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Welcome! I m delighted to share this first edition of the Consumer s Guide to Home Staging in Niagara with you, because it s full of valuable tips and information about how property owners can make as much profit as possible on their housing investment. Selling your home is an emotional and sometimes stressful experience. After all, you ve spent years making your space yours and when you sell it, you expect to receive a high return for your investment. You want to sell quickly and be done with the stress of open houses, showings and negotiations. And you know today s buyers are discerning they ll be looking for a perfect move-in ready home that s just right for them. That s where Gem Home Staging & Designs can help. With years of home staging expertise, we work with homeowners, realtors and investors to prepare properties for market across Niagara and beyond. I love the Niagara Region and all that it has to offer, and I love helping my client s keep more money in their pockets while making the home selling experience as smooth and as stress-free as possible. Through years of experience buying and selling properties, I ve learned that to sell for the most amount of money, a real estate investment needs to be nurtured. Properties that are well maintained and in excellent condition, attract the most buyers and sell for the highest price. That s why home staging works. Home staging is a proven marketing investment tool that provides a competitive edge to smart, savvy sellers who want to sell quickly and for more money. We start with an in-depth evaluation and provide homeowners with a list of recommendations including necessary repairs, maintenance, cleaning and updates to help capitalize on the best return for their real estate investment. To sell for the most amount of money, updates and maintenance usually need to be completed. I know it can be hard to know where to start and how to find reputable, experienced contractors and service professionals who get the job done right the first time. We ve worked with a number of preferred local vendors for years whose workmanship we know we can trust. We brought everything together in one ultimate guide, and packed in more helpful tips and tricks for you to refer to as you move through the staging and selling process. When you follow these tips and stage before listing, your chances of selling quicker for maximum equity increase. I hope you find this advice valuable, and that when you decide to sell you ll let us help you get your home market ready and in perfect, move-in ready condition! Sincerely, Colleen Donovan Interior Home Stylist Gem Home Staging & Designs & All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Copyright 2016 Colleen Donovan Canadian Intellectual Property Office Registration No.: 1131522 Author: Colleen Donovan Printed by: Commercial Digital Print Edited by: Allison Smith Photography by: Lindsay Warriner, Betty Doerksen and Brianna Zadorozny Designed and Produced by Business Link Media Group 905.646.9366 BusinessLinkMedia.com
1 INTRODUCTION 7 2 WHAT IS HOME STAGING 9 Do I really need to stage? p.10 Why should I stage? p.11 Where do I start? p.12 3 HOW TO INTERVIEW A HOME STAGER 25 How much should I budget? p.26 What if I don t have money to stage? p.27 4 AVOID COSTLY MISTAKES 29 5 SUMMARY 29 6 OUR LITTLE BLACK BOOK 30
6 Gem Home Staging & Designs \\ www.gemhomestaging.com
INTRODUCTION The Niagara Peninsula is a picturesque region situated on the Niagara Escarpment between two great lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario) and linked by the Welland Canal. With easy access to the U.S. border and Toronto, Niagara has much to offer. As a newcomer to Niagara, I am thrilled to work and grow in this exciting, continuously developing, economic region. I am so proud to call Niagara my home! Niagara residents enjoy some of the mildest temperatures in Canada. We are surrounded by agriculture, orchards, wineries, markets and festivals. The PanAM games were instrumental in putting Niagara on the map. We have access to breathtaking parkland, fine beaches, world-class tourism and entertainment galore. We revel in the benefits of a new State of the Art Hospital, Spectator Facility Arena and Performing Arts Centre. Niagara is also privileged to be able to tap into the bright young minds of Brock University and Niagara College students and graduates. Global businesses such as IKEA are investing in Niagara. Niagara has access to 400 series highways, with less traffic and congestion than many other metropolitan centres and will become more accessible with a more integrated public transit system and as GO Train service evolves. Real estate in Niagara is incredibly affordable in comparison to the GTA and surrounding areas. Many people migrate to Niagara to take advantage of affordable housing, along with the steady appreciation in property values while partaking in a slower, more relaxed quality of life not found in metropolises teeming with millions of people. The demand for real estate will increase as values rise considerably in the wake of regular GO Train service. Many commuters will have the luxury of living in beautiful wine country while working and commuting to and from larger metropolitan centres. Many homes sold in Niagara are being bought by people outside of Niagara (myself included) because buyers know that they can get so much more for their property value in Niagara. Here, properties can remain on the market for an average of 50 to 60 days before selling. This length of time can vary depending on which municipality the property is located in. Selling a house is not an easy task. If you re like most homeowners, the thought of being inconvenienced by hordes of people trudging through your space for weeks on end, making insulting remarks to beat down the price is daunting and overwhelming. This Consumer s Guide to Home Staging in Niagara will help you significantly reduce the number of days your house spends on the market and get your property sold faster for top dollar. It will help you to get the most money for your hard earned real estate investment. // Gem Home Staging & Designs 7
let s get connected! Schedule your consultation today! info@gemhomestaging.com 905.351.9971 or 905.321.7117 Colleen Donovan Lynn MacMillan www.gemhomestaging.com