Home Staging. Designs. Life.

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Feng Shui — Crazy Cults or Sells Houses?


This is a continuation of the Wednesday Series: Can [this] sell houses? Read the previous 2 posts here:

I recently spent 2 weeks at home in Taiwan for Taiwanese New Year (Gong Si Fa Tsai to everyone!) and it’s always interesting to go back because the values of both California and Taiwan differ a lot.

There is no staging in Taiwan except for model homes. Agents show homes vacant or cluttered and people are used to it (The houses are tiny there, we all live very cluttered lives). Homes are a lot smaller and storage is always a hot topic in Asian homes. Feng Shui is also big, not only for people who are alive and also with people who are dead. People often jokes that it’s more expensive to live in Taiwan as a dead person than a live one since feng shui is a key ingredient in selecting an appropriate plot for every individual.

Feng Shui, fad or true?

by room with a view via flickr (photo by Room With A View)
Feng Shui has always been sort of trendy. Feng Shui has become a trendy thing to hear about in the staging field. As I progress in the industry, I often encounter people who are on both sides. There are even publications on feng shui for cats, it’s really difficult to take something like so seriously. Some believe in staging with feng shui, some think it’s a sign of desperation.

But does feng shui really sell houses?

by musicvisionary2000 Luopan compass used in feng shui
(photo by musicvisionary2000)

Feng Shui expert Carole Provenzale told me that “Feng Shui is literally translated to mean (Read more …)


5 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 27 2008 07:59PM

Upcoming Thursday Seminar: Preparation for Buying a Home, The Process and the Benefits


Anjanette Bixel of Alain Pinel Burlingame

This workshop is put on by one of my great friend & client: Anjanette Bixel of Alain Pinel. I will be there as well, so if you come by, please say hello! It’s going to be a great workshop jam packed with information. There are about 9 seats left!

Preparation for Buying a Home, The Process & the Benefits

Special Guest Speakers:

Ed Diaz, Mortgage Consultant
Paul Bartke, CPA/Enrolled Agent
Deborah Boswell, Estate Planning Attorney

Presenting information on

  • Preparing for a mortgage loan — your credit score
  • Local market update — why it’s a good time to buy
  • Tax benefits of homeownership
  • Estate Planning
Thursday, Feb 28, 2008 at 6pm
Check in: 5:45pm
Presentation: 6:00pm
1440 Chapin Avenue, Suite 100
Burlingame, CA 94010
RSVP to 650.931.2950.
Refreshments served.Â
0 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 27 2008 07:57PM

Buy This Home and Get a New TV + Free Trip to Hawaii

This is the 2nd post of the Wednesday Series: Can [this] sell the house? Today’s “this” is incentives, which is very commonly used by builders and agents.

>>Commission incentives: Many times in order to hold the deal together, agents do compromise on the commissions in order to keep the client’s business and also keep the deal alive.

>>Prize incentives: it is not uncommon, especially in the builder community where they would offer a free flat screen TV, free vacations, free airfares, etc. to encourage buyers to tour the home and make the purchase.

But do they work?

“Back in the ‘80s when I was selling, I did experience that. We had sellers offer a trip for two to Cancun, various things like that,” says Gene Holst, CEO of the Quad City Realtor Association.

Holst says gimmicks usually don’t work. If you want to sell your home, follow three simple rules.

“Pricing it correctly, proper staging, and the third thing is to work with a competent realtor.” (original quote from WQAD)

What do you think?

Feel free to share your thoughts at the Comment area below. I would love to hear about them! Just scroll down and that white blank box is it!

Related Articles:

 

7 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 20 2008 06:48PM

Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging Ed #11


In this issue:

Photo Credit: Cynthia Howe Photo Credit: Cynthia Howe
Phyllis Harb’s Los Angeles Real Estate Blog presents More Home Staging Ideas.

Diane Conccialdi over at Long Beach Home Staging talks about Defining Homes with Color!

