Home Staging. Designs. Life.

Dear Friend,

As I sitting down to write you this message, I cannot help but feel grateful of a fruitful year and all your wonderful support in assisting the staging industry and my small business to propel forward for the better.

To date, in 2007, Staged4more has staged 28 million dollars+ worth of San Francisco bay area real estate, in which 62% of the sold homes obtained a sold price more than their original listing prices.

I couldn’t have done it without you!

As our foundation has grow stronger, the company’s inventory has also grown. I am in the process of seeking bigger warehouse space to accommodate our growing inventory, as well as hiring additional assistants to serve you better.

I am also making lots new changes which are very exciting. I had rolled out a new site in September, featuring a variety of blog articles that contain useful tips to home sellers & agents. Moreover, the new logo reflects the idea behind Staged4more.

In 2008, I will transition to credit card transactions and automatic payments. So no more dealing with pesky end period payments! Just 1 less deadline & invoice you need to remember. Moreover, our clients have been giving great feedbacks on the user-friendliness of our new client portal that enable you to archive all the necessary documents related to your staging projects.

In October, I also obtained by Accredited Staging Professional Master through studying under the Creator of Home Staging, Barb Schwarz, whom you have met or heard speaking in this year’s NAR conference in Las Vegas.

I am incredible grateful and honored to have participated with your journey in selling your listings. And I look forward to many more to work with you in assisting staging your homes to sell quicker and more equity.

As always, I am here for your real estate needs. If you need anything, please do not hesitant to ask!

Cheers,

Cindy

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I recently completed a staging installation and I have to say… it is my new favorite project! I think the outcome looks really sharp.

The Staging Project: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, San Francisco
The Scope: Vacant Home Staging
The specs of the Home:

Main level has 2/Bed,1.5/Baths w/remodeled Baths + Eat in Kitchen w/ new appliances, cabinetry, granite countertops and flooring.Back deck off Kitchen overlooks level yard, new hardwood in L/R + D/R w/ high coved ceilings. New carpet + paint in/out.Lwr lvl w/ large garage, unwarranted room and 1/4 bath. Wide street, ample parking. Easy access to Hwys 280/101.

Listing Price: $829,000
SFAR MLS#: 334089

It was again a pleasure to work with the Listing Agent Jim again, whose San Mateo listing (click to see the before and after of this San Mateo staged home) was listed at $1,295,000 and sold at $1,370,000 ($75,000 Over-asking!).

Here are some before & after photos of the listing, or click the link to view the slide show via flickr:

(CLICK TO SEE MORE PHOTOS)

The latest edition of Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging is posted at www.staged4more.com (CLICK on this link to read it). Or go to: http://staged4more.com/blog/2007/11/19/carnival-of-real-estate-home-staging-ed-5/ 

To submit to future issues of Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging, do one of the two things here:

1. via blog carnival

2. via email to corehs@staged4more.com. If submit via email, please include:

• Article URL (permalink)
• Article title
• Author name
• E-mail address
• Blog URL
• Brief summary of the post

 

This is a carnival that is aimed to discuss and communicate all things home staging from various perspectives. I would love to see both non stagers and stagers participating and start conversations through various posts. To host one, you must have submitted your posts 3 times prior to host. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email me at hello@staged4more.com

Happy posting.

Cheers,

Cindy*Staged4more 

Cindy,

I recently started hiring a professional to dry clean carpets before the house gets listed. I also go around the home with a pack a post-its and mark what should stay in the room. Everything else must be packed away for the move or sold at a garage sale. What other ideas do you have?

Thanks.

Kathy

———————————————————–

Kathy has asked a very valid question. Here are a few things that I would recommend for Listing Agents to go over before staging the home:

   (CLICK Read more …)

Wednesday Series: Why Staged Homes Don’t Sell. In the series, I am going to cover:

1. What A Well Staged Home Does for a Sale
2. How Listing Agents Unintentionally Sabotage Their Own Staged Listings
3. What is the Seller's Problem?!
4. How A Stager Can Potentially Kill Your Deal
5. Other Real Estate Professionals' Play in the Mud Too

Let’s face it. Sometimes we can get a little bit “forgetful” and “blindsided” and completely forgot there are many other professionals involved in a real estate transactions. We are so tuned into our own jobs, we simply forgot there are the others that hold the sale together, and we stagers, too, just another link in the grand scheme of things.

