Home Staging. Designs. Life.

Active Rain has been a great wealth of information for me, but sometimes when I need my non-real-estate fix, I read outside of the AR community. I want to find out, do you? Do you read outside of real estate blogs or you only read AR blogs? Why or why not? More importantly, why do you blog? Now that you have been blogging on AR, do you consider yourself as a blogger?

Here is a list of my favorite blogs... (click and find out)

I recently also found a site for women bloggers: BlogHer. They also recently had a blogging conference in Chicago (oh how I miss Chicago!)

One of my favorite blogs (I recently found it through LifeHacker and have fallen in love with it) is Pick The Brain, an analytical approach to self-improvement has 101 Online Self Improvement Resources that lists 101 blogs on subjects such as business, productivity, educational, etc. I highly recommend to check it out!

Cheers,

Cindy
www.staged4more.com
stagingtipsandmore.blog.com

I looked at my stats this morning and realized that I have written 101 blogs on Active Rain! That's pretty crazy. Come think of it, it's been about 10 months since I joined AR and so much in my professional and personal life has changed. I came from a budding stagers seeking advices to a semi-seasoned stager now :) contributing online with my fellow staging sisters & brothers who come from a variety of different backgrounds, geographical areas from me. It's pretty cool. I especially feel the love of AR when I went to the IAHSP convention in Chicago, walking down the halls of the conference hall "Hey, are you Cindy Lin from Active Rain?" And meeting for Chicago Deep Dish with Craig & Sue Argue. What makes me love about AR is its community, and how we give each other constructive criticisms and help each other grow each other's businesses, whether we are stagers, realtors, builders, inspectors, etc. What makes AR so special is that we choose to align ourselves with people who want to see this industry propel forward. And I am very happy that I am on AR, because my friends and family may not understand what I go through daily, but you people get it!

Looking forward to 100 more ;)

Cheers, 

Cindy 

Recently I redeisgn-staged a client's listing for sale. Basically we used as much as home owner's belongings as possible, which I was happy to oblige. I believe in not buying more things to stage your own house and you can make it work when you put your mind to it! When you sell your home and we as stagers, it's our job to work with the clients (you) and work with your budget. And what I love the most is that I can think outside of the box!

When I was at the home for consultation, their coffee table was buried under piles of magazines and stuff, I didn't realize that their coffee table looks a bit outdated so I didn't bring fabric with me to cover it up. I had to cover it up because the pattern is too distracting for home buyers. They will end up commenting on the table, instead of seeing the floorplan.

I was trying to find sheets or cloth that we can use and that was not patterned but I couldn't find any in the home. Then, I glanced up and saw the furry throw on the couch, AH-HA!

I flipped it over and used it as a table cloth. There were some baby puke up there but I strategically covered with the home owner's own magazines. ;) I tried standing their vase on the cloth but it was too furry. The vase wouldn't stand properly. So I found this book in their cupboard and used it as a "tray." They also had a decorative basket laying around so I put in some of my own neon green wicker balls (when my sister bought them for me, I thought "What?!" But now I see her wisdom. It just adds that little pops of color!). And.. Viola! The realtor loves it! And I love it too!

To see the property, please visit the virtual tour here. (I haven't had a chance to post before and after photos on my site yet, but I will do that soon. ;) ) 

(Side note: this blog is not meant to make fun of my client's stuff. It's really to illustrate that you can make it work by de-personalizing and avoid distracting the buyers!)

I staged a starter home lately with a tricky floor plan. The dining room is situated between living room and kitchen, basically a walkway.

Here is the before:

Had the home not been staged, buyers would've have a difficult time to figure out what they can do with this room. Additionally I picked furniture that are "slim" and able to be tucked in to make the room feel less cramped. It will also help buyers to recognize this "walkway" room is really a dining room.

Here is the after:

I was flipping through channels today and came across this "Confession of A Matchmaker" show where the matchmaker was trying to get her client Ashley to get rid of the heavy makeup and the tanning bed to attract the guy that she wants. Ashley complaints that she attracts all the fake guys who don't treat her right, which the matchmaker Patty explained was because of her "fake" look, she will attract that type of guys she had been with lately. They also showed a before photo of Ashley couple years ago where she looked like the girl next door, very sweet and no makeup nor heavy fake tanned skin. 

