Well, not quite!  But it is a "Turkey Shoot" bowling event AND "Toys For Tots" Toy Drive.  If you are a Realtor® in the Omaha area make sure you don't miss this event. Hosted by the Omaha Area Board of Realtors (OABR) AFFILIATES, this annual event is a huge hit every year. And yes, ACTUAL Marines will be on-site collecting the toy donations :-)

For more information about the OABR AFFILIATES, please view our website at www.oabraffiliates.com. The AFFILIATES are a group of diverse professionals who promote and support the real estate community through education efforts, events and ongoing partnerships with members of the Omaha Area Board of REALTORS® (OABR).

If you need a service for your own home, please visit the "Search" page of our website to locate a professional who will do the job right! http://www.oabraffiliates.com/SearchAffiliates/tabid/59/Default.aspx

Perhaps the title is slightly misleading; I absolutely DETEST washing windows. But I LOVE "treating" windows. Check out my latest direct mail flier.

This is an area of my business that I have been developing and it is very rewarding. There are so many creative things to be done with custom fabric treatments because there are so many affordable fabrics and trim options available these days. I am happy to say that I am partnering with a highly talented seamstress; she has years of experience and is able to make any of my design thoughts a beautiful reality.

If you have a client in the Omaha Metro looking for blinds, shutters, shades or custom fabric treatments such as cornice boards, valances or draperies, please feel confident in referring them to me.

... In A Vacant Property?

The other day as I was driving home and a silly squirrel about ran under my rotating tires, I was reminded of a time awhile back during the winter when I had, "The Scariest Vacant House Encounter" of my Staging career.

One of my agents had asked me to tour a vacant property to do my usual report and rental quote. Since NAR doesn't yet think it is necessary for Stagers to have E-key access, the agent had left a punch code lock box on the door (slight point made there). Whenever I tour a vacant property I try to be very aware of my surroundings, ring the bell first in case there is SOMEONE there, let myself in when nobody answers and then lock the door behind me. I always keep my cell phone and keys on me.

This particular property was mostly unremarkable - dated wallpaper and fixtures, some gross stuff in the bathrooms, badly stained carpets, trash on the kitchen counters, the usual.

I had looked through most of the main level and part of the basement when I noticed THEM. Frozen like little statues above the curtain rod surrounding the patio sliding doors were TWO squirrels!!  They were so still that at first I thought they were some terrible decor idea gone wrong (believe me, it would have coordinated with the rest of the house). I also quickly froze and stared at them - silently daring them to move to prove that they were real.

A moment later one of them twitched, confirming my worst suspicion. Since I had so carefully locked the front door behind me when I arrived I began desperately trying to unlock the door so I could escape. It was a tricky one but luckily I was able to get the door opened before the squirrels could attack me and of course I just KNEW that they were going to attack, because isn't that what squirrels do when they get a human cornered alone in a vacant house?

Well, the agent and I got a good laugh out of that one, although I refused to enter the home again until the sqiurrels were removed and premises were secured against future wild life entry.

What's the scariest or strangest thing you have encountered when Staging????

Ross Designs, LLC Omaha's Premier, Full Service Home Staging Company

OABR & WCR Affiliate Member

www.ross-designs.com for more information and photo gallery.

Are we still doing posts about our AR milestones? I haven't seen any recently, but then again I haven't been around as much as I used to be either!

I am proud to say that I hit the 50k mark on AR!  Yea!!!!

Is it faux pas to celebrate points now?  I can happily say that my AR experience - about one year now - has been about A LOT more than points. I have made friends, learned a lot, shared a little, laughed quite often and been reassured about many things.

I LOVE Activerain and am grateful to be a part of it.

Seeing really is believing!  Sellers of mine want to paint their kitchen cabinets in order to update them (old, dark 70's wood) but not sure what color to use. Their appliances, flooring and countertops are all various shades of white and off-white, so painting the cabinets white or off-white would likely look like they were trying to match one of the existing colors but weren't able to get it right. Can you imagine an entire kitchen of different whites?  Blahsville!   

My suggested solution?  Consider another neutral color - sage green. My sellers were still not convinced, so I went to my fabulous friend on the ‘Rain for help. Michelle Molinari of Featurethisdotdotdot . Michelle has so many wonderfully inspired solutions when it comes to Staging that I always think of her first when I have a dilemma.  

Michelle offers "virtual staging" which allows sellers to "see" the changes in a mock-up. So many people are not able to visualize major changes and analyzing a mock-up can really help a seller make informed decisions about what to change and what colors or materials to use. Here is the example that she created for my clients:

Michelle offers this service at a discount to other Home Stagers. This is not something that I have the ability to do (technically speaking) and I am happy to hire Michelle whenever something like this comes up.  Thanks, Michelle!

