About

A Home Stager and Real Estate Broker in One

Real estate is a strange business in that it draws on people’s emotions but at the same time involves very large sums of money. The person you want guiding you through this kind of transaction is therefore someone who:

• is a calming influence in the room,
• keeps the end goal in mind while respectfully guiding others toward that goal,
• has a head for numbers,
• knows of what she speaks – and is continually learning more, and
• is ever mindful of the fact that we are dealing with your HOME – not four walls and a roof, but your HOME.

Tanya Nouwens

How does a former Maritimer end up selling Montreal West Island real estate? Excellent question! The short version is that I moved from the Maritimes to Ottawa to complete a Master’s degree in criminology. Ten years later, I met a Montrealer and moved here to marry him. Two boys, a dog and many moons later, here I am.

The West Island has been my home for more than 15 years. Like you, I appreciate all the great benefits of living here: lots of space, great sports activities, a strong sense of community, safety and security, and excellent schools. And I love to share my enthusiasm for the West Island with others.

From Criminologist to Canadian Staging Professional™

I know that seems like quite a leap. But in my 18-year career as a criminologist, I saw firsthand how “home” is so important to a person’s sense of well-being. And in reality, I had been “staging” people’s homes since I was very young, always trying to make a home, no matter the size or its contents, feel more cozy, airy and spacious.

One day, someone told me, “Do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life.” Those words resonated with me, and so I haven’t really “worked” since launching Ready, Set…Sold! Inc., a Montreal home staging company.

From Montreal Home Stager to Real Estate Broker

Building a successful Montreal home staging business and seeing time and again the positive effects home staging has had for our clients, I decided to take the bull by the horns and become a real estate broker myself.

My goal is to bring the benefits of home staging to more homeowners on the West Island. And by combining professional staging with professional photography for all of my sellers, I help them put their best house forward so that they can stand out from the competition.

I’m proud to represent RE/MAX Royal (Jordan), a well-known and well-respected real estate agency here in Montreal’s West Island.  RE/MAX Royal (Jordan) places a huge emphasis on continuing education for all of its brokers, something that keeps us ahead of the curve and up-to-date on the issues that affect real estate in general and the West Island in particular.  Add to this a strong national and international presence, and I’ve found the perfect place to hang my hat.

And Now a Blogger

I’ve been told that I have a gift for writing. Whether or not that’s true, I do have a compulsion to write! My articles on real estate have been published in Luxury Report Magazine, and I’m now a featured blogger on PropertyWire.ca – an online community of real estate and mortgage professionals across Canada. I also have a blog right here on my website and on ActiveRain, an online community of more than 200,000 real estate professionals around the world.

To get a true feel for who I am and how I think, I encourage you to check out my blogs. Although I mainly write about real estate and staging, all work and no play makes Tanya a dull girl, so you’ll see me writing about just regular life as well. Although, is there any such thing as “regular” life really?