Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

What Staging Training Program is Best?

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

I get ask these questions all the time from people who want to enter staging fields and are contemplating which program is the best. Frankly, since I’ve been out of training classrooms for awhile so I don’t really know which one is better since every course probably has been modified throughout the years. Most importantly, if this is you, you should pick a training course that will fit into your career scheme and goals, unfortunately, that’s something someone you just met on internet cannot tell you.

—————————————————-

Good Morning Cindy,
My name is Miss C and I am a Real Estate paralegal and investor in Dallas, Texas. I am embarking on a new career in Home Staging (which I have been doing “unofficially” for awhile now) and found your wonderful website. Congratulations on that!  Most other sites that I visited were not nearly as professional, informative and easy to navigate.
I am considering the [blah blah designation] training and was curious if you (1) went through and would recommend the training and (2) if you find that this [blah blah designation] accreditation has been beneficial to your business?
It is a little expensive, so before I invest in the program, I would really appreciate any feedback that you could give me.
Thank you Cindy!  I really appreciate your time and consideration. Have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Miss C

——————————–

Hey Miss C

Congrats on your new career. I personally went through quite a few designations and they are all beneficial in their ways. I think you need to ask each programs what they are offering and how their students are doing in this economy. I personally have not been in the classrooms of these designation programs for a long time so I cannot say how different they are since the courses do change throughout the time.

I think the best answer would be talking to recent graduates as well as course trainers to get a better idea of how this program will fit into your lifestyle and your career goals.

I want to wish you best of luck.

Cheers,
Cindy

A New Year Gift For You (Free Download)

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Hello Staged4more community!

Thanks again for your amazing support in the past few years. I know I have been quiet on the blog lately, but with good reasons. Staged4more had received great press opportunities in 2008, such as staging for HGTV and awards (2008 Make Mine A Million competition winner in Micro category and Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur Award). All these are very exciting. What is even more exciting is what I have in store for you in 2009! :)

*2 real estate marketing books will be published this year
*an eco-friendly real estate product line
*a home accessories product line
*new website (yes, we are growing out of this one!) that will have online shopping capabilities and more free useful content for you
*trainings in areas like green training, color designs, redesigns, etc.

As a token of appreciation for all your wonderful support since I founded Staged4more, here is a 2009-staged4more-real-estate-goals-calendar. You can print on any letter size paper of your choosing. All you need to do once you printed is cut them up and put them in a CD case for your desktop. (see photos below) I have also letterpressed these calendars and gave them out as gifts to clients, vendors and some of our Facebook fans. If you would like a letterpress copy, please email me directly at cindy (at) staged4more (dot) com. We have very few copies left.

Here are some photos:

HAPPY NEW YEAR! enjoy the calendars!

Podcast episode 1: Interview with TerryLynn Fisher

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

I know, I know, I haven’t written blogs for awhile (you will see why in 2009! I have books and courses for training companies being written & published right now, so all the writing juice went that way… You will definitely be the first to know when the first book hit the market in mid-spring next year)

I have always wanted to do podcasts for awhile, so here was my first try today! I interviewed TerryLynn Fisher, who not only gave me lots of words of wisdom when I was a newbie stager, who is also a wealth of sources for both real estate industry and staging industry. She has been incredibly active in real estate circles with her green initiatives, she also co-founded Stager’s List, which is a community dedicated for stagers to buy, sell their inventory.

The topics were very broad. I have decided for the podcasts, we are not going to do any formal Q&A, but more of a chatting format. I personally think it is also easier to listen to. Our topics included are:

*Top producers’ secrets even in down economy
*Staging industry
*Stager’s trainings
*Realtors who stage properties themselves vs. Realtors who work with stagers as a team together -> what are the differences and how that has changed Realtor’s business (TerryLynn has done both)
*Green initiatives in our industry
*Economic benefits of staging
*Being realtor/stager is a small business
*Profitable & sustainable business models
*Return on investment of staging & stats
*First LEED-H house in Northern California (Margarido House)

To listen, go to TalkShoe to either join stagingbabe’s community or just to listen.

Here is TerryLynn’s Bio

Terrylynn

In January, 2008, Terrylynn was voted 2007 Staging Realtor of the YEAR through RESA (Real Estate Staging Association). She was awarded the Staging Spirit Award at the Staging Convention in 2006. In Real Estate since 1977, Terrylynn has been in the top of Production since joining Diablo Realty and has obtained various real estate awards and designations to improve her client services. She has published articles about real estate and staging in Staging magazines, newspapers and various blog sites. She has appeared on ABC 20/20 program on staging and locally on CBS.

