HOURS OF OPERATION & AVAILABILITY
Our appointments are during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. This applies to emails and calls received during the weekends. They will be returned Monday morning.
When we are not meeting clients, we are cleaning up, meeting with vendors and organizing the studio, etc. For this reason, we can rarely accommodate same-day appointment requests.
We do not schedule on site home staging work on weekends or during holidays (even during peak season) for sanity reasons, with the exception of a few available consultation appointments on Saturday mornings. Available time slots will appear in our online schedule. If a time slot is not shown, it has already been booked.
During peak real estate sales season, we often get booked up 2 weeks in advance. We highly recommend contacting us early so we can discuss your project.
We reserve the right to decline service.
PROPOSAL & OUR HOME STAGING PROCESS
All projects begin with a $250 Action Report Consultation OR a $100 Estimate Visit (for a Vacant Stage Project). Payment is required to book your appointment. If your project is beyond a 20 miles radius of our studio in downtown Colorado Springs, additional travel time will be assessed.
If you decide to take our Action Report a step further and upgrade to The Home Enhancer, you will receive a proposal within 24 hours following our Action Report meeting. It will be based on items and goals we discussed during our meeting and reflect any budgeting requests you shared. If you decide to move forward with your proposal, it must be electronically signed and returned with a 50% deposit before scheduling your installation date. The remaining amount will be due following the completion of your project.
For The Vacant Stage, you will receive your proposal within 24 hours of your Estimate Visit. If you decide to move forward, the proposal must be electronically signed and returned, along with a 50% deposit before scheduling your installation date. The remaining 50% is to be paid 2 days before installation occurs. The $100 Estimate Visit fee will be applied toward the cost of your project.
The Vacant Stage is a 30-Day contract, which includes all labor, prepping, packing, delivery, installation, wrap & pack, de-installation, restock, and furniture and lifestyle accessory rental for 30 days.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROPOSAL
We draft our proposal based on labor and materials needed for staging your home. While it may look like we are only working at your job site on the day of staging, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes. This includes, but is not limited to, discussing the best design plan for your listing, selecting, shopping for, buying, or pulling inventory, packing and loading, delivery, unpacking, and on-site installation. If you purchase The Vacant Stage, we pack, unload, and restock everything after your house is sold.
A lot of heavy lifting (sometimes literally) goes into your project, and labor is not cheap, especially good labor. Materials cost money as well. We go to furniture shows each year to discover the best inventory to create the look we want. We also have to carefully store all of our fabulous things. Periodically, we hire contractors to help us organize and maintain our inventory.
While we try our best to keep our pricing competitive, we have to make sure we run on enough profit to keep doing what we do best.
We understand that there are other home stagers whose pricing may be higher or lower than ours. We are fine with that. If you like what we do, and you want us to achieve the look you see in our portfolio, we need to charge what we ask for in the proposal.
PAYMENT & SCHEDULE
We only accept electronic payments either with an electronic check or with a credit card. This benefits our clients because our operations are more efficient. Accepting credit card payments frees us up from paperwork so we can concentrate on what we do best.
You can make payments directly by clicking a button on our invoice (isn’t that magical?). Your payment is processed by stripe, a third party service. We do not see nor store your credit card number when you submit a payment.
PROJECT DATES ARE NOT CONFIRMED UNTIL A SIGNED AGREEMENT (ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE) WITH A 50% NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT PAYMENT HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THE REMAINING BALANCE IS DUE AT THE COMPLETION OF YOUR HOME ENHANCER PROJECT OR 2 DAYS PRIOR TO YOUR VACANT STAGE PROJECT DATE. THIS IS ALSO OUTLINED ON YOUR INVOICE.
NO WORK WILL BE SCHEDULED UNTIL A DEPOSIT AND A SIGNED AGREEMENT IS RECEIVED.
Because we have to pack the styling props and goodies for your project, as well as possibly schedule movers and/or a styling team, we ask you to give us at least a 2-day notice for your preferred staging and de-staging dates. This is why there is an expiration date on the proposal.
We are happy to accommodate any reasonable client requests, but these need to be arranged before your agreement is signed, especially before we arrive at your door. This is actually better for you since we won’t have to charge you for an additional trip.
Any changes such as requesting additional inventory (by either home owners or agents), change of props & furniture, additional design hours on site caused by unfinished work (constructions, cleaning crew, electricians, tile installers, plumbers, etc.), will be presented in the final invoice.
For additional inventory or a change in furniture & props, additional delivery and installation fees may apply.
Most of our staging projects are finished in a day. We start the day at 7am, loading our truck with furniture and home accessories to stage your project, and usually arrive on site between 9:30am-10:30am. Staging projects wrap between 2-7pm, depending on the scope & size of the project.
Because there are many factors that can delay the completion of staging, such as the size of your doors, narrow stairways, elevators, etc., we highly recommend that you DO NOT schedule your photographer on the same day. You have probably watched enough Project Runway or HGTV Design Star to know that rushed design work is generally not the best design work. Let us do our thing so we can make your listing as great as it can be.
SCOPE OF WORK & DELIVERY
We do our best to provide the best pricing for our clients. As much as we would like to offer discounts, we prefer to cover our expenses rather than going out of business.
On the other hand, we do run promotions from time to time,
and these will be presented on your estimate, if it applies to you.
DISCOUNTS & PROMOTIONS
We acquire our inventory from a variety of sources: directly from wholesalers (whom we’ve vetted by visiting their showrooms during annual furniture shows in Las Vegas), as well as stores, ranging from Target, IKEA, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and independent boutiques.
Our inventory is often available for sale. Feel free to let us know if you are interested.
OUR INVENTORY
We carry general liability insurance, which only covers damages when we are the one that causes injuries to others or others’ property. Homeowners are responsible if our furnishings & accessories are damaged, stolen, or accidentally packed during the sale process. Any items a homeowner buys through their Home Enhancer package is theirs to do with as they please, and to take with them when they move. All furnishings and home accessories are props only,
for display purposes. Modern Interior Staging is not liable for any unintended use.
INSURANCE
We do excellent work, but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee our work will necessarily yield your desired outcomes. While home staging is a proven and well-tested technique in marketing the sales of homes, we cannot guarantee your listings will sell, will sell faster, and for more money. We always recommend hiring an experienced agent who will price and market your property right.
NO GUARANTEE OF OUTCOME
We highly recommend hiring a professional photographer.
It is the best investment to highlight the home and enhance the effect of a staged home. If you don’t know one, we would be happy to recommend one.
We often take photos of our projects and may use them in our blogs, for publicity materials, and for marketing purposes. You, as a client, and details that would identify who you are, will remain confidential, unless you have told us that you want to be known, or if you have published a public review or testimonial on a public website like Yelp, Linkedin, etc.
PHOTOGRAPHY & MARKETING
We appreciate that you would offer, but do not accept gratuity.
If you like what we do, please send us your testimonial, or post a review on Houzz, Linkedin, Yelp, etc. We also love video testimonials!
TESTIMONIALS, YELP REVIEWS, GRATUITY