By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR(R) Magazine
Photo credit: Meredith Baer Home
In this month’s issue of REALTOR(R) Magazine, Beverly Hills real estate pro to the stars Myra Nourmand and Brett Baer, a luxury home stager with Meredith Baer Home, shared with me how to add some Hollywood magic to your listings.
Take a look at some of their ideas for sprucing up the homes of A-list celebrities.
By Myra Nourmand
During the holidays, winter cheer is everywhere. Holiday carols fill homes, stores are beautifully decorated, and there’s a general feeling of joy as families gather and fulfill each other’s wish-lists.
No doubt, people are in a buying spirit. In fact, I’ve closed deals on Christmas and New Years. For home buyers looking forward to starting off fresh for the New Year, you want to create a warm and inviting space that will set your home apart from the rest.
Here are five easy ways to do this: Continue reading »
By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz
Last year I wrote an article about giving purpose to every inch of usable space. Not only is that important, but it’s also key that these bonus areas help make your listing memorable.
BEFORE
Here is the before photo of an open area in the master bedroom of a small townhouse we recently staged. As you’ll see, the home owners were using this area of the master bedroom as a mini-gym. There’s nothing wrong with that when you are living in the home. In fact, I thought it was a really good use of the space as it served their needs — they didn’t want to use the equipment downstairs in the basement.
However, now that the home owners were planning on selling, I needed to focus on this area to make the listing pop. Sure, this space already did serve a purpose, but it wasn’t what I felt would appeal to the majority of potential buyers.
Based on the demographics of the neighborhood and the size of the home and yard, I determined that the potential buyers would most likely be a young, professional couple – first-time buyers, without children. So I decided to appeal to the female audience and create a luxe space where she could pamper herself and take a bit of “me time” before they start a family.
Therefore, I went with the idea of designing a dressing room. (The female version of a man cave, I guess.) Not everyone has a space in their home that they can forfeit to turn into a dressing room, so in my mind, I view a dressing room as somewhat of a guilty pleasure or luxury. Continue reading »
By Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com
Staging a home for sale involves a number of key things to do and here are four of my top things. I call them the “4 C’s” in home staging (and they’re considered “green staging” in this way as well): Clutter free, Clean, Color and Creative.
Clutter Free
Turn chaos into order and peace. Americans are the largest consumers in the world. We have too much “stuff” everywhere! When you want to sell your house you need to go through room by room and remove excess items. Leave space between items, on the walls, and floor to show off the architectural features of the house.
The room will feel larger–and better because it’ll feel more spacious. Buyers need to see and feel the space to buy it. Whether the house you are selling is vacant or lived in, you do not want the rooms empty but you also do not want them overcrowded with too much “stuff” either.
Once it’s clutter-free, commit to keeping the room this way by not bringing in more “stuff”. Below are some important ideas to remember and do:
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Using personal photos to decorate the walls and tables are common in homes. But when you’re listing a home for sale, can those personal photos become a turnoff to potential home buyers?
Real estate professionals and stagers differ on how much of a fuss they make over family photos gracing their clients’ for-sale homes.
Some in the industry strongly advise their clients to remove all personal photos. After all, you want potential buyers to be able to visualize themselves living in the home and not be distracted by seeing personal photos of the current home owners’ vacations, wedding photos, and family reunions.
Others in the industry may say “why not?” They argue that photos actually make a home feel more warm, inviting, and feel like a “home.” Even some builder model homes have started incorporating personal photos into the decor to personalize spaces more.
What do you think?
By Erica Christoffer, multimedia Web producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Looking for quick, easy ideas to bring a home to life, add value, or prep for sale without spending a lot? Learn from the pros! Designers who presented at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando last week had a plethora low-cost, chic ideas to make to most of an interior space.
1. Transform closets: Your clients might consider turning a smaller, awkward closet into a built-in with cabinetry and shelving, or if there’s enough space, even a desk nook. Add dramatic dimension with disc lighting on each shelf. Buyers are looking to maximize every inch of a home with workspaces and storage solutions they’ll actually use. (Jerry Collin, Kay Green Design) [Here are some great before and after closet transformations from Real Simple.]
