This past weekend, I was reminded of an excellent lesson in Real Estate Business by my mother-in-law.

She and her husband are down from CO for a few months renting a home in Georgetown and we get together a couple of times a week.  On Sunday, she had volunteered to make dinner for us after a light hike.  Upon arriving, I noticed a pork tenderloin laying on a cutting board on the counter. "Excellent!" I thought, as we all like pork. 

Upon returning from the hike, I noticed the pork still sitting in the same spot - she had not refridgerated it before we left.  So, by my watch [cellphone really - who wears watches anymore?] it had been sitting out for almost 2 hours.  I leaned over to my wife and whispered, "We've got to leave. She's going to kill us," and explained what I worried about.

My wife: "Mom - how long has dinner been sitting on the counter?" 

My mom-in-law: "Oh... I don't know... How long is too long?"

Me: "The normal recommnedation is to let the meat site for maybe 20 minutes before cooking."

My mom-in-law: "Dr. Oz says Trichinosis is almost completely wiped out now. I think we'll be fine. I'll just cook it a little longer..."

Shaking my head and saying a short prayer, I was really just hoping to make it through the night so I could complete a small Setting the Stage service the following morning.

Long story, Short: [I know - too late] I am reminded of a few things we need to keep in mind as Bu

siness People:

1. Know your LimitationsNone of us can be all things to everyone all of the time. Clearly, my wife's mother is not Chef Material. And that's OK. As a Home Stager, I do not get involved in discussions of price, how long I think the home will be on the market, what the local market is doing, etc. 

2. Don't be afraid to ask for help
It does not get much simpler than this.  If my mother-in-law had asked me when we arrived, I might have enjoyed the meal instead of fearing what may come.  When Staging, I find having another Stager help me actually increases my creativity by having someone to bounce ideas off.

3. Know when to leave it to the professionals
This is why we have restaurants, carry out, and delivery.  This is also why Sellers should use Real Estate Agents, and REA's should call on Home Stagers.  Think of a Seller going FSBO, or an Agent doing their own Staging, as sitting down to a meal that may not have been properly prepared by someone like my mother-in-law who is not very experienced in the kitchen. There's a chance things will work out fine - but there's also the chance of food borne illness and spending the night thanking the Lord you invested in tile floors for the bathroom.

Just a Quick Note out to my Active Rain Friends:  Merry Christmas!

And if there's one lesson I learned this year that would be most beneficial to Agents and Stagers, it's this:

Never be afraid to go knock on a neighbor's door and discuss a problem.  Be polite, but straight forward.

This year, I went and asked a client's neighbor if they would mind splitting the cost of a fence repair with my client.  The  fence in front, technically owned by the nieghbor, was leaning into my client's lawn and was being held up by string.  First Impressions!  NO ONE Wants to buy a +$300k home next door to the Beverly Hill Billies! After explaining that we were preparing the neighboring house for sale, the home owner apologized, admitted that he was being lazy about it, and there was no need to share the cost - he would take care of it immediately!  It was completed before listing photos!  And Pending in 11 days!

I feel like I say this a lot - I mentioned this once before in a previous blog, where bags of mulch were spread out in the lawn.  The bags - not the mulch.  I was just by this house around Thanksgiving this year.  Bags are still laying there.  

 Hope Y'all have a great Holiday, and a Prosperous New Year!

While preparing for a Basic Stage Coaching visit in the Canyon Creek subdivision of Austin a few weeks ago, I was looking at some online photos of the listings in the area. It occurred to me that most of the homes on the market all suffered from a lack of Basic Home Staging help. Taking notes, I made some interesting observations. Here’s a list of some of the things I discovered were commonly found in Homes for sale in Canyon Creek:

10. Poor Quality Photos: Dark, blurry photos do not set off please centers in the brain. In fact, they are more likely inspire people to stay away from the home.  Note to the REA who took all Portrait Shots: The MLS is set up for optimal resolution of landscape photos. When you use portrait photos, your listing pictures are reduced to a small, blurry mess, with a big, white rectangle around them. If you do not know what I am talking about, send me an email and I can put you in touch with a professional photographer.

