Diane's Blog

How to Photograph Your Internet Listings

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:10:05 -0500

An article on "How to Photograph Your For-Sale House" is from the Wall Street Journal and well worth the read. For others out there who believe in home staging to sell your house or listings, this article is not complete since no mention of how Home Staging is necessary before the photoshoot. There are some very good tips in the article from professional architectural photographers but the below tips are the ones that I thought needed help:

1. "If a room is empty, bring in a prop like a chair to give it a sense of scale." If you do choose a chair, make sure it's the correct size for the room. Why not bring in a home stager to get it right the first time?

2. "Inside, close the drapes to lessen the possibility of the camera's light meter being fooled by bright exterior light." Light is important so shouldn't a professional know how to adjust the camera so it's not fooled by the bright exterior light?

3. "Use props such as fruit, drinks, magazines and towels. This will make the space look as if someone was just there." Use props, but just using props will not look like they've just been there if there's no furniture in the house.

4. "A vase, chair or object in the foreground gives more depth to the shot." Yes, true, but most want to see the house, not the vase, chair or object. (I'm guilty of this one.)

5. "Shoot at chest-level so you show less ceiling." This is just funny. Show less ceiling? I guess if there's nothing to focus on like furniture, it might happen.

6. "Move furniture so it doesn't hide architectural features like a fireplace." I HOPE not. Maybe this happens, but if you use a home stager, it won't.

7. "If an interior is empty, stand back as far as you can to show how large the space it." And to show how cold looking it can be. Usually rooms look larger with furniture in them.

8. "Don't use a wide angle lens in an interior shot, They make rooms look smaller." Again, see #7, usually rooms look larger with furniture in them.

Please hire a home stager before you have your listings photographed. You'll sell faster and some times for more money!

DC Redesign is your Real Estate Stager for Orange County, CA, and surrounding areas.

Before Calling a Home Stager....

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:19:45 -0500

What will the real estate stager take care of and what is the homeowner–seller required to do? Trimming over-grown bushes and trees, removing dead plants or cleaning dirty bathrooms or removing old bent window blinds are some not included in the staging process. Since many homeowner-sellers have questions about the process of home staging, consider these 15 points to complete before your staging day; your real estate stager and real estate agent will be greatly appreciative!

1. All furniture not included in your home staging should be removed, stored away or disposed of.
2. Clean all windows and blinds squeaky-clean or remove damaged window coverings.
3. Fireplace ashes should be cleared out, as well as soot and smoke stains cleaned off the bricks, stones and hearth.
4. Removing any outdated wallpaper is well worth it.
5. Wipe down kitchen counters, cupboards and appliances.
6. Clean bathrooms - toilets inside and out, showers, tubs, mirrors and floors.
7. Fill light sockets with high watt bulbs and replace worn-out bulbs with new ones. High-watt bulbs are best for the most light.
8. Hire or keep your gardener to clean up the yard, replace old plants and mow the lawn - a definite need while your home is listed for sale.
9. Replace or clean carpets.
10. Clean out closets and organize.
11. Ceiling fans collect a lot of dust – clean the blades and housing – or replace.
12. Old worn-out screens need to be replaced or stored away.
13. If needed, repaint the front door.
14. Donate unwanted (useable) items at your local thrift store.
15. Remove oil stains from your driveway.

There are many organizations that will handle the above items for you: NAPO and Nail It Home Improvement Services. DC Redesign is happy to assist you in finding companies to handle these items. Please contact me for any questions; I’d love to speak with you!

DC Redesign is a Real Estate Stager in the Orange County CA area and Surrounding Areas. Please email diane@dcredesign.com or call 714-815-3506 for any questions.

Color Your Home Staging

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:05:36 -0500

Define Your Home Staging With Color!

Whether it’s apparel, home furniture design and décor, appliances or automobiles, each year there is a new palette of color choices for design. Home decor changes for 2009 are natural products such as bamboo and anything clean and green.

If you’re uncertain as to what colors to choose for your room palette, here’s a tip. I pull colors out of your favorite tapestry, pillows, curtains or piece of artwork. Designing a room with this way works every time. Don’t forget black; it completes the look and pulls it all together.

Colors in softer grays, putty, stone and granite colors, greens and sunset colors like oranges and yellows create an earth-like landscape for your home. Some say brown is out for 2009 and lighter earthy colors are now the choice. Use soft pewter-blues with tan hues and pale yellow accents to create the feel of the beach or colors in greens. Tone-on-tones for whites, beiges or lighter browns and neutrals combined with a wall in a dark richer color add dimension to your rooms.

