In this economy I can see that people are having a hard time deciding whether to "spend" money on staging. The better question is should you "invest" in staging. Staging is an investment, and an investment that pays you back. According to the most current stats from Stagehomes.com 95.6% of staged homes sell on average in 37 days or less. The non-staged homes averaged 212 days on the market.

What is the typical price to stage a house? That varies widely, depending on whether it is vacant or occupied. If it is an occupied home you can get a staging report for around $150 -$250 that will tell you exactly what you need to do to stage the home yourself. The next step would be having a stager come in and do the actual staging which may range from $250 - $700. On a vacant house the price is higher, but generally $1,000 - $3,000 is a ballpark range.

Prices vary by stager, area and the situation but I think you can see that staging generally costs less than a monthly mortgage payment. Now how many payments are you saving if your house sells in the first month?

Oh, and if your house is sitting on the market for over 3 weeks, what is the first thing your Realtor is going to recommend? A price reduction! With most price reductions starting at $10,000 or more, doesn't it make sense to stage your home in the beginning?

In my last blog I talked about what your primary colors say about you find it here. Now we will see what your secondary colors mean. So pick your favorite and least favorite from the secondary colors on the right.

YOUR FAVORITE SECONDARY COLOR reveals your actual thinking process when it comes to your desires, needs and goals. It shows how you relate to others.

YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SECONDARY COLOR represents your subliminal needs that are often ignored. It is your emotional way of confronting what you want from other people.

GREEN Key words: nurturing, concerned, comfortable. You like to create supportive environments. You are motivated to understand who you are and what you want. You are the perfect audience for others problems. You nurture people so that their dreams can grow. When first meeting friends and lovers you put their needs before your own. Then, you step back to objectively view their intentions. You see others for who they really are. You are attracted to someone who is intellectually inspiring. You marry or commit for security. You are excellent at managing materials and financial resources.

GREEN AS LEAST FAVORITE You seek to be nurtured by providing for others. Your independent nature allows you to work for long periods of time without asking for help. You go to extremes to make sure that people are happy. You can become so busy saving others that you lose yourself. You have a hard time asking for help.

PURPLE Key words: determined, dramatic, empowering. Your power is in seeing new possibilities, ideas and strategies. Your  motivation is to become more self-powered. You are a great motivator. When your goal is defined, you are a leader and people are willing to follow you. You are attracted to a person's energy. Your decision to get married, though, is based on physical appearance. Relationships are serious to you. You're loyal but wary about forming new bonds. You love to come up with new ideas and ways of doing things.

PURPLE AS LEAST FAVORITE Facts come before feelings. You choose your friends and lovers in a very objective way. You have lifetime friendships. You are very methodical in the workplace. You can handle emotionally charged situations and stay focused. When you're upset you stop communicating. Sometimes you make it uncomfortable for your loved ones to express themselves to you. You forget things easily because you have selective memory.

ORANGE Key words: bold, sentimental, dedicated. Your power is in implementing change without disruption. Your motivation is to discover how things are made. You are dedicated to your job, hobbies, friends and family. You have a sharp eye for spotting physical things that are not working. You are very sentimental. The older you become, the more you will have a tendency to talk about the past. You like physical activities. You take pride in what you own and maintain your possessions. You have a bold approach to life. You're charismatic, lovable, affectionate and big on hugs. You are lured into a relationship based on looks but your decision to get married is based on intellect.

ORANGE AS LEAST FAVORITE Others see you as a considerate, nice person. When you first meet someone you are either too serious or not serious enough. At work you're a natural at keeping customers and co-workers happy. Pleasing others motivates you. Your strong desire to please can make you commit to unrealistic deadlines. You can miss the practical realities of how long it takes to accomplish a task, forcing you to overextend yourself.

THE COMBINATION OF YOUR FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE SECONDARY COLOR SELECTIONS SHOWS HOW YOU RELATE TO OTHERS.

GREEN FAVORITE, PURPLE LEAST FAVORITE You listen for information, not feeling. Your flawless logic gives you the ability to calm those around you. Your dilemma in life is to be more comfortable with your emotions.

GREEN FAVORITE, ORANGE LEAST FAVORITE Since people can read you like an open book, you often listen to their counsel. You can bond one-on-one with another person right away. Your dilemma in life is to learn how to share yourself without losing yourself.