That got me thinking... That's true, if I would go on a date with a punk rocker, I probably won't dress up like a financial planner. And suddenly "bing!" This light bulb went off in my head: I should tailor my marketing to attract the type of client that I want!

Which made a lot of sense why my expensive marketing didn't work. I plunked down $3100 once for an expensive ad in a very nice home design magazine, hoping to get bigger staging jobs. But what I didn't bargain for were multi-multi-million dollar homes that have 10 bedrooms and 12-car garages or historical homes that need special furniture that I was not able to rent. My business is growing and ready to handle higher end homes, but I didn't realize that my ad would attract homes with bigger price tags than I am equipped to handle. 

Now with the expensive lesson in mind, I am much more careful when I prepare for marketing materials. I want to make sure I am hitting the right buttons that would really catch my audiences' attention. I realize that how well I will do business is really depending on what kind of image & message I send out there in the world. It's like fishing, I would use different baits for different types of fish I am aiming for. So instead of casting a wide net catching leads with uneven qualities, I pinpoint and get the results that I want. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money, like my very great looking ad but have no results. 

I also toyed with the idea of joining organizations such as BBB or Diamond Certified. The price tag is steep. But after this lesson, I have decided to save that money toward direct mail to past and potential clients. $3100 can accomplish a lot in direct mail. 

Hello,

I was going through my photos today and found another one that is applicable for the post and further shows the contrasts between using flash on the camera or not. I added to the original post: Let there be Light! Natural Light!

Cheers,

Cindy
www.staged4more.com
stagingtipsandmore.blog.com

As the market has tighten in San Francisco Bay Area, I have noticed that I got an increased calls for redesign to sell jobs, which means the sellers will be living in the home while they are selling. I also have consequently toured homes that have been sitting on the market for awhile (such as 140 days) that are live-in.

Here is what I have found:

Knives in the kitchen or other weapons for that matter (such as knives or gun collection)-- Kitchen knives are shockingly common during open houses mainly because they are very needed for daily life. But it can also be dangerous if your "buyers" don't have the best intention in mind, especially in our area, majority of single family homes start around 1 million dollars.. Robbers will assume you have money & expensive items in your house.

Personal photos, especially kids -- We love adorable kids just as you do, but displaying your children's or grand children's photos is not safest thing during open house. During an open house, there are lots of people walking around and it is very unlikely the agent will actually able to identify they are actual buyers, not people with history of violence and sexual offenses. During the open homes, buyers are free to roam around the home to explore the floor plan and learn where the exits and entrances are. Similarly, they will see your photos. Usually after touring a home during a consultation or an open home, I can tell what the child looks like, what's his/hers name, what does he/she like, his/hers favorite toys, etc. 

Even if you don't have kids, displaying personal items can tell tourers how many people live in the home and their living habits. Especially single woman or someone living by himself/herself need to be aware of this. The tourers can find out what you look like, your age group, what your profession is and what you like to do for fun. (I lived with 60 girls, everyone loved their party photos.)

Opportunities for identity thefts -- I have visited quite a few homes where the homeowners kind of got the idea that declutter is a must. But what they meant was they would stack papers neatly on the office desk, including their bills. Most bills contain personal information such as account numbers that can easily be swiped during a crowded open house.

Expensive jewelry & money -- True, your agent will be responsible and follow your potential buyers around during an open house. But what if there are more than 1 person in the touring party? 1 can easily distracts your agent while the other swipes your expensive jewelry in their pockets & purses. During an open house, broker/agent has to be multi-tasking and they may not be able to pay attention to smaller items such as a diamond ring.

Medication -- People DO steal medication to sell to others or whatever other reasons. In my area, there was a man who dresses very nicely and poses as a buyer and goes around to crowded open houses to raid people's medicine cabinets. I found out because agents were going around the blocks to warn their fellow agents during tour day. 

So please be safe! There's nothing more important than your safety. More than any amount of money you can receive. 

