Beth Lester - Home Staging Designs of California

Free Symphony Orchestra Concert Saturday Night in RPV

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:24:49 -0600

The Palos Verdes Regional Symphony Orchestra performs their annual Christmas & Classical Music Concert next Saturday, Dec. 5th at 7:30 p.m.

This 100+ community group ranges in age from probably 8 to 80, with a large number of high school students from Pensinsula High. They really are terrific! (My daughter is 1st violist, so I can brag a little!).

Location: Palos Verdes Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Rancho Palos Verdes, on Crestridge just before Highridge (poor signage at night).

Hope to see you there!

Beth Lester

Home Staging Designs of California

www.hsdca.com

Beautiful Lunada Bay Home Open House

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:51:45 -0500

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.

Free Redecorating in Palos Verdes!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:26:00 -0500

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.

From Staging Consultation to Two Offers on First Day!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:25:25 -0500

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!

Stop Wasting Time with Facebook!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:16:33 -0500

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?

Social Media-Its about (THE) time. (Jim Marks AND Tom Ferry)

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:19:43 -0500

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

Beth

Via Jim Marks (Virtual Results):

Tom and I work with Real Estate Professionals, not Social Media Marketers. There is a huge difference.

For Social Media Marketers, Social Media is their job. For Realtors, they have a job and social media is just a way to engage, communicate, become relevant in the market, build relationships, brand and generate leads (depending on who you speak to…) When teaching Social Media, the number one question (by a mile) I receive is: “

But where do you find the time?”

I hear this almost every day from my Realtors. Look, it is possible that YOU may not have the time. Possible, not probable. Here are some tips I share with my Realtors to ensure they can squeeze a bit more time for their Social Media Marketing Efforts

1) Control your day. - Do you get up each morning and let the day determine what your schedule is? Do you have 2-3 things on your calendar and “do some work” in between? Do you get up, go to the computer and REACT to your email? Not effective. Become a Task list taker. Keep detailed task lists and prioritize them regularly. Immediately upon finishing one task, start another. At the end of each day do two things.

a) Look at what you have ACCOMPLISHED. I know you work hard. Lots of people work hard. What did you remove from the list?

b) Decide what you are going to accomplish tomorrow and commit to work until you accomplish it. Knowing that you will work until you accomplish your goals, will ensure you don’t waste time on non-productive stuff.

2) Get Mobile-How often are you parked in front of a home, waiting for a client, or Realtor to meet you. How are you investing your down time? Social Media Applications (twitter and facebook, etc.) have GREAT mobile apps. Keep in contact with your community through out the day, in your less productive time. (And for some, I know the word “app” sounds scary, but they’re not. They are simple, easy to download and use tools to make you more efficient- trust me!

3) Understand the cloud- Web based applications like gmail, facebook or twitter allow you to chime in from any computer, anywhere. At the office or a client with a few extra minutes? Get in touch.

4) Have a Virtual Lunch- Who do you go to lunch with, friends? Fellow Realtors? How about grabbing a sandwich and sitting down in front of your computer with your Active Rain or FB Friends and favorite tweeples.

5) Schedule it. It’s Marketing. Just like everything in life, sometimes when we don’t write it down and commit to it … it goes undone. And when you’re online engaging and marketing yourself, it can be quite easy to surf the net for latest news or celebrity gossip, or check out the sales online. Once you commit in your schedule time to engage in social marketing, hold yourself to this time allotment. 6) Remember, for many this is their form of Prospecting. – For years we’ve been taught to spend an hour or three making calls or knocking on doors, following up on leads, scheduling appointments after open houses and sending personal note cards. Today, spending strategic time on Twitter searching key action phrases like “looking at homes in LA” or “looking at Trulia” and engaging prospects is a valid form of prospecting. Spend some time getting your ‘virtual home tours’ on YouTube or Active Rain.

The key is (like everything else we do throughout the day) have a plan, an outcome and be intentional and it will pay off big time.

Was this Post Valuable?

This was the collaboration between Jim Marks(virtualresults.net) a social media strategist, and Tom Ferry, (yourcoach.com) a Realtor coach and trainer. Leave a comment if you would like more tips on how to control your time and create a successful social marketing strategy.

PVE Home Transformed in 3-1/2 Days

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:40:45 -0500

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!"

Space Your Closet

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:57:34 -0500

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!

SEO To The Top Webinar- New Session Coming to a Monitor Near You!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:00:58 -0600

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.

Via Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes (International Properties and Investments, Inc.):

Who Else Wants To Know
The Secrets To Getting To Page One On Google?

Discover Simple and Effective SEO Strategies That Will Get You To The Top!

From The Keyboard of: Katerina Gasset
Date: February 2009

Dear Friend,

Do you think you could learn something from a someone who coaches individual agents and business owners one on one in how to get to page one of Google with keywords that prospects are actually searching with?

Do you want to see real results from your online marketing? Understanding and applying sound SEO principles and action steps is crucial to the success of your online marketing.

