Removing the old fencing from the yard enhanced the back porch view.

Amy Garland helped my husband and I stage, repair, and market an very untenable house that needed a lot of work.

My mother in law left my husband a house that was full of clothes, dog hair, furniture in ill repair, and many gates. At first, I was at a loss as to how to organize, and clean the mess. When we decided to put the house on the market, Amy came to the house and gave us pointers in terms of what we had to do to get the house ready.

Staging the living room helped make it an inviting space.

The basement area was a separate living quarters, but it never looked that way. She advised us to create a gym, and to make the living room area look like a living room with a television and couch. The bedrooms did not have beds in them, and were not livable areas, so she guided us through the process of clearing out the bedrooms, putting beds and minimal furniture in them, and picking out accents like bed spreads in order to make the house look nice for pictures.

The house had a lot of issues. For example, there was no flooring in a the sitting room, the carpet on the stairs had many stains and a foul odor from dog wear, there were several gates in the house, scratches on the wall, a pink exterior, broken fixtures, and several fenced dog areas outside that were a bit of an eyesore. We had a small budget for repairs, and really wanted to sell the house quickly.

New paint and clean carpet revitalized our entryway.

Amy suggested that we paint the house, and as she said, “that is how you get the most bang for your buck.” We had the outside and inside painted, and this made a monumental difference in the appearance and cleanliness of the house. She suggested that we carpet only two areas, and get a professional carpet cleaner to the the rest, and although these options were inexpensive, the house looked 100 times better. We pulled down all the exterior fencing, and planted some flowers in the outside beds.

Amy also suggested the ways we could make the bedrooms look larger, sleek, and more modern. She told us how to arrange the furniture, and use how to make the furniture look nicer. Her guidance throughout the entire staging project was invaluable. I often called her with advice (for example what bedspread I should buy), and she answered promptly and knowledgeably.

The process of preparing the house to go on the market seemed insurmountable, but her advice and commitment to helping us the sell the house made an enormous difference, and when we finally had it ready, we sold the house in less than a month in a market that houses normally were for sale for about a year. Her knowledge of the profession, sales, the market, and staging were on point, I would recommend anyone who is trying to sell an estate to employ her as an agent, she knows how to the get the job done remarkably well.

If you need help with your home listing you can reach Amy by phone (865) 257-0100 or e-mail.