Speaking Up about Home Staging

Have you upgraded to the new Profile Page on facebook yet?  Instead of having only a profile photo, the new profile page has five additional photos across the top.

 

The photos across the top are your five most recently tagged pictures.  If you want to remove any of these photos, roll over them and click the "x" in the top right corner.  These photos are only visible to the people selected in your "Photos and videos you're tagged in" privacy setting.

People who are not allowed to view your tagged photos see photos from your profile picture album instead. People who are not allowed to see either your tagged photos or your profile picture album don't see any photos at the top of your profile.

 

 

 

Thanks to Photojojo, I found a fun way to creatively use the new Profile format. 

With a free template from Pic Scatter you can choose one photo to fill all six photo spots on your profile.  This template allows you to control what will be in those boxes, instead of photos you're tagged in being put there automatically.

 

The template is very easy to use.   

1.   Click  "Create a Profile Picture"

2.   Click  "Upload Picture"

3.   Drag picture to position it.  Use plus and minus signs to change picture size.

4.   Use plus and minus signs to enter number of lines of text.   (this determines the position of the five small pictures) See my photo above - there are three lines of text under my name, so I entered 3.  If you want the row of pictures higher or lower, just change the number.

5.  Click "Publish to facebook"  

To return to displaying tagged photos - simply check the box  "Remove old scatters" and then click "Publish to facebook.

There are so many ways to have fun with this template! 

NOTE:  You must upgrade to the new profile before the template will work.

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Professional Home Staging services for the New Hampshire Seacoast

Portsmouth   Rye   Greenland   Hampton   North Hampton   Exeter   Dover   Stratham  

603.661.8524

                                   

 

This is my fourth and final post in a series about changes that many of us may need to make in order to really get control of our business in 2011. The series is really about reinventing yourself—making changes to the way you do business now in order to see some real impact in the coming year. I jokingly called it a nip and tuck. Some of us may just need a little minor cosmetic work, and others may need a more thorough overhaul. Here are a few final tips for completing your real estate makeover:

Tell Your Story Differently One of the most important pieces of reinventing yourself is to talk differently. The way you view yourself must change before you can change the perception of others. How do you want others to see you? How do you want to view yourself from this point forward?

I always make jokes about Pigpen. Do you remember Pigpen from the Peanuts series. As he walked, I always got the impression that his dust and dirt would settle on those around him. If you act like Pigpen, the gloom and doom of the current real estate market may settle on prospective clients. And, that is something that you do not want to happen.

Create a New Personal Brand  As you start talking and acting differently, you will realize that you are defining yourself differently. Part of the process of reinventing yourself is to use this change to create a new personal brand. Are you moving from being mediocre to awesome and tech savvy? Make changes and then create a tagline that embodies those changes.

One of the old school real estate trainers used to suggest that if you cannot think of a tagline, use three powerful words to convey your message. Honesty, Trust, Character, Success, and Results are just a few words that you can put together to convey a message about your personal brand.

Work Hard, Build Trust, Create Lasting Change  I recently participated in a 31-day blogging challenge where we were to record all of the things that we do daily to generate business for the coming year. Many of the readers of my posts commented that I worked so hard that it was making them tired.

But, I have to be truthful and tell you that once I reinvented myself, I have seen lasting change and built a great amount of credibility through blogging, radio and newspaper interviews, workshops and seminars among other things.

As you start to put pieces into place, you will build credibility with others. Be consistent and patient in the way you approach things. Accomplish one goal at a time and start to build up to an image that you are happy with. You can reinvent yourself if you commit to a specific personal vision and create a consistent strategy that you can use to achieve it. Don’t rely on the anti-aging creams that you can buy over the counter. Reinventing your career takes more than just a quick fix. It takes hard work and a lot of persistence.

 

Read my previous posts about the real estate nip and tuck:

Jumpstart your Real Estate Career in 2011 – Post 1

Real Estate Makeover – Post 2

Real Estate Makeover – Post 3

 

Photo: flickr creative commons by HansJE

Broker, Realtor®
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Broadpoint Properties, Inc
San Diego County Short Sale Specialists
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East Coast meets West Coast in a SAR Home Staging Business Training exclusive class that I'll be teaching in January 2011 in Dallas,Texas!

The first Dallas,TX 3-Day SAR Home Staging Business Training class starts Tuesday, January 11- 13th, 2011 and I not only have the honor and privilege of hosting Melissa Marro, founder of SAR and owner of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior Redesign from South Carolina but also Annie Pinsker Brown, owner of Stage to Sell in California as she "trains" to teach the SAR course in CA.

While it will be the first course offering for the 3-Day SAR Home Staging Training class in Dallas,TX, I have the wonderful and rare opportunity to have Melissa Marro here while we train Annie Pinsker Brown!