2. Create a ‘Garage Mahal’: Make the garage an attractive space with a dedicated recycling area, wall mounted shop-vacuum, and maybe a mini (or big) refrigerator for adult beverages. When in doubt, hang it up – provide hanging areas for bikes, tools, equipment, etc. Consider installing a workbench and storage. (Jillian Prichard Cooke, DES-SYN)
Example of a grey color scheme in a great room.
3. Avoid seasonal colors: Greys and stone colors are the new neutrals. Accent them with bursts of bright blues, oranges or reds. (Marc Thee, Marc-Michaels Interior Design)
4. Provide simple luxury: A foldout cabana, two outdoor lounge chairs, and a small table is an inexpensive way to give a backyard living space a sense of luxury. Stage it with candles, flowers or cool drinks (iced tea, lemonade, water, etc.) that you can serve during an open house. (Jillian Prichard Cooke, DES-SYN) Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, multimedia Web producer, REALTOR® Magazine
The Web has democratized good design and made it accessible to the masses. Home owners are perusing online, finding the best from past and present styles, then sharing images on social networks where friends and followers offer opinions. This is resulting in more design-savvy customers than ever before.
“There’s so much dreaming going on right now,” says Jill Waage, executive editor of home design with Better Homes & Gardens. In fact, of the 4,000 respondents to Better Homes & Gardens’ annual consumer survey, 55 percent (up 5 percent from 2010) said style upgrades for countertops, flooring, faucets, and fixtures are important in their next home purchase.
The utility look is continuing to expand from kitchen trends into bath designs through tile, reclaimed wood, and metallic finishes in cabinetry and flooring, says Waage, who presented the survey’s findings Thursday at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. “Statement tubs are still big, even in a smaller footprint,” she says.
Contrasts such as detailed tile next to cool metal and bold patterns with soothing colors are growing in popularity. As for lighting, Waage says it’s “the new jewelry of the room.” Industrial lighting is an especially hot trend this year.
Other priorities buyers have for their next home include: Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR Magazine
Staging is important in improving a home’s presentation, but quality photos are important for getting buyers through the front door. Most buyers begin their home search online and they often use photos to decide which homes to view and which ones to skip, real estate pro Jennifer Ames with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicago told a crowd during a session at the REALTOR® Conference & Expo in Anaheim on Friday.
Ames offered up some of the following photo tips to enhance the presentation of your listings:
Find the best time of day to shoot: If the sun pours in a room in the morning, then you’ll likely want to shoot photos in the afternoon so the view outside doesn’t look like a bright glow. Overcast days or dusk are often the best time to shoot interior photos, Ames said.
Have the right equipment: Ames recommends using an SLR camera with a wide-angle lens (12-18 mm) and a tripod, if you’re shooting your listing photos yourself.
Go wide: Capturing rooms straight-on can sometimes make a room look narrow and small. By standing in a corner and shooting at an angle, you’ll make the room look larger.
By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz
Sadly, summer is officially over. However, if your home is currently on the market, now is not the time to bring your outdoor living space to an end for the year. If you do that, you’re taking away one of the selling features of your home.
At one time, buyers were just looking for a decent-sized yard. Today, on the other hand, they are reaching beyond just the basics. Buyers want attractive outdoor living spaces that they can use for both entertaining and relaxing. The longer you can keep this area set up for showings with outdoor furniture and accessories, the better.
Which one of these photos looks more inviting to potential buyers?
By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz
Recently, I was called in by a local real estate professional to do a “walk and talk” home staging consultation. In the great room of this gorgeous, open concept home, was a super-sized, orange leather sectional couch. It was situated across the width of the room with its back facing the foyer–not the first thing you want potential buyers to see when they walk in the door.
Given that only a small section of the couch was actually against the wall, the fireplace was cut off from view and the space had lost its feeling of openness.
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