Los Angeles Home Staging Info

Sell your real estate investment properties faster and for a higher price!

How? Have your investment real estate staged by professional home stagers at Moving Mountains Design.

As a wise real estate investor, you know you have to spend a little money to make even more money. Home staging has been proven to help homes sell faster than unstaged home, usually for a higher price. In one study, published by the Real Estate Staging Association, staged homes sold 74% faster after they were staged than when they were unstaged. That resulted in lower holding costs and less time wasted, which equals higher profits.

Following are some Los Angeles properties staged for local real estate investors. Just click on any photo to see more photos and information about that particular property. This San Gabriel home sold 1 day after staging after being on the market for 6 months unstaged.

This Belair condo sold one week after staging

This home was just recently staged

This Altadena home was staged for investors and sold during the first month on the market

If you are a real estate investor with assets to sell in the Los Angeles or North Orange County areas, call the home staging company that real estate investors, large and small, trust to help sell their investment properties, Moving Mountains Design. We are set up to handle multiple properties at one time and stage properties valued as low as $250,000 and as high as $7M. We will travel to stage properties outside the Los Angeles area (special terms apply).

This was original posted on Los Angeles Home Stagers Blog

We staged this San Gabriel home and it sold in 1 day!

This San Gabriel home had been on the market since December, and in June 2011, Moving Mountains Design was hired to stage it. It had been on the market for 6 months and had not sold. The home was beautifully remodeled and updated, had a pool and was in a great San Gabriel neighborhood. Still, it hadn't sold until it was staged. The buyers had seen the home multiple times before it was staged, but didn't see fit to make an offer until they saw how much more beautiful the home was with staging furniture and accessories. The buyers realized they were about to have a whole lot more competition. They were compelled to make an offer because the perceived value of the home had increased after staging. From the listing agent:

Stunning single family home on a larger corner lot in one of the most desirable locations in San Gabriel. This property has been completely remodeled and is ready for you to move in. It has a new roof, windows and re-finished original hardwood flooring. Beautiful updated kitchen with granite countertops and new Kitchenaid appliances.Crown molding, plantation shutters, and new paint inside and out.Short walk to coolidge elementary school. Enjoy your private yard with a pool and outdoor fireplace. Don"t miss this chance to buy a beautiful home in San Gabriel.

MLS# S643162 If you need help selling your San Gabriel, Pasadena, or Arcadia home, please call us at 626-385-8852. We know what makes homes sell™!

Originally posted on our Los Angele Home Staging Blog

We recently staged this exceptional San Marino home for sale. And guess what: it received multiple offers over asking price!

UPDATE: This home has sold and escrow has closed! The home sold with multiple offers and the owners received $90,000 over asking!

We staged the home using a mixture of the homeowners' furniture with additional rental furniture, Persian rugs, artwork and accessories. The homeowner initially hired Moving Mountains Design for a Comprehensive Home Staging Consultation and followed our step by step instructions. When we arrived to stage the home owner had completed all the recommended work and the home was in excellent condition. The response during open houses was overwhelmingly positive. But the best reaction to the home staging? The home owner has hired Moving Mountains Design to help design their new Monrovia home!

This information from the listing agent's site: This beautiful Traditional home in San Marino affords an opportunity for families looking to move into the #1 public school district in Southern California – San Marino Unified School District at a reasonable price. Given that the median home in San Marino closed escrow at $1,848,000 was in January 2011, 2926 Woodlawn Avenue priced at $574 per sq. ft. makes this a must see property. A marble and wood-paneled entry greets you as you enter the formal living room with gleaming wood floors, inset paneling, a marble surround fireplace and a large bay window. Dining room is accessed through the living room and leads to a gourmet kitchen with porcelain tiled floors, oak cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter-tops. A lovely, wood paneled library with built-in shelving and a fireplace overlooks a family room with wall to wall windows and terra cotta tiles leading to an expansive, professionally landscaped back yard with a rose garden, Camellia and Azalea bushes, fruit trees and a magnificent, mature oak tree providing shade. Perfect for entertaining. Master bedroom with an updated bathroom featuring granite counters and a tub offers a spa-like setting. The other two bedrooms are serviced by a spacious bathroom with a glass shower enclosure and granite counters. For an interactive, digital experience, please use your smart phone to scan the QR Code below: For more information, please visit www.2926Woodlawn.com