9. Lack of Furnishings:  Empty rooms do not show well - especially if the empty room is the Formal Living Room, right inside the front door. First Impressions Matter!  And there are Two - First Impressions:  Outside AND Inside. If you do not have furnishings for the 5th Bedroom - so be it - but might I suggest not including the chair and boxes in the online listing photos?

8. Wall Paper: Do I really need to go into this one?  And don't tell me Wall Paper is making a come back... Maybe for Living... but Not for selling. And not in my house! :)

7. Too many Chairs/Stools: One listing photo had no fewer than 11 seats between the bar in the kitchen and the breakfast table. Breakfast tables should be 2 or 4 chairs, and most times The Stage Coach will tell you to take out the barstools entirely.

6. Balloons: Ok - so only 1 listing in Canyon Creek had party ballons in the photo.  And when I pulled up the listing on a different website, the home was now vacant.  It was so funny, I had to include this in the list!

A few of the listings I saw were marked as "Pending" - with a couple of them showing days on market less than 2 weeks!  What was so special about these homes?  Let's just say I could only find a single criticism of the fast sellers: a child's room in a dark blue hue. They did have High Quality Photos, Neutral (not necessarily Beige) Paint, Clean and Decluttered rooms...

If you would like to see the rest of the list, or find out what we can do to help your Canyon Creek home show better than your competition, Contact The Stage Coach!

During a recent online discussion with some fellow Home Stagers from around the country, I read the following snippet from part of the conversation by another Central TX Home Stager:

"...when I do a consult I try not to be too specific with my ideas for the staging just to ensure they don't try to do it themselves and I lose a day of staging... I discuss the rooms in real general terms sharing my ideas but not being so specific that they can do it themselves..."

It was an "Ah Ha!" Moment - I have been doing things totally wrong at The Stage Coach by providing loads of ideas, money saving tips, practical suggestions, and hints for living while for sale... All of this time, I have been providing my clients with information, when it turns out, the best way to build a Home Staging business is to have clients pay me for Ambiguity!  [Note: I know - Sarcasm does not play well in written form.] Sorry - I let my person feelings get away from a little there.

At The Stage Coach, my business is primarily the Basic Stage Coaching [Consultation]. When we go into a home, we never know what we are going to find, so we have to be constantly vigilant and attentive to the home.  We will spend up to two hours going from room to room having a discussion with the sellers as if we were the Buyer from hel!, discussing just about any thing that comes up, including:

• How the room is being used vs. how it should be used
• Clutter, Cleanliness, Color & Flow
• Home Staging Secrets & Tips for Living while For Sale
• Making suggestions for the final "fluff"

Next, most people prefer to receive the additional Home Staging Report Card to go back and reference. This report averages 12 pages and sometimes runs more than 15.  In addition to the room by room summary, pages are included with a list of items that were suggested to be purchased and where to get them, and an entire page called "The Stage Coach's Greatest Hits" with links to websites and videos for more detailed information than can be provided by typing. There is almost always a page devoted to additional Home Staging Services should the Sellers need an extra set or two of hands as well as contact information to our Preferred Partners for services we do not provide.  If we do not have an immediate answer to something that comes up during the walk and talk, we will do the research and include it in the report.  Many times, examples are provided by using previous Before and After photos.

What the Sellers will receive really depends on how much the house needs in terms of help and suggestions. The point of my blog is: we will likely inundate the clients with more information than they know what to do with, rather than provide them vague generalities so we can get more paid work.  We are always available to help if there is too much for the home owners to handle by themselves, but our service is targeted primarily for people to "Do it Yourself".

As an additional service for our REALTOR clients, we let the home owners know, as long as they are a client of our REALTOR Partner, they are a client of ours.  Sellers are welcome to solicit our feedback via email when they have made changes or receive feedback from Buyers who visit.

