Category: Home Staging

Do you know what freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Rosa Parks, and so many others have one thing in common? At one point they decided that enough was enough and that they could be invincible by standing on a platform of excellence. That is how they achieved what they went after. When Nelson Mandela said: “Does anybody really think that they didnt get what they had because they didnt have the talent, or the strength, or the endurance or the commitment?” he is talking about setting your sites on excellence so you can be the best you can be.

Now, this does not mean that you have to be the next President of Africa, but that you would want to be the best Home Stager in your area. Once you decide to be “invincible” as a Home Stager, you immediately set the course for excellence just like all the people before you that want to be “excellent.” After having studied great world leaders, business leaders and visionaries, following are the steps that it takes to create your path of excellence in your Home Staging Business.

Step #1 – Focus on Specificity. You must decide specifically what your area of expertise is within the Home Staging industry, then who your customer is as well as your message. By telling someone you are just another Home Stager you remove your opportunity to tell them you are extraordinary. What makes you extraordinary? That is what you need to say. Usually it should be said in such a way that it solves your client’s problem.

Step #2 – Do what you say you will do. Call when you say you will call, confirm the appointment, show up 5 minutes early, dress professionally, have your paperwork with you and in order as well as the client information.

Step #3 – Perform an amazing home staging service. Start by being very specific as to what your client wants and what they will receive. Then deliver that, plus a little more so you can always Under Promise and Over Deliver.

Step #4 – Offer to put together the photos of the property and hand deliver them to your clients office (send a digital copy as well, all of it should include your company name and contact information).

Step #5 – Send a follow up thank you letter with an offer to check on the status of the Home Staging within the next 30 days to tweek the set in case it needs to be adjusted at no extra charge.

Step #6 – Keep in touch every 30 days for the rest of your relationship.

By following these 6 steps you will stand out in the sea of other Home Stagers with your unique message positioned directly at the right customer, you will set a new standard of professionalism by doing what you say you will and more, the home staging service you deliver will thrill your client, and your gratitude, level of customer service, and follow up will ensure that this client, is yours for life. Now, just repeat the process for all future clients and you will find that you have easily created your own Path of Excellence for your Home Staging Business.

Home staging addresses and refines the numerous sensory impacts a home will have on potential buyers. One important sense, that is sometimes overlooked, is that of smell. Smell, triggers memory which triggers emotion. Essentially, you want the smell to sell your home. Aim to trigger positive emotions through smell and eliminate the potential to trigger any negative emotions.

Have you ever walked into a home and felt turned off by a smell you can’t put your finger on? The smell may not even be so bad, but it is definitely distinct. A good place to start before adding any new smells in your home staging adventure, is to neutralize already existing smells. A distinct smell may be good for you, but a more neutral smell is good for the masses. It is a good precaution to neutralize the smells in your home, even if you think your home smells fine. Chances are there is a distinct smell to your home, which could be a turn-off to others.

To start neutralizing the odors in your home:

– Have your carpets professionally cleaned, or at the very least clean them with a product that contains a neutralizer.

– If you are not going for a professional clean make sure to focus on any stains yourself. Old pet stains could still be emmitting odor. Eliminate what you can.

– Have all drapes in your home cleaned.

– Wash all bed linens and blankets. With all your cleaning, use non-allergenic products if at all possible.

– If you have pets, try to have them out of the house prior to a viewing. Likewise if you have cats, remove the cat litter from the premises and if there is any other pet paraphernalia such as toys or blankets, remove them as well.

– This may seem obvious, but remove all garbage from the house before showing your home.

– Stinky shoes belonging to you or your children should be stored away in an air tight container.

– Vinegar is a great cleaning agent and combats smell without being toxic or commonly allergenic. Use vinegar (1/2 cup to one gallon on hot water) to clean floors, countertops and bathrooms.

– Make sure there is no dirty laundry. Keep up with the wash and again try to use neutral smelling and natural products.

– If there are any smokers in the house keep them (or at least their smoking!) outside in the weeks, or even months prior to your viewings. The smell of cigarettes definitely does not fall into the “neutral smells” category.

Once you have done all the grunt work and your home smells neutral as a puff of scentlessness, you can then consider adding some natural, inoffensive aromas. Citrus scents are nice and refreshing. Try running a grapefruit or orange skin through your garbage disposal just before showing your home. Essential oils are a wise choice. Look for products with lavender, tea-tree, eucalyptus, pine and sage. These are cleansing, calming and rejuvenating scents that will evoke pleasing emotions for most viewers. There are great room sprays you can find with all-natural ingredients. Test them before your showings. You don’t want anything too pungent. Once you have eliminated the bad and the distinct odors, a hint of something clean and refreshing is all you’ll need.

For your next home staging, rid your home of smelly deterrents and fill it with the sweet smell of success.

