Archive for November, 2007

Grateful Mind On A Thankful Day

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Dear Friend,

As I sitting down to write you this message, I cannot help but feel grateful of a fruitful year and all your wonderful support in assisting the staging industry and my small business to propel forward for the better.

To date, in 2007, Staged4more has staged 28 million dollars+ worth of San Francisco bay area real estate, in which 62% of the sold homes obtained a sold price more than their original listing prices.

I couldn’t have done it without you!

As our foundation has grow stronger, the company’s inventory has also grown. I am in the process of seeking bigger warehouse space to accommodate our growing inventory, as well as hiring additional assistants to serve you better.

I am also making lots new changes which are very exciting. I had rolled out a new site in September, featuring a variety of blog articles that contain useful tips to home sellers & agents. Moreover, the new logo reflects the idea behind Staged4more.

In 2008, I will transition to credit card transactions and automatic payments. So no more dealing with pesky end period payments! Just 1 less deadline & invoice you need to remember. Moreover, our clients have been giving great feedbacks on the user-friendliness of our new client portal that enable you to archive all the necessary documents related to your staging projects.

In October, I also obtained by Accredited Staging Professional Master through studying under the Creator of Home Staging, Barb Schwarz, whom you have met or heard speaking in this year’s NAR conference in Las Vegas.

I am incredible grateful and honored to have participated with your journey in selling your listings. And I look forward to many more to work with you in assisting staging your homes to sell quicker and more equity.

As always, I am here for your real estate needs. If you need anything, please do not hesitant to ask!

Cheers,

Cindy

NEW S4m Staged Home! Great Potrero Hill Single Family Home For Sale

Monday, November 19th, 2007

I recently completed a staging installation and I have to say… it is my new favorite project! I think the outcome looks really sharp.

The Staging Project: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, San Francisco
The Scope: Vacant Home Staging
The specs of the Home:

Main level has 2/Bed,1.5/Baths w/remodeled Baths + Eat in Kitchen w/ new appliances, cabinetry, granite countertops and flooring.Back deck off Kitchen overlooks level yard, new hardwood in L/R + D/R w/ high coved ceilings. New carpet + paint in/out.Lwr lvl w/ large garage, unwarranted room and 1/4 bath. Wide street, ample parking. Easy access to Hwys 280/101.

Listing Price: $829,000
SFAR MLS#: 334089

It was again a pleasure to work with the Listing Agent Jim again, whose San Mateo listing (click to see the before and after of this San Mateo staged home) was listed at $1,295,000 and sold at $1,370,000 ($75,000 Over-asking!).

Here are some before & after photos of the listing, or click the link to view the slide show via flickr:


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Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging: Ed #5

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Great to see non-stager participating!!!

Frugal Panda presents 10 Home Improvement Projects That Actually Pay Off posted at Frugal Panda.

Kimberly Wester presents What a Stager Really Needs…Stamina posted at The Details of Staging (Kim’s Blog).

Cindy Lin @ Staged4more presents Question From Agent Reader: What to Tell Sellers? posted at Staged4more Home Staging Tips + more!.

To submit to future issues of Carnival of Real Estate Home Staging, do one of the two things here:

1. via blog carnival

2. via email to corehs@staged4more.com. If submit via email, please include:

  • Article URL (permalink)
  • Article title
  • Author name
  • E-mail address
  • Blog URL
  • Brief summary of the post

Got staging/stager questions? Ask Cindy

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Starting on next Friday, I will start a “column” if you will on anything about staging. So feel free to ask your burning staging questions. Whether you are a new home stager, seller, agent, other real estate professionals, or someone who is just interested about it, feel free to write in! Just email me at hello@staged4more.com with “Staging Q!” in the title.

Cheers,

Cindy*Staged4more

Question From Agent Reader: What to Tell Sellers?

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Cindy,

I recently started hiring a professional to dry clean carpets before the house gets listed. I also go around the home with a pack a post-its and mark what should stay in the room. Everything else must be packed away for the move or sold at a garage sale. What other ideas do you have?

Thanks.

Kathy

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Kathy has asked a very valid question. Here are a few things that I would recommend for Listing Agents to go over before staging the home:

staged4more's staged burlingame home   (more…)

How Other Real Estate Professionals Can Damage A Sale

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Wednesday Series: Why Staged Homes Don’t Sell. In the series, I am going to cover:

  1. What A Well Staged Home Does for a Sale
  2. How Listing Agents Unintentionally Sabotage Their Own Staged Listings
  3. What is the Seller’s Problem?!
  4. How A Stager Can Potentially Kill Your Deal
  5. Other Real Estate Professionals’ Play in the Mud Too

muddhttp://www.dotucson.com/live.asp?qry=1022y kids photo courtesy of
Let’s face it. Sometimes we can get a little bit “forgetful” and “blindsided” and completely forgot there are many other professionals involved in a real estate transactions. We are so tuned into our own jobs, we simply forgot there are the others that hold the sale together, and we stagers, too, just another link in the grand scheme of things.

Staging is not a true guarantee of a home sale, as I have covered in the past few Wednesdays since there are many variables that can play into the sale, causing the success rate to be unsteady. ONLY when all parties work together, a sale can be successful.

And when I say party, I mean it’s a party. In a real estate transaction, many people come into the play, not just sellers, agents and stagers. There are loan officers, mortgage companies, inspectors, title companies, appraisers, photographers, virtual assistants, insurance brokers, builders, attorneys, mortgage processors, lenders, property managers, escrow companies, financial planners, and sometimes even tenants.

Here is a flow chart of home selling process courtesy of Brian Block — Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate from his blog Selling a Home in Northern Virgina & D.C.: Step by Step Flowchart. Your process may slightly differ in different states, but generally it’s about the same roughly. You still have to go through so many sets of hands. (more…)

Redesign for Work WORKS!

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

I surprise-visited little raspberries recently (so the owner won’t clean up before I show up hee hee, I can find out how they really organize the store…) which is a infant & children’s resale boutique that I had a couple consultation sessions with back in January. The owners didn’t have much money but they had been acting on my suggestions from our consultation sessions and working toward making the store more organized and transforming into the space that they dreamed about when they first bought the store last December.

Formerly known as Darla’s Baby Boutique, when mr. & mrs. raspberry bought the store, the original owner was weary of the space. Her heart was no longer in it and the customers felt it. The store was disorganized and messy. The inventory wasn’t working. The sales had plummeted. I felt very inspired after listening to mrs. raspberry about her vision for the store and how she wanted the store to be a space for the community. That’s something that I model my business after, so I glad took on the challenge. The store carries both resale and new inventories, as well as very bulky items such as strollers, play structures, etc. which can be tricky when it comes to organization. Also, when I was at the store for the first time, the paint job was very outdated, pealing and faded. Moreover, the display were messy and dis-organized. The inventory looked drabby and outdated. We knew it was going to be quite a challenge when we first met.

We decided that the scope of the project would include:
*Shopping assistance
*Redesigning the space
*Redesigning the shopping experience for boutique’s clients
*Creating a community space
*Streamline the inventory flow process to increase profits
*Cosmetic changes such as color consultations, furnitures, etc.

We were only able to meet twice, however, they had made a lot of great changes following my suggestions:

Here are some photos when we first begun:

Here is some after photos (still work in progress but I am SO proud of what they had done and how far they had come!): (more…)