A fabulous brand new kitchen sits at the heart of this beautiful Lunada Bay home.  Enjoy ocean breezes from view decks or in the private back yard.  Bamboo floors welcome you to this large 3-bedroom, 3 bath home in a lovely neighborhood.     

3005 Via Borica, Palos Verdes Estates    

Please click on picture for more information and slideshow

Public Open House

Sunday, October 25th from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
 

Realtor Open House

Tuesday 11:00-1:00

   
Stop by to see the many amenities and fabulous brand new kitchen and floors.    

Offered by Janet Stearns, Re/Max Palos Verdes   

(310) 480-1167

To receive my free monthly e-newsletter with staging tips and updates, please click here. 

Once a year I do a special drawing for a free redesign to a homeschooling family.  These families typically sacrifice a second income for one parent to invest their time and energy on nurturing and educating their children.  Sometimes in the midst of all the activities, the home itself gets cluttered and scattered with school books, science projects, sports equipment and musical instruments.  A special space for the parents to entertain other adults or just visit with one another often gets lost in the process.

This year's winner, Elizabeth, was unable to take advantage of our half-day redesign due to a temporary living situation, so she "gifted" the prize to her sister, Judy, in Palos Verdes Peninsula.

In less than half a day, my wonderful assistant (my 17-year-old daughter) and I were able to take a room that was rarely used and make it a warm, welcoming space for the family to gather or to entertain (after carefully listening to the homeowner's needs and desires).   Here's the process and some photos:

Beautiful furniture to work with, but the arrangement was too scattered and had extraneous pieces.

Borrowing a rug from the dining room pulled the grouping together.

Bringing a round table from another room and hauling a beautiful buffet down the stairs helped to complete the room.  When a tree is added back by the fireplace and the pictures are hung, this room will truly feel comfortably and beautifully like "home." 

The den also had extra pieces that didn't fit the space and interfered with some of the potiential activities in the room.  By removing those extra pieces and turning the furniture to face each other, the room immediately become more functional in just a few minutes.  They have the option of adding an area rug and coffee table, or leaving it open for Wii activities. 

In a short amount of time, a home can become more functional and lovely for very little cost.  We'd be happy to help you anytime - just call for your consultation or redesign (paint color consultations are included!). 

For more photos, check out our website at www.hsdca.com .

BethLester

Home Staging Designs of California specializes in making homes beautiful, whether selling or staying, in LA's South Bay area.

It's terrific when a home seller catches the "vision" of home staging.  This is the story of one of those sellers in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

The realtor called me and said, "Please help her - her house needs a lot of work and we want to put it on the market right away."  I headed up the hill and found a nice home in a nice neighborhood, but outdated kitchen & baths and way too much furniture and stuff.

This incredibly hardworking seller and I moved through the home room by room to discuss the details of what needed to be done in each area and in the yard.  She seemed to understand the concept of merchandising and making the best of what she had.  It took a couple tries to convince her to take the huge fish trophy off the wall, but by the end, she agreed.

This is a sample of my written directions to the seller as part of the consultation:

Lower Bathroom:

Paint ceiling.

Touch up other paint.

Fresh towels - might pull in colors from wall hanging.  (Lavender & yellow look great).   Candles also work well.

Perhaps put a silk flower/greenery in corner behind shell & diffuser (try the flower pot from the fireplace mantle).

Hang sheer curtain on door.

 And here are some before and after shots:

This very personalized color became warm and attractive to buyers.

Too much furniture felt cramped.

Removing the sofa, bringing in a bright-colored pillow and some greenery opened up the space and yet still felt cozy.

Beautiful room, but again, just too much furniture.  Putting the piano in storage, clearing off some of the mantle, and moving over a small sitting group made this room feel larger.

The kitchen looked very dated, with green-flecked tile and white walls and cabinets.

By painting the cabinets a soft green to match the tile, decluttering and accessorizing, this kitchen became comfortable and welcoming.

The backyard was wonderful with a pool, fire pit and even storage on the raised brick patio.  By painting the overhang, turning and setting the table and highlighting the storage area, buyers could easily imagine themselves entertaining family and friends. 

This industrious seller received two offers on the day of the first broker's open, and accepted one $40,000 above asking price.

STAGING WORKS! 

So many times I've had friends say, "I'm not on Facebook.  That takes way too much time."  I can certainly understand that - I have a teenage daughter, after all.  :)

So how do you use this social networking tool without letting it become your master - and stealing your time away from more important pursuits? 

Here's how I limit my time on Facebook:

1)   Don't mix business with pleasure.  I use Twitter for only business (although status updates go automatically to Facebook), and use Facebook only for friends & family.  While this goes against the recommendations of some "experts," it works better for me this way.   Business associates and strangers, even with common interests, have no need to see my family pictures or the details of who I'm meeting at the beach.  I do have a separate Facebook for my business, but I haven't developed that yet.

2)   No time for games.  I play no games and take no surveys or quizzes.  I'd rather use my rare playtime with my family or meeting with a friend (or taking a nap.....). 

