8 Myths of Staging to Sell - Busted.

Home staging (or property styling as it's commonly known as on the Australian property scene) is really an art, not a science. One of the many things a professional home stager understands is that it's the house that's up for sale, not the home owner's bread baking ability or taste in music. So, from the sublime to the rediculous - here's 8 myths of staging to sell - busted!

1. Buyers can see past my stuff
No - they can't. 95% of house hunters shop with a 'what you see is what you get' eye. You'll be maximising your chances of a better and quicker sale if you take the time to clean out, clean up and keep your look simple.

2. Baking bread, brewing fresh coffee and playing soft music will make a buyer fall in love with my house.
Maybe once upon a time this was true - but most would-be buyers are onto that old trick. It's more likely to trigger alarm bells, with many wondering what it is you're trying to hide. Your buyers will be happy with a place that looks and smells clean.

3. I'll need to clear everything out to help buyers see themselves living here.
This is only partly true. Wall to wall family photos are distracting, as is your porcelain rooster collection. These things are best put away. But don't go overboard, otherwise you'll end up with a look that feels cold and sterile.

4. If it's an original feature - it adds value.
Sometimes yes - but often no. Generally a property built less than 50 years ago without being updated is more likely to appear dated, rather than classic.

5. My place isn't worth staging.
All homes are worth taking the time to present in a positive light to buyers. The trick to knowing where to start and what to do is in having a good idea of what buyers in your target market will expect, along with learning more about what competing properties in your area are offering.

6. Empty rooms look bigger.                                                      

This is rarely the case. Buyers will always prefer to see how a room is used and what will fit in it, rather than be left to guess. Very large rooms can also be too intimidating for some. Even borrowed furniture can help buyers get an idea of scale and give the eye something of interest to focus on.

7. Converting a bedroom into a home gym won't be a problem.
Bedrooms are one of the most valuable commodities of the 'for sale' property. Having a home gym set up in a bedroom will prompt buyers to wonder why that is. I remember once looking at a house where this was the case. When I came across the bedroom with the gym in it, I immediately began to question if a bed would even fit. Always give the rooms in your house a purpose.

8. No need to worry about wardrobes and cupboards.
Home storage is a big deal to most buyers and is surprisingly valuable. Prospective buyers will open storage cupboards in kitchens and bathrooms, so keep them tidy. Keep only what you're using on a daily or weekly basis, and pack the rest away ready for the move.

Have you got a staging myth you'd like busted? Share them with me here.

 

Donna Ross

Great Impressions Real Estate Staging

"I love helping Sydney home owners and real estate agents catch the eye of choosy buyers with their 'for sale' listings, with fast, simple and inexpensive decorating fixes."

Follow Me on Twitter: My Google Rank Drops. Why?

For years now, we've been reading and seeing how to get our Websites ranking higher on a natural search results page on Google.

Two years ago, Twitter comes along and now the spirit of true, Herd Mentality, thousands of REALTORS have moooooved on over to copying what the other REALTORS are doing -- hoping and praying the technique will generate more leads and sales commissions. 

We copy the same links; Follow Me on Twitter. And we make the mistake of putting too many Follow Me links on our home page despite the fact you've probably spent years trying to get people to COME to your website... you tell them to GO AWAY.

Weeks later, your visibility goes down and you are left wondering what the heck just happened?

Too many redirects from your home page is not only stupid, it's the fastest way to see your page one #1 Google rank drop to #2. Then, it drops to #3. And the slide just keeps on a-sliding down... down... down. 

Just look at Santa Fe Properties. A former SEO client of mine. For seven years, they were on page one #1. Then a year ago, they too got bit by the Twitter Follow Me bug. And the Linked In Bug. And one from Christies Great Estates.

This is the part that I just cannot understand.

You spend thousand of dollars on a new site and SEO work. Then you spend MORE money with your offline marketing efforts telling next time home buyers to GO TO www.SantaFeProperties.com. 

FINALLY when you get people USED to going to your website, you now tell these same visitors to go away and find you now on Twitter. Or Linked In. Or Christies Great Estates. Or somewhere else.

So, naturally some of your visitors do leave your site where there are lots of competitors just waiting to gobble up the leads you just told to FIND ME ON SOME OTHER SITE.   What the...?

That might sound a bit silly, but this is exactly what your website says to visitors you've tried to come to your website for months or even years of working to improve your Google ranking. Now that they find you, you tell them to find you someplace else.

Trust me, this can be leading up to; Lead sabotage. And thousands of REALTORS and brokers are just watching their leads drop, and they think by placing the Follow Me links on their website will increases leads... it can create the opposite effect. 

People will click on things and links because you give them reason to do so. They are not immune to Herd Mentality either. 

After a few clicks, is it any surprise why your visitor is now looking at properties from Amazing Realty instead of yours?  For too many REALTOR websites, it's clear to me that too many of you are suffering from Mad Cow Disease, just like Denny Crane from Boston Legal. 

It doesn't have to be that way. You can use Twitter and other links to your advantage, but you need to use them wisely and correctly. 

There are SMARTER ways to use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Below are Bartman's Top Ten SAFE Ways to Use Social Media effectively to keep people coming BACK to your website from other channels out there.

 

1.) Don't put offsite links on your home page.

If you have page one # 1 ranking on Google now, be careful how many links to offsite websites you ADD to your home page. 

 

2.) Rule of thumb: Place your Follow Me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn on your Contact Me pages and other pages inside. This is especially important if you are just now building links to your home page.

