Acclaim Staging 888.770.0670

for better or for worse?

7/27/2015

It is a common knowledge that it is always better to have a house staged than let it sit empty, and I tend to agree with that not just because I am a practicing stager, but also because it makes a great sense to stage a house: staging investment pays off many times over. Good stagers do a great work, showing a house best potential and addressing it’s functionality. Here are some points to determine if your stager gave a house a good attention:

Furniture and art placed in the house suit its architecture and period.
All items are attractive and communicate to each other in balance, scale and color
Staging exhibits a good taste of the stager
Functionality of spaces are addressed correctly
All accessories and staging pieces strategically placed and make sense
House “flows” all spaces are well connected and “communicate to each other

But is your investment always worth it? I personally admire many stagers for their exceptional work, but looking at some staging out there, I think it would be better if house remained just clean and empty, and here are some examples.

Talking about “bare minimum.” There is no warm feeling about this house, no pretty things, and furniture is not in scale. Activities? Yes, they were addressed: Did you notice a big basket full of pine cones next to the sofa on left? I guess visitors won’t get bored in this room for awhile…

Red Carpet, Anyone?

I ‘ve never tired to preach: Everything going to the stage has a purpose, and implies certain activity. If this stager followed this rule by putting place mats on the kitchen counter, he/she suggesting eating at the counter standing in the kitchen?

SHARE IF YOU DARE...

By not providing any sitting area, but putting a tray on the bed, stager is suggesting that room is so small, there is no place to sit, except of the bed.

How all these objects are related to each other? This display is very confusing…

Sometimes the opposite is true: suggested activity is too suggestive…

And this is just in case you confused YOUR home with a place of your drinking buddy.

I hope my blog made you smile….

0 Comments

Simple Facts: Exposed – Real Cost of Staging…

5/14/2015

0 Comments

Staging is a complex process with many components involved, including dedication, effort, good design and project management. Having a good inventory of furniture and accessories is also a big plus. But let's start from the people we need to have on the project beyond the staging team. .

We need movers to move staging to your destination -

How Much Does a Local Mover Cost?

Moves are considered local when they are within 100 miles and stay inside the state of origin. Local movers generally charge around $25 per hour, per mover, broken into quarter hours. Moving time varies according to the size of the unit, amount of contents and whether the movers are hired to load and unload only or also handle the packing.

Typical costs:

A studio apartment takes two movers--at $25 each per hour--an average of 2-4 hours to load, transport and unload for a price of $100-$200.
The same service for a 900-square foot two-bedroom apartment with three movers will take 4-6 hours and cost $300-$450.
Price for a three-bedroom, 1,750-square foot house using four movers who load, transport and unload, runs $600-$900 and takes about 6-9 hours.

A larger home with more than 5,000-square feet will take six or more movers 8-12 hours and is priced around $1,200-$1,800.

We save you money on moving – we own our company truck, but we do hire people to load and unload.

Does it worth to hire a stager?

Some consumers wonder if the hassle of rearranging rooms, buying new accessories and furniture, and ensuring that the house is always ready to look like a designer showroom is worth it. MortgageNewsDaily.com indicates that most homes that are professionally stage will end up bringing in roughly 3% more than the anticipated price. This means that a homeowner who dedicates $3000 to a home staging project, and who sells their home for $500k, will have earned $15000 for their effort. Clearly, this indicates that such a project is well worth the expense.

Furniture and accessories rental from a budget friendly company...

If you have to rent for more than 30 days, add $1587.66. This package doesn’t include setup fee or removal fee. Here is the catch: Say, you would like to rent a couch for one month for the price of $100.00. The problem is they want you to rent it for 3 months minimum, so your rate would be $300.00 no matter what! Or take a dining set with a medium size table and 4 chairs. Cost would be $80.00 a month. However, minimum rent is 3 months, communicating to $240.00 price tag. Our staging is good for 45 days. As a rule, houses we stage sell much faster. If there is a problem and house did not sell in 45 days, we would charge $30.00 a day rental fee for the entire staging, payable from the close of escrow. This is because we own our furniture inventory. However, payment becomes due if listing is cancelled or been withdrawn from the market.

Example of our charges –

Price per sq.f. staging is from $1.25 - $1.50 (set up and removal fee)

Cost of truck and movers varies from $500.00 to $700.00

How to calculate our cost?

