Back in March of 2004, after I had completed my studies in interior design at Harrington College of Design, I was asked by a Realtor to "stage" a high rise condo in Chicago, which actually had a lot working against its potential sale.
I can remember thinking... "Staging? What the heck is that?" You see at that time, I really knew NOTHING about home staging. So I researched what I could on the web. However, unfortunately at that time, there was not as much information available as there is today on sits such as in Active Rain's Stage It Forward group. But there was enough that I was able to get the "basics" of what staging is all about… which was to de-clutter and let the HOUSE be the STAR not the STUFF in it.
So with this new found LIMITED information I did the next best thing I could do... I blended this new understanding with: 1.) My own life experiences of multiple moves (where my father, an account executive for United Air Lines, always had us get the house "ready for selling" each time we were transferred) 2.) My newly educated creative passion (interior design) and 3.) My professional career experiences spanning the past 20 years (sales, marketing and most importantly and helpful... advertising).I can recall going out and buying nearly $700 worth of props for this 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo and thinking "what would I do with all these nic-nacs & fake plants when the condo sold?" But, I didn't worry too much... as I figured I could always use the after photos as part of my interior design portfolio. (Odd thing is I DON'T use these photos in either our interior design portfolio OR our staging portfolio.)
Well, anyway, the home staging not only worked... and worked FANTASTICALLY!
The property sold in 10 days, had 3 offers and sold over its original list price! While selling over list is not unheard of, what makes this QUITE unique is the fact that NOTHING had been selling it the ENTIRE high-rise for months as any new owner was going to be hit with a special assessment for new windows. In the case of this particular corner unit the special assessment was going to be an astounding $20,000!
Plus what was also working against the sale was its original kitchen (ugly dated metal cabinets) and there were OTHER units in the same tier of the high-rise with fully renovated kitchens. So you can see why I say much was working against the sale of this condo.
It is no surprise, and rightfully so, that the Listing Realtor still takes great pride in the fact that for over 2 years after it sold this unit held the selling price record for a non-renovated 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit in this condominium high-rise.
This whole experience was AMAZING to me… I learned FIRST HAND just how awesome of a marketing tool home staging can be when it comes to selling real estate.
Needless to say, I was SOLD ON STAGING in Chicago… and on that day I became a home stager and Real Estaging was born.
Stage It Forward...
Me
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