 3)  Ignore good causes.  Yes, buying pieces of blankets and supporting dozens of causes may be a good thing to do; however, I'd rather support my pet projects in real time, on-site volunteering.  I also click "ignore" for cute things like virtual hugs & gifts.

4)  Hide & Don't Seek.  Yep - I hide most quizzes, such as "What's your Native American Indian Name?"  "What do your eyes say about you?" and the "Beach Personality Test."  Say what?   By hovering your cursor over each person's status area, a "hide" button will appear on the right side and you can either hide everything from that person, or just that particular quiz.

 5)  Stay Current.  I briefly scan my friends' status updates 2-3 times a day to stay current, and only briefly comment when I actually have something to say or want to touch base with a friend or distant family member.   

And there you have it - my fast, easy, efficient and fun way to use Facebook to stay connected.  How about you?

Regardless of whether you are a realtor, stager or whatever, this has some great advice on managing time for social media.

Beth

I got a call on Wednesday afternoon from a realtor who had listed a 60-year-old "tear down" in Palos Verdes Estates that she wanted to improve upon before the open house on Sunday.  By Thursday afternoon when I met her at the property, the painters had already started prepping.  We agreed that they would start painting in the living room so we could bring in some furniture from the realtor's house along with my accessories and start staging the main living area the next day. 

The next evening when I got there, they were still many hours away from being ready, so I unloaded some accessories and left.  Around holiday activities and a wedding, I spent several hours there the next day with my helpful husband, the realtor and her family, and 3 workers.  By Sunday morning, the painting was done except for touch-ups, so we set up the office, master bedroom and bath, hauled trash, washed windows and floors.  Everything was finished on time except for the remodeling of the 2^nd bath, which will continue. 

The first interested buyer came at 12:30, and the afternoon saw a continuous flow of people - some of whom had seen it the day before and couldn't believe the transformation.

Click on picture for slideshow

The pictures say it all.....well, most of it anyway.  Needless to say, the owner of this home was unable to keep up with everything.  We are thrilled to be able to present a lovely, livable home.  Although it could still use some updating, a family could now easily live here with the work in progress. 

While this home probably falls into the category of a quick extreme makeover, you can easily see what a difference "staging" has made.  Yes, painting & pulling up the carpet made a HUGE difference, but still would have left an empty, uninviting space, obviously in need of updating.  Any buyer would want to offer less than asking price.    

For a small fraction of the sales price, this home is now welcoming and attractive.  You can see why, according to the National Association of Realtors, staging statistics overall boast an 8-10% price increase.  Vacant homes that had been staged sold an average of 85% quicker in 2008 over empty properties.  

Occupied homes can also benefit from an inexpensive consultation and/or staging services by a professional certified home stager.  Give us a call today to upgrade your properties from "Okay" to "Wow!"

Going through the process of selling our home and moving has been an interesting and eye-opening experience.  From the original "Let's pack up what we don't absolutely need," to staging the home with area rugs, candles, towels, furniture placement and artwork, to the daily keeping it clean, it's been hard to focus on much else. 

The sale went well and we are now moved into a home we are renting.  The overriding thought and frequent exclamation throughout the moving process has been, "We have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!"
 
Adding to the trauma of moving is that our new house, while not significantly smaller, does have considerably less storage & closet space.  So guess what?  We're purging again, and will continue to do so as we open each box.
 
 
How about you?  If you had to move, how many unnecessary boxes would be packed, moved and unpacked with items that are no longer needed in your current or future stage of life?   How much of your mortgage or rent is being spent for storage of things that are cluttering your home, heart and life?  Are there items that could be better used by someone else?
 
Besides the financial toll of excessive worldly goods, how about the emotional toll?
 
This month we will focus on looking specifically at our closets.  Thanks to Julie Morgenstern for some of these ideas in the January 2009 issue of House Beautiful. 

Your closet holds clues to who you were,  who you are, and maybe even who you want to be! 
 
If you have the feeling that there's something more you want, or you are feeling stuck or weighed down, you may be ready to do some "shedding,"  to let some things go and create space, or margin, in your life.  (These principles can also be transferred to other areas of your life - financial, emotional, relational & spiritual). 
 
Before starting, you may want to buy new matching hangars and matching baskets or plastic bins.  
 
Set aside a couple of hours, put on some great music, and begin by pulling everything out of your closet if possible.  Ask yourself some questions as you select what to put back in:
 
1)      Do I love this?
2)      Is it flattering on me?
3)      Is this the image I want to project?
4)      Is it still in good condition?
5)      Does it make me look dated, older, frumpy?
6)      Is it a holdover from a past season in my life?
7)      If it were gone tomorrow, would I miss it?
 
*Some items are treasures - keep those.
*Trash the trash.
*Bless others with the rest (lots of charities will even come and pick them up for you).
 
Then value your cleared space!  Breathe it in and enjoy it.  In the future, only fill it with items you REALLY want or need to make the statement of who you want to be. 
 
