Your Realtor is hired to market and sell your house for the best price in the quickest amount of time. Your staging company is hired to partner with your realtor, and you, the seller, to insure the house is ready for the market. Home Staging is your number one marketing tool. Today's buyers are internet dating new homes on the market. Our responsibility is to set your house apart from its competition and encourage buyers to want to see your house in person, fall in love with it, and make you an offer. Selling your house is a team effort between you, the seller, your realtor and your staging company.

"Good Enough Never Is!" When you send your children off to school, don't you always ask them to do their best? It's the same in real estate. When presenting your house to the market, you want to make sure that you are presenting it in the best condition as possible. HGTV and the many real estate shows on TV have educated today's buyers to expect all houses they enter to look like a model home. In fact model homes/new homes are your greatest competition here in Houston. Our goal is to present your house like a model home to attract the broadest number of buyers to your house. Often times when we live in a home for many years, we see it in a much different way than potential buyers will perceive it. Hiring a professional staging company to view your house from the buyer's point of view will insure that your house is market ready.

Staging does not guarantee that your house will sell. However, statistics show that staged homes sell more quickly than a non-staged home and for more money.

Unfortunately, at this time, the staging industry is an unlicensed industry. Anyone can wake up and decide they are going to be a stager. It is very important that you look into the company you are going to hire and ask the following questions:

• When & Where did you receive your training?

• How many homes have you staged this mth/yr?

• How many of those homes sold?

• What are your statistics ?

• Are there any extra fees?

• Do you own your furniture or rent?

• How long will the process take?

• When will you pick up the items?

• What rooms will be Staged?

• Any before and after pictures of your work?

Simple Elegance requires all of their Stagers® to be Accredited Staging Professionals (ASP's®), trained by stagedhomes.com. Barb Schwarz, the Creator of the Home Staging Industry, began stagedhomes.com back in the 1990's after she had seen what a difference it made in presenting her homes to the market as a Realtor for many years. She developed the ASP® and Accredited Staging Professional Master's (ASPM®) Programs to train individuals on the science of staging® homes properly. Mary Scalli, the CEO/President of Simple Elegance has her ASPM Certification and was personally trained by Barb Schwarz. Simple Elegance has staged hundreds of homes in the Houston area with great statistics. In fact, many Realtors work with Simple Elegance exclusively.

Yes, this is called a Home Staging Consultation. In fact, on all Occupied Homes, this is where we like to begin. The Consultation includes up to 2 hours of time in your house, beginning at the curb and walking through the entire house with you, the sellers, to let you know exactly what needs to be done to make your house market ready. When we leave, you will have a hand-written report that tells you exactly what to do in each area of the house. You are then ready with a list to do the work. It can be an overwhelming process. We do recommend making a schedule and focusing on individual areas at a time. However, we are here to assist you as well. We can do as little or as much as you need us to do to get your house ready for the market.

This truly is not recommended. The first 2 weeks on the market are your most crucial weeks as you are the new house on the market. You want to put your best foot forward when you arrive on the market. Think about selling your car. Would you take your car to a dealer to sell it before detailing it? No. You make sure it is spotless and looks it's best to get top dollar. Staging your house is like detailing your car. Taking the time to prepare your house for the market is one of the best investments you will make. Think about the investment in staging as always being less than a price reduction. Don't give away money. Invest your money in Staging to get top dollar for your largest investment in the quickest amount of time.

No. Staging® is de-personalizing your house to create a broad appeal to attract potential buyers. Decorating is personalizing your home with your style and specific taste.

Vacant houses have no sense of feeling. Buying a home is a very emotional time in a buyer's life. They want to be able to feel what the lifestyle of the house will be. Sterile and vacant don't make it. 90% of buyers need to visually see what the lifestyle of the house will be. Simple Elegance will bring in the appropriate furniture, rugs, art and accessories to create the emotional appeal that attracts buyers to the lifestyle of the home. Simple Elegance owns all of their own furniture and accessories and can furnish any size, style and price range of a property.

All houses will sell at some price eventually. Do you want to get top dollar or accept what you get from the market. Statistics prove that Staged® homes sell for at least 10% more than a non-staged® house. So even if your house sells quickly, did you really get top dollar for your property or could you have gotten more. For example, if your house sold for $400,000. Could it have actually sold for $440,000 had it been properly staged by an ASP Staging Company? Staging® works in all markets, slow and healthy markets.

Statistics show that 95% of ASP Staged Homes, sell within 11-21 days. Can you afford not to stage® your house? Simple Elegance has a proven track record of working with sellers, investors and builders to transform their properties into market ready model homes that go from Staged to Sold... We are here to partner with you. Let's move forward and make your house shine on the market!