Atlanta Georgia Home Staging : May 2010

Home Staging Sandy Springs, Georgia

It seems forever since I've been able to post. To say I've been busy is an understatement. Truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way. Our staged listings are flying off the shelf as soon as we stage them. 

And to boot, I've got some incredible announcements I'll be making shortly. Two of which will have a direct impact on the home stagers. I'm super excited and can't wait to share the news with you. More on that subject to come shortly, so.... please stay tuned.

In the interim, here is a set of before and after pictures of a home we staged last week in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

As you can see in this before picture, this family room served as the area for the eat-in kitchen as well.

Here is the after picture:

A BIG Thank You to Michelle Minch with Moving Mountains Design from Los Angeles, California for helping me stage this beautiful home.

Measuring your success as a home stager

Personally, I measure my success based on how quickly a home goes under contract after staging. Others may believe that the quantity of homes one has staged at the same time is a good indication. There's definitely two sides of every coin and I'm not here to suggest that having a large quantity of homes staged is a bad thing. I currently have 17 homes staged at the moment. To me, that's more of an indication that my marketing efforts are working (yes, I blog on Active Rain actively and I'm here to tell you it has helped tremendously).

Here are just a few recent examples of our Home Staging Atlanta projects that have sold recently:

The home above has been on the market for 2 years prior to being professional home staged. In the first week of staging, the sellers received an offer but declined. Three weeks later, they had two simultaneous offers and the home went under contract. With multiple offers after staging, the home went under contract in less than 4 weeks after staging.

The home above was on the market for 8 months prior to being home staged. Within 2 weeks after staging, the home went under contract.

The home above was staged prior to being placed on the market. Within 2 months of staging, the home went under contract and has since been de-staged.

This Atlanta investor opted to increase his original asking price by $20K after being professionally home staged. Three weeks later, the home is now under contract at the full asking price.

The moral of the story.... blog on Active Rain (smile).

Is your home or listing making the buyers short list?

That "short list" is serious business.  Buyers are absolutely using the Internet to narrow their search for their next home. How can you help make that "short list?"

• Ensure the location of your home stands out.  Buyers will narrow their search based on location first.
• Next, ensure the price of your home is clearly visible. Once buyers narrow their search based on the location(s) they're interested in, they will next narrow it further by looking at the price of the home.
• Load the listing up with beautiful pictures.  Listings with one photo or worse yet, no photos,  will NOT help you sell your home. Buyers will no doubt be looking for homes with pictures that show the exterior as well as the interior.

P.S. I sure wish this women didn't look so angry. She really needs to smile more.

As a professional home stager in Atlanta, I understand just how important the photos are to a listing. It's one of the reasons why I include them at no additional charge for all of the homes I stage.

Here are a few of my most recent projects (and some of my most favorite pictures) that were sent to the homeowners for their use in marketing the home.

Can Home Staging a $69K Home Help?

Some may argue that having a $69K listing staged simply doesn't make sense. However, the Atlanta investor, who has used me on his last four homes, would argue that it makes sense at any price point. Three of the four listings have gone under contract in less than one week.  He's banking on a quick sale and I'm confident he'll get it.

Here's a close-up that I took earlier today in the room I staged as an office:

Here are the before and after pictures of the living room:

Home located in Marietta, Georgia and was professionally staged by Kathy Nielsen. All photos are copyright protected.

Heading out soon for two new home staging appointments in Atlanta, Georgia.  We're super busy and I wouldn't have it any other way!