And keep some space in your life!  You'll sleep better, feel better and have more energy!

It seems even harder for realtors to get to the top of Search Engines than it is for home stagers, so I hope you can take advantage of this class.

The latest study by Real Estate Staging Association shows that in our worsening housing market, home staging shortens the time on the market by up to 89%.

With the changing market over the last year, many realtors and homeowners are wondering if the buzz about home staging is really true, or just a waste of time and money.  Statistics from 2007 and 2008 have just become available through the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), proving that professionally staged occupied homes sold 46% faster in 2007, and up to 89% faster in 2008.  Staged vacant homes previously on the market sold 68% faster in 2007; 85% in 2008.

Homeowners must take advantage of this relatively inexpensive investment opportunity.  By properly preparing a home to entice buyers, homes sell faster, saving valuable equity for the homeowner and decreasing the time and cost of keeping a home on the market.  And did you know that 63% of buyers report that they will pay for more for a home in move-in condition?

Real estate staging is one of three necessary strategies of selling homes - proper pricing for the size, location and condition, marketing and preparation (staging).  The cost of staging is much less than a price reduction.  With over 90% of home buyers using the internet to select which homes they will view, it is critical that your home be shown in its best possible light.  To learn how we can help your South Bay home sell more quickly, call us at 310-809-7467 or visit our website at www.homestagingdesignsca.com.

Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Click on image to see slideshow

See press release at http://www.prlog.org/10190890-new-staging-statistics-prove-success-in-faster-home-sales.html  

This week my husband and I listed our "dream home" in an effort to allow for his early retirement eventually.  As a home stager, I felt extra pressure to make it look great.  Here are some lessons I learned anew, which helps when I work with clients who are living in their current "for sale" property.

Click on picture to see slide show

1. Decluttering takes a long time.  We've been purging since before Thanksgiving.  Even though I thoroughly purged four years ago when we moved in, "stuff" seems to creep in faster than my ability to move it out.  Thankfully my children are old enough to do most of their own rooms, but they still needed me for final approval on most items.  We sold some stuff and took a few loads to the Salvation Army.
2. All those little projects that we had let go had to get done....now.  I barely noticed the missing grout, chipped paint, weedy yard, etc., etc., but now they had to be completed.  My husband has been working hard to fix and replace everything a home inspector is likely to find.  We don't want to be haggling over details, so better to catch it now.  Thankfully, my husband is one handy man!
3. Paying a gardener to do the yard is well worth it!  As my husband and realtor listed outside projects, I would just sigh and say, "I'll try to get to it."  As we were coming down to the last two weeks, it was obvious we just couldn't get to everything, so my husband called in a gardener to put in gravel, bark dust and plants.  Thank you!!
4. It's not just hype - it really IS hard to look at your own home objectively.  I had my realtor (who is very savvy) go through the place with me and give his opinion, as well as having another stager stop by and give her opinion.  There are still a couple things I'm not sure if I should have changed....time will tell.
5. There's a difference between "ideal" and "realistic."  For instance, if I was doing a consult on a home, I would tell the seller to paint that pink bedroom.  However, as a parent of a 16-year-old who is already a bit traumatized by losing her first "all to herself" bedroom that she could paint pink, I decided to let it go for now.  With the other 3 bedrooms being neutral, hopefully a buyer can see past one.  After all, we bought it with all white walls except for a bright lime green bedroom!
6. Living in a home that's on the market means extra time spent before you leave the house...every day.  Even though most realtors are very considerate about calling ahead, it still needs to be in "showing shape" when we leave the house.  That means toilet seats down, only the pretty towels out, dishes totally done, countertops clean, laundry hidden, floors swept & vacuumed, litter box clean and those little homey enhancements in their proper place. 

 All in all, this has been an overwhelming experience - not one I'd like to repeat anytime soon.  We already have an offer by the first buyer who saw it, which is encouraging, even if the offer could have been better.  We'll see how negotiations go....

Feel free to take a look at the MLS listing.  This has been an awesome house to live in.  If you know someone who's interested, please pass on this link.

 Here's a slideshow and the MLS link below.   

www.realestateshows.com/366096 

http://www.mrmlsmatrix.com/DE.asp?k=211265XKTIV&p=DE-37707127-764

This 4-bedroom, 5 bath home in a private, country-like setting functions beautifully for both daily living and entertaining. 
 
Amenities include:
3400+ sq ft
City light views

Spacious office
Flat back yard with fruit trees
Open space in front with abundant trees
3-1/2 car garage
Central vacuum

Tankless water heater

Central A/C & heat
Great neighborhood with yearly block party
Patio & 2 decks
 
Excellent floor plan - including a bathroom & utility sink in the garage - or "man-cave" as we call it.

Tons of storage - 3 closets in master, under-stair storage, underground room, linen cabinets.

Agent:  Jerry Carew
3 Leaf Realty
 310-714-1416 
Jerry@3LeafRealty.com

www.jerrycarew.com

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