What Hat Are You Wearing?

With all the shows and media coverage on Staging, it is natural for people to believe that "anyone" can stage. The fact is, that is not true. Anyone can learn to copy basic tips and maybe some ideas, but for true Staging to happen, a trained Stager needs to be involved.

When less than 10% of the population has the ability to picture a room in a different way, it is not possible for "every" homeowner or realtor (or friend) to manifest that ability. Staging is not just about putting table cloths out (which actually is a no-no) and adding some greenery. It is about strategic placement that occurs after a house has been depersonalized.

I want to make sure that anyone that is looking to prepare a house for sale actually uses someone that is trained to know what that means. We have had friends, neighbors, even appraisers poke their noses into what we do best and what we've been trained to do - and I am amazed at some of the "advice" our clients hear.

Case in point - a family I know just put their house on the market using a Realtor that is not an area specialist. House is not "professionally" Staged - and I can tell because they have a narrow front window by their door where jumbles of jackets hang, greeting a buyer with a messy display of home familiarity - familiarity that should be removed, packed or put away. The photos of the house show cleaned surfaces and pleasant arrangements, so someone put on their "Stager hat" to get rooms ready for buyers, but I still see too many personal items, and odd arrangements of furniture.

When I teach classes I have Realtors and Stagers in the classroom. I make sure the Realtors that like to "dabble" in Staging know that their job is really to sell a house - and if they really enjoy the Staging side, they need to ask themselves if taking all that time to Stage a house is really what pays them money, or is it getting a new buyer or listing? The analogy I gave is that their "staging" would be like me getting my real estate license and listing houses at .5% because it's "fun." How would that honor my relationships with my Realtors, nor allow me to actually serve my "clients" - because my true joy is in Staging.

So - what hat are you wearing?

• If you are a seller, let an expert give you objective advice on the sale of your house.


• If you are a Realtor, your income comes from listing and selling houses, not Staging.
  
• As a Stager, bring me in to help you both achieve your goals.

Home Staging WORKS even in a "down market"

Another Staging SUCCESS Story to share with our readers - Staging is working to help houses SELL even in our "down" market. We just Staged a $1.495 Million house and it SOLD the first week!

We have all heard about the terrible foreclosure market - and how that is having a huge impact on normal sellers. They are trying to compete with houses that are flooding the market - some in decent shape, with others have been trashed.

How does a Seller compete in these times? PRESENTATION MATTERS now more than ever! Buying a house is still an EMOTIONAL decision. Buyers will either connect with a house or not. Making the investment to prepare a house for sale can be the difference between sitting and selling.

The average investment to Stage an occupied house using what the homeowner has in new, creative ways - is about $500.00. The process starts with a Staging Plan telling the seller what to do to get their house ready - they can pack up their personal things and clutter according to the Plan - and then have some help on the back end to add the "Wow" factor with their things or with some limited inventory rental.

The result - a house that is ready for a BUYER to BUY!

For vacant houses - we provide a FREE preview of the house and a Pricing Proposal that includes pricing for time and inventory to best present the house for sale. Once we all agree to pricing and terms, the house is Staged right away. The difference between a vacant and Staged house is amazing - putting furnishings in key areas of the house allows a buyer to emotionally connect.

Our last two vacant high-end properties SOLD in less than a week - in our "down" market! That is virtually unheard of for "normal" listings - but when they are Staged and priced right - the buyers will buy.

Staging also costs less than most people think - for a vacant house - Staging starts at about $1,200 and can be as much as $5,000 for a higher end house. The fee includes installation and first 30 days of rental, and then there would be ongoing rental investment until the house sold.

Even with ongoing rental, the Investment in Staging is always less than a price reduction! When the house is priced right and Staged - it should sell - and this means it will not have to experienced a price-reduction.

When you want Staging done right - contact the experts at We Stage Sacramento - the region's first and premier Home Staging Company. We stage it all - from big to small! Give us a call at 888-WE-STAGE or go to http://www.westagesacramento.com/ to view our background, testimonials, and examples of our work.

Home Exteriors - Curb Appeal & Landscaping

LANDSCAPING AND CURB APPEAL

“The art of enhancing the exterior of a house or dwelling

so it is pleasing to the viewer and homeowner.”

