4 Reasons To Use Professional Photos to Market Your Home: Before and After Photos Included

Plano, TX Home Before Staging: Living Room

Will professional photos help you sell you home? The survey says yes! Read the details below and then take a look at the professional before and after photos of a home in Plano, TX staged by yours truly.

1. The percentage of potential buyers who shop for their next home online is 89%! The photos that they see of your home is their first impression. Entice them to get in the car and drive on over to your home with beautiful photos that enhance the important details of your home.

2.  A study conducted by Papilios Real Estate Photography showed that listings with professional photos generated 139% more clicks compared to similar listings in the same MLS area and zip code.

3. Wall Street Journal said that most of the homes that sold had photos taken with a professional camera compared to those homes with photos taken with a point and shoot camera.

Plano, TX Home After Staging: Living Room

A professional camera and skilled
photographer can affect how a buyer looks at a listing.

Plano, TX Home Before Staging: Kitchen Nook

Plano, TX Home After Staging: Kitchen Nook

4. Unique Exposure Photography found that 32% of the listings in Fort Worth Texas were marketed with professional photos.

The higher the list price, the more likely that professional photos were used to market the home.
If your home is in a higher price bracket,  make sure that your home remains competitive with professional photos.




If your home is in a lower price bracket;  make it stand out from the others with the help of a professional photographer.

The before and after photos that you see here were taken by Lance Selgo, a real estate photographer who serves Dallas, TX and Fort Worth, TX.

This home is listed for sale by Ben Fluno and is located at 921 Mellville, Plano, TX.

For more information about staging your home, contact me, Holly Bellomy at 214-532-9677.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Home Office Transformation in Allen, TX

Home Office Transformation in Allen, TX

I had the opportunity to stage a home office in Allen, TX. The office had nice features: built-in bookcases, tons of natural light, wood floors, and slate tile on the walls. There were, however some changes to be made. This is what the office looked like before the home staging:

As you can see, this Allen home office had red walls, clutter, and some personalized items. Home staging is meant to highlight a rooms positive features so I made the following recommendations in order to feature the bookcases, slate walls and wood floor:

1. Paint the walls with Behr Premium Plus Ultra in a satin finish in the color Paramount. Paramount is a dark, neutral color that harmonizes with the slate. This cool color is relaxing, unlike the red color which is very exciting and contrasting to the cool slate. These office walls were painted with one coat. Can you believe it? All of the red paint was covered with less than two gallons of paint!

2. Paint the built-ins. The white paint had yellowed over time.

3. Pack most of the books, all of the collectibles and the personalized items such as the diploma.

4. Bring in some art from the other rooms in the house.

5. Accessorize with other items in the house.

6. And, of course, clean the blinds, windows, and ceiling fan.

After the cleaning, painting, and accessorizing, here is what the office looked like:

The homeowner's furnishings, art, and accessories were used to transform this office and keep the cost of home staging quite low.

When staging your home, keep three things in mind: color, clutter, and cleanliness!

Your Home Staging Consultant,

Holly

http://www.dallasrealestatestaging.com/

Staging and decorating homes in Allen, TX

Family Room Dynamics

I recently met with a home owner in Carrollton, TX who said she wanted to stage her home, but she didn't want to sell her home. She wanted a "model home" look so that she could enjoy her house and I said, "I can help!"

She gave me the grand tour of her home and proceeded to tell me what she liked and disliked about each room. We ended up in the family room where she said that she wanted it to look inviting and accommodate the adults. She had recently changed the drapes and pillows but the furniture arrangement wasn't working. In fact she said that when her family of six gathered to watch TV, her seat was on the floor!

The home owner and I quickly began to move the furniture. Here is a before photo:
As you can see, there is no focal point and the furniture is not set up for intimate conversations. The TV is not easy to view either! So, this is what we did:

1. We pulled the sofa away from the wall and into the room. We placed it across from the fireplace, directing the attention there.

2. The corner to the left of the fireplace is where the TV will find it's new home. It will be easier to view.

3. The chair was moved next to the sofa to encourage conversation.

4. The homeowner had a coffee table that she brought out and I accessorized it with items she had around the house.

5. I leaned a different piece of art on the mantle for color and drama.

Here is a different view of the room before the redesign:

And here is the room after the redesign.

