karen dembsky 5 page submission professional stager region...

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Karen Dembsky wows home buyers

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www.peachtreehomestaging.com

“I love the fi rst impression,” said Karen Dembsky of Peachtree Home Staging. “I love to open the front door and take their breath away.”

Karen hasn’t always been a professional home stager. In cor-porate sales for a Fortune 500 company for 22 years, Karen left the corporate world to sell real estate. “My houses sold so quick.

I knew right away the importance of photos on the Internet.,” said Karen.Once, Karen posted photos of a home she had staged. Sight unseen, an

off er came in from Missouri on the fi rst day the listing was online. Her buyer said, “My husband and I bought our house based on the Internet photos. We had seen the photos and fell in love with the house. We didn’t fi nd out until later that this was a house staged by Karen, the Realtor.”

It was the part of being a Realtor that Karen liked the best. She’d walk through the home with her seller and off er suggestions. “If they fi xed the things I told them to, they might get an off er for full price. It happened.”

It was her favorite part of selling real estate. She saw the potential for a business, where she would help her friends in real estate. She kept her license as a real estate agent, but switched to being a referral agent only, in 2007, so she could start Peachtree Home Staging.

the

of the BUYERBUYER

Before

Before

Passion, Professionalism & Presentation

“My favorite room to stage is the living room. A living room is part

of the fi rst impression,” said Karen Dembsky of Peachtree Home Staging.

From formal to families: This dated 80’s

home in a trendy in-town neighborhood

needed contemporary design, not a

formal living room. Today’s younger

buyer sees family entertaining in Karen

Dembsky’s modern layout.

After

Real Estate Merchandising & RedesignReal Estate Merchandising & Redesign

PEACHTREE HOME STAGINGPEACHTREE HOME STAGING


Home Staging and Interior Design author, instructor and media personality Melanie Serra appreciates what Karen brings to the round ta-ble. “I fi rst met Karen at an event in 2007 that she organized in Atlanta for Georgia home stag-ers to meet and discuss our trial and errors in the industry. It was a fi rst of its kind for stagers. I didn’t register for the event when fi rst invited, but a few days later I received a personal call from Karen requesting my presence, as well as the presence of my many home staging students and graduates.”

“Karen’s passion and warmth for the industry was so apparent. I wanted to know more about what drove her to gather all her competition into one meeting. Her response was that the industry was new, and that there was power in numbers; that we would grow awareness by sharing experi-ences and knowledge.

Melanie Serra concluded, “To Karen the vol-unteer eff ort and hours she was contributing was about developing a respected business within our community. She has proven herself as a true as-set to the Atlanta community of home stagers.”

The challenge of a new market

In the Atlanta market, when Karen start-ed staging, there weren’t that many home stagers. Her biggest hurdle as a business-person was legitimizing what she did.

“If only one person was home staging, and we didn’t have competition, it wouldn’t be a very important thing to do, would it?” Karen said.

So Karen has worked to develop peer net-working locally and in the online communi-ty. “Th e importance of networking is to vali-date this industry. Th e more of us singing the tune of home staging, the more power we have. Power comes in numbers. Th at’s why we help each other,” said Karen.

Each year for the last three, Karen has worked to gather stagers from across the metro Atlanta area to connect for roundtable discus-sions. “I did web searches and called as many as I could fi nd,” said Karen. One hundred stagers came to her fi rst roundtable. And the interest to unite has continued to fl ourish.

“I had never heard of RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) until I received a phone

call from Karen Dembsky,” said Debi McKay of Fab First Impressions. “Karen was organiz-ing a local RESA chapter and personally invit-ed me to a meeting to network with other local stagers. I was skeptical, but attended the meet-ing in order to meet my competition.”

Th is experience changed Debi’s perspective on why to connect with other professionals. Debi concluded, “Karen is a staunch advocate of the home staging industry through her af-fi liation with RESA. It became clear to me why Karen is the RESA President for the State of Georgia. She personifi es the core values.”

New stagers appreciate Karen for her men-toring. Like Colette Cuomo of Impressions Home Staging, “Karen’s eagerness to help a couple of newbies was more than a favor. Her excitement about home staging and the re-wards from doing something you love was in-fectious. Karen was our mentor. Her willing-ness to help others succeed shows her passion for the industry.”

