There were NO submissions this week, but I do want to highlight an event: Sheron Cardin presents STAGER IDOL - FLIER YOU CAN USE posted at Sheron Cardin’s Home Staging Blog, saying, “Get on board and then pass on the good news about Stager Idol”

Again, the carnival needs YOUR participation to become successful and fruitful for you. Otherwise, it’s just another dying carnival.

Cheers,
Cindy

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

Related Articles:

• Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging Ed #8
• Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging Ed #7
• Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging Ed #6
• Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging: Ed #5
• I want YOU for the Next Real Estate Home Staging Blog Carnival!!!

EVERYONE can submit as long as the subject matter pertains to staging. 

Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of real estate home staging using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. All the past editions are also archived at the new site: corehs.info. Feel free to join the network on the site

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

Here is the publication calendar for 2008:

If you would like to host an edition, please let me know!

So after my post of cardboard furniture for staging, I found cardboard rugs! These rugs are the brain child of Dutch designer Wendy Plomp, whose artist statement is :

“Cardboard is probably the cheapest industrial packaging material available on the market. Any image that is printed onto this typically throwaway material can turn into a streetwise design object; something that can have a glorious second life if left to the street where it can be spontaneously employed in new applications.For instance, it could be reborn as a disposable carpet that could instantly provide you with a clean space wherever you are, almost like a home.To prolong the lifespan and usefulness of boxes, informative messages or ornate arabesque patterns reminiscent of precious carpets could be printed on the inside surfaces. An example could be the food parcels dropped in disaster areas; this unexploited space could be used to provide valuable information which, especially in those conditions, might be enormously helpful.”

What do you think? Do you think this is stagable? Share your thoughts below at the comment section!

(photo courtesy of Blogtrepreneur)

Blogging

1. Consistently blog 3-5 times per week: I think one of the best part of my job is blogging, because I have loved writing since I was a child, this surprising development in the modern world really have re-ignited that love for me.
   You may already notice that we have been posting Monday through Friday consistently for this past two weeks, and a pattern starts to emerge:
   • Monday: Staging Industry
   • Tuesday: Useful Links & Tools
   • Wednesday: Staging
   • Thursday: Reader’s Question/Issues & Guest post
   • Friday: Fun Stuff Friday
2. Increase blog subscription to 100 members: One of the great things that I love about blogging is the sense of community. It will be fantastic to have more involvement & interaction on this platform, especially staging is such a new field, it will be great to (Read more …)

I have been researching what are the new 2008 home decor color trends, and here are roughly the main groups/themes of colors for 2008:

Photo Courtesy of ColourLover

>>Green/eco-friendly looking colors: As the trend of living green arises, needs for greener materials rise as well. Similarly faux finishes that look like those lifestyle trends become popular as well. The finishes will look hand-made and un-processed (i.e. no dying nor bleaching). Texture is key, especially nature-like textures. In color terms, you are looking at earth tone, as well as colors that are in the blue & green color group as they represent sky/ocean and greeneries.

>>Pantone suggests: “Wellspring: Inspired by the water that literally supports and sustains life.”

• Blue Iris 18-3943
• Kiwi16-0235

Photo Courtesy of North Sullivan

>>Cultural influences: As globalization is on the rise, we are more aware of other cultures as well. From my personal observations, zen-style & spa-style lifestyles are (Read more …)

I get a lot of questions about tools, especially from homeowners who are afraid of their wall, so they rather live with really white walls than walls with big beautiful art & photographs. Or homeowners who can’t visualize their spaces. I want to introduce cool tools, which is a wonderful site that the site owner, Kevin Kelly, really believes that

“Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on [cool tools] are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We only post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.”

The site has a great deal of tools, which you can browse under their categories, ranging from (Read more …)

So many of you may already heard of LinkedIn but haven't joined. Or joined but it doesn't really do anything for you. So I created an Active Rain group so we can network more easily.

What is LinkedIn?

Blogging has become the new love and one of the fave past times of real estate professionals, and a lot even swear by it because blogging has helped them getting clients & establish their credibilities. What I would like to find out is that if you blog consistently, do you consider blogging as an income producing business activity?

[I apologize, I couldn't get the embedding to work. So please click here to vote. Thanks :) Also if you know how to embed javascript, let me know!] 

Should I add this to my staging arsenal? Do you think buyers will be able to visualize themselves living there now? hee hee

Found on SappyMooseTree. You can find other fun stuff like Angel Bacons, Snow Ball Ornaments, and even apparel & paper goods. It’s very quirky and fun stuff, and the artist is actually still pursuing her undergrad education! I always love to support budding entrepreneurs!

Sushi is a great love of mine, another one is color. A fantastic thing about sushi is that it is a feast to your eyes. The fattiness of the sushi adds depths & shades to the fish itself. Look at how vibrant that ikura is! (center grid, fish roes) MMM yum!