We used what the homeowner had in her home for the redesign.

In order to complete the room I made the following recommendations:

1. Hook up the cable at the opposite side of the room.

2. Purchase a sofa table with cubbies that will hold baskets of toys for her young son and place it behind the sofa.

3. Bring down the leather chair from the loft that doesn't get any use and place it to the right of the fireplace.

4.Purchase a side table and place it between the sofa and chair.

5. Purchase a lamp with a satin nickel finish and make sure that it's taller than the furniture and place it on the side table.

6. Add a potted plant next to the side table.

This homeowner has a plan for a sensational family room. She can complete the room over time, adding furniture and accessories as she likes! And, hopefully, with the extra chair, she won't have to sit on the floor!

Holly Bellomy

Dallas Home Staging Consultant

http://www.dallasrealestatestaging.com/

HGTV is coming to Dallas!

Are you a first time home seller? You may qualify to be on HGTV! And if you do, I would be happy to help you with a complimentary home staging consultation or complimentary furniture lease for a month.

Call me if you live in Dallas, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Allen, or the surrounding area.
Your Dallas home staging consultant,
Holly
214-532-9677

Home Staging 101: Establishing the Focal Point

The focal point in the family room is almost always the fireplace. Achieving scale and balance in order to draw attention to this feature can be tricky, especially when you have an open floor plan.

I had the opportunity to rearrange this family room in a home that is on the market in Plano. The first thing that I noticed when I walked in to the room was the teal sofa. I didn't want potential buyers to walk in and notice the sofa as I did; I wanted them to notice the features of the room; I wanted them to notice the fireplace.

Here is the before photo:


So, I moved the sofa and placed it across room from the fireplace. This solved two problems. It balanced the room and drew focus to the fireplace and not the teal sofa. The console table was behind the chair and I placed it behind the sofa to draw attention away from the teal color.

Here is the after photo:

Here is another before photo:

You can see in this after photo that the room feels more spacious. The seating is intimate, the view of the yard is unobstructed and the focal point is established.

Holly Bellomy, your Dallas Home Stager!

www.dallasrealestatestaging.com
Home Staging and Interior Decorating

Home Staging Tips for the Master Bathroom

The master bathroom is one of the most important spaces in the home. It should look fresh, clean and inviting.

Consider these tips for your master bathroom:

1. For a quick and easy update, replace the cabinet hardware. In the photo below, we replaced the knobs for less than $50.
2. Purchase new towels that are just for "show".
3. Frame a window with a soft, fabric treatment. Fabric adds luxury and softness.
4. Add candles to the bath surround.
5. Pick up small bath mats; they break up the spacious feeling of the room.

Here are the before and after photos of the bathroom that we staged in McKinney.

Holly Bellomy is the owner of Dallas Real Estate Staging. Specialties include: occupied and vacant home staging and home selling consultations. For more info. browse our website: www.dallasrealestatestaging.com

Staging Slide Show

It has been a long time since I have posted anything!  I have been enjoying time with the kids this summer and trying to figure out why I am anemic.  Lately I have had very little energy for anything.

I did a highlight staging for a great family in Allen last week.  They received 2 offers the first day and one was for more that the listed price!

Here is the link to the slide show:
http://www.realestateshows.com/426136

http://www.reinventingrooms.biz/

Staged Homes Sell Quickly- Allen, McKinney, Plano Home Stager

I work with Holly to give me the best opportunity possible to sell my homes quicker. Especially in a stale market like this, agents and sellers alike need to take advantage of all resources available to move property. Any agent that has ever shown a property knows that buyers can get turned off from great homes because they just aren’t staged correctly. We need our sellers to realize that stagers help sell. Marketing your property within the walls of the home is very important. Many agents just list to get listings and are not worried about the time on the market, but for an agent that cares about their clients and wants to move property quicker, there is no better way than to invest in a stager.

Justin Phillips
Westbrook Brokerage Firm, LLC
972-786-4219
justin_phillips@tx.rr.com
www.reinventingrooms.biz