Introduction to Home Staging

Buy some large baskets that are lined with cloth or canvas and store toys in those

Why do some homes in real estate sell faster than others?

In today’s real estate marketplace, this is a question which I am frequently asked.

We can all agree that pricing has a lot to do with whether a home sells quicker in this market; yet, would this be the ONLY reason some homes sell faster than others? No.

Read on about a well-known secret many homeowners and Real Estate agents are using to gain the upper hand above their competition.

Professional real estate staging has become a mainstay for home sellers in many of the larger cities across the U.S. and Canada. Staged properties sell faster when compared with un-staged properties. Hmmmm…..do you ever wonder WHY staging works?

The answer is simple: SYNERGY

Synergy is created when you have combined efforts which work together to improve the desired results.

Relying completely on the Realtor alone to sell a home is the ‘old way’ to sell real estate. Times are different now and this means that sellers need to have a new plan! Visual exposure on the Internet is important and creating an immediate synergistic connection with buyers makes all the difference in the world! Your property must look enticing for the buyers to even consider a visit. Add a Home Stager (Design Specialist) to the selling plan and watch the synergy sparks fly! Here are the reasons why:

Professional Home Stagers have the creative know-how to create synergy within a house. Whether changes involve repositioning of furnishings, removal of items which clutter living space or simple ideas which improve the overall appearance of the property, you can start by scheduling a professional consultation with a Home Stager.

Take the first step and begin applying the Synergy Secret with your real estate and see how hiring a professional home stager can improve your chances of selling quicker!

Simply ask yourself:

Do I have the right SYNERGY in place for this property to sell today?

(If you are unsure, you know who to call!)

Warm Regards-

RESA-FLORIDA PRESIDENT

KATHLEEN GARVEY of ENHANCED INTERIORS & Home Staging located in the Fort Myers – Naples, Florida area.  Serving real estate staging needs in the following cities: Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Sanibel, Ft. Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral and Punta Gorda, Florida  (239) 849-6009

Please visit the ENHANCED INTERIORS website:  ENHANCED INTERIORS

Kathleen Garvey
http://www.articlesbase.com/team-building-articles/how-the-synergy-secret-helps-improve-real-estate-sales-591780.html

Just wondering if I should or just leave it alone. I don’t know if I can handle pulling out all the Holiday stuff either after packing all my knick knacks in the crawl space….. but if you told me Christmas decorations might help sell my home… then heck, maybe it’s worth dragging them out. I think I am skipping halloween and Thanksgiving decorations though…
I guess I can’t bring out my Santa praying to baby Jesus! LOL

Your goal in staging a home is to depersonalize the home as much as possible so any prospective buyer can see themselves living there. In light of that, decorating for the holidays seems counterproductive.

When selling your home, it’s important to remember outdoor staging is almost as important as indoor staging. Just as you want to create a favorable first impression, inside your home, curb appeal can attract buyers when you least expect them.

When I had my last home up for sale, I was outside gardening when someone drove up and asked me about the house. He proceeded to go home, collect his wife and family and bring them over for a complete inspection, and subsequently purchased our home. I believe this buyer’s mind was made up before he toured the home. In a similar circumstance, I saw a picture of our current home on the internet and decided this was the house for me.

Keeping this in mind, never underestimate the power of curb appeal and its ability to market a home. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind for staging the outside of a house. Most of this is common sense and requires more elbow grease than cash investment.

1. Just as with the inside, clutter on the outside of a home is a definite “no, no”. Tidy the sidewalk and find a home for garden tools, kid’s toys, garbage cans and recycling containers.

2. Add eye catching splashes of color by using hanging planters and containers. Draw people’s attention to the area’s you want them to see by creating a positive first impression.

3. Mulch, mulch and more mulch! The best way to make a garden appear professionally landscaped and well maintained is with a thick layer of mulch. Use it to hide weeds, and create borders around trees and shrubs. Choose from colors such as green, brown, red, and natural cedar chips.

Mulch can also be used to create easy walkways, just add a border and stepping stones.

4. Keeping the grass well mowed. Not only does short grass look neater, the trimmed weeds are hidden and prevented from flowering. You may consider having artificial grass installed in areas where natural grass doesn’t grow well. You’ll be shocked at the overnight transformation into a lush, green yard.

5. Edge the sidewalks and remove any weeds growing between the concrete.

6. Not only should the driveway be cleared of clutter, but cleaned of stains and unsightly spills as well.

7. Do whatever it takes to make your front porch shine. Touch up the paint on the railings, steps and front door if necessary. A poorly maintained porch gives the impression that the entire home has been neglected.