PURPLE FAVORITE, GREEN LEAST FAVORITE  You encourage people to be the best they can be. Being concerned for them inspires you and gives you new insights into your own power. Accept that your surroundings and how others feel are not about you, and you will learn how powerful you are.

PURPLE FAVORITE, ORANGE LEAST FAVORITE You listen to how powerful others can be to better understand your own desires. Your enthusiasm becomes unleashed passion. It starts new projects. You need to listen, however, for what you expect from others before you set out looking for exciting opportunities. Otherwise you will become frustrated. Your overly high expectations of people and events can make you mistrustful when things don't turn out right.

ORANGE FAVORITE, GREEN LEAST FAVORITE Your dedication to your work and those you love is boundless. When you fell that those around you are not supporting you, however, you become very defensive. This defensiveness appears suddenly, because you hide your feelings - even from yourself.

WHEN YOUR SECONDARY COLORS CHANGE The degree to which you like your favorite secondary color determines how involved you are in your personal and professional relationships. If it changes, you are going through a tough relationship period. If your least favorite secondary color changes abruptly, you have learned a great lesson about those around you.

In the next blog we'll put your 2 favorites together to reveal how you see yourself. Self-knowledge is empowering. From it comes the confidence to do what you do best.

*Excerpts from the book Embrace Hue You Are by Dewey Sadka

I came across a really neat color tool at my local hardware store. It's from Valspar. They have these nifty overlays with different rooms and different exterior shots that you can overlay on the color samples you select.

What's great about this as opposed to the online tools is you get to see the actual color sample instead of a screen version of the colors. This is a great way to help clients visualize the paint in a room or on the exterior of their home.

They had 4 different exterior house overlays and numerous interior room overlays. The photo here is just one of the room overlays available.

What a fun and convenient color tool!

I've been reading a book on the Dewey Color System. Without getting technical, Dewey Sadka has created a system based on color and how our preferences can be used to reaveal the core of our personalities.

I've tested this on myself and some friends and have found it to be surprisingly accurate in most cases.

To get started, pick your favorite and least favorite colors from the Primary Colors to the right.

YOUR FAVORITE PRIMARY COLOR determines how you attack life. It indicates what you feel you need to accomplish to be yourself. This determines your motivation in life.

YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PRIMARY COLOR on the other hand, determines what you try to avoid and emotionally suppress.

YELLOW AS FAVORITE: key words are: realistic, diplomatic, giving, you have the wisdom to know what is needed and your motivation is personal growth. Yellow is the lightest color in the spectrum. It is a search for a more realistic perspective that will create hope and a brighter tomorrow. Likewise, people who prefer yellow have the ability to study situations and relationships without a preconceived mindset. Yellows are concerned with understanding the world around them.

YELLOW AS LEAST FAVORITE: You are very determined. You are constantly thinking "I must do this or that." Your mind is one step ahead of everyone else. Friends and lovers sometime take a back seat to whatever project you're involved in.

BLUE AS FAVORITE: Key words: planner, initiator, visionary with the ability to visualize the future. Your motivation is to justify your existence. You are a dreamer and a visionary - wistful, imaginative and eccentric. You are preoccupied with the future. You need to justify your life by making a positive impact on the world, even on those you don't know. Blue is the coldest color in our atmosphere. Likewise, people who prefer blue are able to deny the natural warmth and energy of the present to anticipate the future. Like water, which bonds together, those who prefer blue pull together different entities to form a cohesive focus. Blue is future-based thought. It's about initiating dreams.

BLUE AS LEAST FAVORITE: You often model yourself after someone you admire and maintain a sharp lookout for a new guru or a new concept that you can dive into. When you become truly enthusiastic, you tend to lose yourself in your interests. Strong commitments are difficult for you.

RED AS FAVORITE: Key words: practical, resourceful, direct- you use experience to improve things. Your motivation is to better control your world. You know exactly what you want. You are ambitious, driven, confident and outgoing. You have little tolerance for inefficiencies. You are more realistic than someone who likes blue, because you have less need for validation and have a stronger sense of your own worth. Red directs physical change. Whether it is the molten lava inside the center of the earth, a fire burning in a forest, or an indicator of bacteria on an organism, red is the agent of change on earth. Likewise, people who prefer red are constantly improving on the status quo. Red is about directing resources.