One thing you can count on: we will provide our clients with all of the things we would recommend they do in our "Perfect Staging World."  Not every one has the time and the money for all of these suggestions, and we understand.  We do not push anyone to do anything they do not want - but are being paid for our Professional Home Staging Opinion, so that is what you get.  Not generalizations and a price list. For us, it is more important to see Progress than Perfection.  And our feelings are not going to be hurt if the client is able to run down the typed report and complete the preparations to the best of their abilities.

In retrospect, maybe this other Central Texas Home Stager is just confused. During the Home Staging Certification class I attended in 2006, the instructor had to move on after over an hour when most of the class failed to understand the difference between a Bid and a Consultation.  Perhaps she is one who did not understand the intricacies of preparing a formal quote, usually prepared for free, for providing the services without giving away the Home Staging Secrets you would tell a Seller or a REALTOR client who was paying for your professional advice during a Consultation.

As every Home Stager operates their business in their own manner, always make sure you understand what your Home Stager is providing for the cost they have given you. Make sure, when it comes to preparing your home or listing for sale, that you are getting what you paid for!

While preparing for a Basic Stage Coaching visit in Sonoma a few weeks ago, I was looking at some online photos of the listings in the area. It occurred to me that most of the homes on the market all suffered from a lack of Basic Home Staging help. Taking notes, I made some interesting observations. Here’s a list of some of the things I discovered were commonly found in Homes for sale in Sonoma.

10. Many of the Beds were not on “The Bed Wall” – believe it or not, most home built in the last 20 years have a bed wall. This is very important in the Master - pictures should be taken from the foot of the bed, not the side.

9. Smoke stains on the tiles over the fireplace – they are not that difficult to remove! Try Scrubbing Bubbles and a damp sponge. What message are you sending sellers by leaving this? "I almost burned the house down, but it's in great shape!"

8. Making Beds – it is not rocket science, but it seems some people think making a bed just means pulling the comforter up over the pillows. That works in the dorm, but not when selling your home. Go to Macys.com and look at their bedding - they make the beds to impress you. This is how you want the Master Bedroom to show when selling your home.

7. (Matching) Towels on Towel bars – if you have towel bars in your bathrooms, you should have towels on them. Matching Towels. You can find some good towels for under $5.00 each at H.E.B.+, Walmart, or Kohl's. Fluff them in the dryer with a dryer sheet and a damp wash cloth before putting them out... And, not to sound like Mom but, Don’t use the decorator towels!

6. Empty Kitchen Counter tops – another Staging Tip that goes too far: it is OK to have some items out on the counters. Removing everything is not what “Declutter the counter tops means.” Pick and choose, leaving the items you will need daily, like the coffee maker.

If you would like to see the rest of the list, or find out what The Stage Coach can do to help your home show better than your competition, Contact us!

Dear Facebook...

I know you're listening... every time I write a Blog about a Feature Request for Business Pages, it turns up in the next installment.  Even my Fellow Home Stager Kevin Htain recently commented this to me after the previous roll out of changes to Business Pages.

You are finally allowing Admins to interact on our Business Pages as people, instead of companies. This is wonderful!  It amplifies the human connection on our pages, and this is fundamental to Social Media Marketing. So, Thank you for this. I Love It!

I also think the new format and banner photos are a good idea.  It's a great addition to the Business Page, giving it an updated and dynamic look.

But, like Bad MLS Photos, the banner images do not really tell you much about the page your visiting.  By merely looking at today's banner images on The Stage Coach's FB Page, it's impossible to understand what is going on... A 5 1/4" Floppy?  What does that have to do with Home Staging?  Actually, Everything! When it comes to the strange clutter you will find in peoples' homes when they are receiving a "Sweep it Clean" service. This can't be gleaned from the photo. So - I want it off.  Or, in other words, I would like Control.

