I was recently honored and flattered to be asked to donate my Home Staging and Redesign Service for a silent auction to benefit my Community in Redondo Beach, CA. Like so many people I want to be involved but, often lack the time commitment to be a part of Organizations like Leadership Redondo Beach that help make our Community better. So, what better way to be a part of the organization but to donate my services. If only a small part at least I feel involved and that feels great.

Leadership Redondo’s project, Get Water Smart, is focused on reducing Redondo Beach’s water consumption and urban water run-off. To accomplish this, Leadership Redondo will build awareness of our drought situation, educate children and businesses on how to save water, and build a demonstration garden at our local community park. So go ahead donate your time if not money to benefit your community or people in need and feel great about yourself.

Join Us if you can.

Exclusive Home Staging is a premiere Los Angeles Home Staging and Redesign company helping market homes to get them sold.  Our motto "First Impressions... Deliver Result" contact Terri Lucas at (310) 408-1115 and let us help get your home sold. 

Leadership Redondo is part of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Home Staging is all about marketing solutions to help home sellers get their homes sold fast. Marketing solutions often translate into playing up or down features in a home to bring out the homes beauty but, many times home sellers run into decorating obstacles like a curved wall.

A home seller can benefit from the creative ideas and expertise of a professional home stager. Recently Exclusive Home Staging of Los Angeles staged 5 model condo units in Redondo Beach, CA. The new Riviera Coast Development features several different floor plans and architectural features.

One of the units was built with a fabulous curved wall with a fireplace that serves as a main focal point. The dilemma, how to play up this feature since artwork could not be hung and painting was not an option. 

Here is what the finished solution looks like. We used a wall art decal from Dezignwithaz which offers a variety of designs and colors. The decals are completely removable and will not harm the wall.

Exclusive Home Staging is a premiere Los Angeles Home Staging and Redesign company. Let make your home stand out from the competition.  Contact Terri Lucas at Terri@exclusivehomestaging.com or (310) 408-1115.  "First Impressions... Deliver Results"

Exclusive Home Staging was hired recently to stage a vacant home that has been on the market for over a year in beautiful Palos Verdes Estates.

The homes architecture was more contemporary and upon entering felt very cold and uninviting.

Terri Lucas of Exclusive Home Staging went to work and listened to both the Home Seller and Buyers concerns. It was simple; the home had great bones and needed our home staging services to help buyers see the beauty of the home.The new marketing strategy developed with the Realtor and Home Seller was Stage, Adjust the price and bring in those buyers.

It SOLD in 70 days after a year on the market. Unfortunately, the Home Seller requested that the home be de-staged immediately.

The Home Buyer continued to visit the home with inspectors; to take measurements, etc. and were welcomed by an empty home that unfortunately didn’t connect with the initial emotions that made them want to live there. The Home Buyer withdrew the purchase 1 week before close of escrow.

Moral of the Story… Home Seller’s, keep your home staged until all contingencies are lifted and up until the close of escrow.

If you have a home lingering on the market let Exclusive Home Staging help get it sold fast.  We work with the Home Seller and Realtor to create a fresh new marketing approach to get your home sold.  Terri Lucas, lead designer and owner can help get your Los Angeles Home SOLD.  Call us today at (310) 408-1115 or email us at terri@exclusivehomestaging.com.  We are licensed and insured.

If you are preparing your home for sale don't forget the artwork.

As a Professional Home Stager, artwork is the icing on the cake to enhance a property, to create warmth, and capture the emotions of potential home buyers.

Why artwork is so important when selling your home:

• Artwork creates a focal point where none perhaps exists. It can also enhance and draw the eye to important focal points such as a fireplace or architectural details.
  

• If you have a room without a view or windows. Create one by using artwork featuring windows, doorways and landscapes that will draw the eye in.

• Artwork can lengthen a room.  By using a horizontal piece of artwork with horizontal lines you will create the illusion of a longer wall.

• You can heighten low ceilings by using vertical/portrait style artwork to draw the eye upward.

• Decorate a large room using over-sized art or group several pieces of artwork as a collection.  Use rich warm colors to invoke a feeling of comfort.

A professional home stager is experienced in the use and placement of artwork to give you home that "Wow" factor.  Home Stager's know proper height, scale and what may turn potential buyers off. 

If need assistance in making your home stand out consider a home staging consultation.