I had an installation for a vacant house this week in a great neighborhood in Omaha called Happy Hollow. This is a very historic part of town and the house is beautiful.

When visualizing how I wanted this house to look after Staging, I had planned to hang a three piece set of art above the sofa on the wall first visible upon entering the home. In my mind this looked f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!

When the install time came and I had all of the pieces in the living room, I realized that my original vision wasn't going to work. The wall that was intended to sport the three piece art set wasn't as long as the opposite wall which was full of windows.  I have two sofas floating in the room with a coffee table in between. If I had placed the art set centered on the wall, then it would be very off center from the sofa beneath it. If I had placed the art set centered above the sofa, there would be about six feet of dead space to the left of the set and no space to the right.

Solution? Place one piece of art centered on the wall, then group the floor-standing lamp and silk tree together near it so that they visually took up more space and the vignette didn't look like it was off center from either the wall or the sofa.

Here is a full view of the living room:

I was Staging an occupied house the other day and was going over some general recommendations. Replace the weathered exterior light fixtures, add a welcome mat. The new paint colors are great but maybe consider replacing the yellowed vinyl in the bathrooms and the brass, builder's grade light fixtures. And then I was describing the "categories" of sellers and realized that there are about four general categories that apply to most sellers.

Category #1: We want to sell this house, and are willing to invest X amount of dollars in it to get it up to par. 

Stager's Challenge: This is a great category of sellers!!!  They are open to discussing all aspects of their house and are willing to learn about what will be most cost and time effective to upgrade things such as light fixtures, flooring, cabinet fronts or hardware, paint colors, etc. Does not necessarily mean they will spend unlimited amounts of money, but there are options and significant opportunity for the Stager to make an impact on the property in addition to re-arranging furnishings.

Category #2: We know we need to be competitive and have to spend a little money and elbow grease on a few areas, but need help prioritizing and maximizing our budget. 

Stager's Challenge: Some ability to affect change, must be smart and budget savvy to make the most of this seller's budget. Sometimes these are incredibly fun clients/houses because the project might be a bit of a challenge, but in the end the opportunity to combine business skills with creativity is ultimately rewarding. 

Category #3: We do not have, or are not willing to put extra money into, this house. We cannot invest in anything new; you have to use what we have to make the best of each room. We have plenty of furnishings, art and accessories.

Stager's Challenge: These clients are also fun because the challenge of "designing" and "marketing" a space using only what you already have on hand eliminates extra time spent sourcing new product. This category usually only takes a couple of hours but is also very rewarding because the end result is very different from what would have been presented to buyers.

Category #4: We do not know how to clean or maintain a house. We do not have any neutral or somewhat attractive furnishings to showcase our house and are not going to buy/borrow/rent anything else. We are looking to our Stager for some assurance that our phenomenal agent will be able to sell our house and please don't make us do too much work because we HAVE to get this house on the market ASAP.

Stager's Challenge:  The most important thing for this seller to do is hire a professional cleaner to get the house up to snuff. Clean houses sell and this is the bare minimum that MUST be done before putting a house on the market. Having a professional do all of the hard work makes it easier for sellers to spend a little time each week keeping things clean. Sometimes this category of seller needs some general guidance from the Stager about how to clean, what areas to clean, and what type of product to use.

The bottom line is that no matter what category the sellers fall into, a Stager can make all the difference in how well or how poorly a house is presented to potential buyers. And every category of seller is fun to work with.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been blessed with several Occupied Home Staging appointments and I have noticed a common sentiment among my sellers. 

Many sellers, during the part of our appointment where we create/discuss the comprehensive Staging strategy (move this here, pack this, repaint this, etc) were saying. "Oh, I'm glad I wasn't wrong to put that there" or "I'm glad that paint choice wasn't wrong". 

After hearing this several times I was reminded that many sellers do not hire professional decorators and also many don't have a natural flair for interior design. Therefore, when a professional in the interior world comes to analyze their home (read: Professional Home Stager) they are automatically curious as to whether or not the "professional" will bless the choices they made when putting their personal stamp on their home. 

What I continually tell my sellers and would like now to remind agents is that when "living" in a home, there really is no wrong choice for decorating. When a family is "living" in a home they should make it their own with regard to paint or wallpaper choices, furniture arrangements, re-purposing rooms, etc. Reminding nervous sellers that their home in its current state isn't "wrong" may help reduce their defenses and increase the likelihood that they will have an open mind when working with the Stager. And although their choices were not wrong, there may be other choices that are "more right" when selling a home.

