A Real Estate Agent Gets Real About Home Staging
February 26, 2010
Here’s another animated video about home staging. In this video the real estate agent talks to her client about the necessity of hiring a professional home stager. The homeowner is a do-it-yourself home stager, and the results are, well, interesting.
©Copyright 2010 Michelle Minch & Moving Mountains Design. All rights reserved. Copyright includes video, script and contents. Be original, don’t copy!
Pasadena Based Home Staging Business Gets Results!
February 21, 2010
This article recently appeared in the Pasadena Star News, on February 9, 2010. Very exciting!
Just click on the article to be taken to a PDF of the article.
Los Angeles Home Staging Video – A Real Estate Agent Talks About Home Staging
February 20, 2010
Here’s a video I created about home staging. A real estate agent talks about home staging to their client.
©2010 Copyright Michelle Minch and Moving Mountains Design. All rights reserved. The contents of this video, including the dialog (spoken words) are protected by copyright. Please do not copy. You can create an original video at Xtranormal.com
This Los Angeles Home Stager Has Earned Her RESA-PRO Designation!
February 14, 2010
I’ve earned the RESA-PRO designation. Yay!
I’ve met all the requirements, passed all the tests, and now I have the right to use the RESA-PRO badge on my website. As a home stager in Los Angeles and Pasadena, I need to prove to my clients that they are getting the best of the best. The RESA-PRO designation proves that I am experienced, I am professional, I am ethical, I am insured and I recognize the importance of continuing my education.
RESA-PRO home stagers:
- Must adhere to the Real Estate Staging Association Code of Ethics
- Must pass the RESA Ethics Exam with a score of 80% or higher
- Must be in business for at least one year
- Must show proof of home staging business insurance
- Must prove they have a business bank account in their company name
In addition, RESA-PROs must complete a number of home staging contiuning education classes over the course of 2 years in order to maintain their RESA_PRO status
As a home owner or a real estate agent, seeing the RESA-PRO designation gives you an extra measure of assurance that I’m a true professional (not a hobbiest) and you’ll be treated ethically.
If you’d like to find out more about the RESA-PRO designation, visit the RESA-PRO website.
Los Angeles Home Staging A Hollywood Condo – Multiple Offers After 1st Open House!
February 13, 2010
We were hired to stage this vacant Hollywood Condo by the homeowner, who was also the listing agent.
She chose Moving Mountains Design because we are professional and experienced and because she liked the photos in our home staging portfolio.
The condo was vacant after having been rented to tenants for some time. The REALTOR wisely put a lot of energy and effort getting the condo into market condition. She did everything right to get it sold:
- She hired an experienced, professional home stager to make the condo more appealing to buyers
- She priced it right
- She marketed it well
For more information about this Hollywood Blvd. adjacent condo, contact the listing agent, Judy Oroshnik, Prudential California Realty, at (323)671-1248.
Los Angeles Home Stager Voted RESA 2010 Professional Stager of the Year!
February 2, 2010
I’m very excited to announce that I have been voted the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) 2010 Professional Stager of the Year!
The announcement was made at the RESA 2010 International Stagers Conference in Las Vegas on January 25, 2010. The conference was a smashing success, and I’m so happy I got to share my big moment with over 200 of my fellow home stagers. Its a HUGE honor to have been selected for this award by my home staging peers.
Professional home stagers were nominated by home stagers and real estate professionals throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.
The nominees were then voted on by members of the Real Estate Staging Association and 5 finalists were selected.
Each finalist had to create a 5 page entry which demonstrated excellence in home staging, best home staging business practices, a proven track record of ethical conduct and commitment to raising awareness about home staging.
The winner (me:o)) was selected from the 5 finalists by a panel of celebrity real estate and home staging judges.
The judges were Bethany Souza from HGTV’s Designed to Sell, Matthew Finlason from HGTV’s The Stagers, and Womens Council of Realtors National President, Deborah Gilmore.
