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).Measuring your success as a home stager
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A Real Estate Staging Association Finalist for Professional Stager of the Year 2010, Kathy Nielsen understands what it takes to help sell homes quickly. Considered an expert within the home staging industry, and having years of experience, Kathy makes the perfect choice for preparing your home for the market in the Atlanta area.
Website: Home Staging Atlanta
Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:
Email: Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com
Kathy,
Congratulations, and wishing you continued success.
Just curious about your before and after pictures of the bathroom. Your before picture shows NO toilet, but the after one does. Did the owners actually move the toilet?? And in the case of the last pictures, I think the seller raised his asking price by $20K because he remodeled the entire room, not because of the staging, although that was the finishing touch. IMHO, of course.
Thanks, Ron & Alexandra.
Pat & Wayne - Good questions. The home with the bathroom was owned by an investor who remodeled this bathroom (meaning, he tore the other one out and installed a new one). I came in between then. Regarding the last picture - your assumption is inaccurate. The remodeling helped tremendously in terms of what he sat his price at. However, after the remodeling and as I was staging, a prospective buyer stopped by to see the home. I called the investor and asked and the price was $20K less than what he listed it for after it was staged. So... yes, the staging had a direct result on the asking price being increased.
Kathy
Kathy, to have 17 homes currently staged is phenominal! Congratulations. I agree, I measure my staging success by how quickly a home will sell after being staged. Of course, there's always the worry that the agent has listed the home too high, but that's pretty rare. Your photos speak for themselves. Your beautiful staging is helping to showcase these homes.
Great before and after pictures, Kathy. Thanks for showing them. It helps me to better understand the value of stanging.
Kathy - Your successes should remove any doubts regarding the benefits of staging. Congratulations!
Kathy- beautiful staging and congrats on your Feature. I try to keep track of several things: when the first offer was received; if there were multiple offers; when the home went under contract; LP vs SP. But for me getting their first offer and going under contract are the high points. I can't control whether a seller will accept an offer or whether or not a buyer will qualify or any of the other issues that may occur.
I have a good friend that is a home stager in Illinois, she has an excellent track record and will continue to do so. Half the battle is getting the seller to believe in the value of having the work done! Pictures don't lie, kudos to you! Best Continued Success...
Great post Kathy. As a home inspector, I have several friends in the home staging business. It is totally amazing how home staging sells homes so much faster. I love what yall do! And, I am also amazed at how sellers and many Realtors wont recommend home staging or my "Move In Certified" Seller Home Inspection to move the property faster and for more money. The marketing advantages are tremendous!
Keep on!
Yes I agree that staging a vacant home is beneficial indeed to get the house sold.
Patricia
Great pictures, as usual! They don't even look like the same rooms. Congratulations on the feature. It's always nice to see a stager get featured!
Beautiful picture and great staging. No wonder you are so successful. Congrats!
Congrats on all those great projects. Excellent portfolio.
I love before and after. I love good stories and this is one. I'd measure you're success with a 25' tape measure!! You done good!!
Kathy - CONGRATS on all your success! The photos really do showcase what a difference staging makes, and the fast sales prove that it's worth the cost!
We've only done a handful of staging projects, but would love to do more....
Sharon Lord
Argent Decor
Phoenix Vacation Home Furnishing Service
www.ArgentDecor.com
Great post!
Well done!
I measure the success of my staging by the success my homeowners have in getting their homes sold. It's been proven to me over and over again they get more money in a shorter period of time when the home is staged. Photos speak volumes. Your say come on in and stay awhile. The rooms are warm, inviting and lovely.
The second one with the Tffany lamp got my attention. You really did them a favor.
Thank you, Sally.
John Marion - thanks for subscribing to my blog.
John Mulkey - We need to do lunch soon as it seems like years since I've seen you!
Kathy S - thanks for the congrats on the feature. It made my day!
Vicky - a stagers portfolio is SO important. Here's hoping your friend has continued success.
David - The "move-in certified" program sounds awesome! I love that conept.
Patricia - Vacant home staging in Atlanta is my specialty.
Sharon - I too love seeing stagers getting featured in the rain!
Thank you, Wanda.
Debra - Thanks for your kind words! Coming from a pro like you, that means a lot.