LANDSCAPING and CURB APPEAL – are critical elements needed for the sale of a house - because if we can’t get a buyer in the front door – they will never see all the great features about a house. The 3 second rule applies to the outside of the house – in just 3 seconds, a person looking at the house will form an opinion, and if they don’t like what they see or feel about the house, they will keep on driving.

Landscaping and Curb Appeal are not the same thing - a house can be professionally landscaped and still lack curb appeal. They are also not just about selling – and hopefully you and your clients that are not moving can use some of the tips and ideas in this month’s issue for your own houses too!

This process does not have to be expensive either – and a lot of attention on HGTV shows has been paid to remodeling the exterior of a house for the pleasure of the homeowner or the attraction of a buyer. The exterior of a house is important as it is the first impression a person has of the house – but the good news is even if you don’t have a lot of money to do major renovations on the outside, there is hope! There is a lot that can be done with good old-fashioned common sense and some sweat equity.

EXTERIOR APPEAL: It all starts with CURB APPEAL and curb appeal is about color, texture, foliage and how it all blends to feature the house.

Ask yourself this question and be willing to answer it honestly: How appealing is YOUR home’s exterior? How much color should you have for selling or living? What about exterior painting? If you house needs a “face lift” what colors should you paint? We will answer that question coming up.

How about your Landscaping? Did the winter storms wreak havoc with your landscaping? Has the warmer weather that has brought out our blooms (and allergies) en force also caused you to wonder just where all the weeds came from that now dot or cluster your landscaping?

Let’s Get Started!

First – in order to truly assess a home’s curb appeal – we need to get a proper perspective. When was the last time you stood across the street or cul-de-sac and actually looked back at your house? This is a common practice when we Stage for our clients – but we often forget to do this with our own houses.

So – walk across the street and look back. What do you see?

Do your trees need trimming? Are your windows dirty? Is there debris on your room – or even forgotten toys? What condition are your gutters in and are they working properly? Do you like the colors on the exterior of you house – does the paint look faded? Is it chipping or peeling off?

You have begun your exterior improvement “to do list.” Paint is the lowest investment with the highest rate of return. Depending on the requirements where you live (Home Owners Association or not) – you may be able to change the paint color of your house and get it more in line with today’s trends, or at least refresh the current color with a fresh coat of paint. If painting the whole house is not in the budget, then consider painting your trim and freshening any painted shutters and your front door.

STAGING RECOMMENDATION: Barb Schwarz, the Creator of Home Staging™ says that no more than 3 colors on the outside of the house are needed. This means that between the body, trim, door, and shutters – we should only use 3 colors. This helps the house not to look too hodgepodge and chopped up. We have seen some real painting nightmares out there – and it looks like the owner or builder could not make up his or her mind!

Next – take a look at your plants. Are they neatly trimmed or have they a little out of control? Are the trees in good shape or are they too bushy? If you have a tree in the front yard, does it hide the house, preventing a buyer from easily viewing the house from the street as they drive up or by the house?

If there are lots of weeds, get rid of them by spraying weed killer that does not harm the plants or make quicker impacts by pulling the weeds from the roots. Then re-bark the flower and planting beds with a fresh layer of small sized bark.

We Stage Sacramento Staging TIP: LIMB & TRIM!
Limb trees up from the ground – if their branches have grown too low – cut them back or off and this allows the tree to grow taller and healthier without all that extra baggage to support. Trim shrubs down – shape them according to what looks best and keep them manageable. The BEST time to Limb & Trim is in the dormant season – or winter. But, if you are selling your house – and need to create some visual curb appeal, go ahead and Limb and Trim. A mature tree will not be impacted greatly by having a few limbs removed or cleaned up. Make sure to remove any “suckers” too – those are the little shoots that sprout up from the ground by the tree’s base – and are actually really bad for a tree.

Adding COLOR: For landscaping, the ideal yard has trees, shrubs and flowers blooming year round. Many gardens though seem to focus on the spring – and have a riot of color, only to be replaced with a sea of green for the rest of the year. There are many perennial trees, shrubs and groundcovers that bloom throughout the summer and into the fall. Even in the winter, we have some plants that will survive in the cold temperatures and give us some color to enjoy.

We Stage Sacramento Staging TIP: For selling – add color splashes – and cluster annuals or perennials together in like color categories. In other words, if you need some color on the outside, it’s better to purchase a flat of mums in all the same color and plant them together to get a big impact splash, than it is to spread them all out, or buy a flat of mixed colors.

