De-clutter and De-personalize

This article talks about how difficult it can be, emotionally, to have your home staged. Most agree that the payoff is well worth it!

Rebecca


Stagers say clutter is the biggest enemy of a homeowner. All of those doodads should be packed away. Religious items such as crosses should be removed. If renting a storage unit isn't affordable or practical, personal items can be stored in boxes along one wall of the garage. "A lot of people can't afford storage or they don't want to move things twice," Porter said.

Not everyone who uses a stager likes the advice.

"My biggest challenge is convincing a hunter to take down his heads," said Porter. "Buyers don't like to see heads. Especially vegetarians."

Other items buyers don't like to see: guns, toys or a hodgepodge of clippings and artwork taped to the refrigerator.

Even willing sellers can have a hard time keeping a home "staged." Stagers tell clients to avoid keeping laundry in the laundry room and to put away appliances such as toasters, coffee makers and blenders.

Simply flinging things in a closet or drawer won't do. Potential buyers are nosy and open all of those.

Most stagers will also rearrange furniture or remove furniture to show off a room better. They'll suggest cheap fixes such as painting.

"The idea is not to tell people to spend money on things that they won't get to enjoy," Chadwick said.

But, she said, sellers need to know the competition.

"When you're selling your house, your competition is the model home," Chadwick said. "People don't want to rehab your mistakes. They'll just go buy a new home."

Excerpt by Jennifer Hiller
Express-News Business Writer

Awesome Pictures!

You have to check out these amazing pics from a fabulous article on Home Staging in Hawaii - click on the title link to see them!

Rebecca

Excerpt from Star Bulletin, written by Allison Schaefers
aschaefers@starbulletin.com


CHARENE DAVIS looks like she's armed for romance as she breezes into a Kahala home carrying a sprig of fresh flowers, a bottle of champagne and a box of Godiva chocolates.

The items, which are a trademark part of Davis' home-staging business, are geared to seduce Hawaii home buyers into thinking that the $1.3 million property is priced right and that it looks better than others that are on the market.

"I always put a bottle of champagne in the master to suggest that this could be a very romantic place," Davis said as she prepared a tray of goodies for display alongside the lush gold duvet that she chose for the room.

"Home staging is the highest form of visual real estate marketing."
Charene Davis
Aloha Staged Homes. She prepares houses to be sold by adding personal decorating touches, including her signature towel treatments in the bathroom.

"Romance appeals to women -- and they make most of the buying decisions," she said.

Business has picked up for Davis and her other Hawaii counterparts, an estimated 20 or so accredited home stagers, in the last several months as Honolulu's once-hot residential market has begun to come in for a soft landing.

Staging is a tool that real estate professionals and home sellers use to help their properties sell faster and for more money in tough markets and for even more money in an up market, said Barb Schwarz, who is the author of "Home Staging: The winning way to sell your house for more money."

"The way you live in a home and the way that you sell it are two different things" said Schwarz, who coined the term, 'staged home,' in the 1970s and has turned it into a federally registered trademark.

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling

Interesting Stats!

Here's some revealing research gathered over the past two years on staged homes.

Reba


Speedier sales: The length of time on the market for a home dropped from an average of 163.7 days to 8.9 days for homes that are staged. The days on the market after staging was 13.7 days, according to a study of 300 houses from 2004 to 2006.

Boosting equity: Homes that were staged from the outset brought the seller an average equity gain of $16,784.18, according to a study of 300 houses from 2004 to 2006. Those that were first listed and then later staged and sold garnered on average equity gain of $14,074.24.

Source: StagedHomes.com

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling

Using Fine Art in Home Staging

Interesting twist on home staging - using fine art as a touch of class. I think this could be overused, especially if the pieces don't match the house or over power it.

Food for thought, though!
Rebecca


Home Is Where the Art Is
Realtors increasingly use painting, sculpture to help sell houses.
By Sue Peters

It was not the fine taste of the seller I was being seduced by, but that of the home stager—the person who decorates empty houses in order to make them more appealing to buyers, theoretically increasing the selling price. Home staging is a trend that's been around at least 10 years in the hot real-estate markets of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is now keeping up to 20 different enterprises in business here in Seattle. Using original art rather than inexpensive pastoral prints is the newest twist.

"In my approach to staging, a lot of it is reaching people on a subliminal level, and I think art really does that," says Sewell, who charges anywhere from $2,800 to $15,000 to spiff up a house, depending on the size of the space she needs to transform.

Another beneficiary of the growing trend in home staging and one of Sewell's main sources for art is Seattle Art Museum's Rental Sales Gallery, which both sells and rents original work from local galleries. "That [business] has increased spectacularly," says gallery director Barbara Shaiman. Sewell is probably Shaiman's biggest client.

While Sewell claims that staging "makes [sellers] a ton of money," she can't put an empirical value on the service she offers. But she has anecdotal evidence of houses that stagnated on the market and then suddenly became the objects of bidding wars once she'd stepped in.