Carla - I founded a group called Staging Before and After pictures here in the Rain. You should really check it out. There are some incredible stagers who post there often.
Thanks, Sharon & Joshua.
Geri - it's so important to make the room(s) as inviting as possible!
Joe - the homeowner thinks so too (smile).
Kathy
I agree that your success is how many DOM the property was listed before going under contract. That is how I sell my staging services. That in turn leads to greater and greater numbers of homes staged which in turn leads to more and more stats for your DOM stats. I have staged homes from $229,000 to 9.4 million. The dollar value doesn't mean success, the DOM do to agents. That is the reason that they hire you IMHO.
HI Kathy -- I agree with you about what really matters, not that marketing doesn't help you stay in business and grow, but the SOLD sign is the ultimate measure of success, and more importantly, the seller's net financial bottom line.
BTW...You do fabulous work!
Congrats on your Featured Post! I agree, I measure my success also by how quickly homes go into contract.
I also agree that inorder to be successful we need to market ourselves. I have been away from AR for awhile....but I am now BAAAACCCCK! My goal is to blog at least once a week and comment as often as possible.
AR has been a blessing to me from the beginning of my staging company! :) If it wasn't for AR I am not sure where my company would be.
Great post, you make an excellent point.
Kathy: Congrats on the Feature. It is well deserved! I agree with you entirely. It doesn't really matter how many homes you have staged. What matters is whether or not your staging is helping the listing sell faster and/or for more money. I have an inside track, so I know how quickly the homes you stage sell. You are a big success, my dear.
Kathy,
Congrats on your feature. You deserve it. Your work is always top notch!
Marianne
Congrats on your very well deserved feature and your successful staging stats.
Kathy ~ Congrats on your success on two fronts: having your staged properties sell in record time, and for this well-deserved feature! Your work is always impeccably outstanding, your photos are spectacular, and the results speaks for themselves. Well done!
Kathy, great success story, congratulations.
Hey girlfriend -- good job; STATS Rule and you are smart to boast them -- that's a big part of my marketing plan as well! Congrats on the feature!
They say a photo is worth a thousand words. Yours are excellent and really tell your story. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
I l ike your attitude.... nice ... win win
Congratulations Kathy. Seventeen homes! Wow. Keep it up.
Awesome job and so many homes staged at once !! I bet that there are not 17 homes in the Knoxville area staged right now !!! Congrats on your continued success. I don't know if you have seen my post on needing advice on marketing for our ASHSR meeting but would love to have some of your ideas to share with our members...thanks Kathy !!!
Kathy - you are one busy lady. Congrats on the feature you are always informative and an inspiration.
Thank you all for your wonderful and very kind words!
Mary Lou - feel free to send me an email at kathy@homestagingatlanta.com
Kathy
I am not trying to be negative but why does every home stager use before and after pictures with different camera lenses and lighting? I would love to see "True" before and after shots but when one is with lights on and wide angle and the original is with lights off and normal lens it does not give a true picture.
The third set of pictures is the closest to being the same but in that one the paint looks different colors because of lighting, the Granite and Cabinets look different colors and the toilet is missing in the original picture.
Hi, Damon - While I can't answer for any other stager, I will address your points. When I take my before pictures, I'm not the least bit concerned with what light is on and what light is off. When I take my after pictures, I will ensure all lights are on and try and bring as much natural light as possible. In addition, two of the four pictures were taken when the home was under construction. Example: Look at picture #3 - canned lighting wasn't in place.
As for using a different lens - not true with my pictures. I use one lens for both my before and after. The angle may be different (i.e., I'm stepping further back in one picture versus the other).
Kathy
Kathy, Congratulations on the well-deserved feature. I never get tired of looking at your exemplary work! I completely agree that it's not necessarily quantity that matters, it's quality. If the quality is there, the homes will sell quickly and that's why we stagers are doing what we do, after all.
Great work!! it shows you love to do your job! keep it up.
Great work!! it shows you love to do your job! keep it up.
You are one talented lady, Kathy.
I watched a show on HGTV yesterday where 3 families were doing all kinds of crazy things trying to get their homes sold - holding parades to advertise the open house, spiritual re-energizing, etc. All of them desparately needed a home stager! I kept yelling at the TV, but none of them would answer me! :(