miOaklandCounty.com

HGTV recently aired a special program entitled “25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes” which featured experts in all aspects of real estate: agents, mortgage lenders, home inspectors, flippers and stagers. The experts opined about the top reasons a listing lags on the market. Catch the full list here. Better yet, watch […]

After an excruciatingly long winter, I hereby declare… gratefully and optimistically… that spring is finally here! The birds are chirping, the trees are budding and the baseball season has begun.
In the real estate world, this means the time has come to kick curb appeal up a notch.
In a buyer’s mind, the home’s exterior […]

I was asked to stage a vacant house in Royal Oak which had been on the market for 6+ months with no offers. It definitely needed furniture in place to give it some “oomph” and show how lovely the property truly is.
As I toured the house to take measurements and devise a plan of action, […]

The number of senior citizens trying to sell homes is growing.  As our parents and grandparents reach the “golden years,” it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to live unassisted.   Rising co-pays and health care costs combined with decreases in retiree pension benefits are draining this generation’s bank accounts at an alarming rate.  Health issues […]

Hello………my name is Marianne, and I’m a Chocoholic.
Any news story with a reference to chocolate grabs my attention. So does a headline which includes furniture.
Imagine my delight when I found a story on WDIV’s website which features both of my obsessions. Godiva has created an all-chocolate room in Manhattan! As a Valentine’s […]

I happened upon a blog today on www.redfin.com , a San Francisco area real estate site. The author, Brenda Keener, brings up the topic of “Staging for Living”, a service that we home stagers are schooled in and offer to our non-selling clients. Here is the post in its entirety:
Staging Your Home - […]

When it’s time to improve your Birmingham MI home´s curb appeal it does not have to cost a small fortune. Here are some inexpensive suggestions for improving the curb appeal of your Oakland County home.
Nothing makes as big of an impact as a fresh coat of paint?
Is there any home out there that would not […]

I frequently get calls asking how much it costs to stage a vacant house. Many times, there is a pause, and then a reply of “Thank you….I’ll be in touch.”
Though the fees to stage a house do add up to be a fairly costly investment, it will always be far less than a […]

Look around your neighborhood. How many houses are for sale? If you live in a typical Michigan neighborhood, the answer is “a boatload.” A good percentage of those houses are vacant, meaning the owners have moved out already and taken all of their furniture with them. What remains is the shell […]

In today’s overflowing real estate market, home sellers need a psychological edge to ease the home selling process. They need to move on with their lives. They need to find a magic marketing tool that will set their home apart from competing houses for sale on the block. That magic marketing tool is home […]

Today I am excited to introduce a new contributor to miOaklandCounty.com, Marianne Sweet of Home Sweet Home Staging, LLC. We are seeing more and more clients use the services of a professional stager, and other clients who haven’t even heard of staging. Marianne has graciously agreed to share some her knowledge and wisdom […]