I totally understand about how frustrating it is to understand SEO and if what you are doing is right or wrong and how do you actually measure if what you are doing is working? I take what the SEO experts say in Geek Talk and translate it in a way that you can understand and relate to.

When I first started on the web; when it was just starting to be the thing to do for real estate agents back in 1997 and 1998 I fell for every scam out there! I was going to all those seminars about websites at NAR and other places. I remember when we bought all into the Realtor.com hype and owned Know Your Neighborhood, Advanced Access and Homegain sites all touting how they were the next best thing since life's bread to a real estate agent's business. What they all failed to say was that just by getting on line did not guarantee you would be found! I was just another needle in a giant haystack.

Needless to say after spending thousands of dollars on sites and stuff that was not generating not even one single lead I got fed up with it all, gave it all up and went totally offline in 2001.

I did not go back online again until March of 2007. Before that date I decided that if I was going to make the internet work for our real estate business then I was going to have to understand:

How are prospects going to find me?

What are people who are making money online doing to get found?

What is SEO, what does it mean and how will understanding SEO help my business?

What do I have to do right now to get to the top of Google searches fast?

Earl Nightingale, the dean of self development said that by studying any field you are interested in learning just one hour per day that within 5 years you will be a national expert on the subject. Since I knew this and had applied this many times in my life when I really wanted to learn something I got to work right away but not 1 hour a day but 5 to 8 hours a day.

Each night I would start studying Internet marketing and SEO starting at about 8 p.m. I would study until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. This time I was not going to learn from companies that had something to gain from me. I was not going to learn this SEO stuff from real estate website or anyone selling websites. Real estate agents seem to be targets for these scam artists.

I sought out the business men and women who sold widgets online and were very successfull at taking over their niches. I bought a lot of different SEO programs, tutorials and ebooks on everything about Internet marketing.

After 1.5 years of intense study I went to Nestor and told him that I think it was time to get back online and do it right this time. We got our first website knowing that I would be in the Google sandbox for about 6 months I had a plan to speed up the indexing process which I did and we were found on Google within 4 months for our major keywords. That site was not the best so after our domain had a little aging I switched to the real estate site that is customizable at Point 2 agent. From there I started to blog on Active Rain and that was all she wrote! The rest is history!

Coaching agents to get to the top of Google started out to be more a test to see if this stuff really works and much to our pleasant surprise far surpassed my hopes for its' success, it was. I am a full time agent so I know what you are going through. I have been there, done that and I work in the trenches just like you do.

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Donna Bigda SEO testimonial

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Greg's SEO results

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Properly Using Social Web 2.0 for SEO Strategies.

Black Hat VS White Hat SEO Strategies.

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P.S. You can get a head start on the webinar by reading a series of articles I wrote about SEO.
Click here to read my articles, SEO sessions 1 though 5.

Since helping agents and mortgage brokers to get their SEO up and running I have come to realize that the biggest issue is that most of us trusted some SEO expert and hired some company to do our SEO for us. The problem when I look into their work is that they have no clue about how to market or about your product, which is real estate and mortgages. Someone can be good at SEO but if they don't know how to market your product what good is all their SEO doing?

The question I like to ask is: How is that working for you?

You have to understand some of what is going on in the search engines in order not to get ripped off, in order to check up on the work that you have hired someone to do and to know if what you are doing is working or not.

This post is long overdue!
My coach, Katerina Gasset, is getting ready to host a blogging webinar with the topic of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and I thought now would be a great time to share with other Active Rain members, the success that Katerina brings to her students.

In under a month, I had risen from not even being on the first page of many of my neighborhood searches to being on the first page multiple times.

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Contact Coach Katerina at CoachKaterina(atsign)Gmail.com with any specific questions.
1021 Cherry Lane Wellington Florida 33414
561-502-1577 Twitter @CoachKaterina

SEO Webinar

New Staging Statistics Prove Success in Faster Home Sales

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:17:51 -0600

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

I hate to see it go.....but glad the work is mostly done.

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:09:33 -0600

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

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.
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!
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!!
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.
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!
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

Speed up your PC

Thanks for the invitation...and selling is a pain!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:58:30 -0600

I recently received an invitation from Keith Kyle to join the South Bay Realtors group (thank you!), and I'm excited to read through the current entries of our local RE picture.

My interest lies in two areas -

1) As a seller. My husband and I are currently preparing our house for sale in the 1.2 million dollar range in lower Hollywood Riviera.

2) As a professional home stager and redesigner. Although we have purchased and sold several homes in Torrance over the past 20+ years, it has been a few years since I've lived in a home while it was on the market (before I started my home staging business). This is a good refresher to me how stressful the preparation stage is, even before the MLS listing comes out.

It is also a reminder that a good realtor, and we have a great one in Jerry Carew, is not only exceptional in real estate knowledge, but also needs excellent people skills. Dealing with homeowners and buyers in one of the most difficult tasks in life can get dicey, as all realtors know. I'm continually amazed at how adept and adaptable successful realtors are, yet I see so many making mistakes that diminish their success, as well as their sellers'. Forums like this help us all to do a better job.

