Affordable Staging Tips for Any Listing: Your Questions Answered
We had a great webinar last Thursday on how you can stage your listings without breaking the bank. In case you missed it, you can playback a recording and download the slides at REALTOR® Magazine.
Our speakers—staging pros Terrylynn Fisher and Christine Rae—provided attendees with dozens of staging tips and even provided ideas on how you can spice up those REOs. During the webinar, we ran out of time for questions but our speakers offered to answer your questions here.
Many real estate professionals and stagers have furniture they use from listing to listing. A lot of that furniture may be cheaper and is fine for many of their listings. But how about your high-end listings? Should you use the cheaper furniture in those listings or will that do more harm than good?
Christine Rae
CHRISTINE: Absolutely not, cheap looks cheap and sends a message of cheap. The whole essence of staging today is to target the buyer who is likely to purchase—they don’t want to see cheap anything. People buy aspirationally whether it’s a $100,000 or several million $$ property they want to fall in love with—feel special and attempts to skim/slough speaks volumes….not just about the house but also about you.
The biggest challenge we face as an industry is lack of complete understanding of the craft. Staging started as a clean and fluff sort of thing, but it is way more refined now…before it would be like painting walls with primer and not finishing the job.
Terrylynn Fisher
TERRYLYNN: I agree with Christine. If you use cheap items what kind of buyers are you attracting? The buyer who can qualify for a high-end home has high-end furnishings and won’t relate to cheap décor. It will diminish the home you are “showcasing” and you aren’t really “showcasing” it.
For ANY property you need to be sure the furnishings you use match the décor and style of the property. Like a Victorian or country farmhouse vs. modern or traditional. The curb appeal we spoke of needs to be stellar, but the insides have to match as well so that when they walk through the door they get what they expected—only better. Congruity is important.
Who traditionally pays for staging: Seller or the real estate agent? Read more
10 Must-Have Features in New Homes
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
So what home features are buyers asking for the most in their search for a new home?
AVID Ratings Co., a firm that provides surveys and employee training to home builders across the United States and Canada, conducts an annual survey of home buyer preferences.
The company found the following hot home features reign supreme in today’s market:
1. Large kitchens with an island.
2. Energy-efficient appliances and high-efficiency insulation and windows. (These were the most sought-after “green” features from buyers.) Read more
Watch a Staging Master in Action
As part of REALTOR® Magazine’s Masters Series, Colorado practitioner Mary Brooks, CRS®, GRI, shows how staging can be done on a tight budget, with dramatic results.
It Ain’t Worth What it Used To Be
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
So what’s the going rate for a 132-room, 55,000-square foot mansion with 18 acres, 16 family-guest rooms, three kitchens, three elevators, 28 fireplaces, and an underground bunker? Oh, and we forgot to mention: The president happens to live there too.
Apparently the White House can’t seem to escape the sagging housing market either. In the last year, the posh 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. address dropped in value by 5.1 percent—from $308 million to $292.5 million, according to a recent post on Zillow’s blog. Read more
Are Your Listings Ready for the Spring Buying Season?
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
It’s time to get those listings ready for the spring! A recent article in U.S. News & World Report by Luke Mullins, 10 Cheap Ways to Boost Your Home’s Sales Price by Spring, offers up some affordable ideas for getting a property in selling-ready shape in time for the spring sale season. Among the ideas in the article:
1.) Touch up the paint on the front door—it’s one of the first places buyers will look!
2.) Paint the interior a light yellow or cream color that creates a nice constrast with white woodwork. Read more
Affordable Home Staging: Sign Up for Our Free Webinar!
On Thursday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. Eastern time, REALTOR® Magazine is hosting a free Webinar on affordable home staging techniques! Register and learn more about the presentation via the magazine’s Webinar page.
Staging pros Christine Rae and Terrylynn Fisher will be the featured speakers, focusing on low-cost techniques they use to transform homes. They’ll also touch on the popular question: What can I do to improve the look of my vacant REO and short-sale listings?
Join us for this exclusive presentation! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the Webinar: Melissa Dittmann Tracey, multimedia/Web producer for REALTOR® Magazine (mtracey@realtors.org)
A Closer Look at the Trade Show Floor
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
From innovative construction materials to the latest in doors and windows, the Las Vegas Convention Center held the largest annual housing industry trade show during the 2010 International Builders’ Show Jan 19-22. Here are some scenes from the exhibits:
From the International Builders’ Show: Room to Consider
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
A quick takeaway from the Thursday morning International Builders’ Show session “Top 10 Technology Trends” – the average age of a gamer is 33 years old.
Why does this matter to a real estate practitioner?
Well, video games aren’t just for teenagers anymore. And this American pastime is impacting space needs in a home.
Gaming systems such as the Wii are incorporating interactive elements more and more. Homes will need open spaces for these activities.
Also consider Avatar. The movie has racked in $320 million at the box office, breaking records and resetting the bar for cutting-edge entertainment. The future is heading towards 3D everything, says Matt Carter of Encore Technology and Design in Columbia, S.C. This, too, will require more space for viewing and media interaction in the home.
The bottom line? Ask your clients what they want to use their spaces for.
Knowing whether your buyers are big movie buffs, or if are keen on the latest video games and gaming systems, will help you find them a home that best suites their space needs.
For more coverage from the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, also visit our Speaking of Real Estate blog.
From the International Builders’ Show: Reach Out to the ‘Green Goddess’
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
About twice as many single women purchase homes than single men, accounting for 20 percent of all home buyers. So, if you’re serious about selling homes – especially homes with green features – single women are the ones to watch.
To address this very statistic, Sara Lamia, president of Building Coach Inc.,was one of three panelists presenting her take on selling green to women during day one of the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas Tuesday. Fittingly, the session was entitled, “Evolution of the Green Goddess: Green Technologies Women Want and How to Capture Her Buying Power.” Here are a few of her trends and tips to connect women with green:
Think First Date: On a first date, people are conscious of how they look, how they act, and what they say. They want to put their best foot forward, to be impressive without being overwhelming. The same goes for selling to women, Lamia says. “In order to get more sales, you need to have more first dates.” Read more
How to Make the Most of Your Winter Property Listings
By Charlene Storozuk
Once the holiday season is over, we all tend to hunker down for the cold months ahead (at least those of us not lucky enough to live in a warm locale). The long winter months can play havoc with your social life, mood, travel plans, and, dare I say it, your real estate listings.
How do you bolster potential buyers on the merits of your listing’s exterior when there’s 4 feet of snow outside? Well, here are a few things that just might help.
Make sure all seasonal decorations have been put away. It’s time to remove the outdoor Christmas lights and Santa displays.
- Place a few frost resistant planters or urns outside. Dress them up with twigs, winter greenery, and sparkly “baubles.”
- Statues look great in an outdoor winter garden. Make sure that the pieces you display are frost resistant so they won’t crack. Strategically place them around your garden to help draw potential buyers’ eyes around your outdoor space.
- A few outdoor flood lights (clear, not colored) shining on statues, urns, and other interesting architectural features will give a hint of drama for nighttime showings. Read more
