happy holidays and happy staging

Do you have your home on the market during the holidays? Do you feel you are going to lose your mind...well you dont have to...here are some helpful hints to live in your home during the holidays while it is on the market

• wrap all gifts in the same neutral paper
• keep decorations to a minimal
• pack up everyday items when putting out holiday ones..you will be packing them anyway so do it now and save a step.
• celebrate the season when at all possible and skip the holiday
• think of this as a great time to pack everyday items and then after the holidays you can pack and store your holiday displays.

I DO hope this helped...any questions or problems please email me.

Well, You staging stalkers I am off to Wenham in the am for a consult then I begin staging Beverly....just dropping off staging supplies tomorrow and will start staging Wednesday. I also hope to swing by and say hello to my Hamilton job while they are settling in their new home. So I am pretty well booked from now until january 22. However if you need me I can always manage...If you are considering putting your home on the market consider staging, it works.

Holidays are approaching

Hello everyone,
I have finally caught up on some well needed rest. Business has been booming and Staging is working. Monday begins another busy week for me. I have been scheduling all the contractors for my upcoming job in Middleton. We had a pre-staged broker open house the other day it was so much fun to get the recommendations from the realtors and compare it to my recommendations...we were all pretty much in sync. I served them a simple breakfast and toured them through the property. This has been a great opportunity for me as the homeowner is a realtor at Keller Williams and she is using this as a test product for staging. She has given me a budget to work in for the contractors and the staging and as I said we had a prestaged tour and once the project is complete we will have the same realtors in for a post staging tour. This thursday I will attend a special class at Keller Williams Beverly office to see how they instruct the agents as to price this home. I have already put more time into this staging job than most completed projects but it has been well worth it. I haven't even begun the staging process and already have invested at least 40 hrs . I believe it will all pay off in the end.

On another note the joy of staging....Last night we went out to dinner with my assistant and a client and his friend. We had so much fun, laughs, good food, good wine. If it were not for staging I would have never known this three wonderful people. Hopefully tomorrow I can swing by Hamiliton to visit my most recent client in their new home.

I LOVE MY JOB AND ALL THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE I WORK FOR. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE.

Best,
Jeanne

TIRED STAGER..BUT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

Hello all you interested Stagers....it has been a busy week, month for me. Today I was in Beverly delivering paint for my next job...and then it was back to Hamiliton at 4 to begin the de-staging process (the worst part of staging) I had to remove all my inventory from their home load my car(s) come home, unload, re-pack for beverly....re-stock my inventory, etc. It was sad to take all my inventory from Hamiliton as the house looked so awesome with all my things..it was sad to say goodbye to new friends..but friends I know I will still have...we have actually shopped for bargains together and I know we will continue to do so. It is amazing the people you meet along your journey...but you know what they say...you meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down..the big and the little both have need of eachother....not sure where that came from, but a good message.
I am god willing attending the KW Beverly Holiday sale on Friday..I have a consult in the morning .. but I do hope it allows me to still attend the shopping event and participate. One part of being a stager I will never get use to is the change in schedule hour by hour...but it is all worth it.
I am going to see if I can figure out how to download pics from the somerville job and post them here so until I do, goodnight.
best,
Jeane

ANOTHER SATISFIED CUSTOMER..AND NEW FRIEND

What can I say, I love my job...I get the opportunity to meet some of the kindest, most wonderful people. The family that wrote the below testimonial was one of the neatest families I have ever met (they actually all sit at the table and share breakfast and dinner together.) All of their grown children contributed to the move, they are amazing. I am so lucky to meet such great folks. See below:

Hi Jeanne, the following is to go on your blog: Jeanne visited my home four days after I decided to sell it out of the blue. I wasn't planning on moving for two years but the house I am buying came up for sale and it is 'me'! Jeanne has a phenomenal eye. She saw through my 28 years of clutter and her vision for transforming my house for 'sale ready' was nothing short of miraculous. Jeanne staged it in one day and we had an offer 11 days later!! We close and move next week, six weeks after it being placed on the market! It is nothing short of amazing how she can take your things, add a few others and you then have a home you never knew could look like those in a magazine!! I have learned that staging is not just for selling. I want her to come to my new house and help me stage that, too! Best, Debbie