Now Annie needs no "training" in the business of home staging however as she just came on board the team this past month and the rest of us met at the beach house in Charleston,SC in October (wish you could have been there Annie!) for our training and she is coming to "audit" my course to get the "lay of the land" so to speak.

So... with that said... if you are interested in a career in home staging and are anywhere near the North Texas area this 3-Day SAR Home Staging Training Course in Dallas,TX is one you won't want to miss!

You'll have the experience and knowledge of not one but 3 professional home stagers working in markets that represent the country! 

I recently wrote a blog on the "quantitative value of SAR home staging training" and this far exceeds the investment you'll make for the course and your return on investment will be well worth it! 

I'm totally excited about this opportunity myself and can't wait for January 11th to get here.

Interested in learning from 3 Home Staging Industry Leaders?

Register now for the North Texas SAR 3-Day Home Staging Training program!

Special offer: For a limited time now until December 31st, 2010 SAR is offering a $100 discount for those who register before the New Year!

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Interested in starting your own Home Staging Business in Texas, OK or North West LA? I can help! North Texas SAR Home Staging Training Classes coming in 2011 

 

Home Star Staging is a qualified, insured home staging company and we are always here for you North Texas!

• Affordable pre-list home staging property consultations
• Affordable post list "trouble shooting"  property consultations - no matter how long a home has been on the market there are always ways to improve the chance of sale
• Affordable owner occupied property staging (utilizing owner supplied furniture & accessories or including some of our own inventory)
• Affordable vacant & investment property staging (Full and partial rental furniture packages, accessories and staging services)
• Is your office interested in hosting a home staging class or presentation? Just ask!
• Contact Karen at 496-964-0516 or Karen@homestarstaging.com

 

 

 

[This blog was tagging off of my last blog and was November's exerpt for www.Century21Sweyer.com/blog.  Again, it's a little late, but could still benefit sellers with Christmas gifts and packing up after Christmas! :) ]

 

So, last month, I talked about some things to consider when decorating your home for the holidays while it’s for sale.  I hope that helped some of you guys.  Now, for those of you who haven’t put your house on the market yet, but are planning to the first of the year… let me give you some tips that can make the holiday season and decor work to your advantage!

First of all, your house isn’t for sale yet, so it’s okay for you to go overboard!  Go ahead, deck the halls!  As you’re doing so, you will usually pack away some of your every-day things during the season to make room for the holiday pieces.  This year, as you pack things away, consider whether you really need them on a day to day basis, and the things you don’t, pack separate from the rest.  This simple step will already get you started in preparing you home for sale.

Since you’re in the process, consider taking this a step further, and go ahead through your entire house, and look at things you don’t normally pack away for the holidays.  Continue thinking the same thing about whether you’ll really need things, or if you could make due without them for several months. 

Things you may need, but not often, pack separately also.  Label them so that when they go into storage, you can keep them at the front for easy access.

Now you have just done a huge part of the preparation process!

Once the holidays are over, and you’re taking down the greenery and lights… go ahead and also take down any hardware and hooks you have them hung with.  Patch the holes, and you’ve just knocked another thing off your list!

When you’re packing your holiday decor - pack it for storage.  You might as well go ahead and take care of this now while you’re in the middle of it.  You won’t need it for another year, and hopefully you’ll be decorating your new house then!

On your Wish List, consider asking for gift certificates to home improvement stores.  These gifts can become an even bigger gift because they’ll help you get your house ready for a quick sale and high return.  Paint and painting materials are often needed, things to make any minor repairs that may be required…  but here’s my favorite - ask for them to lend you a hand!  Do you remember when you were a kid, or if you have kids - them giving gift certificates for a hug, or a day with mom, etc?  Something like this from your friends or family would be a great gift idea for you to suggest - then when you’re ready to get down to business with preparing your house for sale in the new year, you can pull them out and call on them - without feeling guilty!

So enjoy the season, and as you’re in the middle of packing things away just consider how you can use this to your advantage.  You’ll need to do it eventually anyway.  Taking a little extra time now will save a lot of time later.

There it was  ---  among the stacks of new fiction books on the table.  I was immediately drawn to it by its cover.  I could tell that it might just be my kind of book.  So I picked it up and started reading the jacket.

A recent segment on CBS's Sunday Morning Show got me thinking about how staging a home for sale is like the careful thought and preparation publishers go into when designing a book cover.

In the segment, "Judging Books by Their Covers", publisher Jamie Raab said:

"Book covers are important. You go into a bookstore and what do you see? You see covers. The bookstore experience is about the design, the color, the shape, the feel.  I mean when you walk into a bookstore, sometimes you're overwhelmed. But aren't you stimulated by the art? And it is art. "

I have always said that staging is the art and science of successfully selling a home.

