Tulsa is having a great home selling season in 2010. Lots of homes have been sold and new construction is alive and kicking. Tulsa is a great city and a beautiful place to live.

I have posted a few before and after photos of a new construction that was staged by Staging Tulsa. The 'before' photos are last. The elctricity was not on yet.

What a difference a home staging makes!

What is a Mission Statement and why should I have one?

Glad you asked.

"A mission statement defines in a paragraph or so any entity's reason for existence. It embodies its philosophies, goals, ambitions and mores. Any entity that attempts to operate without a mission statement runs the risk of wandering through the world without having the ability to verify that it is on its intended course."

(Taken from MissionStatments.com)

You can visit this website for helpful inspiration and good examples on how to make your own.

Before you begin this journey (this will take a little while so don't rush it) sit and think about why you do what you do. What drives you and what is your heart saying about it. Mine is simple, not a paragraph, but just one thought... one sentence. (I will continue to perfect this, but this is my course.)

"Fulfilling dreams by connecting homes with families, through home staging."

This is what I will keep before me as a reminder to stay on the right path that I have set for myself.

Best wishes in your endeavors.

(Be sure to come back and 'fan' everyone on AR - it's nice to have fans.)

Please stop by and see my page AND don't forget to 'fan' me!

Staging Tulsa Facebook Business page  Thanks!

HERE IS WHAT YOU DO:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12809 ---  a link to the easy directions.

If THE LINK DOES NOT WORK, here is what I did.

Go to the very bottom of your profile page, then:

HELP CENTER

ADDS AND BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

PAGES FOR BUSINESS (has a little fan flag)

Here you click on CREATING Admin & editing link

HOW CAN I CREATE A PAGE

*** Once you have your FB fan page, copy your link in the URL and paste it into your profile page information box, just below your profile pic. Invite your friends to fan you.

It's nice to do business on your business page and your personal stuff on your profile page - which includes some yahoos! when your staged homes sell (with pics)!

Active Rain's Mike Mueller recently did a Facebook Business Page Webinar and it was great. Lots to learn, but some GREAT general tips. The next time he has one, sit in on it.

If you do not have a FB logo located on your posts, add a link to your AR signature so we can 'become a fan'!

Home Stagers Help Dreaming & Imagination Come to Life in Oklahoma!

This Rental Property has been Transformed and is Now Ready to Sell!

Everything in this cute cottage style home was cleaned, painted AND repaired. Just this step alone, will give home sellers a great launch into the real estate market with an edge on their competition. BUT, some smart sellers will take selling to the next step which is: HOME STAGING.

Home staging brings to the table an entirely different dimension in the 'selling' process. Once a home has been staged, dreaming & imagination come to life... it is called suggestive selling or marketing.

Smart home sellers realize that the sale of their property begins on the Internet. Either on the PC at lunch break or iPhone while waiting at the doctors office, this is the NEW WAY TO SHOP FOR HOMES TODAY.

An empty house offers nothing to the buyer except the ability to see ALL of the home's flaws. A staged home allows buyers vision and imagination. Your great staged INTERNET PHOTOS will bring buyers to your property and once inside, buyers begin to dream.

(And remember: the first 30 days your home is on the market, is the very best time to get it sold!)

Other than the fact that I didn't have a very good camera at the time, these photos show why it can be much better for the sale of your home, to bring in a professional home stager. Let me explain.

In the lower pic, this home owner had staged her house herself. Before she had scheduled with us, this home owner had gone through the house and packed up items she felt were not necessary in showing her home. Her fellow Realtors THEN toured the home and thought it was beautiful, AND it was. BUT, it was still too taste specific.

Okay, now think about this: How can someone depersonalize their own home when they are the ones who decorated it in the first place? It is a personalized home and trying to take oneself out of the home is virtually impossible. True, you can bring friends over, but are they going to know what needs to stay, what needs to go and where it all needs to be placed for a sellable presentation?

Home Staging is not decorating... it is MARKETING. Knowing and understanding this concept is the beginning of selling your home quicker and for more profit.

Take a look at the photo again. Do you find yourself looking at the things in the home (lower pic) or can you see how much easier it is to see the HOUSE (above pic) and not the decorating.The room look much larger too.

PLUS, this may not be a style you like at all and getting past it may be difficult. This personal style is BRANDING this home with its style. Here is why.

90% of home buyers cannot visualize their things in your home. They will use what is or is not in the home for help in trying to 'see' in their minds eye, what their furnishings will look like and how they will or will not fit things into the house. 10% are left with the ability to visualize.

Be sure to ask your self: how does my house and yard look and how do the internet photos look?

And don't forget, home staging is MARKETING.

Doggie doors are the greatest invention of ALL time. My cats use their "window door" all of the time. It was so nice to finally get them trained... now I am free. But, what if I am a buyer and don't have a dog or cat - this means I will need to replace the door after I move in. Home owners today generally don't have the time or energy to make changes to their newly purchased home right at or soon after they move in.. Most likely, they have been busy updating THEIR OWN home for sale and now don't want to buy a house that will need more of the same... at least not right away.

Most everything you will do to your house in preparation to sale, will bring you great returns... including a sale!

It just doesn't get any better than this (well, maybe purple... or tangerine)!

Before: The pink house... EVERYTHING was pink with the exceptions of the roof and deck (red stain, gray roof). Even the chimney was pink... even the flowers are pink!!

The interior was much the same. pink, pink and pink. The exceptions were the kitchen and the deep cherry red living-room.

After: Our recommended colors look great on this ranch. The house now compliments the other neighborhood homes, adding value to their property as well as to this sellers.

This home sold in 34 days.

It's true.

When we shop online for clothes, doesn't that black velvet dress look much better on the beautiful skinny model than in the lifeless picture? The seller has marketed that dress so you will want it and buy it.

And what about car commercials? The shinny red Cadillac with the beautiful red-head driving it - there was a shot of her shinny red heel on the gas pedal (remember that one). Really, do we need to know what the gas pedal of Cadillac looks like? Now that is marketing.

 A picture is worth a thousand words. It's true.

Over 85% of home buyers shop for their homes online. Your Internet presence is your MARKETING.

Take a look at your listing photos as a buyer would and what do you see? Be honest.

Is it a 'beautiful model' or is it a lifeless picture?

OR

 Market your home so buyers will want it and BUY it.

Here’s a great comment from Judy Peterson's post:

"It still amazes me how many people still do not understand why their house needs to look like a catalog if they want to sell it fast. And yet, if you take that same person out shopping for houses, they're equally as picky." 

 Marketing your home for sale? A picture IS worth a thousand words.

Ask your Realtor where you can find a home stager OR just Google 'home staging' and your city.

Yes it is, especially if you live in the home that is for sale. It is not necessary to decorate an unoccupied home though (if you do, be sure to take decorations down RIGHT after Christmas). Here is something to think about as you decorate.

Christmas decorations can be too personal and distract home buyers from looking at your home. Either they are SO beautiful that buyers become too busy looking at the decorations OR because they can't believe you decorated your house in a way they are not accustomed to! Either way is not good for a sale!

Simple decorating is your best choice.

Even better, let nature decorate for you!

You can go one of two ways... either decorate with only a tree and front door wreath or skip the decorations altogether. You don't want to hinder the sale of your house so DO consider what your BUYERS will think while in your home. To see more home staging tips, please visit my website.