STAGERS BEWARE..AND BE PREPARED

OMG.....staging a vacant this past week.. a condo conversion...the owner of the first floor was all over the place ... unannounced ..just showed up...that was weird in of its self. But then when he charged at me and my assistant as we arrived and I threw a cigarette butt out of the car and he lost it..omg..scary. He was a certifiable loon...he was shaking, erratic, as he charged the vehicle yelling at us that we broke the law with dispensing of cigarette butts. He was even scarier when he shut it off as fast as he turned it on.

STAGERS BEWARE AND BE SAFE ALWAYS

OH MY GOSH!
STAGERS BEWARE, DO NOT GO TO A JOB ALONE...IF YOU DO BRING YOUR CELL PHONE NAD CHARGER.
THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER
YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH
OMG..WHAT A DAY AND THANK THE LORD I HAD AN ASSISTANT WITH ME
PEOPLE ARE CRAZY OUT THERE
I WILL WRITE DETAILS LATER...JUST DO NOT GO ON A JOB ALONE, EVER, EVER

WORD TO THE WISE

Hello out there in bloggerville...
My words of wisdom for the day....do not try to do a presentation that requires 4 hours set up on 3 hours sleep, you will sound like a blundering idiot..I did my holiday demonstration on Monday at 9 am, a good amount of people in the audience ... I was so well prepared had a script and all but did I follow it, NO..I was so sleep deprived between oldest son smashing into a tree on Friday night and waking me at 1am....oldest daughter moving thursday before and helping her until 3am...coming home friday and working on display items for the demo..saturday spending all day doing final touches to presentation until 3am....sunday finding out I couldnt get in the barn until monday morning loaded the car until 1am....and then up at 445 to get ready to finish loading car and to the barn I go at 7am..needless to say I wasnt orgainized or prepared for the demonstration...I had a very nice fellow BNI member trying to help me she is in the storage business not the staging or decorating but she did the best she could and she worked very hard and took good direction...thank you gayla. I had invited other disciplines from my bni the flower arranger, the storage people, the caterer, the shaklee rep, etc. and they did an awesome job and I thank them. I want to do it all over again when my kids are behaving and I get some sleep, I truly had a great presentation planned. Please tell me what age do the kids grow up and deal with their own issues on their own. I was on the south shore today collecting my oldest sons belongings out of the truck I paid for in full that he drove into a tree last week...as I dialed 411 for my oldest daughter, for some reason her phone would'nt call 411 do you think it was the 1.50 charge per call? Then we were to head to Ikea together, well guess what that was the highlight of my day and she got wrapped up in her personal stuff and we didnt do it...I begin a new staging job tomorrow...do you think they will be there to help me? I will wait and see...but why should they Mike is driving to and from work and wherever else in my car..cait is at her dads sleeping after I helped pay her rent for the new place I knew she would hate because it is too small and I am here worrying about them...something wrong with this picture. I moved last september I dont remember seeing either of their faces helping me with the move...oh wait I do remember Mike while he was getting paid an hourly wage to do dump runs and mow the lawn....cait where were you? As I packed, trucked and cleaned your part of the house? But oh yes Mom will be there for you...no worries, remember my name is oh damn is it s***ker or is it mom? I will never know in my lifetime.
The babbling idiot stager,
jeanne
oh p.s. Zac dont worry I will be there to get you from football, help you with your homework, drive you to your friends, pick you up from football, stop on my way home from a long day to get you tha video game and make you those pancakes in the morning with lots of butter, little syrup,oh and was it steak you wanted for dinner? Gatoraides light blue not dark ones like I got today..Oh I will run out and get you the clothes you need for tomorrows field trip and chuck will drive your friends home and order the pizza....oh did you say you needed an other lunch ticket and I have a meeting at your school....another note for being late for 2 minutes ... oh your favorite jeans arent clean hold on I will have them ready in the morning...damn your football shirt in your room that stinks needs to be ready by the morning...no problem...dont forget I need to be at my BNI meeting in the morning leaving at 630...but dont worry you dont have to walk to the bus chuck will drive you...and I am heading to boston to work after my meeting...so if you forget anything call chuck he remembers the combo to your locker when he had to get your football gear you left at school...oh one more thing I bought you new deodorant today as you left yours at tims and were using chucks this morning...and all your socks are clean so open your drawer and stay out of chucks.
Also, Mike your work clothes are clean and in your drawers..and I picked up your winter coat in weymouth today at the auto shop so dont worry about being cold tomorrow.
Oh and thanksgiving next week when is anyone telling me what the hell they are doing...should I buy the turkey or head north? It would be nice to know by weeks end.
Thanks,
Your loving mother
Chelsea I will start on you tomorrow, smiling, I love you all but remember I am one you are four.
look to each other and let mom have a day off. Hugs and kisses, love all four of you!