Happy Selling,

Cindy
www.staged4more.com    

I don't normally shop Pottery Barn furniture but I saw their new "Smart Technology" collection and it's actually pretty cool since it combines style and functions AND organizations (my favorite combo really, what more can a girl ask for?). Especially since gadgets can create a lot of CLUTTER and unsightly wires. The collection integrates the gadget clutter and also adding other functional and organization features. Here are my picks...

detail view of the pinbaord & speaker combo ($259)

room view of the pin board & speaker combo

detail view of bedford smart desktop hutch ($99)

room view of desktop hutch

  leah desk ($369)

detail view of leah desk

When:

Wednesday, July 18, 2007, 6:30 PM

Where:

A Perfect Finish
55 South First Street
San Jose , CA 95113

• Info/Map

Description:

Hello

From now on we are having Third Wednesday Happy Hours with changing locations. This July will be in San Jose at the new wine bar.

A Perfect Finish
55 South First Street (Corner of 1st and Post)
San Jose, CA 95113
408.288.6000
http://www.apfwinebar...
http://www.yelp.com/b...

There is a parking garage that will charge right next door and 2 public
"FREE AFTER 6PM" parking lots on San Fernando. On a Wednesday night it
should be fine.

***Bring money for your own food & wine. Oh, of course, a stack of business cards & your marketing materials!

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,

Cindy

In real estate, we come across a lot of different cultures and backgrounds. Some we can relate, some we can't at all. I am from Taiwan originally, and "frog eggs," i.e. boba or tapioga, rice balls, is one of our proud invention. When I was in college, it became the raging trends and everyone started to drink it and accept it. However, when it first came out in the states, people were like, eww what is this?! Now it's pretty acceptable and embraced by people who are not Taiwanese. It took a little time for people to get used to it.

Similarly, same with touring homes from buyers' point of view. You love your cultural heritage or whatever background that you came from, you proudly present it and show it off anywhere you can. However, buyers may not be used to it and am so shocked and distracted by it when they first see it, they forgot to see your house!

Remember, de-personalize your home when you sell it to help buyers see your listing, which is now a product. They have to be able to visualize themselves in your space, therefore, without your stuff in it.

That means:

*No worship or any religious items, even if it's Elvis:

*No sexual items: (yes, sorry that your workout pole has to go)

*any items or art that can be deemed as ethnic because they can be distracting to the buyers since they are not used to see them.

I de-staged a condo on Sunday and I played with the camera a little...

Here is a photo of the space with the blinds drawn and no lights turned on, no flash:

Here is a photo of the same space with the blinds drawn BUT with the lights turn on, no flash: slightly brighter but not much difference

Here is the photos with the shades drawn, lights on, no flash:

Here is the photo of the staged space, shot with flash:

The natural light helps A LOT to make the home feel like a welcoming space, doesn't it? 

I recently went to a seminar on lighting and how the lighting affects our visual impressions and the paint colors on the wall. We went over the pros and cons of florescent lights, LEDs and natural lights. I won't bore you with all the scientific data, but  in conclusion, natural light is the best lighting source because it compliments your subjects and naturally warms up the space instead of artificial lights, which can give off a cold presence if not lit and utilized properly.

A good friend of mine send me this today:

"What would your life be like if every decision, every word you spoke or whispered, every thought, and every deed first went through a filter of love? The Sufi poet Hafiz is quoted as saying, “When all your desires are distilled, you will cast just two votes: to love more, and be happy.” What if we could live for love in each moment? Imagine if rather than reacting to a pointed question with defensiveness and protection, we instead reacted with a smile. Imagine if we could gaze lovingly upon someone or something we have disdain for with sweetness, forgiveness, and joy. All love is in essence self-love. If you love yourself completely then there is no need to be defensive. If you love yourself unconditionally then everyone you see is a reflection of you. If you love yourself and forgive yourself and only want the best for yourself . . . then the best is love in every moment."

I love it because I find it very applicable to us who are in the service industry. We are human beings too and a lot of time we don't treat ourselves like humans :) We treat ourselves like super humans who can get everything done all at once and in a very short amount of time frame. Sometimes we push ourselves too hard and spread ourselves too thin. We lose our sights and our passion about the business, its people and what is truly important behind our work -- our clients and changing their lives one house at a time.  This is a great reminder that if we love and respect ourselves, and most importantly, forgive ourselves, and be a little bit selfish sometimes by focusing on our own well beings before we service others, treat ourselves sometimes with a proper break and love ourselves.. then we will succeed in what we do and be surrounded by supportive and loving people who will be there for us through hard times.

