home staging: Home Staging: One of the Three "PRs" to a Successful Sale of Your Home - 11/01/12 06:45 AM
When selling your home, there are three key strategies to a successful sale of your home.
What is a successful sale? A successful sale achieves these two objectives:
Selling your home quickly Selling your home for your desired sales price What are the three key strategies?
PRicing your home correctly PRomoting it properly PResenting it at its best And, you cannot implement just one or two of the strategies without the other(s) and expect to achieve to sell your home quickly and for your desired sale price.

PRicing Your Home Correctly
Everyone wants to get the highest possible price for … (6 comments)

home staging: How to Make a Bathroom Show Better Without a Renovation - 07/04/12 05:58 AM
Are there inexpensive ways to make a bathroom show better when you are selling your home, without a renovation?
The answer is a resounding YES!
In fact, when someone is selling their apartment or house, I don’t recommend a renovation as the buyers would more likely want to renovate for their own tastes and preferences.
So the objective becomes removing the “ick” factor.  What can we do to spruce up and update this space so that the condition and datedness don’t turn off a buyer?  We want to get past the buyer turn-off and at least get the bathroom to a … (9 comments)

home staging: Area Rugs: Tips for Selection and Placement - 08/28/11 02:10 PM
When I am staging a home for sale, area rugs serve many functions in a room:
Defining the area, for example, a seating or dining area in a large room Adding pops of color to an otherwise neutral room Toning down a room that has strong and bright colored furniture Adding texture to a neutral colored space When I am doing an interior redesign, in addition to the above, area rugs also:
Provide comfort underfoot Provide physical warmth underfoot Absorb the sound in a room Area rugs come in these common sizes:
5' x 8' 6' x 9' 8' x 10', … (31 comments)

home staging: Tips for Living in a Staged Home - 02/13/11 02:26 AM
So you've had a professional home stager come to your home that's for sale and you've implemented everything that he or she recommended to get your home sold fast and for top dollar.
You've removed your family photos so that buyers can imagine themselves living there rather than feeling they are encroaching on your private space.

You've decluttered and have discarded, donated, given away or stored off-season clothing, extra furniture, toys, files, papers, books, magazines and other items so that buyers will feel like there's adequate storage in your home.

You've organized your kitchen cabinets and closets so that buyers … (12 comments)

home staging: DIY Home Staging Returns 299% of Your Investment - 01/18/11 11:56 PM
Low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements produce a significant return on investment when a home is sold.
HomeGain just released the findings of their survey of 600 real estate agents nationwide to determine the top 10 low-cost (less than $5,000), do-it-yourself  home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.
Based upon return on investment (ROI), Home Staging ranked 3rd as the most profitable improvement that can be made to a home, yielding a 299% ROI.  An average investment in home staging of $550 produced a $2,194 price increase.
Home staging as defined by the survey includes adding fresh flowers; removing personal items; reducing clutter; rearranging … (7 comments)

home staging: Choosing a Home Stager: 10 Things You Should Consider - 01/10/11 07:07 AM
While not every home seller and real estate agent believes in the power of home staging when selling a home, there are those who do, thanks to the proliferation of shows on television and real life success stories.
So, if you have made the decision to hire a professional (and that is a key word, "professional") home stager, then what should you be looking for?
There are a number of things you should consider:
1.  Portfolio - every home stager should have a website (this in itself is something you should look for) where you can view his or her portfolio of homes … (5 comments)

home staging: Home Staging: You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover - Or Maybe You Can - 12/22/10 08:18 AM
There it was  ---  among the stacks of new fiction books on the table.  I was immediately drawn to it by its cover.  I could tell that it might just be my kind of book.  So I picked it up and started reading the jacket.
A recent segment on CBS's Sunday Morning Show got me thinking about how staging a home for sale is like the careful thought and preparation publishers go into when designing a book cover.
In the segment, "Judging Books by Their Covers", publisher Jamie Raab said:
"Book covers are important. You go into a bookstore and what do you see? … (6 comments)

home staging: What's Wrong With this Picture? - 12/08/10 09:35 AM
Here we go again!
I was reviewing the New York Times weekly online  feature, "On the Market in New York City" showing apartments for sale, as I always do each weekend, and once again found many examples of how these listings can benefit greatly by some expert and professional home staging advice.
I know we have all probably seen worse photos of homes for sale, but after all, these are featured properties in the Sunday New York Times!
Here is what I, a professional home stager, have to say:
The artwork in this kitchen (below) is so HUGE, both in terms of the size of … (6 comments)

home staging: Who Says Home Stagers Can't Be Inspired by Color? - 12/02/10 08:29 AM

In home staging, we like to stick to a neutral color palette so that we can make the home that's for sale appeal to the broadest range of buyers.  However neutral does not have to mean boring.
I love to use pops of color (red, turquoise, orange, greens, blues) in throw pillows, artwork and decorative objects against the more neutral background colors (beige, grays, whites) in the furniture, bedding and walls.
Even so, I love to see what colors the major paint companies forecast to be THE colors for the upcoming year.  I like to use these colors for inspiration.
Benjamin … (57 comments)

home staging: The Complete Curb Appeal Checklist to Selling Your Home - 09/06/10 02:24 AM
As they say, a first impression is a lasting one.  If your home doesn't look good from the outside, buyers are going to believe it doesn't look good on the inside either, so they'll just drive away, or not click on your online listing to see the interior photos. 
Also, if your home looks beautiful, loved and taken care of on the outside it speaks volumes for what the buyer perceives the inside looks like.  It also says to the buyer "I am the type of homeowner that takes care of EVERYTHING - the roof, the furnace, repairs, etc." 
Lastly, with outdoor … (14 comments)

home staging: The Forgotten Rooms When Staging Your Home for Sale: The Garage - 08/22/10 10:51 AM
 
