Every home has it's own personality and character.  That is what makes people fall in love with them.  Yes, people can alter a homes personality by adding different colors and themes to the rooms, but a big, old victorian is still pretty much going to feel like a big, old victorian.

Homeowners who are selling are trying to incoporate staging.  They go online, type in "home staging", hit search and article after article talks about de-personalizing, de-cluttering, and how to make your home anonymous.

The problem is they take this information at face value and go too far.  Most homeowners do not realize how COLD a home feels that has no personality at all!  

I recently worked with a client who "staged" her own home.  When I saw the home, I was overwhelmed by the amount of WHITE in this house.  She was so proud of herself for having re-painted all the walls stark white, taken down all the art, put away all the knick-knacks.  She told me she had de-personalized the house and now buyers would be able to see the potential.   I had a hard time explaining how the house felt without using the word "asylum" in a sentence. 

There is a difference in homes that have been staged for homeowners to get that warm and fuzzy feeling, and just simply stripping the house down to bare walls.    Homeowners need to be educated that like any thing else in life, de-personalizing needs to be done in moderation!

Im very confused over a situation that occured recently with a potential client.  My partner and I went out and met with a client who wanted to stage their home.  It has been on the market for 5 months, and has had lots of showings, but no offers.  We completed our bid and sent it to the client who decided to speak to his realtor for advice.  

He told her that he had a stager come out and provide a bid and she said "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!  You did what?  Why would you do that?  If you really want to use your money to do something to help the house sell, drop your price instead." 

WHAT?!?!?!?!     This house is very competitively priced for the area, and therefore does not need a price drop (per several agents!).   I cannot figure out why the agent would be against staging this house (or any house for that matter!).  It is not as if she were paying for it, or it was coming out of her commissions.   This is a great house, but as an older couple lived there, it needed a bit of modernization for younger couples.

In the end, the seller was enthused and impressed with our suggestions, and we actually staged the house this weekend.  Here are some before and after pics.  What do you think?  Money well spent?  

I am looking for some suggestions on a new camera.  My digital camera has finally died and I need to replace it.  I have had it a long time, so I am a little out of the loop on the current trends.  I currently have a Kodak, and would like to stay with that manufacturer, simply so I can continue to use my docking station.  

I have done some research here on the Rain.  Several members have discussed the Kodak V705.  My biggest concern with this camera is that is consistently gets POOR photo quality ratings in reviews.    I have a really hard time running out and buying a camera for our staging photos that gets those kind of ratings.  I read the posts by Jeff Turner  and by Tim Maitski and they both really like this camera. I also read the post by Greg Fox and he wasn't so crazy about it.  So, I'm just not sure I trust it.

I am looking for an easy to use, good photo quality camera with a wide lens option.  Anyone have a camera they just love? 

Well, actually, it's the night before the night before, but I'm so excited it feels like Christmas Eve.   It takes a day like this and I remember why I wanted to be a stager.

I have been working with a homeowner for about a month, trying to show him why staging his home would be so beneficial.  It has been on the market for months and nary a nibble!  He finally gave us the go ahead today.  It is a great house and I am really looking forward to the stage. 

BUT (and isn't there always a but?!?!?!) we are on a very tight budget and this house not only needs accessories but also needs furniture and a light fixture for the kitchen.  As if I have no budget concerns, in the living room with the fireplace, I have decided that nothing will work but two leather club chairs.  I can SEE this room done in my head!  To top it all off, the homeowner wants us to do the stage on Sunday.  So, we had no budget, no furniture, no fixture and two days to pull it all together.

Then, we went out to a  scratch and dent sale that a decorators outlet in our area has about 3 times a year, and just happened to be having this weekend (coincidence?!?!?! ).  When we walked in the door, there sat THE chairs.  They were perfect.  Light, soft brown leather.  And, a great matching ottoman as a bonus.  Total cost for all three pieces: $350.  Whooo Hooo!  We normally rent furniture, but we couldn't have rented these pieces for that price!

Next, we headed out to Lowes and Home Depot to try to find a light fixture.  SUCCESS!  Found the fixture and a few more "perfect" items.  The fixture was only $40 so we splurged a bit and picked up a couple of outdoor pillows and plants that will look great on their enclosed deck.  

End result?  Got everything we needed for the stage, came in under budget for our accessories.  We now have $5.00 and 1.5 days left in the budget! Guess this means I get to enjoy my Saturday now!  No wonder it feels like Christmas. :)

I recently encountered a situation where a condo we staged sold the first day on market for asking price.  Sounds great, right?  Well, that was before the appraiser was done with it.  The appraiser (who did not even go to the property) appraised the property for $5,000 under the sale price.  According to the appraiser, this was the highest selling condo in the complex and therefore the sale price was too high! 

The seller's realtor went after the lender and the appraiser aggresively and the buyers/lenders/seller were able to acheive a compromise.  

I have been pretty flustered at this situation, and tonight a friend of mine emailed me a story to help me feel better.  She found it on a website called TMZ.com.  Here it is:

Drama at Paris' Pad

Posted Aug 29th 2007 5:55PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Wacky and Weird, Paris Hilton

There has been something of a snag in the sale of Paris Hilton's Hollywood Hills pad

       TMZ has learned the house did not appraise for the sale price. Although there are reports it went into escrow for $4.2 mil, Paris' realtor, Mauricio Umansky from the firm Hilton & Hyland, tells us the purchase price is just under that amount.

