The Difference "Staging" Makes

MLF Photography & Design offers "staging consultations." Here are a few reasons why they do:

1) It is absolutely necessary if you are trying to sell a home quickly and for the most possible money. Your product must stand out from the rest.
2) Some agents are not comfortable or knowledgeable about the staging process.
3) Sometimes an agent has a personal relationship with the seller and does not want to jeopardize the relationship by delivering "hard to hear" recommendations.
4) Occasionally an agent is overwhelmed by a home's condition, and feel they need assistance putting together a game plan.

To address the above issues MLF Photography & Design will walk through the entire home, inside and out. This can be done with or without the agent and homeowner. Notes will be taken and recommendations will be put together in a final report. The report will list recommendations room by room. This will act as a worksheet for the agent and home owner.

Here are a few before and afters of a home done for an agent who had a "round about way" personal relationship with the homeowner. These "before" photos were taken with a sub-par (IMO) cell phone camera. I wish it had shown a wider angle. The home had a lot of clutter and disorganization happening. As you can see the homeowner got it looking great for final photos.

This "before" photo was taken after the window treatments had been tweaked and the arrangement of the seating area had been configured as you see it in the after photo.

This room was cluttered and crowded. Furniture was removed and de-personalization and de-cluttering was done. Leaving this space looking more open and spacious.

The kitchen still had clutter despite homeowners efforts.

This picture is a very good example of the type of clutter that was throughout the home. When you are "living" in a home this may be acceptable, but when you are selling a home it needs to look like "anybody's" home, not "yours". You can see the difference in the before and after.

One thing no one can guarantee - and that is that the homeowner will comply with all the recommendations. This home looked satisfactory, but a few recommendations were made that were not taken. The staging consultation works as a tool to help the home owner realize that it's not just the agent saying so, but that there are others who believe that a little (or a lot of) work is necessary to prepare the home for the market. It's also a tool for the agent to separate themselves from this aspect of the listing process, which is often one of the hardest for the homeowner, outside of the move itself. 

If you have any questions about the "staging consultation" process, please give me a call I would be happy to answer any questions. 602-809-7710, Michelle.

Great show I discovered

My to-do list today contained laundry and dusting. Yeah. (Sarcasm) But we gotta do what we gotta do, right? About mid-morning I stopped to take a snack break to refuel. During this time I turned on the tv to a new show on A&E called "60 seconds to sell". I'm not sure that it's actually a "new" show, but it's new to me. I loved it! It demonstrated how staging makes a difference in the final selling price. If all seller's watched this show before contacting a real estate professional, the agent would only have to work half as hard! 

Staging baby, staging is where it's at!

If you're a real estate professional and you'd like some assistance with staging, give me a call. I'd love to help. 

OR

If you're a home owner and would like help staging your home for sale give me a call. I'd love to help you too!

602-809-7710, Michelle

The more eyes that see your listing in a short duration of time often leads to a faster and better sale.

When planning out your MLS listings keep in mind that you are putting together a mini commercial. Your photos need to show all that there is to see, and your description needs to tell all that there is to tell about what cannot be seen.

The listing is most often your first impression. Don't leave anything out. If you do you could be giving a potential buyer a reason to move to the next listing. Wow them into wanting to see the house.

I'd love to discuss your current marketing strategy with you. We can do this by phone or over coffee. In this market, a good marketing strategy is the difference between selling quickly or NOT. Give me a call now!
602-809-7710, Michelle.

Also read: The Whole Package, Making photography affordable for "all" real estate listings

Testimonial from Brandy Drew!

"Michelle is an incredible asset to my business.  She does a great job of highlighting the best features of a home.  Her photography is outstanding.  She is great to work with as an agent and as a homeowner.  I used Michelle for the first time on a beautiful home I was not able to get great pictures of on my own.  She was able to do the magic needed to accurately display the home."

-Brandy Drew

Brandy put this example together and posted it on a group site for others to see! Her pictures are on the left and mine are on the right. I took the photos on the right before MLF Photography & Design was established. Since then I believe I have improved my skills and knowledge 10-fold.

Well needed vacation

This last month has been a whirlwind for me (in a good way),  and it’s kept me from having the time to keep in touch. I just got back yesterday from a well needed week long vacation with my family. I’m back at work today feeling renewed and anxious to pick up where I left off. This little business of mine is growing, but there is always room for more growth. So when you get your next listing, please give me a call. Sure I can take photos and put them in a great presentation order for you, but I can do other things as well. Such as: staging consultations, or graphic and layout work. Big or small let me know how I can help you.

Also, I am bringing back “referral credit” PERMANENTLY. Anytime you refer someone to me, and they mention your name, you will receive a $10 credit. You can do this as many times as you want. The credit will add up and be deducted from your next shoot! Oh, and I still offer first time clients a $50 credit off their first shoot! So start referring ;)

Have you ever been here?

The Whole Package

MLF Photography is best known for its photography, but there is so much more to it. We want to provide you complete real estate marketing assistance. Keep reading!

Staging Consultations

Before you can photograph the home for the listing, or show the home to potential buyers, you must prepare it. Preparation means start packing! De-clutter, de-personalize, clean, fix and neutralize the home so that any potential buyer that walks in can see the home as “their” home, not the home of the current owners. If you don’t know where to begin or have concerns about delivering the “bad news”, you can hire me. I will come in as an impartial third party. I’ll go through the entire house. Then I will provide you and/or the home owner a report. The report will include my recommendations in detail.

“So your client is ready to list their home?”      (click to read article)                 

Listing Photography

If you want to sell homes you need to provide potential buyers an “accurate & complete” set of photos to view. These photos will show the potential buyers what they need to see to determine if the home is right for them. In addition to the set of photos, I will number the photos in a tour-like presentation. This way you don’t have to do it yourself, freeing you up to do what you do best.  

“Making photography affordable for “all” real estate listings”       (click to read article)

Graphic Layout and Design

I also have 15 years experience as a graphic and layout designer. So if you’d like to have custom flyers, ads, mailers or more created, I can do that for you as well.

“Custom Marketing Materials”     (click to read article)

Call me, Michelle - 602-809-7710.

Cell phone photos vs. my photos

This will be a visual article. Each set of comparisons were taken from the exact same spot, one with my cell phone and the other my "real" camera. 

All I’m going to say is that you should be able to see why using a cell phone for real estate marketing photos just won’t cut it. I did the best I could with my cell phone camera, but in comparison, there is no comparison to what I can do with a “real” camera. J Check 'em out. Enjoy!

Cell Phone

My Camera - Look at that vaulted ceiling. There's a china cabinet.
We can now see the adjoining formal space.

Cell Phone

My Camera - Whoa!

My Camera - We can see the ceiling, the whole
window and part of the second light fixture.

Cell Phone

Cell Phone

Cell Phone

My Camera - We see the room, not just a partial bed.

Cell Phone

My Camera - Now we can see the light fixture and the flooring!

Next time I’ll take some photos with my nice automatic point and shoot camera and compare that to what I do with my “real” (wink wink) camera.  Call me if you want to make your listing stand out from the rest, in a good way! 602-809-7710, Michelle