Start with darker colors for floors, move upward for the lighter colors on the walls and don’t forget the ceilings. Paint has different sheens so be sure to use the right one. Flat paint camouflages imperfect walls, eggshell and satin give a more formal look and high gloss should be used for woodwork and doors.

Use the same color schemes for adjoining rooms to flow from room to room. Colors such as mocha, tangerine or kiwi work well for kitchens and stimulate your appetite; just remember – the color of foods! Bedrooms require warm deeper shades, as in greens, to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere for a good nights sleep.

All of us look better when surrounded by color and we feel happier. Buyers pick houses that make them feel happy. Color your home, stage it and price it right. Let a Realtor sell your home and she will be happy too!

Diane Concialdi is a home stager in Orange County, CA, and specializes in vacant stagings, and helps Realtors with their CA short sale negotiations for no charge and we pay you commissions. Call or email Diane at 714-815-3506 or diane@dcredesign.com

Tired of Handling the Short Sale Process Yourself?

Fri, 08 May 2009 12:02:52 -0500

If the title caught your attention, I know you've either had it with short sales or you don't even touch them. We will change how you feel about short sales by handling the short sale process for you, and you still get commissions!

Do you have clients who owe too much on their home to refinance or sell?
Do you have clients who need a cash buyer?
Do you have clients who are selling not because they want to but because they have to, they need money, or their ARM adjusted and can't afford the payment?

We are unique in the short sale market. We charge no fees for performing a short sale, but we do pay realtor commissions. Homeowners and Realtors are under no obligation to complete the process once it has started, and your seller stays in control of their property during the process.

If you have a passion for this business and interested in the short sale side of this ineresting market, please contact me. If you have a home already listed and you are afraid that it will be sold at auction, please contact me. Currently properties only in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, N. Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

If you're wondering if I still do home staging and redesigns, yes I do and I love it. But in this market, and I'm sure all can agree, we have to wear a couple of hats to get through it. Plus I love helping people!

Diane Concialdi, DC Redesign, Home Staging and Redesign, Orange County CA, Short Sales Contact, please contact me for more information 714-815-3506.

How Important is Marketing?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:36:02 -0500

Hey everyone! Giving a small presentation of my home staging business on Tuesday made me take a look deeper into what I want as a business and how I need to market, market, market. It was given to a class on Interior Design at a community college in my area. Something everyone should do at least once.

Some of their questions made me think of what goals I want to accomplish this year, in the next few months, and how many consultations and actual stagings per month that would make it ideal to grow my business. My opening question to this class was "how many of you know a home stager in your area?" No one raised their hand or commented. I could not believe that it remains the same and how much we need to do to get the idea of home staging in our communities.

We, as home stagers, need to market socially. Get out into the public, network with a certain group and be active in our communities - It's called a Community Driven Promotion. Get in the newspaper, wite a short blurp for the media, donate to social events for their raffles, write a blog and create your article for your blog every day; something that I've found is difficult to do.

If anyone needs more information please give me a call.

DC Redesign, Home Stager and Redesign expert in Huntington Beach, CA, Orange County CA and surrounding areas – Call 714-815-3506 for a home staging or redesign consultation.

To Sell or Not to Sell?

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:25:16 -0600

I haven't written anything for quite some time. It's not that I haven't been around; I've been lurking on Active Rain, reading, commenting and reading more. I know you've all been in a place like this.

This is another one of those blogs about the importance of Home Staging.

Home prices have experienced decline for the first time in over 13 years. Your options in this market are to either deal with the time it takes to sell without home staging, or do something different to sell your home. It's that simple! Either way it's costs the same - a price reduction or home stage. However, home staging will prove a quicker sale.

Home staging has been an important factor in this market. You may be able to sell your home without home staging or a redesign, but you will not get the best price and it will definitely sit on the market longer. This does not include Foreclosures and Short Sales where the banks need to get with the program and call a home stager for their REO sales.

So I'll once again state the obvious - the importance of home staging is to sell your home with visual exposure. Would you buy a dress that is ugly? The impact of home staging shows the buyer (I can almost guarantee it - if the home's priced right) a quick sale and most likely for the asking price, or more, than every other home on the market. Make your home stand out from the rest! We can protect you from making a mistake and it you do, we'll be here to help. Call a home stager today!

DC Redesign is a home staging company in the Huntington Beach, CA, area servicing Orange County CA and the surrounding areas. Please visit our site dcredesign.com or call 714-815-3506.

Before and Afters of an Orange County Home

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:41:41 -0500

This is a home I just finished staging. It's a beach home with an ocean view. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. This is a first for me and it was really fun. I'll post the Living room later.

