We are proud to say, here in the Silicon Valley, you are never more than few blocks away from a house that had been staged by us.
Here is a graphical look at the homes we have staged in the past two years.
2010 Transactions
2009 Transactions
Not everyone has the luxury of moving out before putting their home on the market. Especially in tough economy, we are seeing an increasing demand to stage occupied homes. We try to work with owners’ existing furnishing, thus saving them the money from renting furnishings from us. Occupied homes are tougher to stage than vacant homes, the design process is more involved since we’d have to consider the owner’s furnishing and make sure the staging is practical to live with.
Here is an example of a condo in Mountain View we recently staged. The property was previous on the market, staged by another staging company, and after more than half year, it was still on the market. Then… the Realtor was changed, and we were asked to freshen up the place. We removed some of owner’s bulky, dated items, brought in few contemporary furnishings, injected brighter colors here and there, and voilà! The place was sold in a week with multiple offers at almost $30,000 over the listing price.
Does staging really work? 
Our staging combined with our complimentary eye-popping photography/virtual tour service give you the winning edge!
Here is the comparison between the previous stager’s work (left) and ours (right):
(More info on this property, here is the virtual tour)
We have been working very hard to keep up with the market lately, houses are moving very fast these days. In little over two weeks since my last SOLD blog entry, we now have a heap of sold properties that needs to be announced.
While on the topic of great photography, let’s talk about what a home owner should do in preparation to the all so important photo shoot for the property.
You’d wash your face before applying makeup…
You’d floss your teeth before dentist appointment…
You’d vacuum your car before selling…
You’d spray breath-freshener before a date…
…
…
Okay, you get the point, there are many things should be done before the most expensive (in most people’s cases) piece of possession you own gets its photos taken. Victor (Victor Lin Photography) put together a handy checklist of things the home owners should do, hope it is helpful…
Victor Lin Photography
We are very excited about our new photographer — Victor!!
Victor and us have collaborated for few months now, and he (www.victorlinphoto.com) impresses us every time! Don’t let Victor’s rather young age fool you, he has been playing with cameras before he even started Algebra! Victor’s passion has been with outdoor photography, he has set foot in countless national parks and who-knows-where deserted places around the country. According to him, his favorite thing to do is to take panoramic photo of beautiful landscapes… well, I am glad he is applying his years of experience to real estate photography. Don’t forget to checkout few virtual tours he created recently (near the bottom of the post).
We are not sure how he does it, his exterior photos capture the deep blue sky with whitest puffy clouds, and his interior shots are able to grabs all the details inside the room AND the sharp image of outside thru glasses, the range and dimension of his photos are amazing!
Photography service is always FREE with any staging with us, and for a limited time only, Victor is offering a $125 virtual tour package for One Two Six Design's clients!
Virtual Tours
What are the similarities between the follow set of photos?
Well, each of these 5 sets of photos are really showing the same stuff: burger, gown, celebrity, dining and family room, respectively; the difference is really how the subject was presented.
If the burger company can spend who-knows-how-many-$$$$ for Paris Hilton to sizzle up their burger, shouldn’t you do something to properly showcase your home? Remember, presentation is everything, you are not only selling a home, but a lifestyle!!
De-cluttering, cleaning, painting, staging and photographing, we are here to help!
