Real Estate Staging / Home Staging Blog

Back in the fall I blogged on about whether or not it was wise to decorate for Halloween... and while at that time many people gave varied opinions, I stated that I thought it best not to.

SO... what about Christmas? Should a home seller decorate their house during Christmas Season? My answer is a definite and resounding... CONDITIONAL YES.

Decorating a house for sale during the Christmas Season is a little different then decorating for the Halloween Season.

While the Christmas selling market is MUCH slower, and the Holiday decorations are not as "creepy" and offensive looking... Decorations still can be distractions.

So if a home is on the market and if a seller chooses to decorate (inside and/or outside) during Christmas, my advice is to tastefully tone-it-down... way down in some cases. December real estate sellers are "selling" their house... not Christmas.

For one selling season I recommend leaving the elaborately beautiful displays of Christmas in the windows of department stores.

FIRST!!! WOW....  You gotta love them AR guys. Those "drips" know how to "drop" in nice features.

To prime our new STAGE IT FORWARD GROUP pump... please go back to your blog postings about staging and re-assign its group under the new Stage It Forward catigory.  That way, your best and most informative blogs will appear in here/there in our group.

AND!!! When new stagers join AR... they can see and read all that we have written and discussed... even before this group formally existed.

Finally, that little arrow logo in our group is temporary... until we come up with something MUCH better. ANY IDEAS?

RE-GROUPING INSTRUCTIONS: To RE-Group a previsous post. After logging into your Active Rain Account and joinging a group... Go back to your particular post you you like, hit the "Edit Button", then Check off the groups that you want to NOW associate that post with. [We used to only have 2 "Groups" to choose from: 1.) For real estate professionals or 2.) For Consumers ] The new "Groups" that you have associated yourself with will then show up under the original groups.

It's no secret how much I admire and am inspired by Oprah. So when I finally watched last week's show on preparing a home for its sale I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. 

While I applaud the shows desire to help home sellers who currently find themselves emotionally and financially burdened with a house that just won't sell... after watching it I felt the show sent a confusing and incomplete message to home seller's about what it takes to ready a house for its sale in a TOUGH buyer's market. The show chronicled the efforts of Oprah's design guru Nate Berkus as he helped a financially strapped couple, Yosef & Zigi Edmond of Redondo Beach CA, repair and prepare their house. The house was a 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath townhouse listed for $609,999.

The show made it clear that in today's market buyers can be choosy. If a seller wants a buyer to choose to buy their house, then following staging tips like Nate's Top 10 tips to ready a house for its sale, is sound "staging" advice. With out a doubt, exploring and demonstrating these tips was where the show provided to be beneficial and helpful for struggling home sellers.

Unfortunately, my disappointment (#1) with the show has to do with fact that the staging budget for the Edmond's property was a whopping $10,000 for furniture, fixtures and finishes. I believe this "Hollywood" budget is totally unrealistic and fear it will end up discouraging the TYPICAL home sellers who CAN and WOULD benefit from less costly staging solutions.  So while Nate's readied-for-market home looked GREAT... the show NEVER made it clear WHO was paying the $10,000 tab for all the merchandise that was bought for the project. All I know is the bio produced on the Edmonds said they were financially strapped and made it clear they had to sell their home because of grave financial problems.

So my first point of clarification to home sellers interested in staging their own properties is that it typically DOES NOT cost what was spent by Nate on the Oprah Show.

THAT being said it is also important to know and understand that a successful implementation of every "staging" is made up of 3 key dynamics...TIME, TALENT and TREASURE. And while we know the budget for the Edmond's staging included $10k worth of "treasure"... I believe it is unfair and inaccurate not to point out the key staging dynamics of TIME and TALENT were also important factors in achieving the overall beautiful solution. Therefore, regarding TIME & TALENT used in Edmund's staging, I have 2 questions:

• Who paid for the TIME to perform the physical labor of planting, painting, building, installing, removing old flooring & carpeting, installing new flooring & carpeting, and removing old appliances that was undertaken? (Note: The Edmond's were part of the labor force... but NOT all!)
• Who paid for the creative know-how/ TALENT of both Nate (Interior Decor) and landscaping master Jamie Durie?

My other major disappointment (#2) with the show has to do with the fact that it was NOT made clear that implementing effective and successful staging requires the seller need to know what to do, how to do it, and have skill and physical ability to do it.  If they do not... those who do know how, need to be hired and paid for the skills and abilities they provide.

BUT... while the show for the typical home seller may have ended up sending a bit of an over simplified message regarding staging a home for its sale... it still exceeded my expectation in a way that only Oprah can do. (So I am NOT throwing the Oprah baby out with the bath water.)