Karen Dembsky keeps her facts

straight. Here are Peachtree Home

Staging’s approximated averages

for homes they stage in the

Atlanta market.

. . . Staging by the numbers. . . Staging by the numbers

PEACHTREE HOME STATSPEACHTREE HOME STATS

Old meets new: Creative real estate

investors re-built on the footprint of this

1930’s home. Modern elements, like the

faux TV and punches of lime green, marry

with vintage-style pieces, the red lamp,

faded cream and latte rug and easel art.

And experts agree

After

Before

37.5Days on the market for staged home

96-97%Percentage of asking price received

by clients

2-3Homes staged each week in 2010





“I started blogging on Active Rain, a blog for real estate agents, as a way to drum up business,” said Karen. Soon she developed a forum for new stagers to get advice from senior stagers and Re-altors. Her group on Active Rain, Real World Home Staging has 256 members who actively post on it.

Th rough her connection with new stagers, she saw how diffi cult it is to get a business off the

ground without something to educate people about what you do. She created a pdf of before and after photos and staging stats without any credits listed. Th en, Karen donated it to RESA for new stagers without portfolios to use as pla-giarism-free marketing.

Karen assists in the moderation of another Active Rain group, Stage it Forward, all about moving the staging world forward by building the industry with Realtors, clients and stagers.

Building the online network

“Karen is a staunch advocate of the home staging industry through

her affi liation with RESA. It became clear to me why Karen is

the RESA President for the State of Georgia. She personifi es the

core values.” – Debi McKay, Fab First Impressions

After

BUILDING AN ONLINE EMPIREBUILDING AN ONLINE EMPIREKaren built her own website with a little

technical assistance. She has blogged, post-

ed and optimized herself to the point that

80% of her business comes to her through

her website.

Her secrets? She posts often, and always

mentions where the pictures were taken.

A caption might read, “In this Decatur, GA

home, near metro Atlanta . . .”

Karen also keeps optimization high

through her many blog posts and connec-

tions. On her blog for Realtors, a recent post

that highlighted the diff erence between

staged and unstaged homes has gotten 59

positive comments and been reblogged six

times by Realtors and other stagers.

A resting place: This master bedroom space

looks bigger when Karen shows a small

writing desk instead of larger offi ce furni-

ture. Through seating choices, future buyers

will know there’s a place to jot a note, keep

a journal and thumb through a novel.

Before


Making arrangements: Karen Dembsky

arranges her business in homes and online.

At home: Peachtree Home Staging’s homepage

www.peachtreehomestaging.com Real Estate Merchandising & RedesignReal Estate Merchandising & Redesign


From paint to cabinets: Karen picked out bath tiles and

fl ooring for this home. What did she NOT bring into the

home? Rugs! Instead, Karen shows off the hardwoods.

“Buyers need to see the fl oor they are buying,” said

Karen. On right: Karen’s pdf is available through RESA

for new stagers without their own portfolio.

After

Before

“I had a stager friend who bought too much inventory. I needed some. I bought it off her rather than getting new,” said Karen. She’s found her RESA connections to work well for her in business.

“I had six jobs come up in one week, with not enough hours to do them all. I was able to pass three of those to other RESA stagers I met at the fi rst roundtable I organized,” said Karen. “I have jobs come up all the time in areas that are too far fl ung for me to travel to in that week.

I refer that business.” Because Karen knows stag-ers across metro Atlanta, she feels confi dent in giving qualifi ed referrals to her personal connec-tions and those that contact through her web-site.

Karen belongs to a business networking group that meets at 7 a.m. every Tuesday. “I need quality individuals to refer, painters, handymen, landscapers, carpet cleaners. Th ey get weekly education on what staging is, and they are in-formed when they talk about it in the commu-

Where connections come into play

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Melanie Serra concluded, “To Karen the volunteer eff ort and hours

she was contributing was about developing a respected business

within our community. She has proven herself as a true assetto the Atlanta community of home stagers.”

nity.” She considers herself a go-to person for her clients to fi nd solutions in the home stag-ing process. She’s convinced home sellers to replace their new blue carpet with something more universally pleasing.

