If you or anyone in your household watches the Woman’s Network, you might be familiar with the shows featuring the Property Brothers. I don’t tend to watch many real estate related shows, but my wife LOVES them! I can’t really blame her because she’s my principle designer and the Property Brothers always produce a solid end result that she loves to assess and discuss.
Although my wife and I don’t have a camera following us around (still working on that one!) the essence of the Property Brothers is a huge part of the service we love to provide to our clients. When we first started together, we asked ourselves how can we do real estate BETTER? Combining our skills to prepare & market homes for sale was an obvious position; my wife, Stephanie, had her own staging company, Style By Stephanie before I became a Realtor, and our clients benefited from results long before Home Staging was a common industry term.
Not One Service Fits All
I’m the first person to know that not everyone agree’s with my stance that home staging is important and I get it. It appears to be a lot of work with no guarantee of an exact payout. Regardless of research and studies that prove home staging gets sellers the best return on their investment, there are some who don’t want to do it and that’s fine. As much as I would like every client of mine to take the service we offer, I will let you know that you don’t have too. Even without home staging, our team still offers a host of other top notch services that are proven to sell your home.
It took many decades of my life to realize that you can’t change a person’s mind, no matter how air-tight you think your position is. And you can’t change a person’s mind if you are a relative stranger to them. And you really can’t change a person’s mind if you are a stranger who is also a Real Estate Agent. So I’m not here to convert anyone who thinks home preparation and staging is pointless or ineffective. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but as a professional, it is my duty to offer the service that will be the most effective profitable to my clients. We’ve worked hard over the past few years to be clear about what we do, so that we continue to attract more and more like-minded clients.
Almost all of my clients had the same concerns about home staging, no matter how willing they were to do it. First, could I deliver what I said I could, and second, would they see a return on their investment. Let me clarify now that the investment can be as little as a few hundred dollars, (up to multiple thousands of dollars) but there is also the time, effort, and trust that every client gives which is integral to the investment.
This is an example of home staging that is included for our clients at no additional cost.
We have done everything from light accessorizing, to painting parties, to overseeing full kitchen and bath remodels. It’s all based on the neighbourhood demand, your budget, and what the expectations of your target buyer are. We firmly believe it’s not worth doing unless you can get at least 2-3 times return on every dollar you spend. And we achieve this result time and time again through creating a strategic, buyer-focused design plan.
What is ALWAYS included, at no charge to you?
1. A 1-hour home staging consultation where Style By Stephanie will evaluate every room in your home and highlight areas to focus your efforts
2. A multi-page, full colour staging report, itemizing the ideal steps to prepare your home for sale. This can include floor plans, kitchen/bath concepts, paint colour options, product sourcing, and general advice.
3. The use of our accessories and props while your home is listed for sale. This includes art, bed linens, pillows, various accessories and small furniture. We will fill in the blanks for you; who wants to buy a bunch of stuff to stage that you don’t need after your home is sold?
4. Professional design plans, if your project is of a larger scale, including any cosmetic updates. We will design the concept and connect you with trade professionals to get the job done right.
5. Sourcing for products such as cabinetry, tiles, flooring, lighting, etc. Our mission is to obtain the most beautiful, luxe look for a rock bottom price. We have our sources that can beat Home Depot any day of the week.
What Do We Ask of Our Clients?
We ask that you do as much research as you can when comparing realtors. When we say we provide staging, it’s far more than putting an oversized sofa in a bare room. The promise of Free Staging is now a gimmick that a lot of agents offer, but what you actually get can fall far short of what we do. We ask for your enthusiasm and energy. Whether or not you believe in karma or goodwill, the homeowners who were 100% on board with us and our plan, all of them, got fantastic results. We ask for the opportunity to earn your trust. Real Estate doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Below are some examples of our finished staged work, all of which sold for top dollar. And stay with us over the coming weeks, and allow us to show you, case by case, how we serve our clients best.
Sample of Homes We Have Staged