Jim Cosgrove dishes out how to Prepare Your Home To Sell posted at Newcastle Square Realty Blog.

Linda Craft speaks the fundamental truth about home staging: it sells faster & for more money: Staging Your Home To Sell It Faster and For More Money posted at Raleigh Real Estate Blog.

Last but not least, frequent carnival contributor Kimberly Wester (welcome back!) speaks an important truth and common misconception about our industry: Why You Cannot Be a Stager For ‘Fun’ posted at The Details of Staging.

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

(sorry for the 1 day late posting, my internet was down) 

0 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 19 2008 12:33PM

Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging Ed #10


WOOHOO! There were a lot of submissions for this round, but sadly I had to turn many away because they had *nothing* to do with home staging. Thanks for everyone who submitted! It’s great to see the growth in submission #s.


(Photo courtesy of J + Y on flickr)

Raymond presents Top 6 Reasons And Considerations Why Your Home Isn’t Selling, And Ways You Can Improve posted at Money Blue Book.

Peter Chabris presents Staging a Cincinnati Home Staging (1) & Cincinnati Home: Before & After (2) posted at Team Chabris Blog.

At last, Cindy Lin at Staged4more presents Bonded vs. Insured Stagers at Staged4more Staging Tips + More blog.

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 was posted on my blog while I was on vacation. Read the current issue in the next post) 

0 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 19 2008 12:32PM

Announcing New Contributor on Legal Matters


I am super glad that Ann is going to write for our company blog. The concept behind our blog is to foster a community that can provide valuable knowledge and resources to our readers, clients and community at large. An addition like Ann is really a rare treat and a very exciting move forward for our blog, since most real estate stagers or agents (I think the NAR’s, National Association of Realtors, stats on realtors who blog are about 4%) do not blog, not to mention having blog contributors in complimentary fields of real estate.

Ann is also an excellent writer and very well versed in both the staging and legal arenas.

Here is a brief bio on Ann:

Ann O'Connell

Ann O’Connell is an attorney specializing in real estate and home staging issues. Before joining the Denver law firm of Pendleton Friedberg Wilson & Hennessey, P.C., she owned and operated her own home staging business in the San Francisco Bay Area, Solstice Staging.  Ann is licensed to practice law in Colorado (active), California (active) and Nevada (inactive).

The Staged4more company blog currently publishes 3-5 times per week and covers staging tips for real estate agents and home sellers, as well as real estate staging industry trends and issues. Ann's guest blogs will appear on Staged4more blog twice a month starting next Thursday. Other contributors are also in the works (so let me know if you would like to be one!)
0 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 14 2008 09:25AM

Can Brad Pitt Sell Houses?


Starting (yesterday) (sorry I forgot to post it last night), it’s another Wednesday series! This time is: Can [this] sell the house?

In a crazy market like this, it is not uncommon at all to use every tactics possible to sell the home. But as the inventory rises, do these fantastic incentives work?

>>Star Power: As you may have seen on Donald Trump’s new show Celebrity Apprentice, in the beginning, the women’s team had lost twice in a roll for failing to use their star power to sell.

Similarly, Brad Pitt is leveraging his own star power to help building home in New Orleans, as you can see on the site Make It Right 9. Merchandise ranges from the hat he is wearing to t shirts are selling out quickly.

>>Celebrity Endorsed Homes: In Asia, it is very common to have celebrities to endorse new constructions to help selling the units. But in America, it is more common to mention certain celebrities live here instead.

Does celebrity power work?

My question is, while celebrity power may help certain products, obviously, even with presidential candidates, but couldn’t it deter home buyers from buying as well? Would you want to live next door to Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, which comes with hundreds of camera lenses pointing at your neighborhood at all times?

What do you think?

Feel free to share your thoughts at the Comment area below. I would love to hear about them! Just scroll down and that white blank box is it!

Cheers,

Cindy

12 commentsCindy Lin // Staged4more & EcoJoe • February 14 2008 09:23AM