At Mad City Dream Homes we create a customized marketing plan for each home-selling client. A key part of our marketing is the staging plan that we develop for each new listing. As you'll see from the 5 recent listings below, we customize our approach according to the needs of each individual property. 

Success story #1: staging an occupied home by Debbie Lea

This listing was prepped for sale by home staging extraordinaire, Debbie Lea. Debbie's staging plan helped our seller receive multiple offers and a record sales price for this condo association. 

Success story #2: staging a luxury property with rented furniture

For this luxury listing, Debbie Lea collaborated with Brook Furniture Rental by selecting the furniture, artwork and

When the best of the best collaborate, good things are bound to happen. We recently watched this unfold with our Nolen Shore Condo listing, which drew multiple offers and accepted one above listing price in just 3 days.

This downtown high-rise overlooking Lake Monona is stellar on its own, but with the help of professional stagers and a photographer we were able to quickly transform this vacant property. "It demonstrates what can happen when you have all the right players involved to plan, execute, and manage a project," said Realtor Dan Miller.

Behind the scenes were stagers Debbie Lea and Karla Gones and photographer Justin Lackner, whose combined expertise helped make this condo shine. 

While most of our listings only use Debbie Lea,

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) has released it's 2017 Profile of Home Staging. The profile is based on a survey of several thousand agents and focuses on the impact of staging on the home selling process. 

Among the Key Findings:

• 77% of buyer agents say staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home
• 49% of buyer agents say staging a home increases the dollar amount offered
• 62% of listing agents say staging a home decreases the time on market

Other Interesting Data

The survey also reveals only 8% of real estate agents hire a professional to stage their listings. Our real estate team falls within that 8%. We hire Debbie Lea to stage our occupied homes and The Cozy Home to stage our

These photos come from the historic "Johnson House", an 1875 farm house in McFarland. This property sold last month after receiving multiple offers and having 100 people attend the weekend open. You wouldn't know it from the pictures, but this was actually a staged, vacant home. The Cozy Home provided all of the staging and Beau Meyer shot all of the listing photos. The photos drove a huge amount of traffic to this listing and ensured a quick sale.

Photos of the Historic Johnson House in McFarland

Thanks to thoughtful staging and beautiful photography, all of these images convey a warm and cozy feel while capturing the rustic charm of the home. 

Photos of a Vacant Staged Condo

A different property, same concept. These

Yes, home staging really does work. According to a recent survey by the National Association of REALTORS, staging provides a great return on investment. Among the key findings:

• 96% of all buyer agents report their clients are positively impacted by home staging. 
• 81% of all buyer agents report home staging makes it easier for clients to visualize a property as their own. 
• 71% of all listing agents report staging increases a property's value by a minimum of 1%. 

In another report issued by the Real Estate Staging Association, properties staged prior to listing sell 90% faster than "un-staged" properties on the MLS. 

In our own experience, professional home staging is a huge reason why our sellers average a full-price offer within 15

Our vacant home listing at 8127 Broadmoor St is selling today, thanks in large part to the staging professionals at The Cozy Home. The Cozy Home offers turnkey staging services which transform the "bland" empty home into a "grand" MLS listing that motivates buyers to act quickly. Below are a few "before" and "after" shots which demonstrate the positive impact of staging provided by a professional. 

Living Room Before Staging

Living Room After Staging

Dinette Before Staging

Dinette After Staging

Bathroom Before Staging

Bathroom After Staging

Looking for a full-service, customized marketing plan that goes the extra mile? Contact us for a complimentary consultation. We'll work with you to develop an

How do you sell a listing? It starts with an online showing, where potential buyers look at the photos you've posted, and determine if it's worth their time to come in person. Debbie Lea of Showcase Home Stagers knows this well. She works with each of our clients to transform their space, and make their homes truly photo-ready. It's not as simple as just making the rooms look nice. Debbie looks at the potential angles for photographs, and prepares each room to shine.

"People are shopping for an experience. They want to imagine themselves hosting friends, throwing a party, or relaxing in the quiet spaces of their new home. You can arrange the items in your home to help tell that story," she says.  When staging a room, Debbie looks for opportunities to

Our most successful listings are those with a great spirit of teamwork. Our upcoming listing at Nichols Station Condominiums is a great example. Yesterday our real estate team met with Mr Seller's family and Debbie Lea from Showcase Home Stagers to prepare the condo for sale. We started at 9:00 AM and before we hit 11:00 AM the condo was 80% staged. Today, Mr Seller will purchase a few accessories, remove a few furniture pieces, and do a little touch-up cleaning before we arrange for our professional photographer to shoot the listing photos and video. 

"Hands On Staging" by Debbie Lea

Yesterday's 2-hour session was extremely productive as we worked together to implement Debbie's recommendations. During our time together I documented all of the

We recently wrote about 4 key steps you should take right now in order to prepare for a successful listing in the Spring. Step #1 is get your staging plan in order. A few of our own clients are taking this advice to heart and working proactively on their staging right now. I have no doubt each of these sellers will be rewarded for their efforts. They'll knock it out of the park when their homes hit the market in early 2016.

Home Staging by Debbie Lea

Recently one of these sellers participated in a "group staging" session run by Debbie Lea from Showcase Home Stagers. The consultation was attended by Mr. Seller, Mrs. Seller, and myself. The four of us spent 3 hours together as we toured the home room-by-room. 

This was a collaborative and "hands

There is an old joke in the real estate business about the "three P's of selling a home". The first P is put a sign in the yard. The second P is place the listing on the MLS. The third P is pray another agent sells it.

Praying can't hurt, but a yard sign and the MLS are proven tools for marketing a home. A yard sign lets all passersby know your home is for sale. The MLS syndicates your listing to thousands of websites across the globe. However, a solid home-selling plan does much more than rely on a yard sign and MLS syndication. A solid marketing plan takes a much more comprehensive approach by selling the many benefits of your home.

One Big Drawback of the MLS

One big drawback of MLS syndication is the limit placed on descriptive text. The MLS