Staging a home for sale with the right furniture, decorative accessories and artwork is also about creating an experience for the buyer.  The goal is to connect to the buyer emotionally.  You want the home to portray a lifestyle that the buyer is aspiring to.

Just as publishers invest a great deal of time and money in developing the right book cover, home staging is an investment of the home seller's time and money to properly position the property to the market in which it is selling.

"A good cover tells you what kind of book it is...but ultimately", says Raab, "it comes down to what sort of statement the book makes."

And that is the goal of staging a home - to make a statement or statements to the potential buyer:

• You too can live like this if you bought me
• I can fulfill your dream
• The homeowner takes such good care of me
• I may not have everything on your list, but does it really matter when it feels so good just being here?

In the Sunday Morning segment, Peter Mendelsund who designs book jackets for the publisher Knopf, refers to a book jacket as a billboard.

"They're like carnival barkers," Mendelsund said. "Someone comes into a bookstore and all the books are shouting, you know, 'READ ME!' 'READ ME!'  And you hope that yours either shouts the loudest or entices in the most intriguing way!"

It's the same with homes that are for sale.  They are all shouting "BUY ME! BUY ME!" when a buyer looks online, but the home that looks the best is the one that is going to be seen. Staging a home will make it stand out from all of the others that are on the market in the same  price range and neighborhood.

"You're designing covers so that someone is drawn to it will pick it up," said Mendelsund, "read it and then maybe buy it."

© Copyright 2010 Designed to Appeal, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

 

 

A major key to success is identifying and focusing upon a market category or sub-category in which you can become the dominate player.  To fully succeed however, it must be a niche that you believe you can do better than anyone else in your marketplace, a niche about which you are passionate. When you are passionate about what you are doing your interest in your work will be sustained, you will continuously be innovative and you will persevere during the most challenging moments in your career.  

When you are passionate about what do you also attract people and events, almost magically, that can help you achieve your dreams and confirm that you are on the right path.  Here is a fun true story that we experienced about this kind of serendipity.

Several years ago, we were walking on the beach and discussing the fact that we are truly passionate about our strategic branding practice that is focused on the luxury real estate industry.  We were wondering if personal and company branding would be the vehicle that could lead to working internationally which was our desire.

Suddenly, we came upon some letters that someone had written in the sand upside down.  When we walked around to read it our jaws dropped. A young man had written his own name which happened to be B R A N D! Luckily, we had our camera and took the picture posted above.  It was like a “sign” to stay on our path.

Since then, the opportunities that social media has offered in terms of expanding internationally and also meeting more and more fascinating people have enriched our lives and added significantly to our career in strategic branding.  There is no question that being passionate your work makes life much more fun!

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There is a time and a place for everything, and in my line of work I see a lot of people staggering around the room when they ought to be on the level.

I'm talking about hanging artwork, by the way.

You can tell the amateur designer from the pro very easily by simply noticing how they hang artwork. There are rules that, especially when staging, one should not take liberties with. Stagers endeavor to exhalt the architecture, not to fight with it or detract.

Hang artwork on the level when the floors, walls, ceiling, and mouldings are also level.

The time to stagger pictures on a diagonal line is when the sightline of the architecture is also inclined, such as would be seen on a staircase wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the sightlines is one of the best FREE ways to improve the photogenic qualities a space can offer and  to reinforce the idea and value of lifestyle upgrade  by encouraging an overall harmonious and tranquil "vibe."

A stager's job is to make sense of the space, and the artwork placement is a superb and easy way to bring an instant sense of order to any home.

 

~Michelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I'm a little late in getting this out; tushy is sooo draggy this morning (way too much fun last night - more on that later).  This week there were so many really great posts here in the rain by some of my fave bloggers as well as some other bloggers that I've recently come across. 

There was Taking possession - Am I being a straight-laced prude? By Cynthia Larson for her gold star features that I was happy to "call the shot" on her.  This was a really great post so f you haven't already done so, check it out. 

Then there were some other equally great posts that I suggested but that the AR Gods must have missed this week when they were bestowing those little gold stars. 

First there was Looking for Love... or Clients? Here's One Approach (not)... by Jennifer Allen.  I have always liked Jennifer because of her promotion for the soft sell approach.  After having spent the first two years of my career doing the hard sell, cold calling way of business and realized that was not going to be the way I developed my career.    

I proceeded to build my career in a much different way than the way I had been going.  Jennifer presents a really funny experience she had recently and it just further confirms the decision I made a long time ago about my business.  Check it out, I think I enjoyed the comments just as much as I did the post. 

Next was Amber Bennett with her post building a team.  Amber asks a very good question, one I have often wondered about.  With the development of so many "teams" and now the "super team" (still trying to figure that one out) around here, I have definitely seen some of the advantages as well as disadvantages of the whole "team" concept.    

