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The average home buyer spends seven seconds in a room. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when buyers have several houses to look at in a single day, they really do spend seven seconds in a room, and move on. Those few seconds need to grab them in a positive way.

As a stager I’m consciously building an energy and a flow so buyers can easily move from one room to the next. It’s important because you want the potential home buyer to feel at ease, and imagine what it would like to be…home.

I build the connection with a neutral color palette and strategically placed accent colors and accessories. It’s not just, here’s red, here’s blue.

I want the buyer to have positive feeling that stays with them long after they’ve left your home.

The greatest measure of success is how quickly a home sells

A home is New Salem had been on the market for a over a year. It didn’t sell, so the owners rented it out for another year. The home owners then decided they really needed to sell it.

At that point, the realtor said, why don’t you get it staged?

To freshen up the inside I helped the owners pick out paint colors. It wasn’t necessary to stage the whole house. It never is. The New Salem home had a big and spacious open floor plan so it was important to give potential buyers a sense for where they could put their own living room furniture, and dining room table. I also staged the kitchen, bathrooms and home office.

Within 10 days they had 2 offers.

Slide yellow circle to view before & after

“When I met with Laura to plan the staging of my empty home, she explained the process and walked me through her ideas for furnishing the house, even suggesting colors for the walls. The house looked gorgeous, tasteful, spacious and very appealing.

Ten days after the house listed, we had accepted an offer and had a second one as a backup!

Laura not only has a good eye for staging, she is friendly, replies promptly when you contact her and follows through with what she promises — a joy to work with!” — Angelica LeBoeuf, New Salem

Living In Your Home Before It Sells?

Angelica’s New Salem house was completely empty before I staged it, but I also stage owner occupied homes.

Carol and Dave wanted to relocate to Florida. They had a beautiful condo in East Longmeadow and contacted their realtor a year in advance of their move. The realtor suggested they phone me to set up a consultation.

I asked them to let me look at their condo with fresh eyes, and together we went from room to room. We talked about what they needed to keep so they could continue living comfortably in their own home. We also discussed what they could get rid of, or move into storage.

Yes. We could do that…

Everything is always negotiable. When the home owner says, “Yes, we could do that,” or “No. I really need this over here,” I make a note of everything we’ve decided upon.

After our consultation they received a staging blueprint that outlined:
• what to do first
• what to do next
• what things need to be packed up.

Home Staging is a Team Effort

When people hire me as their stager we become a team. We work together and share ideas. If painting is necessary, or plumbing fixtures need to be replaced, or flooring needs attention, I can provide a list of referrals.

After Carol and Dave completed their preparations on their condo, they were ready for part two of the staging process. I call it “the presentation” phase.

I brought in art work and accessories to give each room a spark. Carol and Dave were involved with that process, too, because even though they were planning to move, they still had to live with the art work and accessories I chose for their home sale. I asked them to pick out the things they felt most comfortable with.

It was phenomenal because it was January, plus the weather was really bad…

That February was a snowy month which put a damper on the housing market, but our home had neighbors and potential buyers salivating.

By early April we had 3 simultaneous offers and accepted a cash offer which was more than our asking price. — Carol Roberts, East Longmeadow

Staging Homes For Sale for Over 10 Years

I’ve been staging homes for sellers, for over 10 years and truly love what I do.

My staging is a two pronged approach because I work with people who have vacant homes, and people who have owner occupied homes.

It’s best if sellers contacted me before they put their house on the market because there’s a lot of prep work involved getting a house ready for sale.

Often times people will phone after the house has been sitting on the market for months. They often think, the real estate market is good right now, and my house is going to sell one way or the other. Sometimes homes do sell quickly without much preparation, but staged homes have a better chance of selling quickly.

INFO GRAPHIC HERE

Other times people think their vacant house will sell more quickly because of the old expression, ‘less is more.’ Vacant homes sound empty. They feel empty. Unfortunately they don’t leave people with a good first impression, which is what you’re aiming for when you want to sell your home at the best price and in the shortest time possible.

Consultation?

If you’re considering home staging, scheduling a consultation is a great place to start. Not only will I let you know how to start preparing your home for sale, I’ll leave you with a blueprint that walks you through the preparation phase step-by-step. And it’s all based on what you decided works best for your life.

My many years of teaching taught me how to prepare for and organize the important details so you don’t get distracted and overwhelmed with the enormity of moving.

We felt at ease with Laura from our first meeting. She gave us her suggestions for each room in writing and was always available to answer questions.

As we discussed and then followed her plan to update the outdated look of our older home, it became warmer and more inviting and we achieved the fresh look we were seeking. — Foy Miller, East Longmeadow