Here is what I am looking for: it would be great if you were to allow Page Admins to decide what images were displayed here. It would not be very difficult to do, IMHO.  I would suggest a Folder/Photo Album called "Banners" or "The Stage Coach Banners", dependent upon the Page name. In this folder, we could put the images we would like to show. Additionally, we could then have 6-12 photos we would like to show. Perhaps you could add some arrows to the left and right, allowing our visitors to scroll through our selected photos?

I have blogged previously on why I like Facebook Pages more than Twitter - I'm a visual person who Markets visually. It is fundamental to Home Staging.  This small tweak to the existing changes would make a wonderful addition for those of us actively using Facebook Business Pages.

Thanks for your time, Facebook - I look forward to seeing these changes rolled out this summer.

One of my best friends is a Chef in Chicago, and I am always joking with him about people who like to order "Off the Menu", as in dreaming up their own version of a meal not on the menu. It is one of his biggest gripes when we talk shop. My favorite happened just recently when he took a position with a great Italian Restaurant selling Carpaccio which is razor thin slices of raw beef.  I congratulated him on his new gig, and told him to prepare a triple order, Medium Well, for me, and I'd be right over. [***Rimshot***]

As consumers we have so many choices today for our purchases: Retail Chains, Local Shops, and a bazillion other options on the Internet.  Consumers probably spend more time than ever shopping and comparing on the Interent when looking for just the right item. If they do not see exactly what they want, they move on...

When it comes to Home Staging, every house presents a different set of challenges, whether it is Color, Clutter, or the hardest obstacle to overcome: the Opposed Home Owner. Not every home is going to need Furnishings. Nor will every home need Artwork and Accents. But odds are every home going to market will need some help from an unbiased third party. [It could be argued that Home Stagers are Completely Biased, but that's another Blog...]

Out of nowhere the other day, I was remembering an old commercial for Burger King... "Hold the pickles, Hold the Lettuce... Special Orders don't upset us..."  Here's a link to one of the commercials on YouTube.

This reminded me of one of the primary points of The Stage Coach's Service Offering: I believe in customizing the service to the home or listing. If you do not see the type of service you are looking for on our "Menu of Home Staging Services", just ask!  Feel free to "Order Off the Menu"!  We can combine offerings for a specific house, or help Real Estate Agents create a basic blanket service to offer all of their listings. Our Menu is a just compilation of commonly used services - it would take a book to cover every thing we can help owners do to prepare their homes for sale.

If would like to receive a copy of The Stage Coach's Menu of Home Staging Services, just contact me via your preferred method.  I'm easy to find on the Internet.

I managed to overcome one of the biggest shortcomings on my Facebook Business Page!  I have always felt like I was not able to participate in the conversation as a person, but only as a Company.  And that's not what I wanted for my company.  It's important to me to coexist with The Stage Coach - I can't really explain why - I just feel it is a necessary part of the mix of building my reputation and The Stage Coach's Brand.

There's a couple of solutions for this.  The easy one, and the route that I took, was making someone else the Administrator of the Facebook Page.  My wife was willing to do this.  She was also willing to let me set up a Hootsuite Account and connect to her FB. This allows me quite a bit of freedom to post updates from either myself, or The Stage Coach, via web, email, TXT, or the Hootsuite App on my phone.

In the sample above, you can see where I shared a link to a blog about the Page Notifier App, compliments of Tech Savvy Agent, by going to The Stage Coach's page and posting a link.  Then at the same time, using Hootsuite and it's Schedule function, I posted a link to a really neat Christmas Light exhibition in my home town. [with Hootsuite, you can spend an hour entering posts for your personal and/or business page, set the timer, and forget about it. Then your updates trickle out during the day, instead of only coming while you're on the computer. You can post to your business page, then set up a similar post with a delay of 12-24 hours so it goes out to both.]

My favorite part: I can now participate, as myself, in the Friday feature: "What's Wrong with this Picture?"

