austins home staging handyman: I wish people would stop killing their trees... - 10/18/10 03:47 AM
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 … (8 comments)

austins home staging handyman: Annuals? They should be called "Daily-ies"... - 09/08/10 04:01 AM
I was visiting a house in Round Rock last week for a Basic Stage Coaching and as I approached the front door, I scribbled on my notepad, "Too many pots... not enough flowers..." One of The Stage Coach's Greatest Hits: "Pots are OK - but they must have a live plant or flower." It's an easy rule: either put the pot in the garage or plant something new.
While discussing Curb Appeal with the homeowners, I brought up the pots.  One of the owners asked, "Should I plant some annuals?"
I smiled - I get this question a lot as almost … (1 comments)

austins home staging handyman: Friday Fun on The Stage Coach's Facebook Page - 02/04/10 12:27 AM
First, I would like to give a quick shout out to Kim Daugherty whose post back in November inspired me to implement this idea.  Her Post, How Facebook Fans Are Like Little Kids...and a TIP to KEEP their Attention! was about giving Fans a reason to come to your site, and keeping them interested while they are visiting. If you have a Facebook Business (Fan) Page, you need to read her article.
So, what's this about Friday Fun over on The Stage Coach's Facebook Page?
The Stage Coach has put together a new feature for Fridays, taking a different slant on … (5 comments)

austins home staging handyman: REALTORS: Do you leave the Toilet Seat up? - 01/31/10 05:27 AM
It sounds like a strange question - but really, it isn't!  When you are taking pictures for your listings, do you leave the toilet seat up?
I was looking at some listings near a home that is on my schedule tomorrow, and there was a picture of the commode with the seat up. This prompted my to post to The Stage Coach's FB Page:
"The Stage Coach hates to say this, but he's going to say it any ways: if your REA doesn't put the toilet seats down when they are photographing your home, how do you think they are going … (65 comments)

austins home staging handyman: My ROI in this year's Christmas Cards - 01/25/10 02:12 AM
Each year, I send Christmas Cards out to clients: REALTORs, other Home Stagers, business affiliates, etc.  And I was going to thin the list this year.  Initially, only cards were sent to people who worked with The Stage Coach in 2009.  Since there were many cards left over, I went ahead and sent them to 2008's clients as well, even if I had not heard from them since we last worked together.
Any ways, in early January, I received an email from a well established and successful REALTOR Team.  I had performed a small job for them in 2008 when their … (7 comments)

austins home staging handyman: The Stage Coach's 1 & 1/2 Rule... - 01/04/10 02:02 AM
...is a simple rule of thumb for determining cramped spaces.  It's really quite simple and I use it all of the time during consultations:  An area of the home, primarily those buyers would walk through, that measures less than 1 & 1/2 of The Stage Coach across is too cramped. 
Considering myself "Larger than Average", I think this rule works out great, and more importantly, it is a great visual that home owners can understand.  This rule was created one day when I was at a friend's house, holding my younger daughter's hand, and we could not get into their living … (13 comments)

austins home staging handyman: Image selection from Feeds using RSS Graffiti - still not solved. - 12/22/09 12:48 AM
As a quick follow up to my blog from a couple of days ago, I was hoping there would be a better way to point RSS Graffiti towards a specific image file.  As you may notice from my signature below, my blogs contain many image files.  To me, it just makes good sense to select an image that goes along with the blog - right? Duh!  And the image that showed up with the Wall posting on the left, is not what I would have selected.
But, RSS Graffiti does not allow you the same flexibility that posting a Link to … (0 comments)

austins home staging handyman: Feeding Active Rain Blog to your Facebook Page - Updated - 12/20/09 02:47 AM
I've been playing with several RSS Feeders to attempt to get The Stage Coach's Diggin's & Plunder Blog and Active Rain blog to automatically feed to Facebook.  But until this week, none of them accomplished it the way I had hoped.  On a fluke, I searched the applications for RSS one more time, and discovered RSS Graffiti.
For me, the selling point is, I can send RSS feed to my Personal Page and/or The Stage Coach's Fan Page on Facebook, and it shows up on the Wall and in my Fans'/Friends' Feeds!  Bingo!  Other applications created Tabs or Boxes, and did … (39 comments)

austins home staging handyman: This question caught me off guard this week - 12/18/09 10:26 AM
Late last week, I ran out for a "Service Call" to help another Home Stager who needed some blinds hung and did not have the hardware.  While there, she told me all of the things they needed to get done before the home could go to market.  So I offered to throw my hat into the ring for some of the Exterior Maintenance items.  The home really needed some help with Curb Appeal.
I delivered a proposal for about a dozen different things that needed to be done on the Exterior, including, cleaning the gutters on the first level.  There was … (15 comments)