Welcome 2010, and welcome the first reader question of the year.
How about an open thread for local designers / stagers to publicize their services with links to works in SF? Maybe you could even pimp for some paid adverts as well. I recently had the need to look for a stager / designer and I couldn’t find a localized SF site. So if anyone knows of one, please let me know! Yelp was surprisingly unhelpful here. Could be interesting.
As a reminder theFrontSteps is on somewhat of a hiatus due to life and the construction of a new service for Realtors (PocketListings.net), but we’re always glad to post your questions, and appreciate all of the reader responses, so keep them coming ([email protected]).
Happy New Year!
Stagers/designers feel free to link to your site in the comments below.
Looking for a stager in SF? Gigi Park does full or partial stagings. In addition to decorating, we can handle painting, floor refinishing, minor repairs, garden work, etc. For an example of our work, please visit http://www.gigipark.com. Contact us directly at [email protected] or call 415-550-0555.
Arthur McLaughlin & Assoc. Inc is the preeminent Home Staging Firm in SF; having founded the cottage industry more than 25 years ago. Mr. McLaughlin and his team have the knowledge and expertise to properly showcase every type of home from The Avenues to SOMA; Sea Cliff to South Beach.
Recent sales of his design include the ‘Metallica Mansion’ @ 2505 Divisadero; a mere 59 days on market after staging!
after a few other contacts and frozen communication, we have been very happy with http://www.carolesofferdesign.com/ . VERY happy.
Carole has indeed a gift for colors and we could speak on the phone about some colors – and it would turn out the exact way she said.
He proposal was clean – and we had no surprises.
To some extend, I was sad she did our staging to sell… because it was a shame to dismantle her creation after only 15 days.
Her moving truck is clean and her movers are nice guys.
Expensive but good: Julie Jay 415 235-7637
Shannon Mitchell outbid everybody, including some mentioned above, and did an amazing job for me.
http://shannonlmitchell.com/
Julie Jay matched or beat whenever I quoted her. If Shannon is that much cheaper I’ll get a quote from her next time too. The bottom line we have a LOT of great Stagers in town, and all you need to do is ask your Realtor for recommendations – we have plenty and are always on the hunt for better and cheaper.
Hangemhi. you’re right.
What helped us tho is to have detailed written proposals and compare them – along with the personal contact you can feel.
Designing/staging is a very vast scope. A new unpainted unit is not a previously designed home to clean/prep for sale. Some designers have flat rates using only their furniture. Some designers welcome the challenge of reusing as much as they can from the property furniture. It’s not just about “cost” it’s about tailoring from a set of property and stager stock to a specific unit.
As I said above, there are also technical considerations such as the HOA/coop penalty for moving/denting the common areas etc. The size of the moving truck (for those tricky smaller streets) etc.
bottom line: you have CUSTOM needs and you should make sure you hire the stager that can meet those specifics. For a SOMA loft, it might be Jane, and for a PacHeight chateau, it might be Mary (or John).
Yes to asking your Realtor. If you hand picked your Realtor to your needs and specifics of the property, he/she most likely has plenty of names in his Rolodex matching those specifics as well. – also, it’s always a good idea to build a selling team – ie have the Realtor be in good terms with the Stager, with the cleaning lady etc.
last: how many properties were destroyed by an horrible staging.. sometime no staging is better than ill-fitted staging. If you need to save money. Request a few rooms such as additional bedrooms to stay totally empty and clean. Better than an ikea table and a garage sale chair in the middle of the room – WTF? and focus on good staging for the staged rooms.
Sellers typically interview three real estate agents prior to hiring one, and I’ve found they also like to do this with stagers. It should be easy for your agent to recommend three stagers to interview, and it’s also ideal for your agent to attend all three interviews. Everyone should be on the same page with respect to how the property will be marketed, and how the staging can work toward the goal of selling the property.
Depending on your target market, you could make that third bedroom an office, child’s bedroom, or a family area…You get the picture. There’s a lot more to it, but getting perspective from multiple stagers is key.
Surprised there aren’t more responses. This site gets lots of google traffic!
Traffic unfortunately does not translate to comments and since we haven’t posted anything new, not as many people come back.
Build it, and they will come!
Having been around the ‘net since the days of The Well, I get the feeling that people are generally a bit shy about posting comments, etc., as they don’t know each other very well. What helped was face to face events. Once people shook hands and put faces to ‘handles’ they became a lot more talkative online.
anon9mizer, are you begging for an Alex’rita party?
he’s been promising one for so long, it’s about time.
Anybody owns a bar here? I can probably book one in the mission if needed….