Contact Terri Lucas at Exclusive Home Staging to get you Los Angeles home sold.  Please visit our website at www.exclusivehomestaging.com or Contact us (310) 408-1115 where "First Impressions... Deliver Results".

In just a few days the new cellular phone law goes into effect in California. Anyone driving in California will need to use a hand free device when driving a car or you will be fined.

I think it is a great law and long past due. However, as a professional home stager I need to be connected even when mobile. I don’t know about you but I have tried many Bluetooth over the ear devices and to say the least they; (1) do not fit correctly, (2) make me feel like Lily Tomlin as Ernestine.

Well I as one do not want to look or sound like Ernestine answering my ringy dingy’s. So, I was excited to discover the new Blueant Supertooth 3, a handsfree Bluetooth speakerphone. The device attaches to your visor magnetically and is voice activated to place and receive calls. It also announces the calls coming in so you will know calling. I purchased my Blueant through Amazon.com for $ 88.23. What will you be using when the new law goes into effect?

Terri Lucas is a professional home stager serving the Los Angeles, the South Bay, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Peninsula. Visit us at www.exclusivehomestaging.com or call us at 310.408.1115. “First Impressions… Deliver Results”.

Los Angeles Townhome Receives 7 Offers at Initial Open House

How do you get your home sold fast in today’s market without risking a price reduction? You hire a professional team to market your home. A professional team like real estate expert, Rae Lord, from Coldwell Banker and home staging expert, Terri Lucas, president of Exclusive Home Staging.

Together we work with the home seller to help them fully understand what it takes in today’s market to set their home apart and attract the most potential buyers. We both believe Price and Condition is the Key. Home Seller’s need to ask “Is my home ready to sell”?

Discerning buyers want a “turn key home”, that is in model home condition and they want it at a fair price. Home Seller’s need to work with an experienced realtor and home stager that will show them what their competition is and form a strategy to get them top dollar in today’s real estate market. We recently worked together to market a 2500 sq. foot, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath townhome in Redondo Beach, CA where current condos/townhomes are averaging 67 day on the market. The result, 7 offers at the initial open house and is expected to sell above asking price.

Exclusive Home Staging is a professional home staging company. We stage and enhance homes located in Los Angeles, The South Bay including Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Peninsula and surrounding areas. Please visit us at www.exclusivehomestaging.com or call us today at 310.408.1115. “First Impressions… Deliver Results”.

Update:  Picture of Staged Home.  It Sold above asking price.  Yeah!

So, you feel your home is ready to market? You’ve de-cluttered, repaired and cleaned but are you really sure your home is showing to its fullest potential? Then perhaps you need the opinion of a professional home stager.

Exclusive Home Staging was recently hired to do just that for a Los Angeles condo. I arrived before the MLS pictures were scheduled to be shot. The home was clean, updated, and had beautiful furnishings. It just needed that special “WOW” factor to make it stand out. It included re-positioning furnishings, staging the kitchen counters, staging the fireplace, positioning accessories into groupings, fluffing pillows, staging the bathrooms, removing a rug over carpeting, editing personal items, remaking the beds

While most homeowners love their furnishings, and many times for nostalgic or sentimental reasons. The chair that grandma gave them, the figurines given to them on for special occasions and the personal photo gallery of memories. Homeowners need an “objective eye” devoid of all these trappings.

It worked like a charm for this home seller in Los Angeles which had multiple (7) offers at the first open house. Listed on Monday, sold by Sunday. I will update with pictures and specifics when contingencies are lifted.

Exclusive Home Staging is a professional home staging company serving the South Bay Beach Cities and Los Angeles. Make sure your home shows at its fullest potential by contacting us at www.exclusivehomestaging.com or (310) 408-1115. Exclusive Home Staging where “First Impressions… Delivers Results”.

   Living Room After                                                                  Dining Room After

  Additional Items edited prior to MLS shoot                      Bedroom After

  Family Room After                                                                Master Bedroom After

NOTE:  There were no additional staging accessories brought in.  The staging was done with everything the home seller owns.  Many items were edited prior to the MLS photo shoot to make this home market ready to sell. 

According to the 2007 National Association of REALTORS® information 84% of home buyers are searching the Internet to view homes for sale prior to visiting.  If the homes MLS pictures don't look good, the home doesn't look good and the pool of potential home buyers shrinks.  Thus, the property will sit on the market longer.  Let's face it, there is a lot of competition in today's market and the homes that stand out are professionally staged to attract the most potential buyers. 

