Staging & Selling Montreal West Island Homes

"All the home staging in the world won't sell an over-priced home."  That's what Nairn Friemann, a great New York home stager, told us during my first day of home staging training back in 2007.  I was reminded of those words today as I went out to preview homes for sale here in Montreal's West Is...

Do numbers matter?  I know some do, like the asking price of comparable properties, the number of bedrooms in a home, the prime interest rate, the number of times you have to try on jeans to find one pair that actually freakin' fits.      I'm sorry. Did I say that out loud? [Sigh.]  Moving on... ...

Beauty and the beast?  Charles Buell shows a lovely vessel-type sink that he's seen in some of his work as a home inspector extraordinaire and points out one design flaw that may not be so obvious: there is no overflow (a hole at the back or front of the sink) to allow excess water to drain when ...

I'll take a month of doing better over 12 months of doing the same, any day of the year. That's a mouthful, I know.  Let me explain. For every keen, eager and, OK, sometimes naive person who embraces the New Year ritual of setting resolutions for the year ahead, you'll find a wise, learned and, y...

Does your blog header represent you well?  Every single thing we put out for public and professional consumption represents us to some extent...including the header on our blog.  We work so hard to develop good content for our blogs.  We owe it to ourselves to make sure it looks professional too....

I've always been proud of what I did for a living.  I was a criminologist for 18 years, and though I sometimes got flak for working for the federal government, people usually had the impression that what I was doing was honourable, that it would help make our world a wee bit safer.  When I stayed...

Home stagers do not hide problems!  I know many of you believe that we do, because I've seen the surprise on your face when I refuse to do it. And who can blame you for believing this when even the revered Mike Holmes, TV star and general contractor extraordinaire, puts out an article in The Mont...

I was out walking my dog yesterday, and since it was 4 pm on November 28 in Canada, it was getting dark already. A young man was approaching me on the path. He had a dark hood over his head and long dark hair.  His eyes were focused on the ground.  He looked if not menacing then, at the very leas...

I've always said that I have the best clients.  I love them for their humour, kindness and humanity.  Every one is unique, and some are exceptionally talented.  Nicole Dorion is one of these.  She's a mother and a grandmother, a wife and a sister, and an artist, a painter.  She does beautiful wor...

Maureen Bray shows us the difference between good intentions and professional staging. I am one of those real estate agents who is also a professional stager, and I have the staging inventory in my garage and basement to prove it. :)  I started in this business as a stager and then went on to get...