Cheers,

Cindy 

I have been reading this book (HIGHLY recommend it!) The Brand Called You: The Ultimate Personal Branding Handbook to Transform Anyone into an Indispensable Brand. It's a very good book of how you can tailor your marketing message and brand yourself by using various channels and tools. It goes through individual channel of communication such as working referrals, website, direct mail, etc. and combines with a list of to-dos and case studies. I highly recommend it! It's full of great information that us in real estate industry can use and improve upon. It also is really about having a unique selling point & marketing strategy by incorporating your personality to differentiate you from your competitors.

The book also recommends to use your name with your personal branding instead of coming up with a company name that may be corporate sounding. BUT here is my question.. There are so many "Cindy Lin" out there  (heck I have a cousin name Cindy Lin and Lin is only the 2nd most common last name after Chang/Chen/Chan. And I have definitely googled myself on the internet.. You want to know who's the one that pops up first? A 19-year-old porn star named Cindy Lin!) and why I camp up with the name "Staged4more" is because I want to convey the idea that I want the listing be staged and then the sellers can get more out of their equity, life, etc. by selling in less time and possibly receive more money out of the sale, so they can move on with their life and get more out of the sale. At the same time, I resonate with what the author is saying -- which is that making your business personal therefore personable so your customers don't feel that they are calling to a corporate person when they approach your company.

Here is the question that I want to throw out to everyone: does it affect your decision of hiring a stager/real estate professional if it is a personal name such as Cindy Lin's Staging Services vs. a company name like Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns? 

The San Francisco Bay Area real estate market has really tighten lately. There is a significant drop in the buyers' pool, demands have gone down and houses are taking a LOT longer to sell. In a competitive market like this, staging becomes ever more in demand because of all the media coverages. However, there are a few misconceptions that I found happening more often from both sellers and the realtors:

1. Staging is the answer to fundamental flaws of the home. Think of it as a makeover. We are what comes in last -- the make up. Quoting Lucile Ball: "Let me go put my face on." and what's what I do as a stager. I put the "face" on for my client's listing and help them to transform their home into a salable product. But makeup does not equal to nip/tuck, i.e. I cannot do perform magic to make a giant hole in the foundation disappear or make the existing awkward floor plan less awkward. A homeowner has asked me, "Can your staging hide my uneven floor?" or "Can you use a carpet to cover this big hole in our kitchen?" Well, no amount of staging can hide that. Second of all, if the floor is uneven or there is a gigantic hole in the floor, the buyers probably want to know that before they sign on the dotted lines. Or they can sue for non-disclosures. (We Californians just love lawsuits, yeah?) Staging also doesn't justify your flawed floor plan although proper staging can give buyers a better idea how to place their furnishing once they move into the home.
   
   
2. Because of the home is staged, I can ask for $10,000 more. I had a conversation with a local realtor who is coming out with a new listing. He knows that comparing to his competition in the neighborhood, his listing is smaller and less updated. However, he is hoping that by staging the home he can ask for the similar amount of money that the other competing homes ask for. Staging is not permanent. After the home is sold, the stagers will remove their inventory from the home unless the buyers want to buy the inventory placed in the home together. Even so, it doesn't justify additional $10,000. Just because of the home looks nice, it doesn't compensate a smaller closet, a weird floor plan, etc. Staging is marketing and packaging your home to make it show nicer, which may prompt buyers to offer more money in a seller's market. But in a competitive buyers' market, buyers will pay a lot more attention on how to get the bang of their bucks. Staging will help the sellers to get the inventory of the market sooner but not necessary that additional equity that they initial may hope for. PRICE IS STILL THE DETERMINED FACTOR IN A SALE.
   
   
3. Staging the home means I don't have to do as much marketing. I also have come across agents who don't market the home as much as they normally would once the home is staged because they feel that staging will automatically bring in foot traffics, so they don't pay much of attention into their marketing. They feel that since the home is advertised as staged, other agents will more inclined to bring in people to show anyway and it will automatically attract people when it's "shown" online. I see a lot of the listing photos of the staged homes countering the affects of staging by portraying the staged space in a dark light (often there was no flash nor lights turned on and all the blinds were closed). Here is an example:
   
   
   The room became dark and it's hard to feel appealed and wanting to buy when you see a dark space. Buyers will automatically assume that even if the window is opened, the room is still very dark.
   
