When I stage a property I always like to use a pop of the same color in each room to unify spaces and add more flow to the home. I also use a pop of color to direct the buyer's eye to which selling features I want them to notice- the great fireplace, the kitchen counters, the cozy sitting area in the master bedroom. Perhaps it is the season but lately I have been loving orange and how it adds warmth and sizzle to the spaces we stage. Take a peek and try it out in your own home. Add some perky pumpkin, mellow mandarin or calming homcantaloupe to give your rooms a kick that you can enjoy all year round.
Tweet, tweet says I! If you'd like to propose real time information to your clients, potential buyers and sellers or just reach out to folks who haven't embraced all that the social media world offers...your words will now reach people faster than ever.
Think about someone looking for a Foreclosure in (Your Area)...you can post a specific property and there's a potential that they will see a short Twitter post instead of that blog post, that takes you minutes (or hours for some) to type up. Quick info, quick response will equal an increased bottom line.
At Google, our goal is to create the most comprehensive, relevant and fast search in the world. In the past few years, an entirely new type of data has emerged — real-time updates like those on Twitter have appeared not only as a way for people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, but also as an interesting source of data about what is happening right now in regard to a particular topic.
Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information. Posted by Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience
Follow me here for updated Raleigh, NC, Wake County, NC and North Carolina foreclosures searches. I offer FREE Foreclosure searches for all my home buyers looking for Raleigh real estate.
Home Staging is all about the feeling.The feeling or mood created for a target buyer.
I remember a few years ago, my children and I traveled to Ireland.The only experiences of Ireland I had up until then were pictures of the beautiful country and the Irish Rovers.I do remember how listening to an Irish Band in an Irish Pub, really added to the experience.
When we were traveling around Ireland, we visited some of the tourist places like the Blarney Stone Castle and yes we kissed the blarney stone.While we were visiting a gift store we decided to buy a CD of traditional Irish music to listen to in our rental car as we traveled around Ireland.It was amazing how different traveling felt while listening to this music.As we traveled the “Ring of Kerry” along cliffs and narrow roads lined with trees that joined above the road to form a tunnel, we listened to our music.Every once in while we had to stop to let the sheep go across the road.The hydrangeas were in abundance in all the gardens we passed and were the deepest blue I have ever seen and I didn’t know that yuccas grew as tall as the sky.
When we arrived back home and tried to listen to the same CD, it just didn’t have the same feel while sitting in the family room here in Canada.
Good home staging really creates a feeling for a prospective buyer.Whether it is a family feeling using toys or a DVD on a coffee table or even a game to represent family time together.Cheese and crackers, wine bottles can represent entertaining friends and soft music can represent relaxing in your home or give a spa feeling in a bathroom. All these elements help buyers emotionally move into a home for sale.The mood should appeal to the target buyer to get it sold.
Frank Wickstead, president of the Atlanta remodeling firm WicksteadWorks, suggests five of the fastest ways to turn your home into an eco-friendly environment.
> Switch to LED bulbs: "These bulbs are rapidly becoming more affordable," Wickstead said. "They're cooler; they use almost no electricity; and they have an unbelievably long lifespan." They're also ideal for cutting the cost of those outdoor lights you want to leave on all night.
> Add new attic insulation: "The best thing you can do for your house without tearing into the walls is to put open-cell spray foam insulation in the attic," said Wickstead. The brand Icynene is among the most popular that can be sprayed along the rafters to create an air barrier, making the attic part of the building envelope. But it's not particularly cheap: "For the average Atlanta attic, it will cost between $4,000 and $5,500," Wickstead said. "But you'll notice lower heating and cooling costs immediately."
> Encapsulate the crawlspace: This is a DIY project that will vastly improve the air quality in the house. Install a vapor barrier and insulated foam boards along the side walls to create a tight seal.
> Eliminate air exchanges: Any spot where warm or cool air is escaping is an energy drain. Most homeowners are familiar with weatherstripping around windows and doors, but what about electrical outlets? An ultracheap (about 15 cents) square of foam insulation behind a switch plate can plug the hole.
> Replace old toilets: "Dual flush toilets are awesome and they start at $260," Wickstead said. "They'll decrease water usage up to 30 percent, and it's something you can change out yourself."
Great information. I enjoy working with homeowners things most. It is more challenging but very rewarding when it works. Thanks Annie for a great post.