With ONE color to focus on, the eye of the buyer will have an easier time focusing on the focal point of color, versus seeing it all scattered about and in small little increments. White and yellow in particular are good colors for landscape Staging as they are bold and bright – and show up day or night. Stay away from planting flowers that attract bees, and find ones that are nicely fragrant.

Add some additional interest with YARD ACCENTS:

We are not talking about pink flamingos or pin wheels or a lot of small collections of things in the yard or on fences. Those are fine for someone living in the house that really likes those items, but for selling, items that are too cutesy or distractions for the buyers need to go. What CAN stay are things like accent pots, urns, and wrought iron grilles. Place an accent pot in a flower bed, hang a wrought iron grille on the wall, and place urns by patios or doors to “frame” the entrance. You don’t have to plant anything inside them – many times they can act as a “stand alone” accent piece. Remember that our policy of “less is more” still applies and so just a few accent pieces to add appeal is what we want – not a lot of visual clutter on the walls and in the yard.

If you have un-used pots that housed annuals, get rid of them if you know you will not have time to plant anything new or maintain annuals while your house is for sale. Half-dead plants send a message to a buyer that the homeowner does not care about their plants – and therefore may not have cared for the inside either. So store unused pots in the garage or toss them out if they will not be used in the new house.

If you DO have time to plant some nice colorful annuals – add a splash of color by the front door, and in the patio on the table or by the door.

Yard Debris:
If you have old pieces of lumber, pipes, or other cast aside items that were once part of some home improvement project, get rid of them now.

Call up 800-GOT-JUNK and for a fee, they will come and haul away large piles of just about anything. If you have the time and energy to do this yourself, make sure it happens BEFORE anyone comes to see the house. A Buyer does not want to have to navigate around fencing, lumber, old pots, frames, or any other item in the yard as they walk along the side yards or in the backyard – plus those items could pose a potential hazard. Many homeowners casually toss things in their yards with the goal of “some day” taking it to the dump. Someday is TODAY. Make it happen. Even if you are not moving – remove these unused items from your yard – you will be amazed at how much bigger the yard seems and how much you appreciate being able to access previously blocked areas. This same rule applies to the garage – if you have not used it or thought about it in over a year, get rid of it! Free up your storage, rafters, and shelving in your garage. Donate items that can be used by others, have a garage sale, or just purge!

When you use We Stage Sacramento Staging Team – we can pass along our discount with 800-GOT-JUNK to you!

OUTDOOR FURNITURE:

Nice groupings of yard furniture can help create an “outdoor room” that is so popular these days. Many local stores have great collections of inexpensive yet sturdy furniture that is perfect for “setting the stage” outside. We recommend a table with 4 chairs and a clean, colorful umbrella in your back patio. Small bistro sets that look like wrought iron but are actually made of plastic are also a good trick. Lightweight and weatherproof, they make a nice addition to a smaller patio, front patio or garden niche. If you have a larger yard, consider getting a settee or a set of all-weather wicker chairs and create a “destination grouping” for the buyer. Put some colorful cushions and pillows on the chairs – and voila! Instant appeal! You can “stage” your tables with a colorful pitcher and acrylic glasses, or a pot of flowers. If you have an existing outdoor bar or barbeque, add some light décor to help “stage” the surfaces.

Don’t forget the pool area – if you have a pool make sure to add lounges by your pool area – just a couple will do – and this helps buyers to envision themselves enjoying the pool area on a warm afternoon. Keep pool toys put away, and make sure anyone looking at your house for sale is pool-safe or under strict supervision.

If you are living in the house and not selling – treat yourself to some new furniture and get rid of pieces that are falling apart. With the inexpensive collections offered by places like Target and Walmart, homeowners can easily furnish the outside and not be as concerned about weather wear-and-tear because the pieces did not cost a fortune – for between $300-$400 you can get an entire set of 5 pieces! You can even sometimes find some good bargains at Big Lots, Longs, and other smaller outfits. If you want to make an investment in furniture that will last longer, go to Pottery World or Outdoor Furniture in Roseville, Costco & Sam’s Club – or local stores near you - or shop online. The pieces are costly, but will have a longer lifespan.

Lastly – CLEAN UP!