Umansky, Paris' uncle, acknowledged the highest appraisal the buyer got was $3.6 million. Here's where it gets kind of interesting: Umansky says the purchase price includes furniture and chandeliers totaling between $600,000 and $700,000. He said one chandelier is made by Baccarat -- and only 12 were made. That piece alone is worth 40K.

Umansky says the buyers, a married couple from Texas, will pay the agreed-upon purchase price. He says they're paying mostly cash -- the loan is for $1 million. As a result, Umansky says the appraisal doesn't really mean squat. Umansky tells us the couple will get the keys next week.

Nice to know it's not just us regular folks!

I figure we never get enough humor in the day so I just wanted to share a quick story.  We went out and bid on a job this past weekend for a large home owned by a single older gentleman.  The gentleman has been pretty skeptical about the entire stagging process.  However, we recently sold his girlfriend's condo (in one day!) and since his house has been on the market with no action for 5 months he has finally decided it is time to do something. 

After we presented our bid and left, he and his girlfriend were discussing it. (she told me this story today).  He told her his biggest concern was that we (the stagers) needed to understand that he still had to live there while the house was on the market and he didn't want any "froo-froo" around.  She told him it was no big deal, he could just move the froo-froo out of the way if he needed to use the space and then just put the froo-froo back when he was done!

I couldn't stop chuckling throughout her story imagining these two having an entire conversation about "froo-froo".  I told her I had never heard it said quite that way before. 

So, now when anyone asks what I do, I can just say I place froo-froo!

I have read several recommendations for Stagers to hold a local seminar for individuals who are getting ready to sell their home.  I think this sounds like a great marketing tool and a great way to teach the public more about staging.  However, I have not heard from anyone who has actually held one of these seminars. 

I live in a very small town, in an area where most people look at me like I just crawled out of a space craft when I tell them what I do.  Again, I think a seminar would be a great educational tool and a lot of fun.  

I would love to hear from anyone who has some pointers on hosting a seminar.  Have you had one that has been successful?  Not successful?  Things you would do differently?

 Thanks!

The effectiveness of open houses has long been debated.  Personally, I believe that an Agents Open House is an excellent tool for the home seller and their agent.  Even if the agent doesn't have a buyer at the moment, the perfect owner could become their next client, and an elegantly staged home will stand out among the competition.

It seems to me that the Agents Caravan is one of the best ways to achieve the broadest (and cheapest!) coverage of your home.  The agents have weekly meetings where they talk about their clients and houses.  They suggest homes to each other based on client needs.  How can they or why would they suggest a home they have never seen?   I understand that an open house is a tremendous amount of work.  They are however a great way for Stagers to shine and really bring a value added service to realtors.  We offer an Open House service for realtors where we will go in before an open house and make sure the house is truly show ready.   This is a huge time saver for agents, and they can put their efforts more into marketing. 

I just read an article suggesting that the days of Open Houses have passed.  With the availability of easily accessed pictures and video online, many agents and sellers don't belive it's effective to hold an open houses.   However, buying a house is an emotional purchase for any buyer.  Looking at pictures or video can never take the place of standing in the house and using all five senses to connect.  I think the Open House may be the most powerful marketing tool available.  By showing a beautifully staged home at an agents open house the seller is showing the home to hundreds of potential buyers.

While working on our new website, the idea of putting pictures of ourselves was raised.  We discussed and debated, and it does raise a security concern.  I'm not sure that having a personal photo of myself is a good idea on a website.  We go out on consultations after speaking on the phone to someone.  We don't know them.  And some of these homes are vacant.  You like to think that everyone is honest and above board, but that is obviously not always the case.  

In addition to the safety issue, what does having my own picture really do from a marketing standpoint?  What does a personal picture add.  I get that people "connect" if they have a picture to put with a face, but is it really that strong of a sales tool?    I feel I would be better off including more pictures of my work. 

I was just wondering what everyone else's thoughts were on the subject.  Am I being overly paranoid, or just showing good safety judgement?  

We took these before and after pictures on a vacant house we recently staged.  The house looks great!  The pictures, not so much!  The rooms were small, so it was very difficult to get far enough back to get a good shot.  The pictures seem so dark, but if I turned on the lights, the light blew out the shot.  Please take a look and let me know what you think.  As I said this was our first vacant home, and we found it had definite ups and downs!  This house had been on the market for over 12 months before the owner hired us.  We had barely completed the staging on Sunday when the owner received their first offer!

 The living/dining room combo had a GIANT 70s style ceiling fan.  When you walked in the front door, it was the only thing you saw.  Because the house is small, the buyers missed the beautiful hardwood floors.  We replaced the ceiling fan with a new light fixture.

 The kitchen was extremely white.  White metal cabinets, white countertops and white floor.  The only color in the room was a very dark border.  By using bright colors lower in the room, we were able to detract from the border and make the room feel warmer.  It needed personality!

 The bathroom has blue and white striped wallpaper.  We brought in natural soft colors to tone down the blue and soften the room.  It now feels relaxing instead of jarring!

The basemet probably presented our largest obstacle.  It had the largest open space of the house and a great wood burning stove and bar.  But, when you opened the door, it smelled stale and musty from an old water leak that had been fixed, but never thoroughly cleaned.  We were able to get rid of the smell and really utilize the space.  Many potential buyers had commented on the water issue in the basement.  After we finished, the smell and sight were completely gone!

Thanks for looking!!   I appreciate any feedback.