Your house is 1,200 sq. f.
Multiply this number by $1.50 = $1,800
Move in and out cost is $500.00
Total cost for 1,200 sq. f. home is $2,300 for 45 days all inclusive. Cost of staging would also depend on how easy it is to access the property. 1-story homes with easy access generally cost less than apartments with stairs and small elevators to squeeze the furniture in. Difficult parking on the street would also add to the price, because of unloading staging items would take much longer time and efforts. Bottom of line – no houses are the same, and all of them require individual estimate.
Good news – we try to work within a reasonable budget, and open to negotiation.

Summary:

What does it take to make it happen, and what is it in a price consideration?

Property assessment

- Contract and invoicing
-Design plan for the staging and furniture/accessories scheduling
- Professional licenses
- Insurances
- Cost of truck, gas and movers
- Cost of furniture, art and accessories replacement
- Working on site labor fee: furniture and accessories placement, cleaning furniture and accessories, vacuuming, steaming beddings and curtains and making that place look fabulous (it takes anywhere from 1-3 days depends on the size of property)

         - Loading staging leftovers and clean-up
        - Once house is sold, there is a removal work: packing furniture and accessories, loading truck, patching holes and touching walls up with paint (if paint is left for us in the house); Leaving house in the same condition we’ve received it prior to the staging
       - Moving furniture to our warehouse location, unloading and checking inventory back.
Rinse and repeat!
Please, contact us if you’ll have any questions regarding our staging processes or with any questions you may have.

0 Comments

trendy and functional spaces.

4/6/2015

1 Comment

In order to present house to it’s best potential, seller or agent needs to know the current trends not just in real estate but in interior design as well.
Current trends are simple and fit to the everyday busy lifestyle the best. If home buyers find the interior of the home appealing to them, house itself will also be attractive. Mid-century pieces of furniture looks fabulous in modern interiors, they mix well together with other styles and are very proper in the most California Bay Area homes. If homes are staged with classy mid-century modern flair, they look very appealing to the savvy Bay Area home buyers who are searching for the homes with higher price range tags.
Acclaim Staging always keeps on the top of the trends and our staff knows what would be appealing to the most of the buyers. If although mid-century modern style is a big trend, our goal is not to re-create or preserve a mid-century-period look, but rather to build upon the best of those elements, while creating a home setting that is completely fresh and relevant to contemporary living.
For that reason, we constantly update our inventory and happy to introduce our new additions to our readers and clients.
And here they are – Noguchi table and Barcelona chairs

Noguchi table compliments well the other contemporary pieces, according to the Noguchi Museum's website, "late in his life the artist felt that it [the coffee table] was the only instance in which he had been wholly successful in the field of the furniture design."
Yet another iconic pieces of furniture acquired by us are the Barcelona chairs (shown on the picture in full pony leather), designed by Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which made its debut in his German Pavilion at the International Exposition of 1929 in Barcelona, Spain (hence the name). Knoll has the rights to produce the licensed chair, which is available through some of our favorite modern furniture suppliers. These chairs are handmade and are very high quality. The collection also includes the coordinating ottoman and the very popular Barcelona Daybed.

The Florence Knoll Sofa (also shown in the picture above), Chair and Loveseat is a design icon. The original design was introduced in 1956 by Florence Knoll, a world class architect and designer. It is a relatively simple design as it was originally meant to complement the classic innovations of Saarinen and Bertoia. The Knoll philosophy of furniture design solves practical and aesthetic design problems. The philosophy results in minimalist beauty, lasting durability and luxurious comfort in one complete package, and this is why these pieces serve as a base in many of our staging décor.

The innovative Diamond Chair, designed by Harry Bertoia in 1952 (shown in the picture above), is a testament to the designer’s unique design vision and talent. The impressive diamond-shaped frame, formed of welded steel rods is the result of Bertoia extensive experimental work with bents rods. In his own words “If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them.” The Italian designer is an icon of modern furniture design and his creative pieces have established an acclaimed role in 20th century design history. Why do we like these chairs? They very light to carry around and balance heavy couches nicely in the room setting.