There are many nice houses with appealing yards that are dirty on the outside! One of Barb Schwarz’s 7 C’s of Staging is “Clean” – and this applies not just to the inside of a house. Some houses could benefit from a nice power washing, and the windows that are the “eyes of the house” are often so smeary or dirty, it detracts from the view. Screens get dusty and dirty and then don’t allow a buyer to see clearly from the inside of the house – and we don’t want to detract from a potential sale.

Window Cleaners are very reasonably priced for the work they do – which is essentially climbing up on skinny ladders and retrieving our screens, washing windows so they sparkle, and then having to reinstall now clean screens. As an example, a 4,000 square foot 2-story house would be about $200 to clean. To me THAT is a bargain! Even without selling it is a good idea to have your windows and screens cleaned twice a year.

Walkways and driveways can also benefit from being washed down to eliminate dust, pollen and other droppings from birds or trees.

We Stage Sacramento Staging TIP: When photographing your house for brochures or online images, consider wetting down your driveway and walkways before taking the picture. This is a common “trick” professionals use and it works as it reflects the light and adds extra dimension and appeal to the photos.

Consider taking photos at night – of the house all lit up – and use those photos to promote the house in marketing materials.

We hope you have found the information shared here of value to you and your clients. Feel free to share our newsletter with others in your office or with your clients in order to give them an “expert opinion” on what works for presenting a house – for market or for living!

Color Speaks - What Does Your House Say?

Color. It is part of our everyday life. We have color all around us and every color elicits an emotional and physical response. We are usually not even conscious of our body or mind going through the physiological process, but it happens. For example, in the world of color physiology, red is associated with blood and energy (or heat) and emotions that stir the blood such as anger or excitement.

There are entire industries devoted to the use of color and how to apply it to elicit desired responses or behaviors from consumers.

Consider this: Do you remember the old style Denny’s restaurants? Why were the booth colors orange and pink? Those colors were specifically selected so customers would not linger because orange and pink are stimulating colors that keep us unsettled. Their reasoning worked. Think about other restaurants where you have been that want you to stay a while – their color scheme was most likely soft, neutral, with calming colors of blue, green, greys, and soft purples, and dim lighting. Black and white are considered at the opposite ends of the color spectrum – with some schools of thought stating that they are not even colors. Black weighs down a space and white lifts it up – so together they help create an emotional anchor and should be used with accessories or art – a little splash here and there – to balance a room.

The art of “reading colors” has been a part of beauty and fashion for years – with certain colors making us look and feel younger and energetic and wrong colors literally making our complexion look sallow and eyes dull. When we wear certain colors, we actually feel happier and more uplifted, and the opposite is true when we wear other colors. When we paint our houses, we are dressing them up for show as well. How can we tell what colors work best? This article should help give you guidance whether you are selling it or living in it.

Here is a list of topics covered in this article:

▪Colors in our lives and our houses
▪Physiology of Color
▪Accent Walls – friend or foe?
▪Best Colors solutions for Selling
▪Embrace versus Replace
▪Contrast Colors to the Rescue
▪Where to get Help
▪Color Trends for 2008


Color is an integral part of our homes.

Just like we dress ourselves, we dress our house with colors used in accessories, artwork, and on walls. You may recall the avocado greens and gold colors found in houses in the 1950’s. Or how about tie-dye, and houses with olive green, orange, or dark brown shag carpets common in the 1960’s -70’s. The 1980’s seemed to be all about pastels and southwest color schemes. The 1990’s saw some shifting towards the use of color, but there was also an “all-white” movement afoot in homes. We did not see the full impact of using color in homes until the new millennium. It was almost as if with the turn of the century, homeowners left their fear box of white and enter the euphoric world of colored walls. Some of these people have really embraced the interior color world, while others remained more conservative – placing color on accent walls for punch and impact, while keeping the main walls a neutral.

We know the psychological impact of color can be found in nature.

Think about how you feel when you look at the water or sky, or sit under a tree. Blue and Green are relaxing. Cooler tones tend to be more relaxing, and Warmer tones tend to be more stimulating. So are some shades of purple such as lavender and periwinkle. If you want to relax in your bedroom, it’s probably a good idea not to paint it Red. On the other hand, if you have a room where you want constant activity, feel free to paint it Orange, Red, or Yellow – but just be sure you really like those colors because when they go on a wall they can really dominate!

Accent Walls – Friend or Foe?

