Solve Design Issues On-the-Go with 4 iPhone Apps
Filed under: Remodeling Adviser, Room Makeovers, Staging Tips
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 PropertyScripps 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
5 ‘Hip’ Ideas for Do-it-Yourself Staging
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Looking for some quick home staging ideas that don’t cost a lot? Here are five inexpensive “Hip Tipz” from stager Charlene Storozuk that will help you show off a home with painting techniques and found objects.
1. Paint bedroom furniture antique white and the walls a darker tint. Add crystal hardware such as a chandelier or light fixtures for added elegance to create a French-inspired bedroom.
2. Frame a favorite tea towel for display in the kitchen.
3. Make the rooms off the hallway appear larger by painting them a lighter shade than the hallway.
4. Vintage door panels make an interesting headboard when painted.
5. Make a sloped ceiling appear taller by installing a shelf underneath at height of lowest point of slope.
Stage the Home for Online Curb Appeal, Too
By Stephanie Decker, Staged Marin Homes
Curb Appeal in real estate terms used to mean how appealing your home is to potential buyers when they view the home’s exterior. It was the first time they were seeing your home, and it sets the stage for the rest of your home. But this has changed with the use of Web sites such as Realtor.com, Facebook, and the local and national real estate agency Web site that is listing the house for sale.
The appeal of your home comes long before a buyer even gets to your front door — it starts online. And it is not just your front door that sets the stage, it is your entire house that the buyer can see, long before ever getting to your house.
So the first item of business: Make sure your photos are capturing your listing from the very best angle!
The photographs real estate agents use for a home on the Web are crucial. It is best to use a professional photographer who specializes in taking photos of homes for sale but if you can’t afford one, there are several things to consider. Real Estate Blogger Web site recently released an article listing the Top 10 Tips of Photographing Your Home for Sale.
Among the blog’s tips:
- Try a tripod. It will not only help you keep the camera steady, but it will also allow you to concentrate on more important things—like getting that perfect picture.
- Watch your lighting. Don’t turn on all of the lighting in the room and close the drapes, you’ll get “halos” around the room’s lamps. Use the camera’s flash to get an even photo. Also, take photos of the outside gardens in the shade—it’ll look better than when taken in the bright sun.
- Haul the clutter away. Take down the personal photos, too.
Remember: The photographs are your calling card. So if the photos aren’t representative of your home’s appeal than the buyer will never get to your front door. There’s always another house just a mouse click away!
Once potential buyers are lured by your photos, you’ll want to make sure the home’s curb appeal doesn’t let them down when they’re there in person.
Take these steps: Read more
Design for Amateurs: Your Guide to Style
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Can you still design a chic room without being a designer? I recently stumbled upon this article by Pedro Arrais, Guidelines for Home Design: Helpful Suggestions From the Experts, that breaks down good design for amateurs.
He offers several simple design principles for sprucing up interiors that might inspire you for your listings — he covers everything from where to place the furniture and artwork to how to bring balance to a room.
Among the tips:
Don’t match everything. Instead mix your colors, fabrics, and textures in a room to add more visual interest and make it more memorable. Also, vary the height of the furniture.
Beware of neutral overload. We love to reach for the beiges and tans to make homes move-in ready but you can also risk it being too blah. Mix neutrals with some vibrant pops of color. Read more
“I Don’t Do Windows” – Not Something You Want to Say When Selling Your Home
By Charlene Storozuk
Just as your eyes are the mirror to your soul, the “soul” of your house is mirrored by your windows. Make sure you don’t neglect them when preparing a property for sale.
In fact, Feng Shui principles view the windows as the eyes of a home.
Here are a few pre-listing tips for making the most of your windows:
1. Make sure that every window sparkles — both inside and out. Not only will it give a property that well-kept look, it will also let more light into each room which is very important for showings.
2. Replace any cracked window panes.
3. Repair and neatly paint weathered window frames.
4. Inspect all windows to ensure that they open. Make sure that all paint is removed from the panes. A razor blade, used with caution, will usually work well to scrape off unsightly paint.
5. All windows should have window treatments. A ”naked” window gives a room a cold, unwelcoming feel. Select a treatment that is suitable to Read more
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
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.
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)
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
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.
