Karen Fahey is the owner operator and President of Monarch Home Staging®. As a Certified Staging Professional, Karen understands the nuances of real estate and how those trends affect the buyer. This knowledge and designation was acquired through intensive instruction and training.

Karen Fahey is a seasoned marketing professional with 20 years of sales and marketing experience with diplomas both in interior and lighting design and has been a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) since 1998, member of the Canadian Staging Professionals™ (CSP™), and is also a member of the Real Estate Staging Association® (RESA). Karen has an intuitive staging skill, a creative flair and work ethic with a passion for all forms of design and a special interest in fine arts, architecture, photography and more.

Using a combination of design training and expertise in sales, promotion and project management, Karen will undoubtedly become a valued contribution to any staging project whether you're selling your home or you simply need to update your decor with a re-design.

Karen brings this interest to her career as a staging and redesign consultant by continued education while keeping current on market trends and real estate conditions.


With a background in Interior Design, Lighting Design and Sales & Marketing, as a Certified Staging Professional™ , I will assist you maximize the full potential of your home by enhancing its overall appearance for you to reap the rewards!

I design with the environment in mind.

Live the experience, make the impressions!

FAQ

What is Staging?

Staging is the process of preparing any home for sale, regardless of price or location. Staging is a service, usually executed by a professional, to enhance property presentation using life style selling techniques, in order to secure an acceptable offer from a buyer.
Staging is NOT Decorating. Here are some differences:

•Decorating is a luxury, Staging is a necessity.
•Decorating is for the homeowner’s enjoyment, Staging is for the future buyer.
•Decorating is personal Style, Staging is universal style – profile who is coming through the house, any recommendations are to secure an offer.
•Decorating generally involves a large budget; Staging is always about budget and is time sensitive.
•Decorating means you have a longer time line, Staging you work with a tighter deadline
•Decorating is optional, Staging is Mandatory.

What are the Key Points of Home Staging?

•Creating broad appeal
•Using “buyers” eyes
•Rearranging, Refreshing Reducing
•Adding Color and Appeal
•Selling the space and not the stuff
•Honouring the homeowner and their belongings
•A key marketing to selling a home

What are the Benefits to Staging your Home?

•Staging is the only service performed in preparation for selling a home that actually brings measurable value.
•Staging provides a huge edge over the competition in a competitive real estate market.
•Staging secures equity – staged homes sell for more money and have fewer days on the market.
•Staged homes sell faster than homes that have not been staged and generally for more money than homes that have not been staged.

In Real Estate, there are 3 main ways a buyer will find your listing

In real estate there are 3 main ways a buyer will find your and make the first connection. Home staging will affect the first impression in each of the methods mentioned.


Online Sites

•According to National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than 76% of buyers look at listings on the internet first, when searching for a property.
Home staging properties before putting the listing information online will ensure the photographs support the buyer’s decision to set up a viewing appointment. In fact, in most cases, beautiful professional photographs will be the first "great" impression needed to begin the attraction between a property and its buyer. The viewing will then confirm the first impression has merit.

Feature sheet

•MLS and internal emailing of feature sheets to other real estate professionals is often the first contact for the buyer who works with a Buyer’s Agent.
Buyers who work with a Real Estate Professional will give their criteria for what they are looking for in a home and the Real Estate Professional will then weed through different properties, emailing or faxing the "good ones" to the buyer before setting up appointments. It is here the feature sheet must go through approval from both the real estate professional and the buyer. It is also at this stage where, if you are a real estate professional who has a reputation of always having properties that "show well", your properties will likely be first on the list for the homeowner to approve; and the Real Estate professional can feel confident they are not going to waste either their own or their clients time. Feature sheets contain complete detailed information of the property being sold to include Beautiful photos!

•By staging all your listings, you ensure the camera has the best subject to work with. Well trained staging consultants know how to show the features of the home, set the mood of the room, and make it easy for a professional photographer to get beautiful photos every time!

Curb Appeal

"For Sale" signs attract attention. Be sure the message the property is projecting to drive-bys is one that will generate a call for an appointment to view.

•74% of buyers will drive by a listing seen on the internet, in a newspaper ad, or sent by fax by their real estate agent, before contacting an agent for an appointment.
Do not wait until the last minute to showcase the outside. MONARCH HOME STAGING® will provide valuable tips and techniques for the exterior of the property to turn "drive-by's" into "walk-ins."

Why Hire a Professional?

As a Certified Staging Professional (CSP), my favourite part of the business is the professional-client relationship and seeing that clients are completely satisfied and the intended results of any staging or re-design project has been achieved.
When working with a client a CSP has the opportunity to take a multitude of ideas, resources and items within a home, analysis them and create a space people respond too immediately as soon as they step into it. A professional keeps current on market trends and changes.

I recently attend the SIDIM (Montreal International Interior Design Show) canvassing for new products and the opportunity to make contact with old friends from the industry. I met up with Bruno Vandeputt, Lighting Consultant with LumiGroup one of Montreal's leading lighting agencies, which represents many of the main lighting manufacturers in the industry. Bruno and I stole a moment and briefly discussed the challenges some Canadian lighting manufactures face and what these companies are doing to set themselves apart. Bruno commented that service, expertise and knowledge were key to their success. And this is no different in the world of Home Staging! Bruno Vandeputt & Karen Fahey


A Canadian Certified Staging Professional (CCSP™) :


Help save your advertising dollars by helping your house sell quickly

Advertise the property on websites, E-newsletters and more - providing as much exposure as possible to the property

Work within your budget constraints - providing a variety of staging services which start as low as $299

Give the home the 'targeted lifestyle' look to demand Buyer attention