It seems to me, anyone seeing those photos on-line is not going to be in a rush to purchase those homes.

Since more than 80% of home buyers are searching on-line before going out to look at homes, the photos your real estate agent posts on the MLS are of the highest importance in driving home buyer traffic to see your home.

Did you know that Moving Mountains Design provides big, beautiful, professional-quality photos of the homes we stage, for use in marketing the home on the MLS and print marketing? You can check out our photos in our home staging portfolio or in many of our blog posts. Whether your home requires vacant home staging or occupied home staging, when we stage a home, or provide a home staging consultation, we work doubly hard with  home owners to ensure that their home appears at its best, both online and in person. We want your home to sell faster and at the highest price!

Would you like to get an estimate for staging your home? Just click here: How much does home staging cost?

We are experienced working with investors, property managers, asset managers and banks. Call Michelle Minch today (626)385-8852 to learn how we can help you sell your listings faster and for a higher price. We know what makes homes sell!™

A little more than 2 months ago, Moving Mountains Design was hired to stage a cute Prospect Park Pasadena area cottage. The home received several offers and went into escrow very quickly, thanks in part to the fact that the home owners had hired us to stage it. Unfortunately, the buyer had a difficult time securing financing at the very end of the escrow period, and it looked like the home had to be put back on the market. The home went back under contract, and happily, closed escrow last week – with the original buyers! The sellers were on pins and needles with all the uncertainty, and wanted to wait until just before closing to destage. Because they had given us enough advance warning, we were able to coordinate a down-to-the-last-minute destaging.

Here’s a link to the original post about this home: Pasadena Home Staging -Prospect Park Area Home For Sale

This morning I awoke to a very lovely testimonial on Angie’s List:

We were putting our house on the market to sell and needed someone to furnish and get it market ready. Moving Mountains was one of four companies we reviewed. Michelle was by far the most knowledgeable and professional. She clearly knew the market and what needed to be done to get the house sold.
Michelle and her team beautifully staged the house in time for photos to be taken and posted on the MLS before the first open house. She also helped our Realtor to publicize it by leveraging her own network of brokers.  We were concerned about getting traffic to the open house as there was another similarly priced house on the market across the street that had very light traffic during the previous weekend when they held an open house. We ended up getting over 100 people at our first open house and were in escrow 2 days later after receiving multiple offers and getting over asking price.
We were supposed to be closing after 45 days so Michelle and her team were scheduled to de-stage the house a few days before the scheduled closing date. Her team was on the way to the house when we learned that the buyer was having issues with their loan and there was a possibility we’d need to re-market. Michelle was able to call her team back and re-schedule the de-staging about 5 times before we knew the loan was ready to go and it was safe to finally de-stage. She was incredibly flexible even though we were supposed to give her 5 days notice. Michelle juggled her schedule to accommodate us. Finally the loan came through and she emptied the house.
When the house was empty at the final walk through, our Realtor praised the staging and said that it definitely helped to command a much greater selling price than we would have received if the house had been empty. We would highly recommend Moving Mountains to anyone looking to sell their home.

Because Moving Mountains Design is well organized, with lots of staging projects under our belts, we were able to coordinate the truck rental, furniture pick-up and assistants on a very fluid and uncertain schedule.

If you think it doesn’t matter whom you hire to stage your home, think again. You want to have the best team, with the most experience and staging skill watching out for you when selling your Los Angeles or Pasadena home. Click here to read How To Choose A Home Stager

Moving Mountains Design offers home staging in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Glendale, Burbank  and the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Call us today to find out how we can help you sell your home faster and for the best price. (626)441-8975.

On occassion, during the course of a home staging consultation, I recommend the homeowner replace some or all of their kitchen appliances as part of upgrading their home to ensure a faster sale at a higher price. The cost, while not pocket change, is usually minimal when compared to the cost of carrying the home for extra months while it sits unsold.

Los Angeles home buyers want a move in ready house.