HOLIDAY STAGING PRESENTATION

Good morning.....Is everyone ready for the holidays? Is your house decluttered? clean? Have you unpacked or located your holiday decorating items, your china, silver, napkins, etc. if not you may want to come to the Gould Barn in Topsfield Monday, November 17th at 9:30 am and see a hands on demonstration on how to transistion your holiday decor from holiday to the next, creative handmade items for your table top, how to set the perfect table, decorating your mantel, door, centerpieces, etc. etc.
There will be several professionals there that can give you tips and tricks to help you prepare for a stress free holiday decorating. Also, Kelli Petri Catering will be preparing the food, yummy!
Please come join us for a fun filled morning, no pressure, no sales pitches.
Hope to see you all Monday, you will be glad you came there will be something for everyone.
Also, there will be raffles and door prizes.

LEARNING CURVE

Hello out there,
It has been awhile...I have been staging away from Somerville to Hamilton to Middleton. I am having so much fun and loving my job and my work. I have been fortunate to have a great assistant on my last three jobs it is always hard to let go of some control...but I have learned to and it feels good. The job we just completed in Hamilton came out fabulous and unknown to us when we began on Monday that there would be a broker open house on Tues. at 11am. We ended up working until 1030 pm. But we got it done it was a totally new experience for me speed staging, but it worked.
Today I got the biggest compliment of my staging career. The realtor for Hamilton called me to share with me that during her open house today another stager toured the home and said I did a great job! Nothing better than a fellow stager complimenting your work.
I will write more on this later.....lots to share on this very exciting job.
Best to all,
Jeanne
Check me out on StagedHomes.com type in 01921 in the search page.

WHO KNEW???

Hello,

Who knew? That you could stage a property and then when it doesnt work in todays market you can restage and retransform the place into to something totally different. Well I did just that at 31 Adams Street, Somerville...we created a two bedroom condo with a formal living and dining room, eat in kitchen...from a two bedroom living room and eat in kitchen. Staging is wonderful...you can turn anything in to something.

Jeanne

MY STAGED HOMES SELL IN ANY MARKET!

Good morning, my apologies for not blogging in awhile. I have been very fortunate the past few weeks with the amount of staging I have been doing. I just finished up a corporate event in Saugus, Condo in Somerville, Consult in N.Reading, Consult in Middleton and so on. I am heading back to Somerville tomorrow to re-stage the condo, the potential buyer did not pan out so the realtor has suggested we re-locate the assignment of some of the rooms to create a formal dining room, etc. I have been able to use a fellow BNI member to assist me with my recent jobs as well as the electrician from my BNI, the florist and others. Thank You BNI!

Life is Good! I hope it is for all of you out there as well.

I will begin the un-staging process in Swampscott this week as well, another property went from For Sale to SOLD!

Remember me for all your STAGING needs.

