Got an email Sunday night from my agent client Raj, the 88 King Street condo is now in contract and ready to be destaged! It’s always wonderful to receive news like this, especially when mainstream media is complaining the market is down. Sellers are thrilled and my agent client is too. Happiness all around!

STAGING DOES WORK!

Here are some before & after photos (or watch this nifty flickr slideshow)

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It’s always pretty cool to get great news on our staged listings:

“Thanks again - it was listed for $599K, closed in 21 days for $635K.” — Jenn Davis, Listing Agent for 43 Garden Grove, Daly City

WOOHOO!

See some of the Before & After Staging photos below or check out the nifty slideshow via flickr:

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Received a very awesome phone call yesterday afternoon from Melissa Cassiato, the Listing Agent of 121 Wilde, San Francisco, that the property is ready to be de-staged any time because it has SOLD!

I am so very happy for the seller and the agents because I know the seller needs that money to move ASAP. Moreover, it is SOLD! We staged it on 2/29/2008 and contingencies are removed on 3/17/2008. So in less than 20 days, the property has sold in a market that media calls “slow,” with 21 offers, and sold $114,000 more than its asking price. (Listed at $498,000 and sold at $612,000)

That’s a 22.89% increase in selling price and its Return On Staging Investment is 5672.15%!

Staging really provides a win-win-win situation for everyone involved. Not only buyers find their dream home sooner, the seller sells the house sooner and for more money, the agent also gets more commission.

A happy day indeed!

Here are some of the before & after staging photos of this listing, or you can view the slide show via flickr:

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As part of my ASPM (Accredited Staging Professional MASTER) training with the Creator of Home Staging, Barb Schwarz, my Final was to make over part of my hotel room with $100 budget using the existing furnishing from the hotel. I had a great time shopping at Home Goods (my favorite stores hands down!). It was quite a rush to do everything in a short time frame and a small budget. It turned out to be quite difficult to shop when I was only allowed to use $100!

Here is the Before:

Here is the After: (more…)

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I surprise-visited little raspberries recently (so the owner won’t clean up before I show up hee hee, I can find out how they really organize the store…) which is a infant & children’s resale boutique that I had a couple consultation sessions with back in January. The owners didn’t have much money but they had been acting on my suggestions from our consultation sessions and working toward making the store more organized and transforming into the space that they dreamed about when they first bought the store last December.

Formerly known as Darla’s Baby Boutique, when mr. & mrs. raspberry bought the store, the original owner was weary of the space. Her heart was no longer in it and the customers felt it. The store was disorganized and messy. The inventory wasn’t working. The sales had plummeted. I felt very inspired after listening to mrs. raspberry about her vision for the store and how she wanted the store to be a space for the community. That’s something that I model my business after, so I glad took on the challenge. The store carries both resale and new inventories, as well as very bulky items such as strollers, play structures, etc. which can be tricky when it comes to organization. Also, when I was at the store for the first time, the paint job was very outdated, pealing and faded. Moreover, the display were messy and dis-organized. The inventory looked drabby and outdated. We knew it was going to be quite a challenge when we first met.

We decided that the scope of the project would include:
*Shopping assistance
*Redesigning the space
*Redesigning the shopping experience for boutique’s clients
*Creating a community space
*Streamline the inventory flow process to increase profits
*Cosmetic changes such as color consultations, furnitures, etc.

We were only able to meet twice, however, they had made a lot of great changes following my suggestions:

Here are some photos when we first begun:

Here is some after photos (still work in progress but I am SO proud of what they had done and how far they had come!): (more…)

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I was SO happy when I met with the seller today to de-stage the home and he told me that their house has been sold $49,000 OVERASKING! It took a little bit longer than they thought, but they got there. I staged it on 8/3/2007 and they received their offer on 9/29/2007. Not bad in a rough housing market, eh?

It was a really fun redesign project. The home owner had a lot of traditional Chinese furniture with detailed carvings that tell stories of folklores. The feet of the dining room chairs had lions’ feet on them. I covered the chairs with white slipcovers to neutralize the chairs but kept the other pieces since my first motto in staging is “always working with seller’s budget, and work with what they’ve got.” The furniture pieces left were also very large and heavy to move. So it was much easier for the sellers to deal with since they have young children and another on its way. I put runners on larger chests where the details become less distracting. The neighborhood is also in an area of San Francisco where there is a large Chinese population.

While I kept the ethnic details in Dining Room & Living Room, I toned them down with (more…)

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Today I met with Raj, the listing agent of 2001 McAllister, which I staged earlier this month, to de-stage the listing. (congrats Raj!) I was pretty shocked when I first heard it sold in 7 days since it was fresh after the new year, there just were not that much activities on the market. Also, I found on Craig’s List that there was a competing unit in the complex that asked for $40,000 more and it’s a lot bigger (the one I staged was 1BR/1BA, the competing unit was 2BR/2BA). Well, but after seeing their photos, I was not too surprised.

Here is the competing unit’s listing photos: (more…)

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