Many home sellers think that it's perfectly okay to leave their garage "as is" when selling their home, or worse, think it's okay to move items out of the house and stuff them into the garage in an effort to declutter and minimize furniture and personal items.
Well, it's NOT OKAY!  The garage is extra square footage and should be treated just like any other room in the house when staging it for sale. 
It should be shown to it's highest and best possible use - to store and shelter cars most importantly, and secondarily, to store and shelter tools, hardware, sporting equipment, etc.
… (17 comments)

home staging: The Top 10 Home Improvements That Could Devalue Your Home - 08/07/10 04:21 AM
Sometimes, making an improvement to your home could actually hurt you when you try to sell it. 
Here are the top 10 home improvements that can make your home harder to sell: 
1. Kitchen Renovation. Any renovation of a kitchen that is too taste-specific or extreme in design. For example, a kitchen equipped with a restaurant-level stove or multiple refrigerators may not appeal to the buyer who is a simple cook. You want to appeal to the broadest range of buyers when selling a home, and if a buyer thinks they need to spend money re-doing what you've done, they will … (65 comments)

home staging: But...but...but: Even More Objections to Home Staging, Overcome - 07/02/10 09:03 AM
Whether it's your home for sale or your client's home for sale, not every seller is convinced right off the bat that staging the home is necessary to get it sold.
In a previous blog, I addressed three common objections from both real estate agents and home sellers to staging a home when it's for sale:
But, why would I want to be spending money when I can't afford to?  I just need to sell my house/apartment. But, why can't buyers just look past the décor and envision themselves living here?  But, my home looks good.  It doesn't need to be staged.  In another … (9 comments)

home staging: But...but...but: More Objections to Home Staging, Overcome - 06/20/10 09:06 AM
Whether it's your home for sale or your client's home for sale, not every seller is convinced right off the bat that staging the home is necessary to get it sold.
In a previous blog, I addressed three common objections from both real estate agents and home sellers to staging a home when it's for sale.
So if you find yourself or your clients asking the following questions or stating these objections, carefully consider these answers before you make that final decision not to stage.
Why can't the real estate agent or homeowner figure out what needs to be done to stage the home … (6 comments)

home staging: But...but...but: Objections to Home Staging, Overcome - 06/11/10 10:44 AM
Whether it's your home for sale or your client's home for sale, not every seller is convinced right off the bat that staging the home is something as necessary as getting a home inspection or a pre-approved mortgage is for the buyer.
So if you find yourself or your clients asking these questions, carefully consider these answers before you make that final decision not to stage.
But, why would I want to be spending money when I can't afford to?  I just need to sell my house/apartment. 
The softer the market, the more you must differentiate the property from others crowding the market.  … (19 comments)

home staging: Convince My Clients to Stage Their Homes? What's In It for Me, the Agent? - 05/12/10 01:53 PM
As a real estate agent, you may be wondering why you should make the effort to convince the homeowner to stage their home. 
Here are ten reasons why you should do so:  
Gives You More Control - That's right.  Here's a common scenario for you -  the seller may desire a certain dollar amount for the home but you know that unless some changes are made, the seller won't get it.  By incorporating the home staging process, you are controlling more of the outcome of the sale.  Gives You Credibility - When you bring in "experts" who do this for a … (12 comments)

home staging: The Forgotten Rooms When Staging a Home for Sale: The Basement - 05/10/10 05:34 AM
In 1973 a film entitled "Don't Look in the Basement" was released.  It was originally entitled "The Forgotten" in reference to the ignored patients of an insane asylum, but someone thought it would attract more movie goers with a new title.  After all, basements can be creepy. 
Dark, dank and dirty is what usually comes to mind, never mind those hidden corners where something just might pop out!
Well, perhaps "The Forgotten" was an appropriate name after all, since basements are one of those areas in a home that is often overlooked when staging a home for sale.
Basements, whether finished or … (4 comments)

home staging: The Forgotten Rooms When Staging a Home For Sale: The Laundry Room - 05/02/10 05:37 AM
One of the often overlooked rooms when staging your home for sale is the laundry room.  Most homeowners, even those who know that the home must be decluttered, neat and clean when their home is on the market, often forget about carrying this into the laundry room.
And those homeowners who don't have a laundry "room", but instead have their washer and dryer in the basement, fail to market this space in an attractive way.
The laundry room, whether or not it's an actual room, a closet, or an area in the basement, needs to be shown to its fullest potential.
… (12 comments)

home staging: "Pole? What Pole?" - Home Staging Works! - 04/18/10 08:04 AM
Recently we were asked to stage a 2-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.   The living area was problematic in that it had a pole in it and was small.  A dining area also had to be carved out of this small space.
After we were just about finished staging it, a friend of my assistant came to look at it.  After my assistant and his friend left, my assistant asked his friend what he thought of the apartment.  
His friend replied:
   "I just loved the couch and the colors you used.  And I love what you did to the terrace!  I can … (15 comments)

home staging: Interior Design vs Interior Decorating vs Home Staging vs Interior Redesign: What's the Difference? - 04/07/10 11:06 AM
The other day a real estate agent whose listings I stage for sale introduced me to someone as a "designer".  I didn't want to take the time to correct him, but I thought to myself, "This isn't the first time I've heard people use 'designer' erroneously".   I don't profess to be an "interior designer", though I do practice interior redesign.  Sometimes "interior designer" is used to label someone who's an interior decorator. 
So, then, what are the differences?
To put the differences succinctly:
Interior Design involves, among many other things, the preparation of documents for the construction of an interior space such as plans and elevations, and … (4 comments)