential buyers have children or no children?  Factoring in the demographics is an important step in the creation of the design plan that will be used in the home.

It's about the exterior style of the home.  Here's an example:  Let's say the home is ultra-contemporary. If I were to bring in traditional pieces, I would be missing the mark.  Buyers who are searching for contemporary structures are expecting to see contemporary-like accessories that compliment the design.

The objective of every professional home stager is to have the home appeal to a broad base of prospective buyers.

Now for your viewing pleasure, here's a small example of some of the different styles used in some of the vacant properties:

Here's an example more contemporary-like style:                                          More Traditional:

Traditional                                                                                           Transitional

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Successfully Selling Homes Thru Staging

What a month!  I was notified late last week that another one of the homes I had staged just went under contract.  Days before that, another one of the homes that I had staged went under contract one week from staging and for full asking price.  You can read more about the successful selling techniques in my outside blog titled "How this home went under contract in one week..."

Suffice it to say, the sellers couldn't be more thrilled as they were carrying two mortgages having moved out-of-state for a job transfer.  The buyers found the home of their dreams.  How do I know?  They contacted me to decorate.  The agent? Yup, she's happy too.  Here's her testimonial:

"Working with Kathy has been an amazing experience.  Her staging really set my listing apart from the competition and is what made the difference for the buyer's choosing my listing.  She has the ability to take a blank canvas of a vacant home and turn it into a showcase property.  The staging was so excellent that the buyer's are hoping to use Kathy for interior design on the home once they move in.  I couldn't have been happier throughout the entire process of working with Kathy and the seller's share in my experience!  Thanks for helping us stand above the competition Kathy!
Regan Maeroff
 www.RealEstateRegan.com
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

So what's leading to this success?  

• The homes are priced correctly for this market
• The sellers are picking strong agents who are aggressively marketing the homes
• The homes, thru staging, stand out from the others on the market

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About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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