Selling your home is always stressful and inconvenient however selling during the winter presents its own unique set of challenges. Not only is the market typically slower during colder, winter months but the holidays can make it difficult to juggle the need to decorate with the importance to properly showcase your home. As there are less buyers looking for a home its vital to make sure your property shows beautifully so buyers will willingly – and eagerly – face winter’s cold wrath to preview your home. Keep your driveway and walkways shoveled and accessible. The last thing a seller wants is for a potential buyer to decide not to preview the interior because the exterior is treacherous or difficult to get access to due to snow and ice. Make the exterior too much of a challenge and your... 12/03/2011

Home staging, which has changed the landscape of how homes are sold today, has made really dramatic strides in only the past few years. These changes come in response to a new generation of home buyers whose high expectations are dictating what sells homes – and what doesn’t.  We call this change in mindset Model Home Mentality and it encapsulates the effects of HGTV and snazzy model homes on impressionable home buyers who must have all those fancy upgrades as well as a home which has ‘the look’ before they buy it. Gone are the days when a home owner could put a for sale sign in the front yard and trust that a buyer would be able to look past the way in which they lived in the house and envision what it could look like. Truthfully, it’s a little sad that buyers have changed so drastical... 10/18/2011

At the beginning of August, we were contacted by a local builder about the possibility of staging one of their model homes which had been up for sale for a year. We met with them and toured the home, taking in all the gorgeous architectural features in the home and the extensive upgrades. Originally, they asked us to simply quote them on staging the dining area as they had gotten alot of comments that without furniture, their buyers just couldn't 'see' how their table and chairs set would fit. We agreed that this area was in need of staging however we also took in the fact that because it was an open concept living room/dining room/kitchen that staging one area wasn't really going to do justice to the space. The builder had put in a couch/loveseat, rug and coffee table but their custom ... 09/09/2011

Regardless of whether you call it home staging or home fluffing; the goal is the same – to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar. There is an abundance of articles and information which will tell you how to go about staging your home. These articles however, while they tell you the basics of what to do to get your home ready for sale, they don’t say how to do it. Told to de-clutter and neutralize, sellers often scratch their heads and wonder what should get packed away, how much is too much and what are neutral colors to decorate with which hold modern appeal? It’s very confusing and if sellers don’t get it right or they don’t do what they need to do, they are missing out on maximizing on the equity in their home. Wondering how best to present your home for sale is stressful! W... 07/09/2011

In an age when home staging is such a prevalent real estate tool, it is amazing how many real estate listings are out there which are clearly not in any way ready for potential buyers to walk through. We work with a lot of realtors and know just how tight their marketing budgets are when it comes to their listings. It only makes sense to maximize these dollars by showcasing pictures of modern, bright, uncluttered spaces which will attract buyers in droves. This seems logical to me and I know of many realtors who will refuse to list a property unless the sellers work with a professional stager and follow their recommendations. In the spirit of being helpful, we have compiled a list of the top ten things NOT to do when listing a property for sale. Defer Basic Maintenance Opting to let th... 06/05/2011

It’s amazing how connected people are today with the internet, iPhones, blackberries (I call mine my crackberry), iPads and more. They want information to be accessible everywhere, instantly. Virtually everything in our lives is touched by this hi-tech vibe and its revolutionizing the way people buy and sell real estate these days. Did you know that over 95% of buyers shop online first before even going to see a property? Whether they are browsing through MLS listings at home or viewing them on their iPhone while they are out and about, people are doing their initial search first without even seeing the property. We have dubbed this speed dating for houses because sellers have literally seconds to impress potential buyers before they click on the next listing. So what do the pictures o... 03/23/2011

It’s that time of year again and the spring market is ramping up with a lot of buyers out there searching for new homes. Several of our realtor partners have noted record numbers of buyers at open houses because people are once again shopping for real estate. So what are buyers looking for in 2011? Well, after reading a really great article from AvidBuilder.com called Designing for the 2011 Canadian Home Buyer, my partner and I noted trends which we had talked about previously, being highlighted. In addition to what is in the article, we have added the trends we have noted buyers searching for. 1) Open Concept Homes - Gone are the days where buyers want homes with separate spaces for different family functions. More and more when we stage homes, we are advising our clients to create mu... 03/08/2011