The only hiccups I had with this system was some of the Apps I was using for the page had to be set up on her profile.  And they actually worked for quite a while after I removed myself from the Administrators. Now those have all been migrated to her profile.

Another idea: a Home Staging friend of mine has two Facebook accounts.  One for the Home Stager, using her business email, and one for her personal life. I'm lucky to be friends with both, I guess. :P  By setting the Personal account as Administrator, it would allow you the same freedom.  I know Facebook doesn't want you to "conduct business" on a personal profile, and I do not believe she does. At least, any more than I already do.

Any one else found any strategies that work for this?

For several years now, I have taken a mostly neutral stance on Home Staging Managers.  When people would call me and ask if I provided this service, I would always refer them to a couple of local Austin companies I knew who provided this service.  As of today, I will no longer refer these people away and this blog is being written to serve as a warning [Caveat Emptor = Buyer Beware] for these callers.

My first distaste came when I discovered a three part investigative report by Fox 5 News in Atlanta.  Apparently, a Home Manager was not only failing to keep the house clean and ready, but was also subsidizing her living as a prostitute.  You can see the videos for yourself:  Part I --- Part II --- Part III

In January of 2010, on a crazy coincidence, I came across an advertisement on Craig's List for Home Managers promising Luxury Living for Less and blogged about it on Active Rain.  Nice selection process, eh?  A Craig's List Ad.

Home Staging Managers were in the news today... again in Atlanta... No offense to my Home Staging Associates it Atlanta, GA... It seems once again a poor decision was made by a company placing Home Managers in a vacant house.  The link will tell you the whole story, but I am appalled that a home seller can not get the police to evict the Home Manager because she has a contract with the Manager (I will not call them a "Staging" company). It seems the Home Manager company has not requested an eviction.  This lunatic squatter even changed the locks!

Here's a link to the full story: Extreme Home Takeover: House Hijacked

Hopefully Home Sellers will find this to be a convincing argument against using Home Managers.  As consumers, you should know that nothing comes for free. These companies offering Free Vacant Home Staging with their Home Managers are really just glorified rental companies.

When The Stage Coach provides Vacant Home Staging Services in Austin, we not only provide the furnishings and accents, but we also carry the lease and liability of them. No surprises either.  We'll go by about once per month to make sure things are in good order.  But we definitely will not operate a business out of your home, nor decide to make the home our own.

UPDATE:
I just discovered these home managers are advertising rentals on HotPads.

While walking through our greenbelt this morning, I came across a home that has done some yard work in the last couple of weeks.  This particular update is fairly common, and one of the worst things you can do when it comes to the health of your trees:

Creating a raised bed around an established tree will likely choke the tree and kill it.

When a tree is planted, it is important to put it at the proper depth.  There is a point where the roots meet the trunk - this is sometimes called a Crown, or as I refer to it, a Collar.  To me, the name Collar makes better sense simply because if you bury the Collar, you will Choke your tree and it will die. That's how important the depth is.

Here's a small picture from TreeHelp.com that shows you the proper depth to plant a tree and how the Crown/Collar should be slightly above the ground: 

When you go to an established tree that was most likely planted at the proper depth, and add six to ten inches of bricks around it, and at least that much in soil and mulch inside the bricks, you might be making it look nice, but it will be interesting to see it come Spring time. This tree is likely bearing its last batch of fruit.

A better use of your time and budget if you are preparing your home for sale is to go out to the tree with your gardening instruments, and loosen the existing mulch.  I use the "Garden Weasel" at our house, but you could use a garden rake or a small shovel.  Once it's loosened up, you can sprinkle some fresh mulch over the top and the bed will look as good as new.  No need for bricks or bags and bags of mulch.  I also recommend Spike style tree fertilizer at this point to give the leaves a little extra green. In Texas, many trees don't loose their leaves until January or February, so keeping them green is important.

For more information on how deep a tree should be planted, visit: http://www.treehelp.com/howto/howto-plant-a-tree.asp