Jeanne

correction to last post

SECOND PARAGRAPH SHOULD READ: I AM NOW ACCEPTING CREDIT CARDS..

TO REITERATE....I AM NOW ACCEPTING CREDIT CARDS.

SORRY FOR THE TYPO

Back from vacation

Good morning to all,
I am back from a week at the beach and feeling refreshed and ready to work. It has been slow since the fourth and this has given me the chance to update my web page. All changes can be seen tomorrow.
More good news, I am now accepting credit card payments for my services...this should make it alot easier for homeowners and realtors to use my services.
REMEMBER THE INVESTMENT IN STAGING IS ALWAYS LESS THAN THE FIRST PRICE REDUCTION!
Jeanne

Staging/Preparing Homes for Sale: Staging Homes across the North Shore of Boston

Staging/Preparing Homes for Sale: Staging Homes across the North Shore of Boston

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Do you realize that 94% of staged homes sell within thirty days....what are waiting for? Stage your house to sell fast in any market.

I have the knowledge, tools and talent to get your home staged to sell and FAST.

Contact me for a free bid.

PREPARING FOR A HOLIDAY PARTY?

Did you know that as an ASP (accredited staging professional) I can stage your home for all holiday celebrations....the fourth of July being just around the corner. Are you planning a celebration and have run out of time to get the house and entertaining area ready? Are you lost for ideas? Do you need help with a menu? Tableware, tabletop decorations?

If you answered yes to any of the above you need to call me Jeanne Conroy Monaco, ASP...to stage your party!

Why not enjoy your holiday instead of working it.

YOU CAN LEAD THE HORSE.....

To water.....but you can't make him drink. I just completed a mini staging in a vacant house...I met the realtor at the property to submit a bid....the home was impressive but lacked a vision for the use of the space for potential buyers. We took the few pieces of furniture that were in the home and moved them to the difficult space (what a difference it made) as an experiment I brought in some props I had in the car, area rug, pillows, dinnerware, placemats, centerpieces, props, etc. I did this to give the homeowner a taste of what my "staged" homes could be. The transformation was incredible...but unfortunately the homeowner considered this an expense instead of investment...he wanted his realtor to pay for my service which she was not in the position to do...so I had to go unstage the property...what a shame.

I truly believe that if he had made the small investment he would have had an offer this weekend...(I did learn a lesson however, never invest your own time, energy, etc. into a job until you have a commitment, three hours of free labor for the homeowner at no expense to him and he still got a mini staging)but he still may with just the simple change of furniture we made. I will post pictures later today.

I am off to West Newbury for a consultation today....lets hope this homeowner gets it.

MY STAGED PROPERTIES SELL!

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO STAGE YOUR HOME?

The ultimate time to stage your house is before it goes on the market. You want to start the selling process with a bang....if you stage after it has been on the market you will not get those first lookers back in the door. It is still a good idea to stage at any point but the very best time is before that first broker open house.

Allow me to make your home stand out from the competition.

First impressions matter.

WOULD YOU SELL YOUR CAR WITHOUT DETAILING IT?

Of course not, some of you may be confused as to what staging exactly is...here are a few analogies:

You detail your car before selling it......I do the same thing to your house

If you were shopping for red apples would you buy the shinniest one or the one with all the bruises and dents.......I shine your house to prepare it for sale

If you were looking for new furniture would you rather see it in a showroom all set up or just pieces mixed and matched with no rhyme or reason to them.......I turn your house into that showroom

If two identical houses were on the market, same size, layout, age, etc. would you buy the one that has no flow to it, bad colors, messy, cluttered, etc. .....I change all that to make your house flow and have purpose

Two cars in a lot are for sale same age, same color, same mileage, same price, one was clean and polished and the other not......which one would you buy? ......I make yours the polished one

When you buy a piece of furniture that needs assembly would you buy it without a picture of the finished product and step by step photos.....I provide the finished product and take the guess work out it

I hope this has helped any confused minds out there, staging really does work, try it and not just for selling your home but for living, entertaining, special occassion, holidays, etc. etc.

