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)
Pop Quiz: Name This Architecture Style!
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Hint: Ionic or Corinthian columned porches often extend the full height of these homes.
ANSWER: See if you are correct >
Give Your Listing the “Sniff” Test
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
When you step into a home, one of the first things you often notice is the smell. Does it smell new or clean? Or does it reek of the family’s pets or yesterday’s dinner?
How have you handled these not-so-pleasant aromas in your listings? I’m working on an article for REALTOR® Magazine about the smell of homes, and I want to hear from you. What products have you found are best in covering up those foul smells in a home? What’s your best advice for getting a listing smell-ready?
Send an e-mail with your tips to mtracey@realtors.org and please include your name, company, and city/state to have your suggestions considered for the article.
First Impressions: Get Instant Curb Appeal With These 10 Must-Dos
By Christine Rae, Staging Expert
The Internet is the first source for viewing a property for most buyers, even before talking to a real estate professional. That means curb appeal is important because they are “driving by” the listing, and you don’t know it.
Here are 10 things to consider when assessing the curb appeal of your listing:
1. Pressure wash siding, decks, and walkways.
2. Clean windows and gutters, and check downspouts.
3. Check the growth of trees and bushes–ensure they don’t block light from any window.
4. Kill any mold or mildew around the property. Read more
Room Makeovers: What Could You Do in 2 Hours With $250?
Three real estate pros accepted REALTOR® Magazine’s staging challenge: They had 2 hours to transform one room for under $250. They tackled a home office, living room, and master bedroom. See how they transformed these rooms by being budget savvy and smart with their accessories and placement of furniture. Get ideas for your listings!
