All I did was....Home Staging Success Stories

This home staging in Vaughan had me perplexed at first. I really wanted the kitchen cabinets that were installed in the eating are removed. They seemed to be floating in mid air, they really needed to come down. Or I thought, they really need something below them to balance them out on the wall.

In the end, our team did neither.

We staged the white cabinet with a brand new set of dishes that the client had tucked away in the basement. While I was down there, I spotted (no pun intended) the cow theme seats on two, older looking black chairs. As stagers, we all know we have to keep our eyes open to find the hidden gems in the houses that we stage.

This is what Adantage Staging did to create a modern, funky kitchen that would appeal to the younger families moving in to this neighbourhood.

Kitchen Before Staging

Kitchen After Staging

It worked. This home sold in two weeks just before Christmas. A tough time to sell according to some people. Simple, effective staging ideas created by using things from the home owner. A dish set, three red apples on a white ceramic tray, and two cow theme chairs that now show seating for six people instead of four.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Remember, staging is always less than the first price reduction.

When you are ready to sell, Advantage Staging is ready to be part of your marketing strategy.

 

Michelle Finnamore      416.928.2999

Michelle Finnamore Interiors Ltd.

See our new showroom at 9100 Jane Street. Bldg. L Ste 77 Vaughan

Hunter Douglas Window Coverings, Sun Glow Window Coverings, Custom Headboards and Finishes.

 

Recently Advantage Staging provided a home staging consultation in Vaughan that was your typical family home. A busy family with no time to prepare their home for sale.

Or so they thought.

Advantage Staging arrived to do the consult, left a written, detailed, room by room action plan with the family so that they would know what to do to get the property ready to be staged for sale. With precious little free time a seller needs the confidence that a focused, written plan can give them to complete the job in a short amount of time.

The living room was originally minty green and the home owner didn't want to paint. Sellers are always reluctant to paint as they are moving and think that the buyers can overlook their choice of colour. I assured the seller that a neutral colour like CC 110 Muslin by Benjamin Moore was a wise choice as it would allow buyers to move in and not have to do anything before the holidays.

Paint is always the one thing a seller a can do for minimal investment that will have the largest impact with buyers. Paint creates a neutral pallette and a clean, fresh look.

Our team arrived two days later to stage the property. Rental furniture was brought in so that buyers could see how they could live in the home and our team filled in the rest of the rooms with artwork, props and accessories.

Investing the time and effort to purge by the seller and acting on the staging suggestions paid off in short order.  The property was listed November 22 and sold in two weeks. Professional home staging was a key marketing strategy to sell a property around the holiday season.

The listing photos showed a great family home that was move in ready. A buyer could move in before Christmas and enjoy their new home over the holidays.

The sellers were at work during the staging process. When they returned, here are a few images of the dramatic difference professional home staging produces in a few hours....

Living Room Before and After

  

Dining Room Before and After

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master Bedroom Before and After

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lady of the house was smiling from ear to ear when she saw the results our team accomplished. She loved her house and remarked that she never imagined it could look this stylish.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Remember, investing in staging is always less than the first price reduction.

Advantage Staging is ready to be part of your marketing strategy today.

 

Michelle Finnamore      416.928.2999

Michelle Finnamore Interiors Ltd.

See our new showroom at 9100 Jane Street. Bldg. L Ste 77 Vaughan

Hunter Douglas Window Coverings, Sun Glow Window Coverings, Custom Headboards and Finishes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home staging in Vaughan Advantage Staging sees many very nice homes with beautiful large bathrooms but no artwork. Most people are afraid to commit to a piece of artwork so they never get around to hanging any. 

I believe artwork and lighting are two things that show buyers the lifestyle they are looking for in a new home. It is a very important detail of staging and can make or break the feeling you are trying to create in a home.

The opposite can happen as well. The home owner will have totally inappropriate artwork hung in the most public spaces in their home. Ever see the dreaded nude in the dining room? I have several times. It is the first thing I put into storage when I do see it as buyers spend precious time discussing it instead of looking at the features in the property.

All I did in this home was place a large canvas of the morning fog lifting off the ocean to create a restful sanctuary for buyers who visit this property for sale.  The artwork creates an ambience in the master ensuite that buyers will remember when they visit the many properties for sale.

  

This property sold in a 3 days for 98% of list. The buyers remarked that the home "felt" right to them.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless. 

