Although the staff was very pleasant, I found Leigh to be inflexible, arrogant, and borderline unethical. She refuses to stage the house for less than 2 months, even though we were quite certain that the house would sell within the first few days, which it did. Moreover, when I asked if a shorter term was possible, she summarily referred me to the FAQ section of her website.
My vision of staging was to set up some furniture to give a homey sense and let buyers envision how the space might be used. Leigh's vision is to make it amply evident that it is "staged"--with a bottle of perrier and glasses with fake ice cubes set out, etc. This not only made my house look more like a furniture showroom than a home, it also sent a message to buyers that I had already moved and therefore likely needed to sell quickly. To my mind, staging designed to assist in the sale of a house should leave the impression that the owner has good taste and is neat and clean---not that everything in the house is fake. By this standard Leigh failed entirely.
I also had qualms with her lack of professionalism. In order to pare down a significant estimate for staging part of my house, I suggested that the kitchen and the half bath not be staged, as I figured prospective buyers could envision those rooms without further adornments. While Leigh complained about "having to rework the estimate" when the items were brought into the house, several knick/knack items and wall hangings were included for both rooms, at my expense. I also suggested using a double bed for a bedroom rather than a queen, as the bedroom was quite small; however Leigh was not only unable to accommodate that request but she also responded that "no one uses double beds anymore." Of course, my intent was not to use the bed but to create the impression that the room was more ample, than would be evident with a queen size bed; and people do use double beds! When I proposed incorporating some of my furniture that was not going out with my shipment she responded that "it would not appeal to the clientele we are targeting." Curiously, as the homeowner, I thought I was precisely the type of clientele that should be targeted! Lastly, concluding after she had the furniture delivered that my bedside stands were too low, she said that a second delivery fee and rental charges would be incurred. I was content with using low bedside tables, unpersuaded that it would make or break the sale of the house. I explained this to her, but as I was in a meeting at the time, I told her that I would have to call her back later. Before my meeting ended, she had contacted my realtor to complain, and when the realtor agreed to cover the delivery cost Leigh made an unauthorized charge for rental of two bedside tables to my credit card.
In the future, I will find someone who understands that the seller is the client and that the client's needs are paramount to whether happy homemaker cookbooks and a fake pear are perched on the kitchen cupboard. read more