But, what if you/your home seller is in need of a little guidance or on a limited budget?  Do It Yourself Home (DIY) Home Staging Consultations are the answer.  In fact, most of Exclusive Home Staging Realtor partners are using it as part of their listing presentations to aid the home seller in understanding the relationship between the listing price and the readiness of their home before it goes on the market.   What is a DIY Home Staging Consultation?   Exclusive Home Staging offers two types of services:  

1. The Walk and Talk Verbal Consultation - This is the most basic of home staging services.  It consists of spending up to 1-1/2 walking through the home room by room, discussing what changes need to be made to properly prepare the home for sale. The home owner is encouraged to take notes and ask questions.
2. A Written Consultation - Is a written detailed customized report with specific room by room instructions that is provided in addition to the verbal consultation.  This typically includes example pictures, vendor referrals, detailed furniture placement and paint color recommendations.  Exclusive Home Staging will also provide a Top Priority List to help the home owner focus on getting started and I always offer to handle anything on the list.

Below is an example of the Before and Afters of a Walk and Talk Verbal Consultation as part of a Realtor partners listing package.  Keep in mind that this is a DIY and not hands on home staging but as you can see what they did implement certainly makes a difference.  Keep in mind I did not recommend the paint color they choose (but it's okay), I did recommend rug removal (didn't happen), and furniture placement is not exactly as I suggested.

I would love to hear comments on if and how other home stagers are using DIY Consultations and if it is working for you.

                             Before                                                                            MLS Picture

Remember to let go of your personal taste Turquoise             Neutral walls and proper furniture placement will  walls will not appeal to most buyers                                       help your home sell    

              Removing and editing furniture sells space not help sell your home    

                                                 Love purple but do your home buyers?                          Neutral colors bring in light and potential buyers

Turquoise walls and heavy window treatments make             Neutral paint colors and removing window treatments a room look dark and small (sorry hand in pic)    will give a room a face lift and look larger    

                            Editing personal accessories will make this room                    Replacing the small scale artwork and editing accessories even more inviting                                                     makes this bedroom inviting    

                     Organization is key in showing a home office                          What a difference it makes   

Exclusive Home Staging is a professional home staging company serving Redondo Beach, Los Angeles and the South Bay.  We offer DIY home staging consultations and full service staging.  Call us at 310.408.1115 or visit us at www.exclusivehomestaging.com                            

I am fortunate to live in an area where most homes on the market are at a premium, even when the market is correcting itself (South Bay, Los Angeles i.e., Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes) with most homes listing at over $1M for an average 2,000 sq. foot home/condo.  However, home sellers are not getting the full ROI in this market and realtors are not earning as much commission.  Why?  Because they are ignoring the importance of professional staging and the small updates that need to be made to market a home to its fullest potential.

Here is an email I wrote to a realtor partner today (I have worked with in the past) turning down business.  It went something like this:

Thank you for contacting Exclusive Home Staging and attached is the proposal for your listing. 

I wrestled with our telephone conversation today regarding reducing the staging cost by reducing the furniture and accessories to a minimum. I cannot to do this, and here is why:

1. I take pride in my work and my staging is not main stream or the same in every house. 
2. I work to enhance properties and to help realtors and owners sell for as much as possible. 
3. I don't want to put a chair and a plant in the corner or just a bed in a room and convince you or the home seller that it will help sell the property...   and the selling price is reduced in 2 weeks. 
4. I look at each property differently and furnish it according to the style and the buyers market that it is appealing to. 

A property is usually seller's biggest investment.  Enhancing it by putting $5,000.00 into a property such as this home is better than taking a 2 - 5% price reduction in two weeks.  I truly believe, as is, a buyer will want allowances for the appliances, fixtures, etc., and staging will not help.

If your buyer is on a limited budget and is not willing to replace appliances, lighting, etc., then I think painting and carpet cleaning is the way to go.  I can offer a color consultation in which I will charge for you $$$ or I can refer you to another home stager.

Thank you again for contacting Exclusive Home Staging, "First Impressions... Deliver Results".

Putting perfume on a pig won't bring in the bacon if a home seller is unwilling to invest in properly marketing their property to sell.