Solve Design Issues On-the-Go with 4 iPhone Apps

By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Help clients see the design potential in a living space instantly. Change the dining room color from lemon yellow to plum purple — before painting. Rearrange new furniture — before moving day. Get staging tips, watch design videos, and add curb appeal with these four iPhone apps.

Home Interior Layout Designer – Mark On Call

M.O.C. Interior Designer, LLC

$2.99

Customize the layout of a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and more with the Home Interior Layout Designer app. Created by interior designer Mark Lewison, “Mark On Call,” and based on his book, “What Would You Do With This Room,” this app even lets you take pictures of actual décor and architectural finishes, such as carpet, flooring, rugs, etc., and add them as a “skin” to a surface in your virtual design plan. Use the pallet of colors, patters, fabrics, furnishings, wood, and stone options to explore the design potential of a room. The app also offers a measuring tool, design advice, sharing of designs between app users, and the ability to make a shopping list for all your customized home purchases.

HGTV’s Staging and Property

Scripps Networks, LLC

Free

This app offers the “best of” from HGTV, including real estate videos, pictures, tips, and advice. Watch clips of HGTV shows “Curb Appeal,” “Designed to Sell,” and more. Getting ready for an open house? Look up tips and tutorials on staging and design for better buyer appeal. And see before and after photo slideshows of room transformations. Read more

Need Help Climbing Out of That Clutter?

By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Every day I learn something new from the folks I follow on Twitter. Today I learned that Nov. 15 is National Declutter Day. Who knew?

The occasion, which was started last year by Kijiji.com (@KijijiUS), eBay’s free online classifieds site, is a great way to get sellers motivated to prepare their home for showings.

Plus, we could all use a little decluttering in our lives, couldn’t we?

In honor of the occasion, I’ve scoured the Internet for some resources you can pass on to your clients. What I’ve come up with are three handy Web sites and one clutter-busting San Carlos, Calif.-based business that can clear out a room in minutes. Intrigued? Read on.

Unclutterer.com

This Web site is all about organization, plain and simple. Organizing your life; organizing your home; organizing your office. The Washington, D.C.–based author Erin Doland is a recovering pack-rat who once “held on to objects like her third grade math assignments and every note she passed in high school.” Her book Unclutter Your Life in One Week, which went on sale this week, is a testament to her reformed, uncluttered lifestyle, and a helpful tool for anyone looking to declutter their home. 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!

Bathroom Update: Maximum Impact on a Minimal ($71) Budget

By Charlene Storozuk

Let me start out by telling you that our home was the recipient of this quick and easy facelift.  My husband and I bought our home as a fixer-upper. It’s taking longer than expected to finish because little things such as life, time, and money seem to get in the way. When it came time to update the bathroom, we had a decision to make. Do we totally renovate it, or spend the money on a new patio instead?

Since both of us love the outdoors, the patio won out. Here’s what I’ve done with the bathroom temporarily and something you can pass along as an inexpensive fix for those selling their homes.

You’ll see that the cupboards looked tired and were starting to peel. The previous home owner painted them before listing, but he either didn’t clean them thoroughly, or he used the wrong paint. Read more

8 Room Makeovers From Staging Pros

Check out several before and after room makeovers from staging professionals across the country. In May, we featured popular room makeovers from real estate professionals. Now, it’s the stagers turn!

They show us how they turned a home’s eyesore into a room that buyers will love. See what they did to transform these less-than-perfect rooms, and get ideas for your own listing!

600 Square Feet to Transform: A Challenging ‘Railroad’ Condo Unit

By Martin R. Delossantos

Before Christmas, a prominent developer contacted me to stage her model unit.  She was thrilled that her building was finally over the long, tedious hump-that is, the zoning board for permits and inspections.  Now she was ready to sell some condos!

I met with her contractor to see the unit and devise a design.  My first impression of the unit was how narrow the place was.  I was told it was 605-square-feet and is known as a unit called a “railroad.” It’s called that because the rooms run through each other on a straight line.

These type of apartments were popular during the turn of the century because they provided a solution to urban overcrowding.  Two of these units fit side-by-side on each floor with a hallway and staircase.