Whatever the case, adding real art to the faux decor of home staging creates another venue for artists to make a bit of money from their work, at least in rentals, and allows the public to see art more easily. A tour of weekend open houses in any of Seattle's trendier urban neighborhoods might yield some special discoveries. And home buyers do sometimes have the option to buy the work along with the house. Reminds Shaiman, "If you buy the house and like the piece, it's worth asking."

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling

No Home Staging Training In Your Area? Never Fear!

Too poor to fly somewhere to get trained as a home stager? Just gather up a few friends and host your own seminar!!

Enjoy,
Reba


The All About Redesign Decorating Center Announces their New Traveling Trainer Program

Professional training for the arts of Interior Redesign and Home Staging has hit the road. With as few as three students you may host a training workshop in your town saving your hundreds of dollars in traveling and hotel expenses.

Twin Cities, MN, June 17, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- The decorating fields of Interior Redesign and Home staging are fast gaining recognition as credible and lucrative business choices! The All About Redesign Decorating Center has noticed an increased demand for training from all over the Nation. With this in mind, they have decided to provide yet another hands-on training opportunity. With the announcement of the Traveling Trainer Program they immediately had requests to hit the road! By providing women the option of training in their own towns, the AARC has enabled many decorating professionals the chance to learn their program… Without the additional travel expense of flying to their location in Twin Cities, Minnesota.

“Now is the perfect time to become involved in these creative decorating arts and start your own business.” Says Julie Rieman, the founder of All About Walls and the Redesign Center. “The exciting fields of Interior Redesign and Home Staging are sweeping the Nation. The demand for Interior Redesign and Home Staging professionals is fast increasing as many busy homeowners are seeking affordable decorating solutions. Most projects can be completed in one afternoon... For less than the cost of replacing a sofa!” She goes on to state “It is my passion to assist other people in changing and improving their lives. Having been a single mother, I know how difficult it can be to sometimes even pay the bills. I have created an affordable and professional training program that does just that. Now that my children are raised I can travel more easily than many of my students so I thought, why not?”

The All About Redesign Center currently has training classes scheduled for St. Louis, Missouri – October, 2006 and Lake Havusu City, Arizona – January, 2007. Workshops require a minimum of three students with a maximum of six for optimal hands-on learning. Included in the workshop is a 100 plus page illustrated training manual, and all the decorating tools and supplies a professional decorator needs. The training program also provides important business start-up and marketing tips to ensure each student’s success. Upon completion of the training program each student will become eligible to join another nationally recognized decorating organization, thus gaining instant credibility! Compare other Interior Redesign and Home Staging Programs and you will see why the All About Redesign Center is sweeping the nation! With requests coming in daily, expect to see the training workshop coming to a town near you!

###
Contact Information
The All About Redesign Decorating Center
Julie Rieman
612-636-3397
Info@allaboutredesign.com
www.allaboutredesign.com

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling

Great Home Staging Tips!

Home Staging Tips from a pro in Arizona. Run through this list for a virtual Home Staging makeover!

Rebecca


Help buyers mentally move in when they look at your home. In most cases, you can use what you already have.
• Put away personal photos and collections that divert attention from the home.
• Rearrange furniture to show off traffic flow.
• Replace large furniture with smaller pieces to create spaciousness.
• Create inviting vignettes in display spaces such as the top of kitchen cabinets.
• Focus the use of a room with furniture and décor. Don't have a combination office and sleep area in one room, for instance.
• Repaint walls neutral colors.
• Update décor and fixtures with current styles and color.
• Trim back overgrown landscape.
• Clean and repair things and remove unpleasant odors.

by Annette Bohnenkamp, Long Realty Co., 909-2800
Decorator's Touch, 818-4074
Anna Drachman, Roy Drachman Realty Co., 748-8400, Ext. 15
Arizona

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling

Home Staging Basics

This article provides a great introduction to those who are new to the term "home staging". I've included a brief excerpt here.

Rebecca

A home stager will go through each room with a checklist of tasks to make it more appealing to sellers, from rearranging furniture to replacing dated light fixtures.
While Cross believes people understand the need to prepare a home for sale, they have a hard time recognizing what to do.

"I think having a fresh set of eyes will really be an advantage to the seller," she says. Homeowners often don't even notice minor repair needs, such as chipped paint, or pet odors.

"People are paying for me to tell them these difficult things. I can also offer them a solution as to how to get rid of that."
Sellers should contact a home stager as soon as they decide to sell their home, Cross says.

"It makes their homes stand out," she says. "They look nicer and they show better. Realtors want to show homes that look good."
Elena Acoba is a local freelance writer, special to the Arizona Daily Star.

What NOT to do when staging a home!

Here's a little NPR story that will give you a laugh. It features Josh Hughes, Designer and Author of Punk Shui: Home Design for Anarchists.

Too funny!
Rebecca

technorati tags:home+staging, real+estate, realtors, home, selling