Click here if you’d like to see my winning entry for Professional Stager of the Year Pro Stager of the Year 2010.
Click here to read the press release
Los Angeles Home Stager A Finalist For Professional Stager of the Year
December 21, 2009
Los Angeles home stager, Michelle Minch, is a Finalist for the Real Estate Staging Association Professional Stager of the Year (2010)
For Immediate Release
Pasadena, CA – December 21, 2009 Michelle Minch, President of Moving Mountains Design, is a finalist for Professional Stager of theYear , by the Real Estate Staging Association
“The Real Estate Staging Association is proud to announce Michelle Minch, of Pasadena, CA, as one of the finalists for Professional Stager of the Year,” said Shell Brodnax, President and CEO of the organization. “Ms Minch, and the other 4 finalists were chosen via an open nominating process by their peers and other real estate professionals, from across the US and Canada. All the nominees must demonstrate outstanding skills in home staging design, business and ethics.
Ms. Minch is a past winner of two Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence: the Western Region Award for Best Whole House Remodel Under $200,000 and the National Award for Best Kitchen Remodel under $40,000. She has been nominated for Professional Stager of the Year for 3 years running. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times Real Estate Section, the Chicago Tribune, Sunset Magazine, Log Home Living, LA Weekly Pasadena Weekly & Los Angeles Times On-Line. In addition, she blogs extensively at http://MovingMountainsDesign.com/home-staging-blog/
Minch began her career in design as a Stylist and Visual Merchandiser, and later worked as a Production Designer for Commercials, Television and Feature Films.
Home Staging and Interior Design are a natural progression in her design career, allowing her to use her visual merchandising skills, a refined eye and years of experience to successfully stage homes that sell and create stunning one of a kind environments for her clients. She has experienced great success in home staging with many very recent examples of her staging projects selling in less than 2 weeks on the market at or above asking price. Her motto is: “I know what makes homes sell.”
Ms. Minch is on the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Staging Association and is the Regional VP for California, Nevada and Hawaii.
In addition she is the Chairwoman of the RESA Ethics Committee and has developed professional ethical guidelines for the RESA membership. Minch is a founding partner of Easy Designer Websites and is a Staging Career Coach at the Staging Career Center.
You can learn more about the Real Estate Staging Association Professional Stager of the Year Finalist Michelle Minch and her company, Moving Mountains Design, and at ActiveRain.com. Additional information about the Real Estate Staging Association and the Professional Stager of the Year Awards and nominations can be found at www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com.
Moving Mountains Design is a full service home staging and interior design company with offices in Pasadena and Arcadia, CA. We specialize in staging vacant and occupied homes in the greater Los Angeles area including Pasadena, San Marino and Arcadia. Click here to see a full menu of home staging services offered by Moving Mountains Design.
Arcadia Home Staging – Confucius says “One Must Have A Good Tool In Order To Do A Good Job”
November 30, 2009
What does Confucious have to say about home staging in Arcadia?
What does Confucious have to say about home staging in Arcadia?
What do Confucius and home staging in Arcadia have in common?
There is an old Chinese expression which translates roughly to “One must have a good tool in order to do a good job”. This comes from an ancient text called the Analects of Confucius.
This wisdom can apply to many aspects of our lives, but when selling a home in Arcadia, that “good tool” is Moving Mountains Design Home Staging.
Doing a good job, in real estate and in home staging, means making sure that, from the moment a potential Arcadia home buyer drives up to the front of your house, steps inside the front door and looks around, he or she feels like they have found the perfect home, the home they want to buy. There are many Arcadia homes for sale so you have to make sure your home is in excellent condition and shows beautifully. Home staging by Moving Mountains Design will help your home make a good showing.
Here’s how Moving Mountains Design can be your “good tool” when selling your Arcadia home:
- When you hire us to stage your home, you are hiring an Arcadia home staging company with years of experience in the area and hundreds of homes staged and sold.