This particular building had a good layout and with a good décor hopefully it could generate interest so we could get these units sold. But, in general, railroad apartments are not in high demand due to the obvious flaw … NO privacy!

The Transformation

Best features: The positive points were the sunny exposure.  A great Hoboken location and being able to walk to the Path station, restaurants, and bars in just short minutes.  Read more

Room Makeover: Staging a Condo So it’s Not Fit for a Hollywood Actress

By Martin R. Delossantos

A local film company calls: The condo unit I was representing was being considered to rent for actress Mischa Barton to stay in while she filmed in Jersey City. Unfortunately for me, the developer whose condo I represented decided he did not want Barton, or anyone with pets—and Barton did not want anything without her two little doggies.

To the developer, it was not about short-term money for potential long term headaches.  It was about his need to SELL this unit in his building because he actually renovated it himself and did not want to spend any more time or money to restore the unit if those sweet little pooches chewed and scratched his gorgeous cherry soaked oak floors and moldings.

The Transformation

Problem areas: The unit was unusually laid out, which was keeping buyers at bay. The biggest problem was the main room; the space had no definition.

Was it a kitchen? Living room?  Dining room?  Also, the unit had a dead fireplace.  The developer created too much kitchen by installing too many cabinets—albeit beautiful hardwood cherry—with glossy dark granite counters and sleek stainless steel appliances.  (I suppose he was banking on a discerning chef, but that can limit your buyer pool.)  If the main room was left empty, all you would notice is a big kitchen.

The space needed to be kept generic and balanced to attract the most amount of prospects. The buyers Read more

Show Off Your Best Room Makeover Photos

Have you turned a less-than-perfect room in one of your listings into a showpiece? REALTOR® magazine, in conjunction with our new Styled, Staged & Sold blog, is creating a slide show featuring some of the best room makeovers by real estate practitioners.

Send in your before and after room photos, along with the following information:

• Room featured in your makeover:
• What was wrong with the room:
• What you did to improve it:
• Name:
• Company:
• City/state:
• Your Web site:
• Please attach before and after photos. Also, please include a photo of yourself.

We’ll be selecting submissions to feature in an upcoming slide show at REALTOR® magazine online.

Please e-mail the above information to Melissa Tracey at REALTOR® Magazine: mtracey@realtors.org.

How Staging Revived a Dated Listing

By Martin R. Delossantos

Skilled staging is essential in this unpredictable market with so much property for sale. A buyer needs to see and feel your property.

In my real estate and staging experience, I’ve discovered that it is always simpler to stage a unit when it’s bare, which allows the unit to become a clean canvas. When cleverly decorated, it can de-emphasize the lack of good space planning or it can highlight prime features in new or older construction.

MY STAGING CHALLENGE

Last year one of my clients tried to sell his condo. It was on the market for nearly a year.  First, he tried to sell it on his own. Next, he used a non-local REALTOR® that was not familiar with the building. He was beyond frustrated so he finally pulled the listing. A top-producing real estate agent stepped in and asked for the listing. The REALTOR® then brought me in to resolve the interior dilemma.

Problem areas: The condo was dated in style. It shrieked 1980’s with mirrored walls, grey marble floors, large wall vents, white Formica cabinets in the bathrooms, and old white appliances in the kitchen. A gaudy Lucite ceiling fan hung in the dining area with warm purple, puffy valences. In the living room was a wooden, sea captain spindled stair case rail with carpeted stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs. The fireplace was back-splashed in cemetery green marble.

The best features: The home’s top assets were the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows, and its balcony with panoramic views of New York City and marina views. The kitchen also had gorgeous custom cherry cabinetry.

What I did:

• I removed the puffy valences to open the vista.
• I had the place painted white to modernize walls and bring in the marina since the mirrored walls reflected the light.
• The place was cleaned thoroughly.
• I placed real plants inside and on the balcony.
• I chose all modern furniture and artwork.
• Splashes of color finished the look.

The result: The unit sold in four months.

Take a look at the slide show of images to see more of the transformation.
Read more