If you are not quite ready to commit to an entire room re-do, consider an accent wall. Accent walls in red and burgundy are very common in dining rooms and kitchens. We are less likely to see this color in a bedroom or bathroom, but accent walls with a deeper tone of a soothing color behind a bed where a headboard is placed or a large piece of art makes a nice frame for the focal point of the bedroom. Experts share that we should never paint an outer wall as an accent wall.

What colors are best for the interior of a house?

Painting each room in a house a different color chops up the flow and actually is a detraction emotionally and visually. It’s better to use one color or tones of the same color family to flow through each room as a common thread, and then punch up color in various rooms with accent walls, or accessories and art. Dark colors close a room in and make it feel smaller – literally eliminating visual square footage because of the emotional response. It is never a good idea to paint a ceiling a dark color unless it is vaulted or higher than the standard 8-9 feet. Children’s rooms may have creative murals, fun colors and themes. Just keep in mind colors impact children more than adults – so keep the bright, stimulating colors off the walls unless you want Johnny and Susie up all night. If you want to have some fun, use accessories, props, and artwork to add the color but keep the background in a calming color or warm neutral.

These photos illustrate the difference strong colors versus warm neutral with accent colors in the accessories can do for presenting a room in a house that is for sale.

Warm Neutrals should be used as a background for the rooms in the house. White is called “the color of fear” with paint – meaning it is the sign of someone that does not know what to do – so does nothing. It seems clean and fresh, but really it’s boring. Houses exist with all white walls but they are usually ones with black and white decorating schemes, which is not practical for the everyday homeowner. White is great when used as an accent for moulding, trims, and cabinetry. On walls, even if you are not brave of heart to paint a wall orange, go for a nice tan color – or a soft gold or taupe. The walls come alive!

What if you are selling a house and you have bright colors on your walls? Colors speak to buyers. They say “Buy Me” or “When you buy me, before you move in you will have a lot of work to do.” If a buyer likes the color painted on a wall, great but to take that chance and eliminate an entire pool of buyers over a too-bright or odd color on the wall, does not make sense. In a market where there are a lot of houses for sale, making sure that a house is move-in ready is essential. Some sellers will argue that a buyer will usually paint the walls anyway, but painting a neutral wall is easy. Having to prime (possibly with multiple coats of paint) and then paint is a lot more work.

The best solution for selling is to paint out all the walls with a warm neutral. (Note: Sherwin Williams has a great line of colors and ASP Stagers can get a 40-60% discount on materials for clients.) We recommend sellers paint walls a warm tan, soft gold, or taupe color. Keep in mind that the undertone of the paint needs to blend nicely with cabinetry, carpet and flooring. Picking a color with a grey cast and painting it in a house with yellow or red oak cabinets will result in a mis-match and will not enhance the house. If you are not able to decide which color should be painted, seek the advice of a professional ASP Home Stager. Most ASP Stagers have color wheels and fan decks from professional paint supply stores and can easily help select a color that will be a good background to the features of the house.

“Embrace, not Replace.”

When a client states they will not invest in the painting, what do you do? First, we need to know how motivated this client is to get the results they want. There is a reason they don’t want to paint and it is usually about one of two factors: Cost or Attachment. Painting a whole house can cost a fair amount, but the return on investment more than makes up for it in the sale. There are discounts they can receive when they work with a Stager, and the fresh paint job can actually be marketed as a feature when selling the house. An attachment issue says the seller is not sure they want to move and because they like the color, if they don’t sell they don’t want to have to repaint the walls. They clearly lack the commitment to make necessary changes. The goal is to always work with the Seller to help educate them about why they need to make changes and give them solutions that make sense for them to achieve their sale.

What if the client just refuses to paint the bright walls?

How can you tone it down so that it is not such a shocker for a buyer? The solution is to counter-balance the color by adding accessories that are in the contrasting color. This takes experience to know exactly what to do, but it works! Again, an ASP Stager will know what colors to introduce in the room, and where to place them to help neutralize the impact of a too-bright or outdated color. As an example, a house that has too much blue – flooring or counters – would have gold, soft yellow, and perhaps even orange introduced with accessories, art and furnishings in order to play down the blue, and help a buyer focus on the house and not the blue paint or counters or carpet. The detracting color is still there, but with Staging the house is presented in a way that is appealing and helps a buyer to know how they might be able to deal with the color too.

