About

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Prior to my training and certification as a CCSP® I successfully "staged" my previous house and it sold for over asking with help from my real estate agent/friend.  This reinforced my belief that investing in property staging should be a key component in your marketing strategy to maximize your return on equity on your largest asset -  usually your house.  After my "accidental" successful staging, I came to learn that I didn't really know what I was doing.  I had an instinctive sense of how a space should flow, but did not yet know what a well-staged property should be.  It is a much more complicated process than people understand.  Many of the spaces you see on television are more "decorated" than they are staged.  Some people think it is "smoke and mirrors".  Some agents or "stagents" stage for their clients because their clients do not understand what staging is and does, and so they do not see the value in investing in this service.  It IS an investment.  Why would you consider compromising this and risk leaving money on the table when the house is sold?  Agents should be concentrating ALL of their efforts on marketing the property to the best of their ability which involves getting the best possible photos to put online.  After getting my house prepared for market, I realized that I loved doing it.  I set out to learn what staging is.

Well, I found out that staging is NOT decorating.  It is a complicated process of highlighting the best features of the property and helping potential buyers see these features too.  It is knowing how to make the property appeal to the widest possible audience and help maximize its potential.  We do this to reduce days on market.  We do this to hopefully eliminate the possibility of having price reductions. We do this quickly, practically and creatively as well as solve problems with the property that people likely may not even be aware of.  The staging of the property begins even before  the photos happen.  Are all repairs and maintenance completed?  These items are ones owners put off doing because they are content to "make do" and live with the status quo.  Potential buyers are looking for "move-in ready" conditions.  

I did my research and enrolled in the best staging training program I could find with the internationally renowned CSP International™ Business Staging Training Academy and graduated, with honors, as a Certified Staging Professional®.  I have further added to my skills and am now a  Certified Color Consultant™.  In an unregulated industry,  CSP® offers the best comprehensive training, certification, apprenticeships and testing as well as offering continuing education in the industry.  There are many property stagers out there.  In an unregulated industry, who would you hire?  Any old "Joe", or a professional stager, who is certified, tested in the field and who has committed to a code of ethics?  

As with home inspections, the process of evaluating the property's readiness for market is a complicated one and takes time (1.5 to 3 hours or possibly more, depending on the size of the property) and begins even before entering your property.  It starts at the curb.   

An in-home consultation is a necessary investment to determine if the condition of your home is market ready.  Today's home buyer is much more savvy.  They want a property that is "move-in ready."  Anything they notice in the property that needs repair or replacement, they see dollar signs and will drop the price  much lower than the actual repair would cost.     

Property staging is so much more than just rearranging things and throwing a couple of accessories into a room.  It is not decorating, since you decorate your space to live in.  Staging is meant to highlight the best features of the property and encourage potential buyers to feel "welcome" in the space, explore it and visualize it as a space THEY want to "live" in.  

Prior to my training and certification as a CCSP®, I successfully managed the renovation of both my powder room and kitchen, as well as replacing the flooring in the upper level of my 40-year-old "new" house.  Working toward my Masters, I recently added to my skillset by certifying as a Residential Renovation Project Manager™, (RRPM), through CSP®'s Continuing Education program.  With this additional skill, clients in need of a renovation(s) can be assured that the management of their project will be in excellent hands.

For real estate agents interested in learning how to qualify as a "Real Estate Marketing Specialist" (formerly the CSP Elite Agent Program™), and being able to add REMS™ to their credentials, I am in the process of coordinating a half-day group session.  Send me a message if you are interested:   evelyn@ginkgocustomstaging.com.