I was curious to see what the rest of the community felt about the topic as well as the kind of advice she would get about mentorship.  Unfortunately, her post didn't get much attention, which I was hoping to change by suggesting her post.  I was hoping she would get featured and get more exposure as well advice.  

Then there was But I've Never Had to Do That Before by Charita Cadenhead.  Sometimes we just need to rant and fortunately for us, AR can usually be a safe place to do it with a members only post.  Charita illustrates a very common complaint that most of us can relate to.  We all have had to deal with the frustrations of having to explain to either buyers or other Realtors and/or agents that "times have changed" and we are all having to do things that we never had to do before - GET OVER IT AND LET'S GET THE JOB DONE!!!  Check it out and offer some support to Charita; we've all been in her position before. 

Next was Ken Barker with his post I Often Wonder About Procuring Cause In California.  Not being a Realtor, I'm not really as informed about procuring cause as I would like to be.  From what I hear about it from my Realtor friends and associates, it can be a tricky process here in CA.  I was really hoping to read more about how it is for others here in the community.  Please check out Ken's post and provide some input on your own experiences with procuring cause. 

Lastly, was Can You Really Service 300 Listings at a Time...Are You Truly Full Service? by Jeffrey DiMuria.  Jeffrey asks a really good question and poses some valid concerns with this type of issue.  With a lot of experience having had to work with this type of Realtor/agent, I most certainly have my opinion of this type of issue.  I'm really interested in knowing what the rest of the community thinks about this problem.

 

As always, I love "calling the shots".  I'm pretty picky and selective about whom I suggest.  I intentionally highlight my fave bloggers and then I look for new bloggers or bloggers that aren't on the feature board every other day.  Anyone can suggest all the popular bloggers but finding the hidden treasures and gems is so much better.  I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I did. 

 

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Donne Knudsen
Mortgage Loan Originator - Cobalt Financial Corp.
NMLS# 249822   /   DRE# 01364050
805.5278554

E-mail   Blog

Serving low-medium income individuals and families as well as first time buyers with their mortgage needs including down payment assistance

Los Angeles County  --  Ventura County

© 2010 - All Rights Reserved

 

A time of reflection and a time of planning.

 

2010 was a wild ride for me.  I opened my own company, @Homes Realty Group.  I’m embarrassed to say that I had NO clue where I was headed when my doors opened.  The only thing I knew for sure was that it would work.  

 

If you believe in the positive, it will come naturally.  If you believe in the negative, that too will come.  I focus on the positive and try to surround myself with positive people.  I have hired positive minded agents.  It works.

 

 

After many ups and many downs, I am glad to have 2010 in the rear view mirror.   Overall, I’m thrilled with the entire year.  From our Inman Nomination for Most Innovative Brokerage of 2010, to @Homes Realty being named a Beta Brokerage from BH&Gardens, it’s been a thrill ride.  A bit bumpy at times.  SEVERAL times, lol.  

 

For 2011, I have a clear vision of where I am headed and where @Homes Realty Group is headed.   I will follow this vision with gusto!

 

In 2011, I will learn to run my brain.  Thoughts turn into beliefs which turn into actions which turns into results, positive or negative.  

 

I will no longer settle for mediocrity from myself or those that work alongside me. 

 

Finally, what we focus on expands.  I choose to focus on the positive.

 

2010 is nearly behind us.  As I look back, I realize I could have done things better.  However, I know I did the best I could do.  It’s always easier to beat ourselves up over things we “could have” done better.   The past doesn’t matter...the future does.  WE have control of what is heading our way.

 

I once heard this and have never forgotten:  The reason the rear view mirror is so small is because it doesn’t matter what is behind you.  Look forward through the windshield....it’s what is ahead of us that matters most.  

 

If you have had a rough 2010, it’s time to move forward.  What can you do to improve things for 2011?  It could be as simple as changing your thoughts and actions!  Are you surrounding yourself with like minded individuals?  If not, that’s a real energy drain.  

What is it that keeps me from doing that one thing to even a higher or greater level?

 

FEAR is the most common issue for us...we know what it is that drives our business, but it’s often fear on some level that holds us back.  Fear of rejection, fear of failure. Many times people work out of fear.  Fear holds us back.  Work out of love...because it’s what you love to do. 

 

Ask yourself this: What is it that keeps me from doing that one thing to an even a higher or greater level?  When you find the answer, DO IT!  

 

Here’s to a wonderful 2011 for all of us!   Let’s all choose to make it a great year and remember:  What We Focus On Expands!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of Elizabeth Cooper-Golden  Huntsville AL Realtor (R)

Broker/Owner @ Homes Realty Group

475 Providence Main Street   Suite 302                                                   

Huntsville, AL  35806

Huntsville Real Estate 

Search Huntsville AL MLS

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