Here are a few ways you can infuse the sushi palette into your daily life:

The Avocado Roll

Fatty Tuna

Spam Sushi

Soy Sauce

Temari Sushi

Colors & Graphics via [COLOURlovers]

I posted my previous post Seller’s Over-Confidence Killed The Deal And His Own Pocket and the lovely Marzena Melby of Counselor Realty.com had a comment that captured the post so well that I think it deserves its own post:

Cindy,

In more than 12 years of my real estate practice I have seen many sellers do this. Whether they are selling themselves or with an agent, they self destruct for many reasons:

• “I set my budget at a minimum of $250,000, I know my house is worth that much, so… $235,000 won’t work at all”
• “I know you told me that we should list at $375,000 but that doesn’t give me any room for negotiation, so I want to start at $425,000″!

I could fill a book with examples of conversations with clients (buyers also (CLICK TO Read more …)

The new edition of Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging is here! 

<!-- Carnival Submission --><!-- Carnival Submission -->In her blog Adding a little more alphabet to my REALTOR(R) soup! posted at Team Reba Real Estate, Reba Haas shares her experiences of gaining a real estate designation on staging. If you are not familiar with Reba, she leads her team to specialize in investment and residential real estate and is soon to be adding commercial topics as well on her blog.

<!-- Carnival Submission --> Kathleen Lordbock points out the differences between (Read more …)

I caught TLC’s Property Ladder this morning about a 25-year-old seller & first time house flipper T.J. who “hopes to make a ton of cash in just 12 weeks by doing a modern makeover on a classic house. Things go terribly wrong when his loan applications are rejected and he is forced to beg, borrow and plead to make his first $4,800 mortgage payment.” (From TLC website)

Originally, he bought the home at $584,000 and spent $40,000 on renovations. Let’s pretend that he did find a buyer who is willing to pay for an overpriced property, he could obtain a profit at $125,000 if he sold at his asking price. After the price reduction and 2 mortgage payments, his profit became $56,400.

A total 21 weeks on the market (that’s 147 days!!!), he finally received an offer at (Read more …)

I still can’t believe 2007 is already over. A year has changed a lot! Pamela Anderson has gotten married… and err.. divorced. Paris Hilton went to jail. Facebook is now yesterday’s Friendster. K-Fed is actually proven to be the “better” parent than Britney Spears. Oh my my!

And these are the staging “Trends” that need to go with 2007 (These photos were pulled from Redfin’s search. The criteria was set at 90+ days on market. After viewing the photos, it’s not difficult to imagine why these properties stay on market for so long):

10. Terrible View

This is really nothing to write home about. Why feature a terrible view that is full of weeds and a shack? Each listing photo should tell a story, what is the story of this one?

Or what is the use for this photo of the staircase? Does vertigo come with the house?

9. Forgot the Outside Curb Appeal

Right, I understand you are selling a house. What house?!

8. (Read more …)

After 11207 Visits & 50240 Page Views by visitors in 2007, here are the Best of Staged4more in 2007:

Most Popular Posts

1. What Britney Spears Taught Me About Staging to Sell A Home
2. Why Staged Homes Don’t Sell
3. What Makes a Stager an Amateur or a Professional?
4. How a Stager Can Potentially Kill Your Deal
5. Reader’s Comment: Staging is A Waste of Time

Most Viewed Listings

1. 135 Madrone, San Francisco
2. 2001 McAllister, San Francisco
3. 225 Dwight, Burlingame
4. 1103 Shelter Creek, San Bruno
5. 768 Francisco, San Francisco

Honorable Mentions for Carnival of Real Estate

1. Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog: “At Staged4more Cindy tells us what’s it’s like to have a bunch of stagers in one room. I thought that they might fight over chairs (or where to put them).”
2. A Better Mortgage: “The Don’t Go In There After Me Award - Cindy Lin gives some great advice as it pertains to the realm of home inspection. specifically how NOT to try and get into the industry.”
3. VFlyer: “ Humor:
   We all need a little humor and Cindy Lin’s post What Britney Spears Taught Me About Staging to Sell A Home shares some great insight with some funny, yet applicable, references to pop diva Britney Spears. I am sure you’ll love the photos!”
4. Carnival of Real Estate: “Cindy Lin @ Staged4more presents » Blog Archive How to Use Staging to Sell Your Home (Cindy’s Guest Blog @ FreeMoneyFinance) posted at Staged4more Home Staging Tips + more!.”

(World Series Scoreboard 1957 courtesy of klickerchick on flickr)

Popular Series:

1. Guest Blogging on FreeMoneyFinance on staging homes to sell
2. Why Staged Homes Don’t Sell
3. Seller Objection to Staging

It was a great 2007, looking forward to a fabulous 2008!
Cheers,
Cindy