STAGING IS AN INVESMENT NOT AN EXPENSE

THE INVESTMENT IN STAGING IS LESS THAN THE FIRST PRICE REDUCTION ....Barb Schwarz
Staging is an INVESTMENT in getting a house sold and the investment in staging is always less than a price reduction. I have been trained to work with a seller's budget and time frame to properly stage a house. "Can you afford NOT to Stage?"

CLUTTER EATS EQUITY

We all value our possessions, our memories, etc. When you are trying to sell your house you have to pack all these items away. You want the potential buyer to be able visualize their own photos in the space. We want buyers to be looking at the space not your stuff. A confused mind says NO.

STAGING STRATEGIES TODAY 12PM

WHO: JEANNE, OWNER OF STAGED TO PERFECTION, LLC.

WHERE: KELLER WILLIAMS, MAIN STREET, TOPSFIELD

WHEN: TODAY AT 12PM

WHAT: PRESENTATION ON STAGING STRATEGIES

WHY: LEARN THE LATEST AND GREATEST WAYS TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FAST AND FOR MORE MONEY

As you can see from above today I am doing a presentation at Keller Williams, Topsfield office. If you want to learn the latest strategies for preparing your home for sale in a buyers market stop by. One lucky person will win a free consultation and someone will win a free one room staging of a current listing. Refreshments will be served.

Hope to see you there!

Hope to see you there.

Can anyone afford not to stage?

Returned from Ipswich today and I realized no matter how big and beautiful a home is every one needs to invest in staging.

THE INVESTMENT IN STAGING IS ALWAYS LESS THAN THE FIRST PRICE REDUCTION.

Let me stage your house.

STAGED VS. UNSTAGED

COMPARE THE TWO PHOTOS OF THE SAME DINING SPACE. WHICH ONE IS MORE INVITING? WHICH ONE WILL DRAW THE MOST ATTENTION FROM POTENTIAL BUYERS? OF COURSE THE ANSWER IS THE STAGED ONE. STAGING WORKS WHEN YOU USE AN ASP STAGER LIKE ME.

STAGED VS. UNSTAGED ...
WHICH DINING ROOM WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT IN?

<-----STAGED

Here is the same room as below but now it staged and has a purpose. The room looks very inviting and functional. The confusion has been removed.

<-----UNSTAGED FAMILY/DINING ROOM

Potential buyers cannot see what this space could be, with its odd shape and lay out .. by rearranging the furniture, decluttering and depersonlizing the potential buyer will want to come in and spend time in this room without having to think of what the space could be.

Off to Ipswich on this beautiful day

I couldn't ask for better weather than today! I am heading to Ipswich to do a consultation on a very large home. The owners would like to increase the price ..... which they can't do until they stage it.. If there is no changes being make to the house they cannot increase the price. Hopefully they will agree to staging it....which will help them get more people in the door and create a lot more interest in the property. Staged homes sell in any market for more money and in less time than non staged homes.

The way we live in our homes and the way we prepare them for market ARE two different things!

Clutter eats equity, let me de-clutter your space so the potential buyers can see the space and not your stuff.

You will be moving soon enough lets get a jump on packing.

STAGED HOMES SELL IN ANY MARKET!

Staging Homes across the North Shore of Boston

My name is Jeanne Conroy Monaco, ASP, IAHSP. I am an Accredited STaging Professional and member of the International association of Staged Homes, I also belong to my local BNI. I have recently moved from the South Shore to the beautiful North Shore. I am the owner/president of Staged to Perfection, LLC. I trained under Barb Schwarz the founder of www.stagedhomes.com . My web site is www.StagingHomesMa.com .

Since my move to the North Shore my staging business has become very successful, I am a preferred vendor for one local real estate company. Several local realtors have begun using me as a part of their marketing plan with their clients.

I can do as little or as much as you would like.

STAGED HOMES SELL IN ANY MARKET!

I look forward to blogging!

Jeanne