Eric Badgley is a motivated and professional realtor located in beautiful Whatcom County. For information contact Eric at http://www.bellingham-realestate.net/chuckanut.php

Despite the proven fact that every person has his or her own necessities as well as tastes, most people still possesses a very similar comprehension of comfort and luxury. For that reason, staging a home for sale, it could be not difficult to follow some general factors, applied to create a unique atmosphere within the exterior and interior of a house, that may be appreciated by many.
So, first of all it can be important to make your house looking nice and trim. The presence of garbage or clutter will unquestionably spoil the impression made by the house, if you will show it to your potential buyers. Secondly, the rooms at your residence should be well-lit, to permit your potential buyers to see the furnishing of the house. And thirdly, the furnishing of your home as well as its style should provide the atmosphere of harmony and comfort, where your prospective buyers will be able to relax and enjoy their time, while staying at home.
You can attempt to create this sort of pleasing atmosphere, hiring your own idea of style and comfort along with some general principles we have already mentioned above. Nonetheless, if you need to get the ideal results, while making your property looking expensive and even obtaining the highest price for its sale, then it could be of great importance to consider the advices of an expert to be able to stage a house to sell.
At present the real estate staging a house to sell seems to be quite intricate issue that will require a unique approach and consideration of the number of significant points, which could be missed by non-professionals. Just to start staging a residence we offer you to learn about the decorating ideas provided by Lise Desormeaux, who is known as the successful Home Staging and Decorating Educator. Her home staging tips present a superb guide as for realtors as for homeowners, which are in a position to transform their homes into the million dollar homes, which might be instantly sold. These guidelines could be also great for those, that happen to be going to enhance their abodes into the clutter-free and beautiful homes by not using a decorator.
Follow the tips of Lisa Desormeaux, located on www.lisedesormeaux.com, and you’ll be prepared to save plenty of cash, discovering the powerful steps to home staging.

Home sellers are always on the look out for strategies they can use to help sell their homes faster and at a better price. One such technique that can help shorten the time homes stay on the real estate market is ‘home staging’. Home staging simply means decorating a home or setting it up in a way that would be most attractive for prospective home buyers. Home staging can involve a few or more of these processes – renovation, repairs, re-decoration, landscaping etc.

There are home staging professionals who can do this job for you. They assess your home completely and provide recommendations on the changes or staging methods that should to be implemented. Many home stagers give free estimates too. A professional home stager typically recommends arrangement of furniture and accessories, wall colors, repairs, removal of clutters, and the addition of furniture and other objects to help enhance the curb-appeal of your home. They know how to highlight your home’s best features and play down its flaws to enhance its aesthetics for the real estate market. These changes are done in such a manner that the home owner gets higher ROI on his/her home.

For home owners who are looking to sell a vacant home, the best thing to do is to get it home staged before putting it up for sale. Furnished homes are known to sell more quickly than vacant ones. This is because potential home buyers find it difficult to visualize their future home when the house is vacant. By home staging, you not only get it well furnished but also create a positive value for your home.

Home owners and real estate agents can use professional home staging to boost home sales. In the case of slow real estate markets, home staging is a vital strategic tool that, when used well, will help the home owner stand out from the competition.

So if you are bringing your home or condo on the market soon, be sure to prepare your home for sale by staging it professionally. It is always better to consult a good real estate agent who can recommend how much you need to spend on home staging, based on a professional analysis of the real estate market conditions.

Home Staging isn’t just about the interior, its also about the exterior as well.

Outdoor staging is one of the best ways to bring buyers into your home, as most buyers will drive by your house first to see if they want to check out the inside. A mowed lawn and some shrubbery or flowers will go a long way! There are some gardening tips you should know before you get started.

A yard with many trees will have a lot of leaves falling, making work for you in raking. This can get expensive when you have to buy all those leaf bags. A great way to cut down the amount of bags you’ll need is to fill an outdoor trash can halfway with the leaves you’ve raked. Then, insert your grass trimmer into the trash can and shred the leaves. This gives you more room in the leaf bags, about twice as much actually, saving you money!

In any yard, insects can pose a major problem. Ladybugs are a natural insect control system that can save you money on insecticides. Make sure they have a place to hibernate so they’ll stick around for next year. Dead leaves and/or straw makes a great winter home for them.

If you like to recycle, this is a great tip for you. Ashes from your fireplace can be used efficaciously as fertilizer. Collect the ashes throughout the fall and winter months and save money! Don’t fertilize during hot, dry weather as this can add to draught issues. Sawdust makes wonderful mulch, so if you or a friend does any woodwork, save the sawdust. Pine wood makes the best mulch, just make sure you don’t use any chemically treated wood as this will harm your garden plants. Another great place to save money and recycle is to extract seeds from your existing plants for next season’s planting.

To conserve water put a layer or mulch around your plants. This keeps moisture in and saves you in water bills. Drip irrigation systems use 50% less water to achieve the same product as conventional irrigation systems. They achieve this by slowly letting water seep directly into the root systems of your plants. This is healthier for your plants, as well, as it doesn’t drown them. Rain sensors are a smart investment since no one needs to water if it’s raining! If you already have an irrigation system and don’t want to pay for an entirely new system, try upgrading your timer to an automatic, programmable timer to get the most bang for your buck. These enable you to have more control over your watering system, conserving water and money. The shorter your grass is trimmed, the more water it will take to keep it moist, so raise the blade on your lawn mower. Then recycle the trimmings back into your lawn and garden. Sweep your driveway and walkways instead of spraying them down with a hose.

Lastly, invest in gloves and a Grappler. These will protect your hands from unsanitary items as well as thorns, insects, etc. Remember home staging is a process that when done correctly will allow your home to look its very best. Stage Away!