Home buyers don’t want an allowance to make repairs, replace the carpet or buy new appliances. Excuse me for repeating myself: Home buyers want a move in ready house. Your list price will have to be considerably lower or your allowance considerably higher than the cost of actually replacing the appliances, replacing the carpet or doing repairs.

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and an updated, attractive kitchen will help sell your home.

I did some research to find some very cost effective replacement appliance upgrade packages in Los Angeles. These costs come from advertising flyers in the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena Star News. I don’t guarantee these prices. These prices may or may not be available when you go into the store to purchase them. If you shop around, you may get an even better price. And don’t forget to apply for your rebates from your electric company and natural gas utility. Many are offering rebates of $100 or more if you replace your old appliances with Energy Star appliances.

From Pacific Sales:

Whirlpool 4 piece Stainless Steel Upgrade Kitchen Package $2,199. with stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

Frigidare 4 piece Stainless Steel Upgrade Kitchen Package with Counter Depth Refrigerator $2,499. This includes a stainless steel 5 burner gas range, over-the-range microwave, dishwasher and counter-depth refrigerator.

According to the Pacific Sales advertising circular, the Whirlpool prices are “Before Additional Instant In-Store Savings”

From Warehouse Discount Center:

Unbranded 4 piece white appliance package $1,199.96 with dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

Frigidare 4 piece Stainless Upgrade Kitchen Package $1,999.96. Refrigerator has ice and water in the door, dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

You may be able to get free delivery, free installation and free recycling of your old appliance. Check store for details.

As you can see, for less than the cost of 1 monthly mortgage payment (for most homeowners) you can replace your kitchen appliances to give your kitchen a fresh new look.

If your home sells one month more quickly than if you hadn’t upgraded the appliances, it will be well worth the cost!

Since WWII, the trusty Swiss Army Knife™ has been the go-to tool for soldiers, campers, fishermen, construction workers, even Hollywood Bowl goers (mainly for the corkscrew and for slicing cheese:o). I even have a Swiss Army Knife™ in my home staging tool kit!

The Swiss Champ™ has 35 tools or “features” and there’s not a lot you can’t fix or attend to with a Swiss Champ™ in your pocket.

The more experienced the home stager, the more tools she is likely to have at her disposal.

I like the think I’m the Swiss Champ™ of home stagers. Like the problem solving Swiss Army Knife™, Moving Mountains Design can be the solution for many home selling difficulties:

• Need advice on how to add umph to your front yard to enhance curb appeal? A home staging consultation will cover that
• Need a recommendation for inexpensive carpet, granite counter-tops, reliable movers or storage? I’ve got several to choose from in my contact list
• Don’t know what color to paint your living room to appeal to more buyers? I know the perfect color
• Not sure if your furniture will help or hurt the sale of your home? I can assess your furniture and let you know if I think it will advance your goal to sell your home for top dollar
• Is your home vacant and feels empty with no furniture? I can provide a few rooms or a whole house of furniture, artwork and accessories to make your home look like a model home
• Don’t have a real estate agent to list your home? I’ve worked or interacted with 100′s, all over Los Angeles, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley and I know who does a good job
• Not sure if you should spend the money on remodeling your house for sale? I can tell you which upgrades should  help with a faster sale or a higher selling price
• Do you need to sell your home fast and as-is? I work with real estate investors that can close escrow in as little as 1 week for all cash – no banks, no mortgage approvals, no appraisals

If you’re the listing agent, I can help you with:

• Photographing your listing after staging. I’ll provide professional quality photographs of the homes we stage for use in marketing
• Writing your marketing materials
• Sending an email blast to 1,800+ real estate professionals on my mailing list
• Convincing your client of the importance of doing certain repairs, upgrades or staging in order to effect a faster sale at a higher price

As you can see, an experienced home stager has a lot in common with the trusty Swiss Army Knife™.

Smart home owners, real estate agents and real estate investors have one in their pocket. Do you?