Opportunity rarely comes without risk. I work with homeowners every day who are riding the real estate roller coaster with hopes and dreams and visions of what ideal lifestyle comes next. Often, like me, that includes moving up the property ladder and investing more in real estate. Although, sometimes, selling is more about necessity than privilege.
 

Either way, there is plenty of emotion on this ride. I stand firmly beside my clients, supporting them to make their wishes a reality by helping them to show case their listings in a way that quickly appeals to buyers so they are inspired to say YES! Then my clients can be free to move on, just like we did. Here’s a few photos from our staged condo that sold in 29 days (average for Kensington the same time we sold was 107 days on the market)!
 

My own personal condo selling experience allows me to fully relate to how my clients are feeling. Change can be exciting. And it can also bring up feelings of fear and powerlessness.
 

The preparing to let go. The clearing out. All the work in preparation for an unknown result. The fear of nobody wanting to buy at the price you want. The frustration of living in a showable home. The worry of no offer after showings. The feeling of being in limbo in a place that no longer really looks like yours, yet you can’t move on until this one is sold.
 

I get it. It’s more than your largest financial investment (which is serious enough). It’s also your heart and soul. Your memories. Your hopes and dreams. Your home.
 

Every day as I work to support my clients in feeling more empowered by staging their home to make its best first impression, I keep this awareness top of mind and treat them with my upmost respect. This real estate roller coaster takes courage to ride. I’m here to help you succeed.
 

If you are planning to sell your Calgary house or condo so you can move up the real estate property ladder, I invite you to find out more and contact me, Jen Campbell at Set Your Stage, where we get proven results for our clients.
 

2016 has been a year of making decisions for me. Big decisions. Whether in our personal lives, at work, or in buying and selling homes, the best decisions are made with both emotion and logic. Yet, as much as we would like to think that our decisions are always rational, it is our gut that often leads the way.
 

According to Janet Crawford, neuroscience expert and CEO of Cascadance Inc., “Without emotion, we are biologically incapable of making decisions. Logic is often the last step in the process.”
 

This rings true for me in terms of making decisions in my personal life and in my business. I also see the dynamic at play with my clients.
 

In my work as a professional home stager in Calgary, I approach every staging project with emotion and logic in mind. What I know from experience is that, when potential buyers are making decisions about which home they will buy, it is emotion that ultimately triggers a sale.
 

So, while I stage properties with logic in terms of designating clear room functions and highlighting features so potential buyers can check off the boxes on their must-have and wish lists, what I am focussing on in selecting staging furniture, art, and accessories is the emotion that I want to invoke in the buyers.
 

I stage to appeal to their desired lifestyle and how they want to feel in the space they will call home.
 

Making decisions on the home front has also been guided by emotion and grounded in logic. Most recently, I became engaged to the man I love and who I have shared my life (and home) with for several years.
 

We also decided to sell our condo in our beloved Sunnyside neighbourhood in order to move up the property ladder. And, despite the fact that our condo has been sold, we are taking our time to find our next home based on what feels right.
 

That gut feeling telling us that “this is the one.”
 

It’s the same way that many home buyers are approaching their search. Even with large financial decisions like buying and selling real estate, emotions factor in significantly. For sellers, understanding this decision making “truth” is extremely powerful.
 

If you are planning to sell your Calgary house or condo and want help making decisions about how to appeal to the emotions of your potential buyer so you can sell faster, I invite you to find out more and contact me, Jen Campbell at Set Your Stage, where we get proven results for our clients.
 

At Set Your Stage in Calgary, Earth Day isn’t just about one day of the year. We make eco friendly staging choices on a regular basis. If you also value making green choices, it’s one more reason to consider this a factor in your decision making when you hire your next professional home stager.
 

It’s time to sell your home or condo. You want to stage it to sell. But which one of the multiple Calgary home staging companies should you choose?
 

If eco friendly staging matters to you, take a look at Set Your Stage.
 

• Increasingly over the past year or so, we have been more conscious of what we buy – for example, accessories with less plastics and more quality;

 

• When appropriate, we purchase staging furniture and accessories from consignment stores (to reduce packaging and reuse good quality pieces);

 

• Elysse, Jen & Whitney carpool as much as possible for vacant or lived-in staging jobs;

 

• And if a consultation is within 1 kilometers, Jen walks!;

 

• Rather than over purchase and then store large quantities of staging furniture, we will sometimes rent specific furniture pieces for a listing;

 

• When a piece is damaged, we repair instead of toss;
   

 

• Instead of using plastic/paper wrap, we wrap all of our art/accessories in old towels;

 

• Cleaning supplies are natural, not synthetics.

 

As a Calgary home staging professional, my job is to help you get your property sold quickly and for top dollar. I’m proud to offer an eco friendly staging option – on Earth Day and every day – and will continue to deepen this commitment. We can all make a difference. It’s a matter of making more conscious choices.
 

If you are planning to sell your Calgary home or condo and value eco friendly choices, I invite you to find out more and contact me, Jen Campbell at Set Your Stage, where we get proven results for our clients.
 

“Your best life starts at home.” As a professional home stager in Calgary, this quote from Anne Sage’s design and decorating book, Sage Living, struck a chord. Reflecting on 2015, including recent global events in the news, the power of home is a story that touches us all. Deeply.
 

With so much uncertainty in so many ways this past year on the home front and beyond, I get the sense that people value “home” more than ever. It’s the place where comfort resides. The place where dreams percolate. It’s the foundation for our well-being so we can extend our best selves outward to positively impact the world.
 

And for many of us, home is interconnected with our financial well-being too. I am blessed to experience both of these aspects of home in my work.
 

For the potential buyers who view my staged properties, I hope to instill in them a sense of knowing that they could live their best lives from that space.
 

For realtors and home sellers who are my clients, I hope to stage the property in a way that helps them achieve their financial goals.
 

Understanding these two perspectives of the value of home, I’m proud to share some of Set Your Stage’s accomplishments this year:
 

This year, we helped 161 clients with staging their property from giving advice on how to stage their home on their own to bringing in all the furniture, art and accessories to make their vacant spaces feel like home. We couldn’t have done any of this without our amazing team: both in-house (Jen, Whitney & Karen) and contractors (Elysse Bulloch of Simply Stylish Staging, Julie Vincent Photography and Sean & Cody at Plantz Moving). Great job team!
 

It has been an extreme pleasure to work with a broad range of first time and repeat clients in Calgary this year, including individual home owners, investors, and realtors. I want to thank them for their trust in me. If you will be selling a Calgary area property in 2016, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to your success and invite you to contact me.
 

In the meantime, here’s to your best life starting at HOME in 2016!
 

Wherever you call home, wishing you and your loved ones all the love, comfort, and inspiration that the holiday season holds! Jen
 

Find out more about Jen Campbell of Set Your Stage and contact her to schedule your free Home Staging Assessment in the New Year.