   
   Versus this photo where the room looks much brighter and more inviting.

It's my job as a stager to help realtors and sellers to show off the home and help to increase foot traffic through inviting styling, but sometimes there are only so much we can do from our part. It takes a team who work together to market the home properly to get it sold!

This article is written by Cindy Lin, owner of Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns who serves all San Francisco Bay Area. For more before & after photos, questions about staging, please visit www.staged4more.com or visit our blog: StagingTipsandMore.blog.com

I still run into skeptics when I mentioned to people that I blog. They say "What's the point? It's just a waste of time and I have better things to do." Well, once again Active Rain has proved them wrong! Today I got a calll out of the blue from a local realtor who was referred to me because the lovely Laura Monroe on Active Rain has referred me. It's such a pleasant surprise!

This makes me an even firmer believer of power of networking, moreover, social networking where using blogs to express your opinions & expertise and at the same time building trust and relationships with someone who may be local or miles away in another state. Isn't that what our industry is about? It has always been about the relationships we build with people we meet. It's one of the greatest thing I love about being in real estate, is that you truly have to love people and what you do to remain in business. There are too many variables against our odds at succeeding, but it's by building relationships and support with each other, we strive and grow stronger.

Not only I have found valuable information about running my businesses and learning tips and tricks on staging, it helps me to "meet" professionals from around the country and learn about each other's markets. Moreover, I have made great friends through Active Rain like Sue Argue & Craig Schiller, when we met in person, we felt like old friend and picked up where we left off. Thanks again AR!

Staging is a marketing tool, it's about dressing up and styling the home to make it a welcoming space for buyers to move in mentally. It also transforms a home into a sell-able product -- a listing, a tool to gain more equity out of your biggest investment of your life. But staging is often disguised as a tool of hiding undesirable traits of a home, sometimes legal information that should be disclosed by the agents & sellers. Staging is not conditioning. It cannot make your leaky roof go away and it certainly cannot conceals any fundamental flaws the home has.

I had a seller asked me once: "Can staging hide the fact that my floor is unleveled?" Frankly, no, no amount of staging can fix an unleveled floor. And that's something your buyers should know before they sign on the dotted line. Or, how would you like they come back with the claim that you purposely concealed that fact that your floor is uneven and backed out the deal, or worse, slap you and your realtor and your stager a lawsuit?!

We, as real estate professionals, should also create reasonable expectations for buyers, meaning that we don't over-fixing the photos to make the listings look like a multi-million dollar listings then when buyers actually work through the door, they feel that they have walked into a shack. Or under-representing the homes through photos that don't do the home justice. 

The first scenario doesn't happen very often, but the second one comes up very often.  

These are some of the photos for a $15,000,000 property in California (yes, that many 0s!):

mmm. looks a little spooky to me to live in. does "ghost" come with the house? or that's an added feature?

And what is this shadow looming at the bottom of the photo?

Woo, how about this one? A Polaroid photo! Perfect to market my $9,880,000 listing!

Whether we are selling multi-million dollar homes or starter homes, we need to create reasonable buyer expectations when we market the home, i.e. creating a space they can envision themselves living there. Now more than ever, our internet presence is more crucial when it comes to internet shopping for buyers. It will add to our sellers' bottom line and ours. We only have one-shot at creating first impressions. So make it a good one.

Blogging started out as a personal tool to share our daily tidbits with friends and families living miles away. Now, blogging has become a marketing tool. We use it to drive our site traffic, to add our credibility and to road test ideas. But just because you blog, it doesn't mean people will read it. Anyone can start a blog very easily. Some people writes multiple blogs. Some have become professional bloggers who can make $100,000 a year. And Even my 7-year-old cousin has a blog!

Here are a few reasons why unoriginal blog content can backfire and hurt your business:

1. Unoriginal = boring. And boring doesn't get readership, you are basically wasting your time.
   
   
2. Writing to sell your stuff: Consumers are not stupid and we are not sheep. We are so bombarded by marketing messages everyday that we are prone to turn them off mentally or feel repulsive by it. If you've got stuff to sell that's great, but don't do it at every blog. You need to prove your worthiness and credibility before consumers will want to buy it. (Think how we try on 10 lipsticks before we actually buy 1. Or test drive 3 different cars before buying 1.) So convince your readers first that you are worth it before sell it to us!
   