- We understand whom the home buyers are in Arcadia and we stage to their taste. Because of our extensive experience staging homes in Arcadia we understand what these home buyers will find appealing.
- Feng Shui is important to many Arcadia home buyers. Michelle Minch is trained as a certified Feng Shui consultant and understands how to “fix” many Feng Shui problems that may slow down the sale of your home.
- Our private home staging furniture and accessory warehouse is located in Arcadia. We are a local business. We eat, shop and work in Arcadia.
- Our furniture and accessories are hand selected for you and our selection is customized to show off your home or listing. We know how to make your home or listing look its best and we have the accessories, artwork, luxury linens, towels and Persian rugs to do just that.
- Our furniture rental partner has a 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse full of hundreds of sofas, chairs, dining tables and beds! When you hire Moving Mountains Design to stage your listing or home, you aren’t stuck with what ever furniture we happen to have left over in our garage or mini-storage like you would be with some lower priced home stagers. You will get a custom staging plan using beautiful furniture in excellent condition that makes your home look like a photo in a magazine.
- We provide professional quality photographs of the rooms we stage. Our photos will make your home look outstanding on the internet and in printed brochures and marketing material. We provide these photos FREE for our complete home staging clients. Since 80-90% of home buyers start their search for a new home on the internet, professional quality photos are very important.
- Even in this market, many of the homes we stage sell in 60 days or less, often in the first 2 weeks and some over asking price.
This Arcadia home closed escrow 29 days after staging by Moving Mountains Design
This Arcadia home sold after the first open house after being staged by Moving Mountains Design
Don’t try to do the job of preparing your home or listing for sale with a dull tool.
For the best home selling tool call Michelle at Moving Mountains Design 626)441-8975 or contact us by email to learn how we can help you prepare your Arcadia real estate to encourage a faster sale at a higher price. We also stage homes in Pasadena, San Marino, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, Altadena, Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
Does Home Staging Work? An Update On Some Recent Los Angeles Stagings
September 7, 2009
I’m often asked: Does home staging work? Do staged homes sell faster than unstaged homes?
I can’t speak for other los angeles home staging companies, but homes staged by Moving Mountains Design are selling very quickly, even in this challenging real estate market.
Three Los Angeles area homes we staged recently have either sold or are in escrow.
A South Pasadena condo we staged in early July sold and has closed escrow.
South Pasadena Condo Living Room After Staging
A Pasadena Craftsman cottage we staged on August 4th is in escrow. To read more and see photos read Pasadena Craftsman Staging Photos
Pasadena Craftman Dining Room After Home Staging
A charming California Cottage in Valley Village was staged on August 17 and is also now in escrow. Read Beautiful Valley Village Cottage Home Staging for more photos and information.
Valley Village California Cottage
So, based on our current (and past) experience, I would have to say yes, home staging by Moving Mountains Designs works!
Call us at (626)441-8975 for more information about our home staging services.
Curb Appeal Tip: Improving The Appearance Of A Concrete Block Wall
July 15, 2009
If you’re preparing your home for sale or just want to beautify your yard, here’s a home staging tip on how to improve the appearance of a block or stucco wall.
One of the biggest eyesores affecting curb appeal is a big concrete block or stucco wall right outside French doors or the kitchen window.
While the block wall probably provides security, privacy and noise control, they are usually butt ugly! I discovered a brilliant, simple and inexpensive solution on the CaliBamboo web site. By attaching 2×4’s top and bottom to the face of the stucco or block wall using concrete screws or anchors, it enables you to attach bamboo fencing panels and give the wall a much more pleasing appearance.
This bamboo application could work well with many architectural/garden styles.
Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet and is considered a renewable resource. Bamboo is also amazingly strong, durable and insect resistant. Many Bamboo cultivars grow particularly well in Los Angeles gardens.
Click here for more extensive instruction on how to face a block or stucco wall with bamboo.
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