 

3.) One Way Link Bulding.

ActiveRain.com, Curbed.com and many other Real Estate blogs can be used to build one way, incoming links to your properties. Don't just link all links to your home page. This is not a smart idea. Build links to point to your properties and about the life style and communities you know about. 

 

4.) 1888FreePressRelease.com.  

A great place to post your FREE press releases with links pointing BACK to your website.

 

5.) PRWeb.com.  

The BEST place to post your Press Releases. $100 - $200 cost each, but you get to go BACK and edit the links to make them SEO friendly and point them to your website pages.

 

6.) Get links from Title, Mortgage companies even Landscapers and custom home builders.

They might have a crappy looking website, but ask them for a one way link from their site to yours. NEVER give a link back to them as this will give you what is called Google PR Hemorrhage. Never give reciprocal links BACK to any website until AFTER one year AFTER you've held a page one position on Google.

 

7.) Social Media Pay per Post, Pay per Blog.

There is one firm out there that seems to have done it right. SocialSpark.com is the one to see. You can buy ads on this system to be inserted into popular blogs out there. This is a great way to build awareness of your website for geo-centric, local searches. 

 

8.) StumbleUpon.com

It's a web site that says what id does and does what it says. It emails hundreds of thousands of people every week with suggested Websites they should visit. Visitors to the site indicate a few sites and topics they like. And weekly, StumbleUpon will deliver the user a cornucopia of Websites and some of them... NEED to be your real estate website. 

 

9.) Sell LifeStyle. Don't sell just homes.

This is the big trap of conventional thinking. But next time home buyers today can get their house with or without a REALTOR. So when they come to your website, dazzle them with Life Style. We're just now completing a website for Jane Paulus of Edina Realty now. The website is here:  www.TwinCitiesHomefinders.com  -- See the emphasis on Live -- Work  Play and the rich page content of living in Minneapolis. Google loves this stuff and so will your next time home buyers. 

 

10.) Get your Banner Ads on the iPhone, BlackBerry and Mobile Devices.

Just because you're page one on Google doesn't mean you can't get more leads. Google now offers a Paid Search program that allows you to snag 50,000 banners for $18 bucks or thereabouts. Create Google Visual Ads that are shown on mobile devices. It's cheap and it's effective.

Lots more good stuff to come later. I'm trying to get our company moved to Colorado Springs, but if anyone needs more help on these items above, call me or email me. 

I'm always glad to be of service to you all. 

 

 

 

 

Bart Wilson | Chief Marketing Officer | SEO Rockstar

Voyager International. The Real Estate Marketing Company

Tel: (505) 466-2483  iPhone: (505) 204-8097

Wordless Wednesday - Eeyore Kisses

DO WE SEE EYE TO EYE?

I'm 5 foot, 10 inches tall.  If you are 5'2" or 6'4", we probably don't see eye to eye--at least, when it comes to hanging art!

Hanging art at eye level is a rule that just doesn't work!  A better rule to begin the process:   leave 1/3 of wall space above the picture and 2/3 of space below.  Another guide I find very helpful when hanging art over a table or sofa is to leave two fists of space between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the picture.   Both of these are easy, no measure methods.

When you really want to delve into the finer points of hanging art, I found a very complete article at this link:  http://interiordec.about.com/od/artindecorating/a/Gwheretohangart.htm

Once you have decided where to hang the art, here are some more tips/tools I find helpful:

• Hercules Hooks--they are my favorite tool and save lots of time and aggravation!
• To keep things on center--use two hangers (or nails) about 5" from each outside edge (bumpers on the bottom of pictures helps with this as well and protect walls, but if you are staging with the home owner's own art, you may not want to take the time to add bumpers).
• For staging, keep art around the room at approximately the same height so the eye has an easy journey!
• Cut our shapes the size of frames and tape on wall with painter's tape before attempting to hang groupings.  You can even measure where the nails should be!
• Wear an apron to keep your tools handy!

I would love to know any other tips you have to make this job faster! 

Submitted by Kim Dillon, Creative Eye Home Staging serving areas of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

Don't Underestimate The Power Of Negative Impression

Wordless Wednesday - Jack Meets Zack

Free Advice For Sellers - Show Them Something They're Not Expecting

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Wordless Wednesday - JACK o Lantern

Do you REALLY know your neighbors? Click to find convicted felons in your neighborhood.

Do you know your neighbors?  I mean REALLY know your neighbors?

I'm blessed to live in a wonderful community that is postcard pretty, peaceful and relatively safe.  That being said, there are criminals amongst us, no matter where we live.  People who have, and would, do harm to us and ours.  Are you safe?  You have a right to know.

Life would be good if the dangerous and unsavory characters were readily apparent, if something about them that made it obvious to us that danger was present so we would know to keep our distance and keep our guard up.

That is not the reality, but there is a site we can go to that will pull up a map of our neighborhood with homes of felons flagged.  It's felonspy.com.  Just enter your address and up pops your neighborhood map flagged with names, age of the felons and crimes committed.  I pulled up my own rural neighborhood and was surprised by the close proximity of 5 men from 22 to 45 who had been convicted of: attempted rape, 1st degree unlawful imprisonment, attempted sexual conduct with a child, and two convicted of aggravated sexual abuse.

Take a minute to check out your neighborhood, and then pass the link on to the people you love and care about.  

Janna Rankin Scharf  provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence.  Give me a call today and let me know what I can do to be of service to you!

Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS  208.651.9700