Lastly, if you are planning a move and have not updated your house in a couple of decades, it’s time to bring your house into the current trends. Painting is a proven investment in a house that brings the highest rate of return.

Colors do speak to us. When we are Staging and selling a house, we want to make sure they are saying, “Come and linger here” and not “Run away!”

Whether you are selling or staying put – the We Stage Sacramento Staging Specialists can help advise you on what colors to select so that your house has the right combination of peace and pizzazz.

Want to know what the decorating color trends are for 2008?

Want to freshen up your house for 2008? Experts say earthtones are on the decline but still provide a great backdrop for most houses. Homeowners that are trend setters for style and decorating will add paint and decorative accessories and furnishings in the tones of soft grey blues, silvery green-blues, earthy greens, silvers and plums, and orchid. Expect to see more green used – as a following of being more earth and eco-friendly, plus green is the color of nature and life. Use of metallics and silver accents are a great touch to an already delightful palette.

We are an approved Sherwin-Williams vendor and receive 40-60% off on materials and supplies! Ask us how we can help YOU save on your painting needs!

Picture-Picture on the Net - How many Glances Will You Get?

Pictures don't lie. The eye of the camera is a truth tool.

Photos online need to be of Staged houses in order to get a second glance.

I am still amazed in this day and age of digital photography with all the enhanced devices and services available to see poor photos (or no photos) online to promote and market a house for sale.

Photos need to be Staged too. Presentation matters.
Over 90% of buyers in most markets are searching online FIRST before even deciding which houses are candidates for purchase. Gone are the days where all houses are previewed via open houses or showings with an agent. Virtual Showings are the new buzz phrase - and in a virtual showing, the photos are king.

Staged houses show better in photos and in virtual tours online.
It's not just about clicking the camera and posting any photo to promote a house. Today, the savvy seller better make sure that the photos of their house - their product - are good ones that really showcase the space and selling features of their house.



Consider this photo - of a framed painting found in the dining room of a very high-end $2M house. Do you think Buyers would find a naked woman lounging on the bed appealing? Is this something they would expect to find in a dining room? No. And the buyers touring this house online or in person would remember this house as "The Naked Lady House."




Or how about his photo of a $550K house - this is supposed to be a Formal Living Room. Not only is it cluttered with ugly exercise equipment and random pieces of furniture lining the walls, but the "focal point" of the photo is the bare wall with an unattractive picture on the ground. What are these people thinking? The agent marketing this house needs to take a hard look at the photos and ask, "Is this photo going to help or hinder the sale?"



Or lastly, how about this photo - of the exterior of this over $500K house - can you even see what you are supposed to be buying? And worse than that, this is the ONLY photo for this house - there are no interior photos posted online. A buyer is going to pass right over this washed out photo with trees that block the house.


The amazing thing is that when searching online today I looked at 400 houses that fell within the criteria of $500,000 or higher for this particular city search. These houses for sale listed on Realtor.com had more than half of them featured with no photos other than the exterior photo posted. Of the ones that had additional photos, 75% of them had photos that were poor quality or did not showcase the house. Even a short-sale or REO needs to have a best-foot forward in order to attract an audience of buyers.


Here are some Tips for getting the most out of what is shown online - Staging Works and is a key marketing and presentation tool for Houses.

1. Get a good digital camera that can capture the entire room in a photo. If you have to, pay to have a professional take the photos as this is the first image a potential buyer will see online.

2. Make sure the lighting in the photo is an enhancement to the picture. If the lighting is too harsh, it will wash out part of the photo (like in the exterior house photo above) and the viewer cannot get a good perspective of what they are looking at in the picture. If the lighting coming from a window is too bright, it will wash out the photo and become the undesirable focal point. You are better off waiting for better lighting - either in the morning or later in the afternoon.

3. Take some photos at night. Exterior photos of a house lit up at night can be a fabulous way to showcase a house. Pools or other water features can reflect the light at night and create and artsy and attractive image.

4. LOOK at the pictures as you take them. The eye of the camera shows everything - the dog bowl, the cat toy, the shoe by the stairs, the random umbrella leaning against the house, the trash can, the old car, the weeds by the door, the person sitting in a chair, etc. These things we "filter out" with our minds, show up with evident clarity in photos. Remove the eye-sore and re-take the pictures!

Remember:You only have ONE CHANCE to make a FIRST IMPRESSION

- make it a good one!