Karen also has developed a strong net-work of Realtors, by belonging to her local Board of Realtors as an affi liate member and by cultivating strong relationships. Leigh Steele is a Realtor with Prudential Georgia who has every single one of her listings staged by Karen.

Leigh recalled, “I just had a closing. Th e buyer said, ‘I’m glad you had this home staged. It was the staging presentation from the photos posted on MLS that enticed me to see the property. When I got here, the staged presentation was no disappointment. I could easily visualize living in the home and I knew I needed to make it mine.’ I’m a believer in Peachtree Home Staging.”

Buyers make some of Karen’s best cli-ents. Diane Manson, a buyer in Peachtree City, wrote an online review, “My husband and I bought our house on the Internet. We had seen the photos and fell in love with the house. We found out later it was staged by Karen from Peachtree Home Staging. She has a gift in showcasing the assets of any home on the market. I would never sell a home with-out using her staging talents.”

From left, Home Stagers Nan Johnston, Dana Nelson and Cath-

erine Morrow joined dozens for the November 10, 2010 Georgia

Buzz Session organized by RESA GA President Karen Dembsky.

She said, “They each personally thanked me. These profession-

als are great examples of what this industry has to off er. It’s an

honor to be associated with them.”

Karen, for all her years in corporate Ameri-ca, has been doing interior design since she was thirteen years old. “My mom saw me rearrang-ing furniture in the living room. She took me up to my bedroom, and gave me an unlimited budget to redecorate. We shopped at the Wool-worths and Kmarts of this world. But it was a really big deal.”

Her mom’s only caveat? Karen had to make curtains, pillow covers and the bedspread her-self. She’d had sewing lessons from a neighbor girl. Off she went. “I used bright yellow paint, bright orange fabric, fringe ribbon and a yellow tray that’s in my home today.”

Karen even bought a desktop clock collec-tion, starting with an antique from her grand-father. “I still get calls from high school friends

about my cool bedroom. We used to hang out in there.”

Later, Karen went to college and studied Home Economics. She had two children.

Karen envisions passing Peachtree Home Staging to her 27-year-old daughter someday. “I am so proud; she graduated from interior design school this year. She works fulltime and helps me on my bigger jobs.”

Currently, Karen’s husband plays an integral part of her business. “He’s the most fantastic man in the world. He does the heavy lifting,” she said with a smile. He also manages her vehicles and the fi nances for Peachtree Home Staging. And, once a month he takes her away from the furniture and faux TVs on a day trip or weekend vacation.



Where the design comes in

“The way you live in your home is your business. The way you display your home for sale is my business...”

GETTING A TASTE OF STAGINGGETTING A TASTE OF STAGING

“If I wasn’t a stager, I would have had to

be a chef. I love the presentation of food,”

said Karen. “Cooking is so much like stag-

ing. If I don’t know what to have for dinner,

I just take whatever I’ve got. It’s like orga-

nizing an occupied home.

“An empty house is like going to the

grocery store and handpicking everything

you’re going to use.”

When Karen goes into an occupied

home, she has a recipe for home sales. Her

fi rst step is to build trust. “I take a tour of

the home. I spend about 45 minutes with

them, fi nding out their likes and dislikes. I

ask why the house is set up the way it is.

I’ll address minor issues, maybe moving a

piece of furniture or two.”

By then, Karen is really cooking, “Later,

I’ll address larger issues, which may be

hurdles for them.” This might be colors,

knickknacks or carpet that isn’t working.

“They’ll see that I only do this because

I care about them. I’m here to help them

move on,” she said.

Karen Dembsky often tells clients, “The

way you live in your home is your business.

The way you display your home for sale is

my business.”

Turn the tables: Packing clients often have

too much surface confusion. Karen Dembsky

decluttered, turned the table and created an

a-ha moment. The seller said, “I could have

been living like this for the last ten years! Why

did I never think to turn the table this way?”

After

Before


She’s a character: Karen Dembsky is known

by her unpretentious personal style and her

quirky caricatures.

karen dembsky 5 page submission professional stager region...

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