A few months ago I was called by an out of town couple who needed to sell the Monterey Park home of his father, who had recently passed away. The house was a mess, there was a lot of deferred maintenance and they were totally overwhelmed. They hired me for a home staging consultation and we discussed their options:

• Try to sell the house as-is (which would have taken a long time and resulted in a lower sale price)
• Fix the house up and stage it and then put it on the market (which would have taken a long time to do the repairs - a daunting task to manage from out of town)

I offered them a 3rd option:

• I would introduce them to a Los Angeles real estate investor I work with staging her homes. They could meet with her and see if she would offer enough to make sense to sell the house to her.

They met with my investor and they decided to sell the house to her. She offered them a fair price and a fast closing. They didn't have to deal with cleaning up and repairing the house, listing it or the chance escrow would fall through.

The home sellers were winners, the real estate investor is a winner, and my Los Angeles home staging company was a winner(we got to stage the house).

Here's what the house looked like before it was remodeled and staged:

(That's my fabulous assistant Wendy taking notes in the background)

To read more about this Win-Win-Win real estate transaction, read Los Angeles Home Staging - Monterey Park Move-In-Ready (more before and after home staging photos, too!)

We've been very busy staging homes all over Los Angeles this past week. Here are before and after photos of one of our home stagings in Temple City for a real estate investor we work with quite often.

The home is a very nice 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with a huge backyard. There is an inner courtyard in the back of the house and lots of large windows and doors to let the sunshine in.

Temple City living room before home staging

Temple City living room after home staging

Temple City master bedroom before home staging

Temple City master bedroom after home staging

Temple City family room before home staging

Temple City family room after home staging

As you can see, home staging made a tremendous difference in how this home will show to prospective buyers.

The addition of furniture and rugs changes empty rooms into attractive, livable spaces which will appeal to a larger group of prospective buyers. The accessories and artwork add depth and character.

If you are interested in purchasing this home, or for more information, contact the listing agent Ben Tong at (626)589-3879. MLS# H10092804.

*Home Staging Los Angeles - Temple City Home Staging* was originally posted on my Los Angeles home staging website here.

Yesterday we staged the second Affordable Housing condo for a real estate investment group. We destaged the first condo we staged in this development (because it had sold) and moved everything into this unit.

Read: Even Small, Inexpensive Homes Benefit From Home Staging - Pasadena Home Staging Info

The first unit we staged sold within the first month of staging after having been on the market for almost 3 years!

The unit we staged yesterday in this Pasadena condo complex is a mirror image of the first unit. I changed out some of the artwork & accessories, just to freshen the look. Like the last unit, this condo is 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom in 600 sq. ft.

These condos were staged very cost effectively and are part of our home staging program for investors, auction real estate and staging for REOs.

For more information about this Affordable Housing condo located in Pasadena, contact the listing agent, Jill Parker (949)233-9085

Yes, you can grow blueberries in your Los Angeles garden.

I've been growing blueberries for 5 years now (OK, 6 years, but the first plants died since I didn't know what I was doing:o((

My first blueberry harvest of 2010

There is nothing more delicious than freshly picked blueberries that you grow in your own garden. I grow my blueberries in recycled half barrels available at most big box home improvement stores.

Growing blueberries in my Los Angeles garden in half barrels. The net is to keep out the mocking birds who are blueberry gluttons.

This photo is from the Los Angeles Arboretum Garden Show and shows blueberries being grown in galvenized trash cans. Clever!

