Properties Archive - Debbi DiMaggio

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Top 5 Home Staging Props

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Debbi DiMaggio

1. ORCHIDS & HIGH QUALITY FLORALS

Orchids are an incredibly versatile prop. They are beautiful, elegant, and add class into any interior, regardless of the style of home. They will pair well with just about any room. You can add them into a bathroom for a spa-like feel, group them into containers for a grand entryway centerpiece, or make them the highlight of the dining room. Adding high quality florals can be the perfect way to decorate any space, and the variety of flower types and arrangements can blend into any decorating theme.

2. BOOKS

Books are wonderful space fillers and can introduce subtle pops of color into your living space. They can also be used as risers to add dimension to your room by propping other decorative pieces.

3. BOWLS, TRAYS, & VASES

Ceramic containers can add a calming and organic effect to a decorative scene. They are beautifully subtle, and can be just the right touch to bring a room together. Using vases, trays, and bowls allow a lot of versatility. Vases can be used as a creative way to hold utensils in a kitchen and bowls can be used for small plants. The right container, paired with the right filler, can set the scene and create a warm and inviting space.

4. FILLERS

Fillers are the perfect addition to the types of containers noted above. Fillers can be wicker balls, moss balls, faux lemons or other fruits, bread, flowers, and just about anything else you can think of. Fillers can bring a lived-in look to any space, warming up what could otherwise feel like a bare room.

5. LIFESTYLE ELEMENTS

Having lifestyle elements in your home can really set the stage for the theme you want to incorporate. Lifestyle elements are things that breathe life into any room, and help to prevent it from feeling too staged. These can be things such as a teapot on a night stand, a bowl of fruit on a dining room table, little figurines on nightstands, books on a coffee table, etc. You can even add a breakfast tray on a set bed. Use lifestyle scenery sparingly so it doesn’t come off as too cheesy and over-done.

Selling Your Home?

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Debbi DiMaggio

Looking to gain insight on real estate? Check out Debbi DiMaggio and Adam Betta’s Real Estate website, and get in touch for assistance with selling your home! 14 (2)

Top Tips for Getting Your House Ready to Sell

Selling a home is a multi-step process. Taking a house from your family residence to an attractively presented listing requires a systematic approach and an eye for aesthetics. This is often a guessing game for sellers, but staging is, in fact, the most important step in preparing your home for sale.

Refresh Every Surface – Inside and Out

Staging actually starts with deep cleaning. Though a home may be broom-clean, you want it to look sparkling-clean for buyers. Your agent will probably recommend that you steam-clean the carpets, scrub the hard floors, and bleach the grout in the bathrooms. You may also want to power-wash your siding, driveway, and sidewalks to make the entire home gleam. Look for subtle signs of grime or built-up dirt on seldom-noticed surfaces, but don’t worry too much about scrubbing painted walls. We’ll deal with those next.

Repaint with This Year’s Neutral Colors

A simple coat of fresh paint can make a home look brand new. For this reason, every wall in the home should be repainted in fresh new hues. The colors most popular in the housing market shift from year to year. Your agent will be able to tell you which hues of paint look best in your home and will be most appealing to area buyers.

Strategic Furniture and Decor

With a freshly repainted home, it’s time to stage it with furniture. You can stage with your own furniture, rented furniture, or even pieces your agent might have tucked away. The idea of furniture in staging isn’t actually to furnish a house; rather, it’s to give the impression of how each room can be used.

Moving Mountains Design explains going small and sparse will emphasize the spaciousness of each room, while still providing context for buyers to see “This is the living room,” or “This is the second bedroom,” instead of facing empty, featureless rooms. In other words, you’re sparking their imagination for how they will use the rooms.

In terms of decor, neutral is best, which means removing anything that reflects your own personal tastes. Potential buyers may not share those same tastes with you, and they may look elsewhere if you keep your personal style on display.

If you’re stumped on where to begin, you can search through local listings to see how other homeowners are staging their homes. Still need help? There are professional stagers who can help you make your home look fantastic.

Create Curb Appeal

Staging isn’t just about the home’s interior. Actually, many buyers will make up their minds whether or not they like your home based on the exterior. With that in mind, it’s crucial to amp up the curb appeal. Tidy the landscaping, manicure the lawn, and then add some blooming flowers for a welcoming appearance. Pay extra attention to your entryway, and if your front door looks tired, paint it and install new hardware. For the finishing touch, add a new doormat to greet house hunters as they arrive.

Take Amazing Photos

Once the house is staged, it’s time for photos. In the age of internet home searches, most people rely on property photos to cull homes. If you’re uncomfortable with a DIY approach, your agent will know exactly how to take a vivid and flattering photo-tour of the home. They will walk from room to room snapping photos in the best light and may come back for a better shot to make sure your online listing is perfect.

A proper presentation ensures your listing, showings, and open house events are top-notch. Clean, declutter, spruce up and arrange with house hunters in mind. By going the extra mile with your efforts, you’re sure to be rewarded with a quick sale.

Historical Beauty, Piedmont California

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Debbi DiMaggio

Elegant and Graceful Piedmont Beauty

Represented by the DiMaggio & Betta Group

Coming Soon – Click To Preview

Offered at $5,488,888

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designed to sell

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Debbi DiMaggio

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When you have been doing something for over 30 years that thing you do becomes second nature. For me designing homes is one of those things. Each time we take a new listing there is work to be done. Of course it varies from home to home. And once in awhile a client chooses to sell cleaned and vacant. Usually that only occurs when a home is too far gone and the investment out ways the return.

Let’s break in down.

Obtaining inspections is the first step. It’s not unlike what happens when we get a check up at the doctors office with the addition of further testing and bloodwork. We do the same for a house. Adam and I will book appointments for the following inspections: Termite, Comprehensive Home (checking all systems), Sewer Lateral, Foundation (if recommenced by the home inspector), Roof including Furnace and Electrical if those systems are outdated and require a bid to fix, update or replace. In the Piedmont East Bay these reports will be passed on to the Buyer and paid for up front by the Seller. Area standards vary from area to area, city to city. In Los Angeles where we also work, Buyers pay for any and all inspections the deem necessary, but do not preform such inspections until after they are in contract.

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The second step is the design aspect. This is my favorite part. I enjoy the creativity and the process from bringing a home from lived in to staged to sell. I manage each aspect. First we obtain bids: Staging, Painting and note any repairs, as well as Garden Clean Up, Window Washing, Floor Refinishing or Carpet Replacement and Lighting Updates. Sometimes we update kitchen and bath countertops. Once we have produced all the bids we pass them on to the seller to decide how much or how little they would like to invest. Most of the times our Sellers see the benefit and agree to making the investment. After all they will reap the rewards of a higher sale.

Having just returned from a listing consultation in the very neighborhood I grew up, and the same neighborhood we raised our children, I realized that we had sold quite a few within a few blocks of one another. As we chatted with the Sellers we reminisced about all the old neighbors. In Piedmont homes are referred to by name, the name of the original homeowner. Even though a home could have had 3 different homeowners since the original homeowner or the one that just stuck in our minds during our childhood.

Here are just a few homes we sold in the neighborhood and brought from Lived In to Staged To Sell.

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