Stage your Houses BEFORE they come on the market -

and take photos of Staged rooms to promote the house to the public!

Where to get Help: Work with a trained Accredited Staging Professional (ASP). They are the only nationally recognized designation for Home Staging. They have been trained to specifically prepare a house for sale and their goal is to help that house SELL.

On average a Staging Report Plan that provides specific detailed information on preparing a house for sale averages about $200.00 in most markets. When the seller implements this Staging Plan, the house is ready to show. If the house is vacant, a trained Stager can come out at no charge to preview the property and then provide a Staging Proposal for the investment to Stage the house for sale.

Whether Occupied Home or Vacant Home Staging - statistics prove that:

The investment in Staging is always less than a Price Reduction.

All members of the We Stage Sacramento Team

are ASP Trained Staging Specialists.

If you are in our area, we would love to help

you get your house ready to show!

Will Your House for Sale Attract Prince Charming?

Fairy tales are fun. They often have a fair maiden that overcomes challenges to become a glamorous princess. There is usually a villain or wicked stepmother, and there are the helpers that encourage the main character along the journey. And to find Prince Charming, all it takes is some hope, belief, and a fairy Godmother. Applying this fairy tale to real estate and Staging, are houses for sale in need of better presentation that much different?

In real estate, the fair maiden is the house in need of some care and cleaning, and a new dress to put on to go to the ball – or in this case – to be Staged and showcased with all the other good-looking houses on the market. And the Fairy Godmother is a trained ASP Stager equipped not with a magic wand, but with talent and creativity to transform ugly spaces into beautiful rooms. Stagers transform the plain into something special. The villain is the market competition, and disbelief that any effort will make a difference. The pumpkin becomes the trucks that transport any inventory needed to add the “wow” factor. The white mice become fellow Stagers that assist us in our work. The stable horses become the muscles – movers that might be used. And there you have “Stagerella” - the story of getting a house ready to meet its Prince.

Search the internet for listings and you’ll also be appalled by what is there in photos. The eye of the camera does not lie. When an estimated 90% of buyers look online FIRST to research which houses might be prospects to buy, why is it that sellers and Realtors still don’t get the importance of putting good looking photos of Staged houses online? It would be like Cinderella going to the ball in her rags and expecting Prince Charming to give her a second glance. It would not happen. Why then do sellers and Realtors expect a buyer to give a house a second glance when the house is wearing rags?

Some sellers may not believe their house is worthy of a transformation, settling instead for being an Ugly Stepsister – destined to be overlooked and undersold. And yet, every house can have a Cinderella story. It begins with a plan and working with someone that can see past the rags and reveal the potential princess lurking in the shadows. In a declining market, the impact of Staging is even more important. Every house deserves to go to the ball in a pretty dress. Statistics still show that Staging is a key marketing tool – presentation matters, and buyers want to feel good about their purchase.

So put on the ball gown, fix up the hair, and get ready to meet the Prince. A house needs to be clean, de-cluttered, and shown at its best in order to sell.

Instead of sitting longer than needed and dropping more in price than is necessary, a Staged house will attract a Prince of a buyer – and they will live happily ever after.

Staging Statistics Prove Staging Works!

Happy New Year!

We have some great new Staging Statistics to help us validate that Staging continues to work all over the country! As an Accredited Staging Professional Master (ASPM) it is my privilege to be associated with a company, Stagedhomes.com, that helps track national statistics for Staging.

In November 2007, they released the results of a 6 months survey of over 400 houses that were Staged for sale. The results showed that the ASP Staged houses sold 80% faster than the competition.

The other statistic was from Home Gain that updated a 2003 study of 2,000 Realtors. In 2008 this study shows that Staging is even MORE valuable as an investment in getting a house ready for sale!

As a Home Stager and Trainer - these statistics are vital to the continued growth of our industry.

In the Sacramento region that has been hit very hard by the market slow down, Staging continues to be a defining service for selling a house versus having it sit and wait for a buyer.

Our company statistics that I track at We Stage Sacramento show that houses that we Staged last year sold an average of 33% faster than the market averages, and some 90% faster.

Happy Staging!

- Jennie Norris, ASPM, IAHSP

Owner, We Stage Sacramento

Vice President, International Association of Home Staging Professionals

President, Greater Sacramento IAHSP Chapter

Official ASP Course Trainer, Stagedhomes.com