All set for dream job
Ask Amber Joyce and she says she has found her dream job; it just happens to come with 17 house loads of decor.
Joyce has bought the housestaging business Miss Stage, which stages homes to make them more presentable when selling, from founder Angela Strang.
Years ago a friend of Joyce’s used a stager to sell their house and she remembered thinking it could be the job for her.
After working part-time, Joyce would now have job flexibility to help fit around her children aged 4 and 7.
She saw the business was for sale and told her husband she was ready to take the leap.
‘‘I was ready to do something for myself,’’ Joyce said.
‘‘I’m not someone to settle and work for someone else.’’
Joyce, who one friend said was the tidy one of the group, professed to have an eye for detail.
Strang agreed, complimenting Joyce’s style and organisation.
Yesterday, the pair decorated a house with a neutral and duck egg colour scheme, which Strang said would appeal to a broad range of potential buyers.
‘‘I feel proud to be handing over [the business] to someone who will keep it going and growing,’’ Strang said.
The business consists of one mover, two stylists and 17 house loads of furnishings overseen by the boss.
Joyce wanted to expand to Riverton and Te Anau and also be a style consultant.
She said people thought the job was about ‘‘throwing a few couches in’’.
It was more like putting the icing on the cake, she said.
Strang said house staging added value.
In her experience, sellers had changed their minds and decided to stay after Strang styled it.
She recounted another property which sat on the market for six months and then sold within a week of her getting in there and getting to work.
Strang built the business and sold it to spend more time with her seven-month-old boy.
She had hoped to continue running the business, managing her property portfolio and being a mother.
‘‘I thought I could be super woman,’’ Strang said.
As of yesterday she no longer had a stake in the business.
Strang and Joyce were both optimistic about the Southland property market.
Strang was surprised by how well property was selling given the Covid-19 pandemic.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data showed the Southland province topped the list of regions with the largest decrease in annual sales volumes during April, with 129 fewer sales, from 140 to 11.
‘‘I feel proud to be handing over [the business] to someone who will keep it going and growing.’’ Angela Strang