   
3. Just because you are good at copy and pasting, doesn't mean we acknowledge you as an expert in the field. We believe in experts because of the things they say, the way they walk the talk and how they present themselves. Even if your content is great, but all copied and pasted from someone else, that just shows you are a great researcher, doesn't mean you are a blogger.
   
   
4. Fake content can harm your business and hurt your reputation. The best example is Walmart's fan blog: Walmarting across America, which was the brainchild of Walmart's PR firm. It's about an average American couple (Jim & Laura) traveling across the country in an RV spending each night in a Walmart parking lot. It goes on and on how wonderful the employees are, how great the products are and what a great company walmart is (there were stories like an employee's son was dying of cancer but was saved by the insurance that walmart provided, yada yada yada). Unfortunately for walmart, the "brilliantly" thought-out PR plot sparked was challenged by labor unions and other investigative agencies. People thought the blog was completely fake at first, then there were Jim & Laura, real people who actually traveled through the country in a RV. Well, a RV fully paid for by walmart's charity, used to counter accusations from unions. Oh, gas was well paid for too by walmart. How about the blog entries? Well, walmart paid for that too. Laura, who wrote the blog, defended walmart that truly they had not met a disgruntled walmart employee (so how come I go to my local walmart and every time I meet one?) and these stories are true. But how credible are these words when the public has found out you were paid to write these content?
   
   Or remember A Million Little Pieces? Oprah was FURIOUS. Do you want to piss off Oprah?

So let's get some more of those great original content on AR!

Cheers,

Cindy 

Apparently today is the most sought-out wedding date EVER in history. Not only a famous desperate housewife (if you have been living under the rock, it's Eva L.) is getting hitched, many couples locally are as well. Ritz Carlton even has 777 package to caters to couples who get married on 7/7/7.

Most of us pray for that lucky day for the big break of our career. But if I am just going to sit at home dwindling my thumb and pray from my own 7-7-7, it's never gonna happen (unless I did something fantastic in the last life, like save the Pope's life or God owes me one, but I seriously doubt it.). It takes hard work to really "activate" that luck, what I meant is that you have to do your fair share of the work, you have to be ready, then when the opportunity strikes, it's your very lucky day.

1. Be prepared to talk. In this industry, anything can happen at any time. You never know when people will call you about your services. You need to be prepared to talk about your business anytime, anywhere: waiting in line at the grocery store (or a really long line at the ladies room), working at your desk, in front of a group of people. Have your elevator speech ready to able to speak at any time.
   
   
2. Be prepared to act. If someone calls you out of the blue and wants their listing on the market by the end of the week, can you do it? Can you drive over in a short notice to list if you are a realtor? Can you stage it at a such short notice if you are a stager? Can you pull a vendor out of your roledex when your client asks for a vendor?
   
   
3. During slow season: Just because business is slow doesn't mean you got  nothing to do. You can catch up on paperwork, continue education, writing newsletter & tweaking marketing materials. It's the perfect time to catch up and renew your marketing plan, goals and tactics to attract and generate more business.
   
   
4. During hot season: Are you still prospecting? In our industry, if we don't prospect, our businesses die. It's as simple as that. I was chatting with a business coach about how crazy it was during a busy patch and I totally dropped the ball on prospecting. Then I saw a significant slow down the following month. She started laughing and said ALL her small business clients say the same exact thing: We don't prospect when we are busy, it's only when we are not busy we freak out about prospecting! So true, so true, so be sure to implement a system to help yourself through hot seasons.
   
   
5. Be organized: Organization is an integral of how smoothly our businesses run. If my inventory is messy and organized, it takes me longer to prep for a job. I spent a lot of time pacing around the warehouse looking for a specific thing, at the same time I am telling myself "don't forget the throw, don't forget the throw, don't forget the throw, don't forget the throw...." and of course, 6 miles out I am on the freeway "(*&^*&^ I forgot the throw!" Being organized also can save you money. What if you forgot to send the bill to the escrow and you weren't paid for your services? Or if you are a realtor and you lost an important check?