I often get calls from Realtors who say, “I have a family who is actually going to be living in their home while it’s on the market. They would like to use their own furniture. Do you do that?” It always amazes me that they have to ask whether a full service Home Staging company would be willing to work with (gasp) someone’s OWN THINGS?! But I know why they have to ask.
There are some Stagers out there who refuse to work with anything but a completely blank slate. I once did a consultation for a guy who had a beautiful view home and completely workable furniture. His place just needed some updating and new accessories to make it appeal more to today’s buyers. He told me that the last Stager he interviewed told him she’d only take the job if he removed ALL of his own belongings and let her start from scratch…to the tune of over $30,000 in Staging fees! No wonder there are agents and homeowners out there who have yet to hire a Stager to help them prepare their home for sale!
Not only is it bad business to waste someone’s money on unnecessary furniture rental, but in my opinion it’s just plain lazy for a designer to say that they won’t work with a homeowner’s own pieces. Of course it’s easier (and more lucrative) for us to start from scratch because we can pick every last piece down to the art, rugs and plants and know that it will all coordinate beautifully. But if a homeowner has furniture that’s in decent shape and is properly scaled for his home, why would we ask them to get rid of it?
Though my company does lots of vacant home Stagings and model homes, I work all the time with families who are living in their homes while they’re on the market. For these clients, we start with a Consultation. We spend 2-3 hours on site determining what needs to be done in order to get the property sold quickly and for the best price. Recommendations might include de-cluttering, rearranging, reconfiguring or repurposing some of the furniture, updating paint or light fixtures, replacing worn or filthy carpets, and reaccessorizing. After our meeting, the seller receives a written Consultation Report, which gives them a room-by-room check list of what needs to be done. Often the seller takes this list and runs with it and we never hear from them again (until they call to let us know how happy they are that the property SOLD)! Sometimes, however, the client hires us to bring in the recommended accessories or additional furniture pieces that we’ve noted in the report, and to put the finishing touches on the Staging transformation.
As an example, we were recently brought in by a Realtor to do a Consultation on her client’s 4-bedroom home in Tarzana, California. The client had a gorgeous home with beautiful furniture, but she had seen some Staged properties on the market and knew that her home had a couple of trouble spots that needed to be addressed before it could compete with those Staged homes.
Click here to see photos of her trouble spots and how Stage to Sell turned them into selling points!
Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell Owner & Principal Designer 310-384-1084 www.stagetosell.biz
"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"
************************************************ Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.
Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.
Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times , Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine .
1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
2. It's overpriced. You've got to view your own property as objectively as possible. Look at the home like a "buyer"... if necessary, go out with your Realtor and view other homes that are priced comparably to yours. Be objective. Given the other options on the market (and yes, you DO have to include short sales and foreclosures on your list... your potential buyers are!), would YOU buy your home, over the others on the market?
If no, then you either have to "update" your home to meet or beat the competition... or lower your price to adjust for it. if you can't afford to sell for the price, that you KNOW it sell for, you may want to consider just removing it from the market.
3. It shows poorly. This could mean almost anything... from the barky, barky dog, to the smell of the diaper pail. Maybe the carpeting is a bit worn, or the woodwork shows a lot of wear. All things that don't show up on the internet, but whoa.... once you get inside the house... they show up, like a cat-urine-smell on a 95 degree day in New Orleans!
4. You're invisible. Today's buyer comes from the internet, almost exclusively. Have you (or your agent) simply plopped the property on the MLS, and started praying? Are you on all the websites...(Trulia, Zillow, Craig's List, Google Base, etc...) all the places that buyers are searching? If not, you want to be.
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
btw... Avoid the temptation to bring the house back on at a higher price, than when you left the market. Just "don't do it"!
6. Your house won't appraise. The house looks great... you've finally gotten someone to bring you a bid on your slightly over-priced, but beautiful pied-a-terre. But the bank appraiser says it's worth $20,000 less than what they've agreed to pay. Heavy sigh... bite the bullet.... negotiate with them. If you have to drop the price $20,000 to make it work.... "make it work"... chances are, anybody else trying to buy your house will run into the same problem.
It has been a while since I have done any writing here on Activerain. I have been very busy moving my business forward and things keep progressing. I have done more than twice as much work as last year so far, so things are looking up.