The orange chair in the sitting area of the great room is a Corona chair. It's being designed by Poul Volther and introduced around 1965. It looks fabulous in many settings such as great rooms, offices, bedrooms etc. I am happy to tell to everyone, we have this chair now in our inventory and will put it soon in your home staging!
In 1956 Eero Saarinen designed a complimentary range of tables which he named the Tulip range because of the slender, elegant stem like pedestals and organic shapes that typified the pieces. Why it works in the modern staging? Because it fits well in condominiums and townhomes. They also work great in any kitchen nooks.

Eero Aarnios ' designs the experimental use of materials and minimalist forms are often considered to be space age and their appeal has outlived the period in history from which they originated. The unconventional shape and construction of the Alpha Egg Chair makes it perfect for sound isolation, a cozy quiet area to sit and read. Its chamber-like shape and upholstered interior cancels out most outside noise, providing a unique environment for meditation, relaxation or just getting away from it all. Chair looks perfect in the teen rooms and creates “remember me” statement.

To fit our blog format, I only described here few pieces of furnishing from our broad inventory. If you would like to see more, we would be happy to stage your house, and it will look great!

1 Comment

POWER OF PICTURES YOU PUT ON MLS

1/27/2015

2 Comments

You worked very hard to get this listing in the contract, hoping house will sell and commission check will come in. And now for some reason or another house seats on the market for 40, 50, 60 or more days, and your wonder why, since it seems everything is done right to take this listing and put this house on the market. But is it always a case?

With the power of internet, coming to our PCs, iPODs and iPhone preliminary shopping starts at peoples’ computers. For anything and everything buyers would like to determine first what exactly do they want before they actually go shopping. Interesting enough, it concerns almost everything starting from baby clothes and toys to the most expensive items such cars and houses. Many, people will form an impression of what they immediately see, and if they will like what they see it may lead to a purchase contract SOON. This is why representing a listing in a right way is so very important. Personally I think all vacant homes should be staged, and homes occupied by the owners, should be fully prepared and spruced up before they could be placed on the market.

Below are some examples of what you SHOULD do, if you would like for your listing to seat on the market like well… forever –

Who would ever like to see a house where a hoarder lives? Hoarding is associated with a contamination of the home which is a health hazard. Why would people even consider exposing themselves to such a possibility?

I would never guess looking at this picture that $700K price tag is attached to this property, which would communicate to $35K commission check. Most of the agents work really hard to prepare their listings for sale and do everything possible t o show property to it’s best potential. I personally know many agents who pay for the staging of the house.

Here is a simple math:

$700K listing shown like this. Currently on the market for 102 days. Commission is $0.00
Similar home (shown below was listed for $640K. Potential commission was $32K.
House we staged was sold in 2 week with $80K over asking price, with a commission check of $36K (for both side of the transaction). Our staging charge for the home was $2K.

Ultimately, seller and agent were in big +++ and at the end staging brought more income than it was expected. Agent told us that from now on she would pay for the staging herself. Once she started doing this, she got more listing and her income increased significally. Also, it is nice to realize that staging is a great marketing tool and as a form of marketing it is tax deductible for real estate agents. Something to think about!

2 Comments

CREATIVE HEADBOARDS

9/12/2014

0 Comments

Mirrors are another cool idea to use as a headboard. Not only do they create an interesting feature in the room but also make your space appear lighter and more spacious. Ikea wavy mirrors on the picture above are very affordable.

Mirrors in the picture below were purchased in Home Goods store and would not break the bank either.

What to do if you don’t have a traditional headboard for your bed?

Headboard for your bed could be pricey, especially if made out of the expensive materials such as leather, upholstery, wood ect. If for some reason you cannot afford a real thing at the moment, consider replacing it with inexpensive materials or accessories you may very well already have.

Metal art in the picture above creates intrest and complete the look of the bed

You can also use some building materials to substitute a headboard.

In this picture, distressed old door create unique and sophisticated look of the headboard as well as provide a captivating focal point. The point is- don’t be afraid to be creative and decorate with the things you already may have, just do some improvements to them and you will be surprised by the result.

0 Comments

for better or for worse?

Simple Facts: Exposed – Real Cost of Staging…

trendy and functional spaces.

POWER OF PICTURES YOU PUT ON MLS

CREATIVE HEADBOARDS

Author

Archives

Categories