RED AS LEAST FAVORITE: When you speak, others listen. You analyze your thoughts before you speak. You are the confidant. Others trust you with their greatest secrets. You make them feel important. Often times you hear more than you want to hear. When someone is telling you something that makes you uncomfortable, your face doesn't show it, therefore they keep talking. People can't tell what you're thinking, which makes you a little mysterious.

WHEN YOUR PRIMARY COLORS CHANGE: Generally speaking, your favorite primary color does not change after your early twenties. If you are questioning your life goals, it can change until you become more comfortable with yourself. Your least favorite primary color is the last to change. If it changes, you're probably in a highly reactive period of life.

SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? By studying your color preferences you can get to know yourself better, learn about friends and loved ones, revitalize your home and enhance your wardrobe. This is only the first layer in this system. In the next blog we'll pick your secondary colors which show how you relate.

*Excerpts From the book by Dewey Sadka, Embrace Hue You Are

When a client's house is on the market I always ask them to remove their personal photos. A lot of times they aren't receptive at first. But once they understand the why behind it, they are on board. So here are the big three:

1. When a person is shopping for a home, they want to imagine themselves in the home. When there are personal photos throughout the house, it feels like they are in someone else's home and it's much harder to visualize it as their own.

2. Photos are distracting. Home buyers only spend a few minutes touring the home and usually make a decision as to whether they like the home within the first 30 seconds. Do you really want them spending that precious time looking at your photos or would you rather they be looking at the house?

3. For safety reasons it's better not to display your children's photos. You never know who will be touring your house and you can never be too safe when it comes to your kids!

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When your house is on the market it's much better to replace personal photos with more neutral art. Remember, they are shopping for THEIR new dream home, not yours!

Another important safety measure for kids rooms, always remove anything that has your child's name on it!

So when I ask you to remove your photos, remember, IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL!

I am happy to say that I just got my first AR referral from a fellow Stager (Kym Hough). Thanks Kym! Just goes to show that this networking stuff really works. She had a client she had worked with in her area that had a house she was flipping in my area. I got the call and within a week had staged this really great house. I can't wait to return the favor. Here are a few pics.

I met with a client a couple of weeks ago and gave her a bid to stage their occupied home. She was on board and we scheduled a date to come back. The next day I got a call from her saying they were getting an offer from a neighbor before it went on the market and she wanted to see what happened. So after a week went by she called me frantically and said the offer was not accepted and they had 2 days to get it on the market. I sent her a list of what furniture she needed to move to storage and the next day we showed up to stage.

It was chaotic when we arrived and she ran out to explain to me that the movers were still moving things out and they weren't able to move the computers, etc. and that it wouldn't be ready like I would have liked. "No problem... we're used to these situations" I told her. Then she told me she almost called me that morning to cancel the staging. She said her husband didn't BELIEVE in staging.

No matter, we went to work, working around the movers and the painter and the handyman. And here are some of the rooms we were able to accomplish in 4 hours. BTW, we brought nothing in but a few plants. But the best part was at the end of the day the wife turned to the husband and asked "so now do you believe in staging?" His reply, "I'm a believer now."

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Classic 1940's 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow on an extra large lot with room to possibly build a second unit. This charming home is ready to move right in. It features a living room with fireplace, formal dining room, cozy country eat-in kitchen, hardwood floors, partial basement or wine cellar, and wonderful vineyard views. Lots of possibilities for this adorable wine country home. Right in the heart of Geyserville. Contact Cheryl Gordon, CPS, 707-484-9009. MLS #20914078.

I am considering getting my real estate license. I am the owner of a staging company and really do not want to sell real estate but thought it would be a good idea to have my license just so I can keep up on trends in the industry, be able to access the homes I stage and also get referral fees for referring cients to realtors, which I have done in the past. My question is how much does it cost to keep your license current in CA on a yearly basis? I know there are MLS fees, etc. so I am trying to weigh the pros and cons.

Any feedback from CA real estate agents would be greatly appreciated!

I recently was called by a Realtor friend who's house has been on the market for about 3 months. She has great taste so she didn't think it was necessary for me to help her stage her house. She had mostly good comments about the house but recently received one that said it felt cold and sterile. Here are the before and after pictures. It really was a minimal staging, just a few items, but it really did go a long way to make the space more welcoming.