8. Wash all the windows, soffits, windows and gutters.

9. Pressure wash the deck to make the wood look like new.

10. As important as it is to add new plants, be objective about the existing trees and shrubs in your garden. Anything overgrown should be trimmed back or removed.

Josh Sloan
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/10-tips-to-perk-up-your-yard-for-sale-740925.html

To decorate and stage homes for sale

If you are asking how to do it…….one realtor told me some ways stage and quickly…unless it needs a total overhall. Weed and fresh mulch flowerbeds, clean windows, open blinds, all of them!!, wipe walls down with rag, and or walk around with that can of paint and a little brush and touch up where you have chipped it off. Get some lemon oil and do ALL of the wood baseboards and all. Rid it of clutter, get it out, store it, even in the garage. They said cleanliness is key….if you over decorate, which is nice, but they will spend time looking at that not your house. Last, bake some cookies or bread before an open house, it makes the house smell yummy and put them in an "at home" feeling.

I have recently been thinking of starting a home staging business (the process of designing a home for sale), what do you think? Would you use a Home Staging service if your home was for sale? I have looked online and there are a lot of certification classes that you can take, however they aren’t required and they are expensive. Do you think that makes a difference? Does anyone have any helpful advice for someone that wants to get into this business? I’m looking for serious answers please, thank you!

I would recommend that you do a couple of houses for free, or a very small fee (just have the homeowner pay for the rentals and small items). Then you can photograph them and write up your success stories of how you helped these houses sell. Then you can begin charging a real fee.

Copyright (c) 2009 Alice Chan

I was curious, as I’m sure the rest of you were when they announced this new program airing on HGTV on July 22, if it would be a true depiction of what the Staging life is like. I would have to say that it’s probably the most realistic of the shows that are out there today, but still doesn’t tell the whole story. Regardless, here are some things that I feel you could learn from the show.

1) Have a plan for your project. I’m actually a little shocked by the lack of planning and utter chaos that is depicted. Maybe it’s just for TV drama to make it more interesting, but realistically, if that’s how you are running your business, you NEED TO TAKE CONTROL immediately.

My recommendation to you is:

a) always see the property beforehand

b) take before photos

c) map out plans for each room so that choosing inventory is more targeted and streamlined

d) create a list of staging inventory needed.

There is absolutely no reason why most projects should take more than a day. I would say 97% of the straight “staging” projects I’ve worked on was completed within one day. Anything that took more was because of the size of the project (5000+ square foot home or multiple units) OR if there were delays on other related projects.

When I first started my staging business, I was running back to the warehouse to pick up things we forgot or shopping at the last minute because we didn’t have what we needed, and I’m not saying that you won’t still have to do this occasionally, but you want to avoid these delays as much as you can and the best way to do that is to have a plan going into every single project.

2) Do be tactful with your clients. The Designers on “The Stagers” are good at keeping their opinions to a minimum in front the client. Some of the other Staging shows seem to enjoy poking fun at how awful a home looks. I’m all for being truthful and honest with your clients, but being tactful will definitely earn you more brownie points and help you maintain your professional image.

Most of the time, they already know their property is not in “top selling” condition, that’s why they called you. There’s no reason to make a mockery of the situation. Perhaps again, the criticisms voiced are for ratings, but most real life people would not be too thrilled with you if that’s how you approached them.

3) Do Keep your Inventory Organized. This is always a challenge for any Staging Company. It’s a never ending struggle with having “too much” when it all comes back and not having enough when you’re super busy.

The Dekora warehouse featured on the show is enormous compared to probably 99% of the staging firms out there. Most of us do not have the luxury of a 10,000 square foot space with seemingly unlimited inventory available. I started off with storing my inventory in our one car garage and back stairs when my husband and I lived in a townhouse. We eventually graduated to one large storage unit, then two, and finally to an 1100 square foot warehouse.

Then there was the challenge of keeping the zones organized – linens, kitchen accessories, bath accessories, floral/greenery, silk trees, lamps, chairs, art, etc. We toyed with the idea of building shelving so that we could capitalize on the vertical space in the warehouse, but then there was the safety issue with our team members going up and down.

I can’t say we ever really perfected “Staging the Warehouse”, but one thing we always tried to do was unpack after a destage and put everything back into their respective zones so that it was easy to pull inventory for the next project. The more disciplined you are in this area, the more sane you can remain. I actually designated Fridays or a day when there were no Staging Projects scheduled as Warehouse days – time to reorganize, clean and repair inventory.