Designations for Home Stagers and Associations

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:52:18 -0600

Home Stager certifications and designations may be confusing. There is no real designation or certification and there is no official state or federal training required to be a home stager. Please do not mistake me for someone who is against anyone who uses any letters behind their names. Many have asked me what the difference is from a home stager who has letters and those who do not.

I have never been asked about my name and certification - or lack of. However many have asked Debra Gould of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program (which I have completed and have also asked) why she has chosen NOT to provide credentials for the completion of her training. As we all know, schools teach home staging training through their online programs and in-class training and provide credentials - that is an acronym for their specific training school. Her explanation is very good and quite humorous!

Not one single designation can claim to be the one and only best in the home staging industry. Many have their own policies, procedures and obviously their own design skills. However, this industry is working to create common wordage and implementations home stagers can practice. The more homeowners and realtors know about our procedures the easier it will be to understand and use home staging for their properties.

So how do you choose a home stager? To start, ask for a referral from another homeowner or realtor, view the home stager's website for professionalism or read their blog, request to see a home stager's portfolio of design photos and ask about pricing and the time frame needed to complete your request. As you talk and meet with her you will know if the personality and delivery of her estimate presentation is someone you want to work with. It's not always about price.

Working with a professional home stager provides a beautiful design and a home that will stand out from all other homes on the market. Once you find your preferred stager, hang on to her and use her talent and advice for all your listings. You will have an excellent team member who you can trust and most likely increase your home sales for the year.

There are a couple of associations for all home stagers to be a part of and are not based on any designation or training requirements - RESA, the Real Estate Staging Association and ASHSR, the American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners. Both associations invite all professional real estate stagers to join, offering support through education and business tools focusing on the needs of all stagers!

Diane Concialdi DC Redesign - Orange County CA and surrounding cities 714.815.3506 - RESA Orange County Chapter President - Ask me about joining the Real Estate Staging Association - Many Chapters Forming Now

Some up-to-date Stats on Home Staging

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:22:11 -0600

The following statistics were complied by David Jones from Staging101.com, contacted me for his www.StagersYellowPages.com listing. He has given me (and others) permission to use these statistics in our presentations or consultations for home staging.

In the month of November, 2007, 16,128 homes were for sale in Orange County. Average days on the Market was 73 DOM. In a study conducted by David Jones of these 16,128 homes less than 1% were staged using a professional home stager. Of these homes that were staged and sold, the average DOM was 46 days. This shows that homes staged by a professional home stager sold 30.4% faster than other homes on the market.

In additional notes: understates the true DOM due to agents removing a listing from MLS and then re-listing it at a later date does not reflect the cumulative DOM. A truer picture would be in adjusted DOM for localities like Dana Point 141 DOM, Laguna Beach 165 DOM, Laguna Niguel 81 DOM, Mission Viejo 79 DOM, San Clemente 115 DOM, San Juan Capistrano 107 DOM, and so on.

David Jones did mention to me that 19% of the home stagers he contacted chose not to participate in the survey or did not return his phone call. David also mentioned that more information will follow.

Does anyone know how (or if) the statistics Craig was compiling is finished or is it not going to be completed?

Diane Concialdi - DC Redesign is located in Orange County CA and Home Stages in OC, LA and the surrounding cities. Contact DC Redesign to ask about home staging your vacant or occupied home for a faster sale.

When will homeowners catch on?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:42:46 -0600

No offense intended homeowners, but I knew it would happen. The home I was asked to give an estimate to stage (and didn't get the job) is on the market at a reduced price, $28,000 reduced. If it had been staged there is a chance it would have sold already. The home has been on the market since the middle of September, and my staging fee for the entire house was not even a quarter of the $28,000 reduction! I do have to mention, the Realtor was on my side, but we could not get the homeowner to budge on the decision to stage.

I've said it before, the price to stage a home is way less than the first price reduction! And I can say first reduction in this market. Homeowners! Call a home stager to get an estimate on home staging before you call a Realtor!

Diane Concialdi DC Redesign

Home Stagers Need Realtors to Educate Their Sellers

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:14:10 -0600

There may be some misunderstanding that Realtors should choose (and pay for) home staging for their sellers. Home stagers need Realtors to convince their sellers that they need a home stager (or re-designer) to get their home in shape before it's listed. This will help establish the listing price and eliminate the need for a price reduction later on.

Some home stagers use set pricing, choosing from many styles, to stage 3 rooms only - the living room, dining room and bedroom. A home stager will suggest a style of furniture based on the style, the location and the price range of the home. Pricing is available in 2 months, 3 months and up. (there may be other stagers too who price for a one month term). In a vacant staged home or new construction staged home, the furniture may be available to buy for an additional price. Ask your home stager about this option.