I staged a home last week that sold in one day and I just had to share. Most of my staging has taken at least a month in this market to sell so it was quite refreshing to finally be back on track. Everything was right with this project though. The home wasn't listed first. The homeowners did a lot of painting and carpet cleaning and preparing their property for two weeks. This makes all the difference. They did pretty much everything I had suggested.
After two weeks I went in and staged their property. I believe the selling price was right on the mark as well. The home sold before it hit mls. Can't beat that.
This is the second time these homeowners had hired a stager to sell a home. The last time it took 9 days to sell. YAAAA!!! Mine sold in only one.
They were quite impressed. But who wouldn't be if I do say so myself.
Here is a couple of pictures.
I still need a wide angle camera for better pictures. It is difficult to see the whole room. These are just a few.
Home Sellers if you already haven't, prepare to change.
Especially in the current state of the housing market (& limited numbers actually buying & those that are -are being extremely picky with what they are purchasing) seriously ask yourself this question;
"Is it really going to hurt too much to make a few changes that can expedite the sale of my house?"
their choices [whether cosmetic or structural] and
the way they are living is perfect for them so why change?
Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!
It's time to stop focusing on how you live in YOUR house and get on with the business of selling this property to move into your NEXT home!
NO MORE
Or deep down do you just really NOT want to sell this house? And I am very serious.
Your short term pain of having to make some changes will result in long term gain, the successful sale of your home.
I'd like to help you get there.
Here are 10 Easy Changes to Improve the Marketability of your home
Wall paper removed and paint colors changed
Furniture removed, rented, re purposed &/or repositioned for optimal showing
Turn a room back to it's INTENDED purpose (I don't care if the office works in your dining room and you have to move some cables around! A buyer needs to see the DINING ROOM - don't make them guess)
Personal decorating choices removed(and yes even if you like those bottle caps glued to your game room wall and it's going to take you forever to remove - a buyer is thinking that 10 fold)
Collections, excess "stuff" and anything you can live without for a time boxed and packed for your move
Rent a temporary storage unit if necessary1-800-PackRat or PODS will come right to your door
Spruce up the yard, mulch and plant some flowers, even if that means having to water them
Get some updated fixtures [including dated fan kits] installed
Clean, clean and clean some more- even if you have 6 kids, work and the dishes & laundry never get done - now is the time to get it done or hire someone who will.
Keep the house in show ready condition at all times [the good news is that once you've done all the above, it will be easy to keep ready at a moment's notice!] and be flexible when showing
Proudly serving real estate consulting services to Collin County and North Dallas, Realtors, Sellers & Investors, , Home Star Staging is here for you Texas!
Thought everyone could use a mini lesson in colour today.
This website has stories about interior indiscretions that will make you wonder what the homeowners were thinking when they put their home on the market.
We have all been there-either as a Realtor or as a Home Stager.
Trying to market a house that has been painted entirely in burnt orange.
Or every surface has been painted shades of green or blue or purple.
When you are selling your home, loud vibrant colours will not market your property to the most people.
How many homes have you seen with bright orange walls everywhere?
That's exactly the same number of buyers you will attract to your property for sale.
I tactfully suggest to my clients that a neutral colour will attract more buyers when they are looking online at listing photos.
Not to mention shorten the number of days on market.
When buyers leave a property painted like this, all they are talking about is the bright orange paint throughout the main floor living area. They miss the features of the property entirely. Advantage Staging will motivate your client to make the necessary changes to get the property on the "must see list" of buyers.
Investment, minimal.
Impact, Priceless.
Advantage Staging will give your property an advantage in the marketplace everytime.
Real estate agents are saying a lot about home staging these days as it grows more and more popular as a necessary means of getting a property SOLD in a saturated market or any market for that matter.
What they are saying?
"Would you choose to spend $100.00 on gas when clearly it will take $200.00 to get where you need to go? Then why wouldn't you do what is necessary to get your property SOLD?"
"If you can help a homebuyer visualize a property, I think you are really helping him/her."
"Folks who resist will have to take longer to sell especially in a saturated market."
"one thing for me is non-negotiable, is a staging appointment, we love our stager."
"selling the value of staging presents it's own challenges, however, I feel it is our duty as trusted advisors."
"It makes a huge difference in how the house shows but also how it looks in on-line photos."
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Erica McClenny, Broker/Realtor 
1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
market?
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
;)
;)