For this show Oprah found a wonderful family that NEEDED a staging jumpstart (a prime "stage it forward" family for sure). Life for the Edmonds has been a very sad course of events. Yosef, who quit his job to pursue his dreams of success being self employed, has not been so... therefore the house MUST be sold for this family of 4 to stay financially afloat. Since January 2006 the family has been trying to sell their home. On top of all the other problems plaguing this family, Zigi is a suffering from a brain tumor. So they needed and see selling their home as an opportunity to get a fresh start.

The good news is as of today... a sale is pending for the Yosef and Zigi's home.

stage it forward...

Me

Click on the above photo for a short yet touching sound & video message of Thanksgiving.

My best to you and yours... Me

This Thanksgiving every Realtor and home seller should be thankful and contemplate Canned Cranberry Sauce. As it/they sit/s on your plates, know that it/they symbolize/s what staging has to offer. 

Here is my scholarly list...

7 ways Canned Cranberry Sauce embodies Real Estate Staging!

1. Canned Cranberry Sauce does not cost much, but can have tasty results.

2. Canned Cranberry Sauce visually appeals to almost everyone.

3. Canned Cranberry Sauce takes the right tools and skill to get it out of a can properly.

4. Canned Cranberry Sauce is memorable without overpowering the rest of the food.

5. Canned Cranberry Sauce isn't cluttered with complex flavors.

6. Canned Cranberry Sauce is best served with the entrée, at the beginning of the dinner.

7. Canned Cranberry Sauce is not appreciated until it is tried.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Me

PS: This Thanksgiving I am MOST thankful for those of our land, not on our soil, defending our country.

Well I finally had my opportunity to talk about real estate staging to the group of seniors selling their homes. The auditorium was PACKED with an overflow crowd... to a point that there were those that needed to be turned away. To be honest I did NOT expect so many.

Upset and anxiety filled the room. You could feel that the folks attending were searching for help and answers. ANY answers on how to sell their homes. Boy was I glad I prapared my "staging" case.

The idea of staging a houses for its sale is still for most people a new concept. And... it has been my expirience that the SENIOR market is a little less accepting of new ideas. THAT, coupled with the facts that they have strong emotional ties to the homes they are selling, make seniors a tough "sell" for a stager.

To appreciate the benifits of staging, I knew I had to FIRST get them to accept the idea that their homes can no longer be THEIR "homes". I had to get them to understand the HOUSE vs. HOME concept. How did I do that... easy.  I started my talk from a place THEY knew and moved them to a place they never considered. You might say I bent their minds.

So we began with the common phrases:

• - House sweet House.
• - Be it ever so humble, there's no place like house.
• - House is were the heart is.
• - Welcome house.

A few chuckles later, and a quick discussion about how love created an emotional bond to THEIR house ultimatley making it THIER home, the audience began to see what I was saying.

So then to make a statement "YEARS AGO, you bought a HOUSE and turned it into your HOME" and then flip it "TODAY, to sell your HOME you must return it to being a HOUSE" was a concept they could get AND be open to.

Their new understanding helped to then move into my 7 Basic Principles of Staging and understainding of the neccessitiy of the 7 Tips I associate with each principal. The tips are...

• TIP: Buyers infer a clean house has been kept in good repair.
• TIP: Buyers are looking to buy a house that fits THEIR needs, lifestyle and personality... don't distract them with yours.
• TIP: Store it, Sell it, or Trash it.
• TIP: Bring a home inspector in PRIOR to listing, and fix problems before a buyer's inspector finds them.
• TIP: Neutralize it... think beige thoughts.
• TIP: Remove beautiful distractions.
• TIP: The front doorway MUST be clean and welcoming.

Now the crowd of seniors could accept my closing statement: "Staging creates a blanker canvas for a buyer to start painting the picture of their own lives and make your HOUSE their HOME."

It took some flexing and bending... but in 25 minutes I got this group of seniors to wrap thier minds around the new concept of staging and how it CAN help them sell their HOUSES. (BOY, do THEIR realtors owe me... LOL).

stage it forward...

PS: The talk went SOOO well, I've been asked to do it ALL over in January 2007.

Here is a graphic I created to help TELL the story... you are all more than welcome to use it or adapt it.

So you are or want to be a real estate stager? Well, it is a fun and rewarding business... but I would be lying if I said it was not with out it JUMBO challenges.

Since I have been blogging about staging I have "connected" with stagers from all over the United States AND Canada! I have spoken with amazing, fun, talented, creative people who love and are committed to their professions.

These conversations have been INSIPIRING and SAD. SAD? Yup... SAD! WHY SAD?