Have you ever notiched how homeowners are often resistent to their REA's suggestions on how to prepare their house for sale, yet when the same advice comes from a "professional designer," sellers tend to be much more accepting and willing. I believe that comes from a culture that believes in "specialists," whether that is doctors or decorators. Realtors have their specialties, and we stagers have ours, especially when it comes to the "enhancing" part of preparing a home for sale.

I invite you to check out my website and sign up to receive my brief, intermittent newsletters if you are interested (one is coming out on organizing very soon). If I can be of any assistance, please feel free to give me a call.

Happy New Year!

Beth Lester

Home Staging Designs of California

www.homestagingdesignsca.com

In a Slow Market, What Makes a Home Sell?

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:29:22 -0500

Whether we are homeowners or realtors, selling or not selling, we are all worried about declining home values. If your home is currently on the market or you are trying to sell homes, you're wondering whether buyers can even get credit to purchase a home.

While I can't do much about the credit crunch, I can help you position, or merchandize your home in such a way that it will stand out. By looking from the perspective of a Buyer, let's think about what makes us select the particular homes we ultimately purchase.

Let's say there are five homes on the market in the neighborhood you want, in the price range you can afford. How do you choose the one you want?

Some things are obvious, like a good floorplan and a safe, quiet location. Yet people buy homes with poor floor plans or on busy streets all the time, so there must be something more.

One thing that humanity is looking for, even when we're not aware of it, is a place to call our own that feels like our own - a haven to be a place of escape from the crazy world.

So while there is a very logical component to choosing a home (like thinking ahead to resale, and Is there a place for my big screen TV?), I believe there is also an emotional or instinctual component - a "gut feeling." We want a home that is the "best" that our money can buy. This includes safety issues, repair issues, cleanliness issues, design issues and beauty.

Home Staging is both an art and a science, whose goal is to evoke the gut reaction that "This home is the best that we can afford for our current situation and needs." We achieve this goal through a variety of means - from "pre-staging" effects such as making repairs, decluttering & deep cleaning, to the actual merchandizing of the home. Using furniture, accessories and artwork, a professional home stager will enhance the home's positives and downplay the negatives.

Home Staging Designs of California offers professional Home Staging Services, ReDesign Consultations & Services, and low-cost "Simply Color" Consultations. Please visit our website for more information, or call me today for an appointment.

Beth Lester

www.homestagingdesignsca.com

(310) 809-7467

It's So Fun to Serve!

Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign (Home Staging Designs of California) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:08:49 -0500

With my home staging and redesign business less than a year old, I offered a free Room ReDesign drawing to my fellow homeschooling moms to gauge their interest and gather names for my enewsletter.

When the winning name was drawn, I had to smile. This was a woman who I knew had wanted me to come work on her house, but they have absolutely no money for such a "luxury."

My assistant and I drove to South Central Los Angeles (with a little fear and trepidation, I admit - this is not the neighborhood I usually find myself in). We pulled up in front of the 2 bd 1 bath home which houses the parents and six children (with another daughter and her 2 or 3 children visiting). By the time we finished touring the small home, my assistant and I glanced at each other with the thought of "What on earth are we going to be able to do to help this family?" It seemed totally overwhelming with the amount of clutter and hand-me-down furniture pieces throughout.

We selected the living/dining room to redesign, removing much miscellaneous clutter and a couple pieces of furniture. Fortunately we found some "well-loved" pieces in the garage which we brought in, and rearranged the furniture. Even without touching the badly-needing-paint walls and window coverings, there was a huge difference in the look and feel of the rooms. The mom said, "All kids out! I actually have a space for myself now."

The next morning I got a call from my client and she said, "I just have to tell you what a difference you have made in our lives." In all her life she had never lived in a room that wasn't filled with clutter, and even her children realized that they never give a thought to what they set down anywhere and everywhere. They were so inspired that they had gone through the entire house making lists of what they were going to get rid of. She had already called her family members and told them to get their stuff out of her garage now or it was disappearing. She even called a mutual friend who lives in a very cluttered home and said, "Get over here and see what you need to do in your own home!"

As we talked about she could do in the backyard, I suggested that when the garage is cleaned out, they could turn it into a family/playroom using the furniture that was currently sitting on the back patio. With excitement she said, "That will keep the kids motivated."

Even though I'm currently sitting in a hospital waiting for my daughter to come out of surgery, the warm glow comes back and I appreciate having something positive even now to distract me!

After years of serving others in other essentially volunteer capacities, I had been concerned that starting my own business would make me too "money-focused" and less people-oriented, but I'm finding that working with people and making a difference in their lives is still the most exciting part of what I do. We have seen some great blogs recently on serving others and living out our passion as Tim Russert did, and I whole-heartedly agree! What could possibly be more fun?

Beth

See the Slide Show Here: http://www.realestateshows.com/306292