Staging is not a true guarantee of a home sale, as I have covered in the past few Wednesdays since there are many variables that can play into the sale, causing the success rate to be unsteady. ONLY when all parties work together, a sale can be successful.

And when I say party, I mean it’s a party. In a real estate transaction, many people come into the play, not just sellers, agents and stagers. There are loan officers, mortgage companies, inspectors, title companies, appraisers, photographers, virtual assistants, insurance brokers, builders, attorneys, mortgage processors, lenders, property managers, escrow companies, financial planners, and sometimes even tenants.

Here is a flow chart of home selling process courtesy of Brian Block — Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate from his blog Selling a Home in Northern Virgina & D.C.: Step by Step Flowchart. Your process may slightly differ in different states, but generally it’s about the same roughly. You still have to go through so many sets of hands. (CLICK Read more …)

I surprise-visited little raspberries recently (so the owner won’t clean up before I show up hee hee, I can find out how they really organize the store…) which is a infant & children’s resale boutique that I had a couple consultation sessions with back in January. The owners didn’t have much money but they had been acting on my suggestions from our consultation sessions and working toward making the store more organized and transforming into the space that they dreamed about when they first bought the store last December.

Formerly known as Darla’s Baby Boutique, when mr. & mrs. raspberry bought the store, the original owner was weary of the space. Her heart was no longer in it and the customers felt it. The store was disorganized and messy. The inventory wasn’t working. The sales had plummeted. I felt very inspired after listening to mrs. raspberry about her vision for the store and how she wanted the store to be a space for the community. That’s something that I model my business after, so I glad took on the challenge. The store carries both resale and new inventories, as well as very bulky items such as strollers, play structures, etc. which can be tricky when it comes to organization. Also, when I was at the store for the first time, the paint job was very outdated, pealing and faded. Moreover, the display were messy and dis-organized. The inventory looked drabby and outdated. We knew it was going to be quite a challenge when we first met.

We decided that the scope of the project would include:
*Shopping assistance
*Redesigning the space
*Redesigning the shopping experience for boutique’s clients
*Creating a community space
*Streamline the inventory flow process to increase profits
*Cosmetic changes such as color consultations, furnitures, etc.

We were only able to meet twice, however, they had made a lot of great changes following my suggestions:

Here are some photos when we first begun:

Here is some after photos (still work in progress but I am SO proud of what they had done and how far they had come!): (CLICK to see the after Staged4more consultation photos & see what their customers had to say)

Hello

My dear client & friend Anjanette Bixel, a great Realtor serving Peninsula is holding a series of educational events. The first one is tomorrow. I hope those of you who are interested will be able to attend! Feel free to send this to your friends as well.

Cheers,

Cindy

Series Presentations
1) Investment Property Owners: TOMORROW, Nov 13th… See Invite Below
2) First Time Home Sellers
3) First Time Home Buyers
4) Value Add Of Upgrades to Your Home at Resale
5) Downsizing and Understanding Propositions 60 & 90
6) The Power of Your Credit Score
7) Estate Planning
8) Your Requests and additional needs

_______________________________________________________________________________

Anjanette Bixel, Aimee Klarich, & Joanne Bianchi
of

Alain Pinel Realtors - Burlingame
cordially invite you to
a presentation designed especially for

Investment Property Owners

With Special Guest Speakers:

Ron Ricard
Certified Exchange Specialist
IPX 1031

Troy Collins
Financial Advisor
McKinley Financial Group

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Registration: 6:45pm
Presentation: 7-8pm

Seating limited! Please R.S.V.P. 650.931.2950 or abixel@apr.com
Refreshments served.

www.APRsuite100.com

Location:
1440 Chapin Avenue, Suite 100, Burlingame

Directions:
US 101 North, exit Peninsula Avenue
Go west, turn Right onto El Camino
Turn Right onto Chapin
Building is on the Left

US 101 South, exit Broadway Avenue
Go west, turn Left onto El Camino
Turn Left onto Chapin
Building is on the Left

Wednesday Series: Why Staged Homes Don’t Sell. In the series, I am going to cover:

1. What A Well Staged Home Does for a Sale
2. How Listing Agents Unintentionally Sabotage Their Own Staged Listings
3. What is the Seller’s Problem?!
4. How A Stager Can Potentially Kill Your Deal
5. Other Real Estate Professionals’ Play in the Mud Too

A staged home can be the answer to selling houses. BUT It’s only a marketing tool that is as effective as how someone uses it, or if it’s fundamentally a sound solution to begin with. There are 3 causes that a stager can potentially kill the sale by providing inappropriate staging to the home. They are: unqualified, inexperience, and have really no clue what staging is.