Because, while these folks are good at providing the on-property staging services... and now, after being out in the real world and applying what the learned, they find they are deeper into their profession in ways they NEVER thought about. They have gained a new appreciation and respect for staging and feel a bit lost when it comes to the day-to-day reality of BUSINESS OWNERSHIP... especially the staging business.

I understand their their dilemma... 2 years ago, when I presented the initial draft of our company's contract for staging services to our attorneys for their legal review, they were dumb-founded! Their replay was... "Craig, you have a VERY complex business model."

I see stagers attracted to the fun and "glamour" to the creativity necessary to prep a home for the purpose of helping it sell. But then reality sets in... in order to maintain and grow a successful company one does not think of ALL THE WORK in the other areas that MUST be given attention to and MASTERED.

These "jumbo challenge' areas include:

• Sales
• Advertising / Marketing
• Services Delivery
• Inventory: Growth & Management
• Systems & Software
• Human Resources
• Strategic Partners
• Office Space & Storage
• Accounts Payable/Receivable
• Outreach

If you are serious about owning and growing your own staging business.... Each of these areas must be looked at, defined and developed. WHY? Because if you don't actively understand and NURTURE these areas within your own staging company... your competition will and you will ultimately loose out to them.

Please feel free to share with me those jumbo-sized challenges facing you in your own staging business... and know that I am working on a solution to make those challenges less crappy.

stage it forward...

Me

So I've been talking to Kim Segal a researcher working for HGTV. The BIG OPPROTUNITY and news I was hinting at in my earlier blog from today is that HGTV's #1 Real Estate Show wants to feature realtors in Chicago! (Kim is also looking for realtors in Denver, Raleigh, Vancouver, and Montreal!)

"BUY ME" is HGTV's reality-based TV series that chronicles the real-life drama of selling a home. From "For Sale" to "SOLD", each episode features a new story with a different entertaining twist.

"BUY ME" will tell your story by taking their viewers behind-the-scenes to meet your sellers, buyers, contractors, stagers and home inspectors. Televised across Canada and the United States, "Buy Me" gives participating agents TV exposure on a massive scale. As an added incentive, Homeowners receive a cash bonus.

Debbie Travis - famous for her decorating flair and hit series' The Painted House and Facelift, is the show's executive producer.

GOOD NEWS Real Estate Agents in DENVER, RALEIGH, VANCOUVER, CALGARY and MONTREAL they are looking agents there too!

Kim's Criteria: Extroverted homeowners and agents, single family homes, more then 1 person occupying the home, new listings preferred.

INTERESTED in being on the show? Well you can contact Kim Segal (a major sweetheart!) right here on Active Rain. (I invited her to join!)

Or you can contact Kim via phone at: (514) 846-1940 ext. 242 or email Kim directly at kim@buymetv.com.

This is an AWESOME OPPORTUNITY for MEMBERS of ActiveRain... THIS is just what ActiveRain is all about!

PS: Welcome Kim!

stage it forward...

LOST: One slightly used Red Nose

Last scene in: Tutas Town

If FOUND please contact: Reala the Staging Clown

Reward: Please make your suggestions in "Comments" section below.

I really miss my honker, beak, schnozola, sniffer, booger barn, snout, smeller, muzzle, snorer, trunk, and/or proboscis. Won't you please help? Reala is here just a cryin' in the rain!  

In life I have been "trained" to think that the world is big and cold and impersonal. And I have been lead to believe that technology removes the personal touch. I have come to believe that "Computers are cold and impersonal replacing people" often infering that people are being "removed" from our lives.

Well something happened the other night... an AMAZING opportunity came my way. BUT I needed some help to get the ball rolling. So I went to Active Rain.

I called on a "Rain Buddy" and shared with them what could be a fun, interesting and exciting opportunity.

Calling someone would seem like no biggie... but it is. You see I NEVER have talked to this person before. I have read their blogs... made some comments... received comments back... but never actually TALKED to them.

But instantaly, it was if we were old college chums... it JUST amazed me how quickly and easily we started talking, sharing and yes... SOME dishing. (OK it was VIAL gossiping only talking about the worst of the worst... you know who you are.)

Anyway, when I tell others of Active Rain they don't "get it". Maybe what blocks them from getting "it" is skepticism that nothing could work this easy. Maybe they too hold a false belief that computers and technology can not reach out and touch people.

I joined ActiveRain to "get business"... which I have. But the amazing thing is, I keep getting a whole lot more.

PS: My Rain Buddy and I will keep you posted on the "opportuinty" because if it goes... it will be BIG and definetly be BLOG-WORTHY. 

Me