Professional home staging is always less than the first price reduction.

Let Advantage Staging create a home that is staged to attract buyers, have less days on market and help you build a loyal client base who will refer you to others.

Michelle Finnamore CCSP     Advantage Staging         416.928.2999

9100 Jane St.  Ste. 77  Vaughan

 

There are two things that sell homes.  Space and light.

Home staging in Vaughan there is one thing I recommend to sellers when preparing their property for sale that achieves both things in one step.

Paint in a neutral colour so that the space looks larger and brighter. Buyers are attracted to light filled spaces.

To keep buyers from clicking through to the next property (usually in under 5 seconds) when searching on line for their new home, painting is one of the best investments of time and money that a seller can do to get the results they are looking for.

When a home is painted in bright or dark colours, it is not uncommon for a listing to have over 30 viewings in a few days with no offers, not even a low ball offers. The property may be in a desirable area, perfect lay out for a family to move right in and priced competitively. Still, the comments will be that the buyer does not want to paint, too much bother and expense.

So when a seller says they don't want to paint because of the bother and the expense I explain that is exactly what the buyers will be saying as well. It is up to the seller to get the property in showcase condition to create interest on the part of buyers and initate action on their part to put in an offer.

Here are some recent examples of how quickly the look of a home changes once neutral paints are used.

Bedroom Before

  

Bedroom After -  you can clearly see that the chandelier is now a feature in the room. When the room was painted lilac, the chandelier blended in too much.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bedroom Before - two bright colours in the room chopped the room up too much making it appear smaller than it was.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bedroom After - neutral paint has helped to make the room look larger as well as allow the chandelier to become the feature in the room.

Buyers are looking for features in a home. Painting in a neutral colour allows the chandelier, wood floors and trim details to become the focus in the online listing photos and in person. Buyers are not so quick to click through to the next listing once the distracting bright colours have been toned down.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you are listing your home for sale, call Advantage Staging to select your paint colours for you.

Our association worked with a paint company for over a year tracking which colours sell in North America. Then they gave us 10 colours to work with. No guessing involved. These colours are what people want when they are buying. Why not paint your house in one of those colours?

Your professional home stager can visit your home to see how the light in your home effects the paint colours and choose the perfect one for selling your home.  Did you know that 40% of paint sold the first time is the wrong colour?

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Michelle Finnamore   Advantage Staging    416.928.2999

Remember, professional home staging is always less than the first price reduction.

As a home stager in Vaughan, I thought I had seen every conceivable type of chandelier from every decade.

Homeowners ask if there is any way of leaving the dated chandelier installed and adding crystals to the arms of the chandelier to update the look. This client actually added Barbie dolls suspended upside down and crystals.

I'm thinking just the crystals would have done the trick.

When you are considering listing your home for sale, Advantage Staging will make suggestions for replacement lighting that will suit every budget and look appropriate in the home for sale.

Just one more reason that calling in a professional home stager can save you time and money when you are preparing your house for sale.

Fact #1 -sellers are usually not interested in investing money into new light fixtures for a home that they are leaving.

Fact #2 - Lighting is one of the least expensive upgrades you can make to your home that will reap the most pay back on the money spent.

Home Depot sells a line for contractors that has a satin nickel finish and white shades. From $49 to $125 you can replace any light in your house for an updated look that buyers will love.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Michelle Finnamore   Advantage Staging    416.928.2999

Remember, home staging is always less than the first price reduction.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

Being a home stager in Vaughan can be very rewarding when working with sellers that originally cannot see the value in staging their home for sale. I explain that staging allows buyers to see that the value in the home matches the asking price. You can have the most beautiful house in the neighbourhood but unless the buyers can clearly see that value they will typically go on to look at other listings.

Staging allows buyers to see extra value in a home by creating a purpose in a room or by allowing the room to flow and appear more spacious.

All I did in this home was show the seller photographs of the existing rooms before I started staging and then after I finished staging. Her exact words were " I can't believe my rooms looked like that before, I never noticed".

It's a common reaction in buyers when they see their home staged for sale. Most people really don't see their home like others do.  They come in each day and everything looks fine to them.

I'm sure if you took a picture of your own home, you might scratch your head and wonder why you never noticed how cluttered it was, how dark the room colour was, how furniture was misplaced in a  room making it feel crowded or difficult to manuouver through, the drapery was crooked or the artwork was not level.

