We want to impress potential homebuyers when they view our properties for sale. It’s a huge win for sellers if their property stands out from other homes on the market. In our experience, a well maintained, decluttered and cleaned property will always be more inviting. But if you truly want buyers to say ‘WOW’ when they walk through the front door, home staging can create those results. One of the companies we’ve worked with in the past is Urban Presentations.
Jacky and I recently went for coffee with Jennifer & Cindy who are the owners of Urban Presentations. They’ve staged our client homes for well over a decade. Jennifer started staging her own investment properties and loved it so much she decided to do it full-time. She has run her business since 2006. Cindy began staging at the encouragement of a friend who thought she should put her talents to good use. And so she started with that friend’s home, which sold quickly, and hasn’t stopped since.
There’s also Roya, who is one of their main designers and often the person who our clients meet during staging. Roya came to Urban Presentations 3 years ago with a background in Interior Design and Human Resources. Her years of experience and her passion and flair for Interior Design and Decorating makes Roya fantastic to work with.
As real estate agents who sell a lot of homes, we see the results of staging a condo or house. Home staging provides a positive visual experience which helps in a number of ways. In our current internet connected society, staging is the new curb appeal. The online photos of a listing are the hook that will encourage a buyer to make the decision to visit an open house or schedule a showing.
There is a lot of evidence to demonstrate that buyers cannot use their imaginations to see past clutter, empty rooms, strong paint colours or outdated furniture. Staging gives buyers a glimpse of the possibilities of a space.
Over the years we’ve personally seen the results. There have been many cases where a property has been on the market for an extended period of time but did not sell. Our team had been hired by the seller to do something different than what was tried by their previous real estate agent. Once the home has been decluttered, cleaned and staged, the results were amazing and the property is sold within days. This situation has happened countless times and speaks volumes about the importance of presentation.
During our coffee and then next-day visit to Urban Presentations warehouse, we talked about many things. I posed a number of questions which i’ve shared below.
What do you differently from other staging companies, area coverage, furniture, styling, customer service etc? We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service. Our focus is to make the process of preparing your home for sale as stress free as possible. We work with our clients and realtors to determine how to best meet their needs. We provide a single point of contact to the realtor and homeowner throughout the staging process and we feel that this a crucial element to building successful long term relationships.
We are also centrally located to be able to cover a large geographic area from West Vancouver to Port Coquitlam to South Surrey. We have a 10,000 square foot warehouse housing a variety of furniture to allow us to stage properties of varying sizes and architectural styles. We stage vacant properties and can also work with what homeowners have, adding touches create a Show Home look.
What about prices? Our prices haven’t really changed in 12 years. Our prices are not the lowest you can find nor are they the highest. We strongly believe that the customer service we provide and the relationships we build have huge value. We are happy to provide little extras that will make the project perfect, and like with anything in the marketplace, you get what you pay for. By not providing the cheapest staging in town, it gives us the flexibility to deliver more than the client expects.
We put huge importance on the relationships we build with our real estate agent partners so that when they send us into their clients homes, there is an unquestionable level of trust in our ability to take care of their clients and produce a stunning staging result. When you work with Urban Presentations, you can look forward to a boutique experience at competitive pricing. Our talented and insightful design team will work closely with you to customize your staging package to suit your individual needs. Our own extensive and carefully curated inventory gives us the freedom to create customized designs for each project.
Can you highlight your process, how does it all happen? Once you contact us, we immediately set our wheels in motion to connect with the homeowner, view the property, discuss strategies and a vision for the space. We then prepare a detailed written proposal with all costs itemized. Once the proposal is approved, we schedule a staging date, book movers, and begin sourcing the design elements. On staging day, we generally arrive on-site in the morning and have the property photo ready by late afternoon. The whole process from first contact with the client to staging day can occur in as little as one to two weeks.
Preparing your home to sell
The homes for sale in Vancouver definitely set a high standard, in terms of marketing and presentation. Especially in a balanced market where there’s heated competition and more options for buyers.
Interior decorating and staging will make your home look better in photos and video. Your space will feel warm, fresh and inviting to potential buyers. You’ll have more potential buyers who visit for a viewing. This all transpires into more offers to purchase.
It’s possible a buyer will view 10 or more other homes similar to yours. Don’t keep missing out and having buyers place offers on other homes. If your property sits on the market for a number of weeks and the listing goes stale, you’ll likely reduce the price and keep waiting for an offer. Make it painless by selling quickly and for the price your home is worth.
You hire a professional real estate agent to sell your home. Don’t stop there, get involved in the sale of your home by helping with the presentation. You can do this by working with a professional staging company. If you’re here now, let’s have a talk about how we can market your home and get it sold!
