A Labor of Love

I really love staging houses and helping my clients sell their houses for the best price possible in the shortest period of time.  This week I was engaged in a labor of love helping my husband’s mother, Mary Gasior, transition into her next life adventure in an assisted living center.  We moved her to her new home and then painted, updated and staged her house which was placed on the market for sale. 

This labor of love also explains why I’ve been a bit spotty in posting to “to be continued”.  Without cable or internet access and with jam-packed days of work, it was tough to find the time for “to be continued”.

Mary lived for 10 years in a 55-plus community in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.  Due to health issues, she needed to move to the assisted living center and sell her house.  I must confess that it is one thing to tell a client her house needs to be painted and updated and quite another to tell your mother-in-law!   

We painted her house with top selling colors from Sherwin Williams (Ivorie – SW 6127 and Blonde – SW 6128) – and the colors were spectacular.  They were elegant and inviting.  We updated the bathroom light fixture and changed out all of the cabinet pulls.  For about $500 and a good bit of sweat equity from my husband and his sister’s family, we made her house look fresh and almost like new.

We filled our SUV to the brim with staging accessories and artwork for the staging side of this adventure.  We used a few pieces of furniture Mary was not taking to the assisted living center and picked up a table at Pier One.  It is often wonderful to see what can be accomplished with some basics and a whole lot of ingenuity.

There was a lot of pressure on this home stager who sets perfection as her standard.  Since this was for family, the end product needed to be perfection plus.  The accompanying photos tell the story better than I can so check them out.

The good news is that the family was very impressed with how we were able to transform her house. 

With the help of the statue of St. Joseph buried in the backyard, Mary’s horoscope about something good happening for her in real estate on May 9^th and lot of hard work, we are hopeful that this house sells quickly in a tough real estate market. 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

PS – Happy Mother’s Day to every mother out there and especially to Kaye Stafford (my mom), Mary Gasior (my mother-in-law) and Florene Britt (my 95 year old grandmother!)

Remarkable Is the New Business as Usual

Wow!  This certainly sets a high standard for Realtors and home sellers.  I read this line in a Facebook marketing report.  As you can imagine, it struck a chord with me. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I set a very high standard for myself when I am given an opportunity to stage someone’s house.  My standard is perfection and it is not always easy to attain.  Now I need to add remarkable to my list of standards!!!

If you think about it, this standard makes sense for selling houses.  In a competitive real estate market, the savvy seller and proactive Realtor want their house to be remarkable as well as competitive. 

Who wants to buy mediocre, “just OK” or similar to the rest of the houses on the market?  The only buyers I can imagine wanting this are those buyers looking for a bargain by offering a dramatically reduced price.

Most buyers don’t imagine themselves living in ordinary or “just OK”. They imagine themselves living in different, unique or special.  Buyers want to imagine their best selves in the house they intend to buy.

Professional home staging can transform “just OK” into “this house is unique, special and remarkable”.  By accentuating the house’s best features and providing a nice, easy and consistent use of space and movement a professionally staged house appeals to as many buyers as possible.  Most importantly, home staging helps sell the house quicker and for the highest price possible.

With a professionally staged house, buyers imagine living in that house and making it their home.  And that is because this staged house was remarkable – the new business as usual.

Remember to dwell in possibilities!

Cindy