Blueberries are easy to grow if you follow these steps:

1. Choose the right plants for your climate. I grow Southern Highbush variety blueberries in my Pasadena garden, which are suited for areas with warmer climates and less winter chilling hours like most of Southern California.
   
2. Plant blueberries in acidic well drained soil. If you don't live in an area that has naturally acidic soil you may have better luck planting them in large containers filled with planting soil for acidic plants like azaleas & camellias. I use an organic mix from Armstrong Nursery.
   
3. Make sure they get plenty of sun.
4. Make sure they are watered regularly.
5. Fertilize with organic fertilizer. I throw organic coffee grounds in the planters a couple times per week. That's the only fertilizer I use and it has worked great so far. Regular coffee grounds would probably work fine, too.
6. Protect the plants from birds. One hungry bird can denude a loaded blueberry plant in an hour!

I have never had a need to spray my plants and haven't had any problems with insects or other pests (other than the birds and my neighbor's kids:o)

I have 3 blueberry plants that keep my husband and I in fresh blueberries for a few weeks each year. I was hoping to have enough blueberries to share with the neighbors this year, but a late frost knocked the buds off one of the plants, so my harvest has been cut by 1/3.

After this growning season, we are going to move the plants to a sunnier spot and maybe add another plant or two. After all, you can never have too many fresh blueberries to eat or share!

This week Los Angeles home staging company, Moving Mountains Design,  staged a beautiful new construction townhome in Glendale for a builder. The development, located at 817 East Palmer in Glendale has very pretty common spaces which the builder furnished with wrought iron furniture. Spanish architectural styling and finishes throughout plus lovely landscaping make this development a stand-out in Glendale real estate homes for sale.

As soon as the sales office is set up, I'll be posting more information about these Glendale townhomes for sale.

I just read this blog post by Jay Schmidt, a Prudential Realtor in Gettysburg, PA, titled Cleaning for a Reason - Helping Women Undergoing Cancer Treatment.  His post briefly discussed an organization called Cleaning For A Reason.Their tag line is "We focus on your home so you can focus on your health (TM)".

Here's a blurb from the site:

"Making A Difference One Home At A TimeTM.  Fighting cancer is difficult enough, but living with it is even tougher - and that's where the Cleaning for A Reason Foundation steps in. This nonprofit offers free professional housecleaning, and maid services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer - any type of cancer."

Cleaning For A Reason partners with local cleaning services throughout the US & Canada to provide women undergoing cancer treatment with free housecleaning services. They currently have 682 generous housecleaning partners throughout North America. All the housecleaning services are licensed and bonded, and agree to provide free house cleaning for 2 cancer patients once per month for 4 months during their treatment (4 free cleanings).

I am often asked by my Los Angeles, Pasadena and Arcadia home staging clients for names of cleaning services. I will start referring Cleaning For A Reason partner cleaning services. Any company that provides free cleaning services to women with cancer is a winner in my book.

Thanks, Jay, for making me aware of this wonderful organization!

This past Sunday, I spent the afternoon at the Los Angeles County Arboretum Garden Show. The theme of the show was "Living Green" creating a sustainable garden. There were several "green" gardens created by landscape designers just for the show and there were a ton of vendors selling everything from seeds to solar carport covers.

A lot of very creative people pitched in to make the show a success and a pleasurable way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

My friends Mary and Annette, AKA "the Garden Tarts", owners of Potted, a Los Angeles gardening store in Los Feliz, are two of those creative people.

Succulent gardens created by the Garden Tarts at Potted Los Feliz

They create these miniature garden landscaped using found objects, old toys and the like. I think they are fantastic and make great gifts.

I also saw these 2 other very clever succulent plantings at the show. Sorry, creators unknown.

Going to the garden show got me all fired up. I plan to spend as much time as I can in the garden this weekend. I think I'll create my own succulent garden!