Living in your home while it's listed to sell can be stressful. A re-designer will consult with the homeowner giving suggestions on what needs to be done to get the home ready for the sell. Prices vary and don't be afraid to call around. Some are very reasonable!

In this market, Realtors, if you believe home staging works, help us to help you sell your listings faster by suggesting a seller consult with your home stager before they list with you. With so many homes on the market stand out from the rest using a home stager!

Diane Concialdi, DC Redesign - We will service Orange County CA and the Surrounding Areas - Please call 714.815.3506

Real Estate Staging Association - Orange County CA Chapter

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:23:35 -0600

To All Orange County CA Home Stagers!!

Since the LA Round Table Meeting is scheduled for this Friday, Dec. 7th, all that would be interested in joining and meeting for the Orange County Chapter soon, please let me know. I will be attending this Round Table Meeting. If you're uncertain, I will have a packet of information for you to take home with you.

I'm really looking forward to the Round Table meeting. Thank you to Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Design and Staging for organizing it.

Diane Concialdi, Orange County CA Home Stager, dcredesign.com

Positive Thinking

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:26:44 -0600

Marketing and a positive attitude is what all of us need in today's market! Even though we hear about the doom and gloom of real estate news, we have to keep a positive attitude. The majority of people today are afraid of fear and the unknown so they avoid it. Many in the real estate business have added an additional job when marketing themselves in the Real Estate Industry is key. Yet others have given up all together! Do not become a quitter!

Try and think of all that you could do to help your listings and to service your customers. We are in a service business and that's what it's all about. If we can't provide service, there are many others who can and will. Provide staging for your listings; provide marketing of internet exposure after the home stager has been in to add furniture and accessories or redesign; post excellent pictures; call your customers to see how their day is going and their thoughts; network to get your name out there.

Read positive articles on home staging and call a home stager in your area!

Diane Concialdi - www.dcredesign.com

DC Redesign is the home staging company in Orange County. Show your listings market-ready with my staging services!

Why do customers buy from you?

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:53:27 -0500

Think you know why people buy from you? No matter what you are selling, real estate, mortgages, home staging, etc., the reasons are other than what you think.

Marketing is so different to so many people. It's not clever marketing people are attracted to, but being aware and receptive to the advantages of what you are selling. Your customers buy because of:

...honesty, rates #1 in my book.

...promises you make.

...credibility.. and don't buy if you lack it.

...solutions to their problems.

...you and your office workers.

...your reputation.

...expectations based on your marketing.

...convenience of the sale.

...consistency in what you have to offer.

...value, which is not the same as price.

...professionalism.

...freedom from risk in what you offer.

...easy access to contact you through your website.

...good taste.

...neatness and manners.

...success.

...confidence.

All of these benefits put your customer at ease. I'm sure there are many more that you can think of to add to the list. Please do so.

Diane Concialdi - DC Redesign and home stager

Meeting with your local realtor

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:36:00 -0500

Today I met with a Realtor, Tina, in my area about advertising and working together to offer home staging for her listings. It was a very good meeting and we seemed to understand each other; what each of us wanted, that it is not a solely committed task, but in her area I would be solely committed to her real estate office. Sounds fair. I arrived at her office and had to wait a bit, no problem. Her receptionist asked me "what it staging?" and made me realize how much work we have to do to get the word out about home staging.

It seems to me that combining forces with a Realtor in different areas is the way to show home sellers how important it is to get their homes market-ready before the home is listed on the MLS rather than listing a vacant house, decreasing the sale price after it doesn't sell, and THEN choosing to call a stager.

Tina you're thinking is right on! Thanks!

Diane Concialdi - DC Redesign

Emailing Flyers - Great marketing tool!

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:25:37 -0500

I just want to let everyone know of a great tool for marketing that my realtor friend told me about - Its My Email Flyer. Currently they serve California, Nevada, Arizona, New York, and Florida and I'm sure they will add more. You can go to their website and choose a template for your email flyer, add pictures, probably even add your logo (that will be on my next one) and select a territory that My Email Flyer will send to all the realtors in that area. My Email Flyer has all the email addresses.

You will have to use one of their templates which is only realtor and generic templates. I may be able to get them to create a stager template. It's great! There are some areas that you can reach 9,000 realtors and for $100 more or less dollars, it's a great marketing tool! Go to www.myemailflyer.com and check it out. I just sent out 1,400 flyers yesterday.

Diane Concialdi

DC Redesign