Home staging is becoming a popular marketing tool in real estate. In Calgary, there are numerous to choose from. So how do you decide which Calgary home staging company to trust with preparing your largest investment for sale? Here are three tips to consider.

Before: Living room before staging. Knowledge of Real Estate in Your Community: A professional home stager is a real estate professional, not just a decorator. He/she must understand the local housing market and provide staging that is appropriate for the potential buyers, specific neighbourhood and price point. Ask questions about real estate in your area. If the stager seems thrown by your questions, move on.

After: By re-arranging the furniture from the family room, slip covering the patterned chair and adding modern artwork and accessories, younger buyers (neighbourhood’s demographic: Suburban Gentry – Wealthy Middle-Aged Families) are able to visualize themselves entertaining in this space. Portfolio and Testimonials: Review all online sources of the home staging company’s portfolio. Do you get the sense that they take their work seriously and are fully committed? Go to see properties currently listed that have been staged by the company. Ask for names of Realtors and past clients who you can contact personally to discuss the competency and results of the Calgary stager you’re considering hiring.

Before: Living room before home staging.   Professionalism and Compatibility: In the end, you want to work with someone who has proven expertise and who you feel comfortable with. Does the house stager respond quickly to you? Are they a good listener? Does they have a sense of what the potential challenges are with your property and creative ideas of how to address them? What system/network does the stager have in place in terms of rental furniture, movers, and other professional support for your project?

After: This expanded open concept living & dining room is the perfect space for Grads & Pads: the young middle-class urban singles demographic to entertaining or relaxing. Don’t let price alone be your deciding factor when choosing a home staging company. Take the time to interview the Calgary home stagers you’re considering so you find the best fit for your project. For more specific questions to ask, check out the following links: Encore Realty, About.com, Stagers Source. Trust, quality, and compatibility may be the key to your decision making.

Set Your Stage properties sold over two times faster on average than the homes in the same areas! Consider us when choosing the Calgary home staging company you can trust to successfully prepare your property for sale. Contact Jen directly at SetYourStage.com! You can also follow us on Twitter @setyourstage!

When you’re selling a home, you want to use all tools to your advantage. The best day to list a house (and to stage) are interesting factors to consider. While it’s challenging to find solid data to back it up, it appears that Thursday or Friday listings are your best bet. Staging must be done before.
 
Of course the location, condition and presentation of a property remain the key factors in how quickly the home will sell – and at what price. As a professional home stager in Calgary, this topic is of interest to me because it helps to determine what the best day is to stage the property too. Working together, a realtor and professional home stager can help sellers get maximum results.
 
Properties should be staged a couple days prior to listing so that photos can present it at its best. After all, online curb appeal is critical for making a positive first impression. This also gives potential buyers time to see the property online first, and arrange to view the home over the weekend.
 
Some realtors suggest that Thursday listings allow them to have Friday to schedule weekend showings. And a study by Redfin suggests that Friday listings are toured more often, sell faster and at closer to list price.
 
So, all you realtors in Calgary – what is the best day to list? I want to hear from you.
 
Staging works. Did you know that Set Your Stage properties sold over two times faster on average than the homes in the same areas? Are you curious how your listing can benefit from professional home staging? If so, please contact Jen directly at SetYourStage.com! You can also follow me on Twitter @setyourstage!

I never realized how lucky I was to have good movers in Calgary until “the boys,” as we called them, ended up moving out of town. They found me 2 years ago while they were cold calling professional home staging companies looking for work. After deciding to stock my own rental furniture for vacant properties I realized I needing muscles to move it. I gave them a try and realized they were professional, on time, priced competitively and friendly – they were our movers. When they left, they gave the names of two other movers we tried out but weren’t really “sold” on.
 
We’ve worked with 6 moving companies since “the boys” and have witnessed how some are giving the moving industry a bad name: smoking/swearing on the job, charging for every stair they climb, 2 hours late, in-efficient packing to make more money, arguing on where to place a sofa, only accepting cash and then bumping up the price quoted (this was very frustrating when we only had to run back to a bank machine again), hiring in-experienced help off the street, even damaging inventory during a move. For anyone who has hired a mover and has dealt with this or anything else, I know how you feel.
 
Since these latest 6, I’ve become pickier with my qualifications. Aside from the usual insurance, truck size, hourly rate, availability and cancellation policy, I’ve started asking:

• What is an extra service (like climbing stairs or fuel charge) and how do you charge for it?
• How many men are provided for each move?
• Are your workers covered by Workers Comp?
• Do you accept credit cards?
• Is there a 1 hour travel time charged?
• Are you apart of the Calgary Better Business Bureau

 
If I was doing a residential move, I would consider asking a bit more on their packing policy (who does it – them or me, how do they charge in each case etc, how do you pack fragile items, what supplies are includes/what do I need to pick up).
 
I’ve got a de-stage booked this Friday. Hopefully my new questions worked and I’ve found some new good movers in Calgary.

Local neighbourhood Kensington Framing artists make service personal at Framed on Fifth. By opening her talent tool box and her doors, Hannah White, the owner, touched a Set Your Stage client’s heart. This earns Hannah and her store our feature this month for “why I love Kensington/Sunnyside”.
 
As a busy professional home stager in Calgary, I was eager to work through my “to-do” list for the week. So, when I arrived at the shop, conveniently located a few blocks from me on a Monday to see the CLOSED sign on the door, you can imagine my disappointment.
 
Luckily for me, Hannah was inside at the time and welcomed me in. This was the first highlight.
 
Then she listened, made recommendations, and worked within my budget for the artwork that I was re-framing for a client’s space. This quality service was the second highlight of my experience.
 

Little did I know that my client had wanted to re-frame her beloved piece for years. It had just sunk to the bottom of the priority list. So, when she saw what Hannah and I had come up with, she was so happy that it almost brought her to tears. People choose art (and homes incidentally) for an emotional connection. This just made it more special.
 
Needless to say, I’m a new fan of Framed on Fifth. As a woman making a living doing what I love, I’m more than happy to support a fellow entrepreneur and creative visionary who adds a special something to our community. Make a point of stopping in to Hannah’s shop and gallery the next time you’re in Kensington.
 
In the meantime, if you live in Calgary and are considering hiring a professional home stager to stage your furnished or vacant property, contact Jen