Here are a few before and after images to illustrate why professional home staging encourages buyers to look at your listing photos on line and making the decision to put your home on their must see list.

Living Room before and after

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before and After Kitchen and Family Room

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This property was missing a great opportunity to show how you could entertain family and friends with room to spare. Renting furniture that was the correct scale for the open concept rooms was key to showcasing the space in this home.

 

Master bedroom and secondbedroom before and after

        

       

                                                    

       

 

I use snowboards for headboards quite often. It gives a teenage room a great look and markets the opportunity of living in the area and enjoying the outdoor attractions.

These rooms now appear much more inviting and show the lifestyle of living in the home.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Advantage Staging markets your property to appeal to the target market you are trying to attract. This family home is now ready for listing photos and to be seen online. Buyers can quickly see that this home is worth seeing in person.

Michelle Finnamore   Advantage Staging   416.928.2999

 

 

 

Home staging in Vaughan Advantage Staging is quite often called in to put  the final touches in place to prepare a home for listing photos. Vaughan is home to many show stopping homes which benefit by having the rooms "faced" for the camera.

I was contacted by an agent to provide that servcie as well as stage two vacant rooms. The front living room and the dining room were vacant. Not a good thing when they are the first rooms that a buyer sees upon entering the home. All I did in this home was rent furniture for the living room and dining room and provide the artwork and accessories.

Buyers make up their mind about purchasing a home within seconds of entering so it was critical to have these rooms staged to create desire on the part of the buyer.

Luckily, their agent arranged to have me stage the property within 24 hours. The home sold within 3 days for 100K over list. 23 offers were on the table. They had to have parking control in the brokerage parking lot and conference rooms.  Can  you imagine the excitement that was generated with this listing. It was the talk of the office for days afterward.

Living Room and Dining Room Before

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living and Dining Room After

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

Remember, professional home staging is always less than the first price reduction.

If you have a vacant listing could benefit by being staged to create desire on the part of the buyer to put in an offer contact Advantage Staging to create the look to attract your target market.

Michelle Finnamore    Advantage Staging    416.928.2999

Home staging in Vaughan Advantage Staging will frequently consult on homes that appear to have small dining rooms. As the area attracts larger families it is a sticking point when buyers come to look at listings.

The homes have at least four bedrooms, and adequate kitchens. However if the home is being sold vacant it can be very difficult for buyers to envision whether their furniture will fit in and whether their family will be able to use the space for their needs.

That's when staging comes to the rescue.

No guess work. By renting furniture and staging the room, buyers can readily see that there is plenty of room for their family.

Dining Room Before

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dining Room After

  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

If you have a vacant listing and would like to leave buyers with an impression that creates desire and action to put in an offer call Advantage Staging.  We will create a look to attract your target market and get the results you are looking for.

Remember, professional home staging is always less than the first price reduction.

Michelle Finnamore     Advantage Staging   416.928.2999

 

Home staging in Vaughan is an adventure every day. I routinely stage 8,000 to 21,000 square feet homes and see some very spectacular properties.

Then there is the other end of the spectrum. First time homes that are stacked condos about 1200 square feet.

Todays challenge was definitely one for the books. I was referred by an agent from the Condo Store Canada to Jacob Buksbaum of Time Equities in New York City. He was looking to convert some rental townhouses to condo sales and wanted to know if I could stage one of the units as a model home for him.

His only request was that it have a young, modern vibe to it to attract the young families he was looking for to buy the towns. He thought IKEA was the route to go to furnish the model home.

I thought he had a good idea but wondered aloud about the practicality of ordering all the furniture, getting it delivered and assembling all forty four pieces. Have you ever tried to assemble Ikea furniture? If you have, then you can imagine my distress at the thought of it.

As the builder was in New York City and I was in Canada, the easiest route for ordering was to use our IPADS and catalogues to build our order list on line while on our cell phones. That went well for about an hour until we realized that most items we wanted weren't available on line. That's when I went in the store to buy the pieces instead.

That's when I discovered that Ikea has a personal shopper at no charge for commercial clients, plus they pick the order for you, deliver it and assemble it. Well that was more like it! Personal shopping and after sales service, a stagers delight!

The personal shopper was no charge, to have the order picked was a flat fee of $40, the delivery was $99 and the assembly was 15% of the items that needed assembling. All in all, I thought a bargain as so much time was saved.