Unqualified: My good friend Linda R once said “Not all stagers are created equal” and she really nailed it on the head. Everyone had different training and backgrounds, and sad to say that some even don’t have trainings nor backgrounds. I receive emails or calls all the time from budding stagers. It generally goes as (Click here to Read more on how stagers can hurt a sale …)

Design Within Reach is having a sample sale this weekend! My biggest tip for you is to get there ONE HOUR early to make sure you can get in early. The sale is usually crazy, so I would recommend to bring a buddy to help you lay across the couch that you have been eying so no one else can buy it before you. Also keep in mind what you wanted to buy may not be on sale on the floor, but the sale is restocked all the time so do ask the sales person about stuff you think should be on sale but it’s not at the sale.

Happy shopping!

Cheers,

Cindy*Staged4more

This edition is super small. Only 1 was selected to be featured since the other submissions were not qualified (they did not talk about staging).

Interestingly enough, I recently received an email from a fellow stager “A” whom I really admired about the carnival. “A” expressed that s/he has been standing on the sideline and watch since s/he doesn’t know what posting in the home staging carnival can do for him/her. “A” however posts at Carnival of Real Estate because it’s beneficial for his/her web traffic. Well, here is what I am gonna say. You ain’t gonna get the benefits if you don’t participate! Anything takes time to grow. All of us have been growing our own businesses should really know better than that. Active Rain is another very good example of that. If it weren’t for the original few who kept on blogging, how can we reap the fruits now?!

I really envision this carnival to grow and help to create conversations between stagers & non-stagers (realtors, clients, other real estate professionals), but I can’t do it without your help! For this carnival to grow strong, we need quality content and active participation.

I also credit the low submission of this edition as my fault, since I don’t think I had made it very clear of how it works. Bear with me here, since there is first time for everything and I am still on the learning curve! So here is the 411:

• Who can post? Anyone, as long as the article is relevant to the field of home staging.
• What is the content/topic? Anything about home staging. You can talk about why you don’t think it works, why it works, if you are a seller, what did you think of it? If you are an agent, why do you or don’t you use a stager? yada yada yada
• When do you post? The editions come out every other Monday. You can also see it on blogcarnival.com. If you feel you have a quality post, feel free to submit it. The more the merrier.
• Who can host it? Anyone, I don’t have to be the only host! But in order to host it, you must be an active participant of this carnival. You will need to submit relevant content at least 3 times to qualify.
• Any suggestions? YES, PLEASE DO TELL!
• To submit, do one of the two things here:*via blog carnival
  *via email to corehs@staged4more.com
  * If submit via email, please include:
• Article URL (permalink)
• Article title
• Author name
• E-mail address
• Blog URL
• Brief summary of the post

Without further ado, let’s give a gold star for Karen Dembsky, Home Stager in Atlanta, GA for kindly submit her relevant and wonderful article.

In her post Write Words for the Right Photos, she talks about how important it is how she hones her language to help to feature and market her staged homes properly.

As always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to write me at hello (at) staged4more (dot) com.

Cheers,

Cindy*Staged4more

The next edition of Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging is coming up next Monday! I would love to hear from your point of view on staging, whether you are a seller, realtor or stager, or just simply got something to say about it. Both negative and positive.

The submission for the upcoming edition is this Sunday by 11pm. If you want to be a future host of this carnival, please let me know as well. Also, it could also be fun to have specific topics. If you want to suggest one, feel free to let me know as well.
To submit, do one of the two things here:

*via blog carnival
*via email to corehs@staged4more.com
Please include:

1. Article URL (permalink)
2. Article title
3. Author name
4. E-mail address
5. Blog URL
6. Brief summary of the post

Looking forward to yours
Cheers,

Cindy*Staged4more