Many statements that I employ to re-assure sellers that my purpose is not to criticize their house but to help them make their home as marketable as possible include some of the following (these statements are also appropriate for agents to discuss with sellers when first suggesting Staging): 

- The way a family lives in their home is not often the best way to "market" their house

- Staging is MARKETING, not decorating. Even the best decorated houses benefit from Staging!

- Space and neutral are what help sell houses the fastest; you are selling the square footage of the house not the furnishings in it and sometimes its best to "edit" the furnishings on display so buyers can more readily notice the size of the house

- Think about how much time and money companies spend on packaging something as simple and low cost as a box of cereal; we should spend at least half that much effort to "package" your most important financial asset when up for sale. That's what Staging is about. 

Stagers, remember that many of your sellers may be nervous about letting you into their home and say what you can to make them feel comfortable; let them know you are not there to criticize their design choices but to help them achieve the most successful home sale possible. 

Agents, if you are the first contact with the seller, make sure that your sellers don't feel put off at the suggestion of a Stager. We will all reap the rewards if sellers feel like we are all on the same team. 

Sellers, I promise, whatever design choices you made were not "wrong"; but when selling your home, other choices may be better :-)

I had the pleasure of Staging an Owner Occupied home this last weekend with the quintessential "perfect Staging client". It has been awhile since I worked with one and I was pleasantly reminded of what phrases are typically used by a "perfect Staging client". 

The "perfect Staging client" experience began with the appointment setting phone call. The referring agent and I have a great set up - he texts my cell phone with the latest client's contact info, I call the client to schedule the appointment, I text the agent back with the appointment time, then I conduct the Staging appointment and email him a follow up report. It works like clockwork.

So I called the "perfect Staging client" and we scheduled our appointment for a couple of days later. He said (perfect Staging client phrase #1), "The sooner you can get here the better. I will be ready to do whatever you say when you get here." 

Awesome!  I love it when people are excited for their Staging appointment. I especially love it when it sounds like they have no opinions. I REALLY love it when the client is a single guy; not because I am looking for a date (not anymore, happily married!) but because the single guy usually graciously accepts décor tips from a female. Not to sound stereotypical, but often the bachelor KNOWS that his house looks like a bachelor pad and is happy to make changes, especially with a female in the know to hold his hand through the process. 

Staging Saturday arrives and I get there and see that the bachelor has some nice décor items and a few that are probably best stashed away for selling. He says again (perfect Staging Client phrase #2), "Come on in and do your thing. I will do whatever you want me to do."  After a quick tour of the joint I ask how he would feel about moving some furniture from the crowded dining room and re-purposing some in the empty bedrooms. (Perfect Staging client phrase #3), "You're the boss." Yes!  I really love that title :-) 

For a brief time I let him do some of the heavy lifting and went about my business re-arranging and clearing accessories in the living room/dining room/kitchen areas. He came back to the space where I had been working and said (perfect Staging client phrase #4), "Wow, you sure work fast. You're like hell on wheels!"  I realize that wouldn't always be a compliment, but from this gentleman I believe it was. 

After some work on the main level, I ask how he would feel about re-arranging the family room in the lower level. (Perfect Staging client phrase #5), "If you think it will help, sure. I'll do it!." 

Awesome again!  In less than two hours we had re-arranged just about every room in the house and there were only a few items that the client would have to address on his own time (switch out a weathered light fixture, repaint a wall). I can safely say that house went from bachelor pad mish-mash to pulled-together family home in a very short amount of time. The success was due in large part to the "perfect Staging client's" positive attitude toward change and wanting to do whatever he could (within reason) to help make his home more marketable. That agent will have a great seller to work with and as a result will probably have a great selling success!

I have been "memed" by David Matney of Alliance Real Estate. I am not sure if this has already gone around the usual groups or not, so if it already has, please forgive me! This is a Christmas meme and there are "official" Christmas meme rules.

The Christmas MeMe Rules:

1. You have to name one gift you would like to have on Christmas.
2. It has to be an object. We all want happiness for Christmas.
3. If you could pick one single gift out for yourself-what would it be?
4. Remember-it has to be something you can touch and hold....
5. Once you have done this, name five people or more and send this to them for them to name the one special gift they would like to have.

My husband thinks that I would love an I-Pod or an MP-3 thingy that I could download music to (um, help me there, dear hubby!) AND be able to listen to the radio stations at the gym that the televisions are set to so I can actually hear the Today Show or the Rachel Ray show instead of reading the VERY incorrect captions for the hearing impaired (seriously, don't those poeple have to take classes or something in order to have that job? They make up some amazing words that I KNOW are not what the people are actually saying).

According to the rules I now have to name at least five or more other people to participate.

Michelle Molinari

Melissa Marro

Michelle Minch

Charlene Storozuk

Maureen Bray

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!