4) Do Keep in Mind Who the Prospective Buyers will be and Design the Staging Accordingly. This skill will set you apart from just being a “wannabe” stager to being a true Real Estate Partner and a Professional Staging Designer.

There are many Real Estate Agents who are guilty of this as well. They don’t keep in mind who the target audience is – who would be your prospective buyer? Is it a young family? Are they empty nesters? Are they young bachelors/bachelorettes? These considerations must be top of mind when designing your Staging.

It’s not about just adding artwork and putting furniture into a room. The personality that is added with accessories should portray the type of lifestyle that one would want to live in that home. This is one thing that the Designers on the show are good at exploring and working with.

5) Build a Staging Team. This is something all of you should work towards. Just as on the show, they have the Staging Boss, Senior Stager, Home Stager, Staging Assistants, Movers, Handymen, etc., so should you.

My role was a cross between the Staging Boss and the Senior Stager as I was never completely hands-off. Building a team to work with not only makes each project more efficient, it also makes it a lot of more fun because you can bounce creative ideas off of one another.

I’ve had people on my team at all levels. Movers who just helped move inventory to and from the staging sites (mostly large pieces of furniture so we can totally relate to the sofa not fitting in the elevator or door – I dreaded getting those calls), Staging interns who actually did hands-on staging work, but can be the perfect team member to help wipe down furniture, clean mirrors and art, iron bedding, pump up airbeds, etc.

I also strongly believe there should be a Team Lead so that there is someone who is in charge on-site, otherwise it would be too chaotic.

Here are few other tips depicted on the show that I you should definitely keep in mind for your own businesses (if you’re not already doing so):

* Incorporate feng shui principles in your staging (in some parts of the country, THIS IS HUGE – like So. Cal)

* Don’t forget to address curb appeal issues

* Paint over unattractive, unmarketable wall colors

* Add dramatic art and accessories for high impact

* Bring rooms back to its originally intended purpose

* Don’t fight with what’s not working, like trying to use the homeowner’s things

* Use scale appropriate furniture

Alice Chan
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/lessons-learned-from-hgtvs-quotthe-stagersquot-723979.html

What would be a reasonable hourly rate for a professional home stager?
Thanks all, I was actually inquiring for a friend who is looking to start her own business after getting laid off from a design position. She was curious about what she could reasonably charge per hour for her services.

That would depend on the amount of staging being done. If they are just removing the clutter and rearranging what you own, in the Northeast it’s $15.00 per hour

If they are painting and renting furniture, doing a little updating and landscaping the going rate is $25.00 per hour

If they are calling in outside contractors for some remodeling you will be paying the stager and the contractor.

These wages include client participation. If you are leaving the staging entirely up to the designer you will pay significantly more.

In the world of FSBO home sales there are some distinct things that you should keep in mind. This is a time consuming and complicated process, so planning is of utmost importance. Here are some tips for keeping your wits about you and on track throughout the whole process.

- Don’t do it alone – There are some people that you are going to need on your side during the sale of a home. Perhaps the most important one is a title/escrow company or a real estate attorney. Which you need will depend on which state you are in. You may also want to consider forming a relationship with a mortgage broker or lender. This will help in narrowing down the interested viewers to those who can actually afford to purchase your home. Have them get pre-approved by the lender before you show the home.

- Know what your home is worth – Some people when selling their own home will simply “shoot from the hip” on deciding a price for their home. Typically this never works out well. It is quite easy to get a CMA from any number of realtors in your area. They can provide these quickly and easily over the phone or via the internet, no meeting is necessary. The best way to find out the value of the home is to have it appraised by a professional appraiser.

- Get your home noticed – There are several ways of doing this. You will of course, have a front yard sign, also advertising in the classifieds is a good method. One great way to get coverage is the internet. Even though you are not using a realtor, you can still list your home on the MLS. This will give your home a huge amount of coverage.

- Get ready – Staging your home will ensure that when people see it, they love it. Take some time and peruse the staging articles are resources online for some great ideas on improving the show quality of your home. Most of the staging steps are simple things that you can easily do yourself with little time and money.

Ken Hamric
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/for-sale-by-owner-pointers-138229.html

What is the best way to market my company besides print advertising?

start small
post free ads in your local craigslist.com

put flyer’s on bulletin boards in grocery stores

when you do a job well done, word of mouth is the best advertising