This is what it looked like when it arrived on delivery day...

That's right, a whole truck full!  Boy was I glad that I wasn't carrying it in to the house. The furniture is all MDF and it weighs a ton!

Next step was to wait for the people to arrive to assembly it. I waited, and waited and then finally I called to see where they were... lost, late or on their way. The customer service line assured me that I was not in their schedule for that day. Wait a minute, did they just say I wasn't in their schedule? 

Squeeze me? What did you say?  Can you repeat that?

That was impossible. The owner was flying up from New York City the next morning and he was expecting to see a model home staged with furniture. Uh oh!!! 

I asked to speak to  someone else and was put through to someone in Montreal. They also assured me that I wasn't in their schedule and that they would look into it. Well I couldn't wait and did what any good stager would do. I drove over to Ikea and asked to speak with the manager.  I explained my dilemma, he called right away and sure enough, the furniture would be assembled later that day.Phew!!  That was close. I think he managed to get it sorted so quickly as my children will tell you, when I give you the Mom look you better make sure you make Mom happy.

I couldn't stay any longer due to other staging commitments so my staff met with the assembly team later that day to let them in.This if what just one room looked like at that point. There was one really high pile of packing material when they were all done.

Our team showed up the next day to stage and here are the results. We purchased a few accessories and props at Homesense as well to round out the finished look. Here are the before and after pictures.

Living Room and Office Area Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living Room and Office Area After

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen and Dining Room Before

  

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen and Dining Room After

 

 

I love the new distressed "Restoration Hardware" look they are producing right now. Very on trend and price effective.

Master Bedroom Before and After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls and Boys Room After

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The target market for these townhomes is a young family looking for their first home.

Using Ikea furniture and accessories, Advantage Staging has created a "just move right in" look.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

If you have a new building site and would like to have it staged to attract your target market call Advantage Staging to get you the results you are looking for on the budget that works for you.

If you have a client that is interested in living in one of these sophisticated lifestyle condos at 2417 Finch Ave. West in Vaughan please call Bonnie Belfer at the Condo Store Canada to book your personal viewing appointment.

Michelle Finnamore   Advantage Staging    416.928.2999

77-9100 Jane St. Bldg. L  Vaughan

2010 National Home Builders Association U.S.     Silver Award for Presentation Showroom Design

2010 Ontario Home Builders Association             Nomination for Model Home Presentation Showroom Design

2010 Canadian Staging Professionals                 Entrepreneur of the Year Award

 

 

 

Home staging in Vaughan I run into quite a few  homes that have sellers with birds. The latest one was a bit over the top though. 

When I arrived to do the staging consultation I found a 5 foot parrot cage in the eating area of the kitchen along with two small freezers. No table and chairs. Just a giant parrot cage and two freezers.

  I know what you are thinking. Who does that?

As I like to assure my clients, you live in a house one way, to suit yourself. You pay the mortgage and taxes and if it gives you pleasure and isn't illegal you live the way you want.

But, and this is a big but- when you are selling your home, it is now a product for sale.

And you have COMPETITION in the market place.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I called my Dad.

All you ladies out there will understand why I made this call. My Dad will do anything for me. Always has and always will. I asked him if he would be willing to bird sit until the house sold. He has raised many birds so I knew he could handle it. Dad is now in his 80's so I thought this would be a great social activity for him getting to know the bird and of course teaching him to say a few new phrases. It doesn't hurt that my Dad is a huge Pavorotti fan either.

So now the bird and my Dad sing and whistle together. And the house is ready to be put on the market.

The agent, Peter Klosowski was blown away that I convinced the seller to part with his prized parrot. He really appreciated that I went above and beyond the call of duty by having my Dad bird sit. He really didn't know how he was going to market a home with giant bird cage and two freezers sitting in the kitchen.

Now the property is ready to be photographed and get sold.

So if you need a home stager in Vaughan that can motivate your clients to do what needs to be done to prepare their home for sale call Advantage Staging to get the ball rolling.

Michelle Finnamore  Advantage Staging

416.928.299

2010 National Builders Association U.S.   Silver Award Design  Zancor Homes

2010 Ontario Home Builders Association  Design Nomination  Devonleigh Homes

2010 Canadian Staging Professionals      Entrepreneur of the Year Award