These include the
CRS – Certified Residential Specialist
SRES – Senior Real Estate Specialist
GRI – Graduate Realtors Institute
CSP – Certified Staging Professional
And the recent Institute for Luxury Homes
course on Luxury Real Estate Specialist

Per Terrylynn, “I BELIEVE that staging enhances my client’s bottom line. Of all of the activities I do on behalf of my clients, staging is the one thing that the client can see, feel and experience as enhancing their return on investment. They KNOW their home is transformed into a product to market and sell. They KNOW staging is a marketing tool and they KNOW I will use it as one of the tools in the arsenal to sell their home at it’s maximum sale price in any market. Who am I to decide the client shouldn’t have every opportunity to maximize their investment? It is my job to tell them what I know that can enhance their sale. It is then their decision as to what they do with that information. To me, not telling them about staging and its benefits is NOT an option. Staging, expert negotiating and the truth in all dealings, I owe them no less. ”

www.Terrylynn-n-Team.com 925 876-0966

Real Estate Article and Blog written and published
by Terrylynn Fisher February, 2008

SELL NOW AND SAVE MONEY??!! YES it’s true.
In our local area, prices have been depressed for a while. California and Florida are the top two states for foreclosures and short sales, REO’s etc. This had caused a pretty negative affect on our markets. But actually in the early 2000’s boom years, most of our areas were up about 35% in value appreciation. So, it’s all relative isn’t it? IF we are now down about 15% to 20%, we are still ahead. And, if you subscribe to the real estate concept of buying and holding until the time is right to sell, well you might want to think about this too.

But wait, is there a reason to sell in a down market rather than wait for that 15% to 20% in price appreciation to regain in your area? You might think I am crazy, but just look at this analysis… (I am using round numbers for ease of illustration.)

Say your home was worth $300,000 three years ago. Say you lost 20% in value in the last year and a half. That’s $60,000, so your home is now worth $240,000.

Say the home you wanted to purchase was $500,000 three years ago.
Say they lost 20% in value in the last year and a half. That’s $100,000, so their home is now worth $400,000.

The GAP between your home and the new home is closer than it would have been two to three years ago.
Sell 3 years ago $300,000 Buy 3 years ago $500,000
Difference $200,000
Sell now $240,000 Buy now $400,000
Difference $160,000

What does this mean to you? It means $40,000 less in down payment or mortgage. IF it is $40,000 less in mortgage at 6% interest, that’s $240 per month less in monthly mortgage payment you are paying for 30 years!!! Compound that for a nice savings.

Then in California our property taxes are approximately 1.25% of the sales price.
3 years ago $521 per month in property taxes
Buy now $417 per month in property taxes
Savings $104 per month savings

Add on the fact that our interest rates are almost at the lowest of low that it has ever been and you will save more on your monthly payment than almost any time in history. The bonus for most areas will be that the conforming loan rates are about to rise, when President Bush signs the bill. This is huge for us in California where it could rise from $417,000 to $729,000!!! This would make a huge difference for people wanting to refinance or purchase. IF you don’t own real estate, now may just be the time to look at buying with prices at a low point. And, it may be time to look at selling and moving up?
What do you think?

Carnival of Real Estate #112

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Hiya, welcome to the Staged4more blog. It’s an honor and pleasure to host CoRE this week. Lots of great submissions this week but I managed to narrow down to the top 3 picks of this week’s Carnival of Real Estate.

=>While CNN is still trying to figure out who Mr. Joe Sixpack is, Ardell DellaLoggia tells us his story in her post Joe Sixpack and the Subprime Crisis.

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin Photo courtesy of The Daily News

=>This photo highlighted by Trevor of theREIbrain.com in his post Real Estate Agents Are Really Going Green… (you have to see this one) really will make you think differently about “being green.” I will let you see it for yourself on that one…

=>Last but not least, this is something that needs to be said and the folks at Blog the Rockies have said it really well in their post Enhance Your Real Estate And Increase Its Value. In today’s market, there are a lot of things we cannot control, but as professionals, we can control our attitudes and how we present ourselves, represent our clients and market our products. The stronger we make our products to sell, the more likely we can differentiate our products from others.

Honorable Mention:
Water bottle house
=>Have you seen a house built by water bottles? Will, now you will, thanks to International Listings‘ post 10 Amazing, Beautiful Houses Built From Trash. You can see 9 other amazing homes on the site

Help Wanted Photo courtesy of antydiluvian

=>As always, Drew stirs up some good conversational topic in his post Want a job in Real Estate? Start blogging. It’s true, your online brand identity now becomes your resume. I have certainly booked jobs through my blogs, and I now screen new hires via facebook.

=>The last honorable mention goes to Dan Green at The Mortgage Reports on how long you can trust today’s mortgage rates: For How Long Is Your Mortgage Rate Quote “Good”? Try 3 Hours and 51 Minutes.

### ### ###

The carnival will make its next appearance on Monday, October 6 at Minneapolis Luxury Real Estate. Please submit your best post by Sunday October 20 to be considered. Are you a real estate blogger and would you like to host a future edition or take a more active role in administration of the CoRE? If so, get instructions on how to do so here. Please check the complete FAQ list if you have other questions as to how to participate.

wut u means, tacky?

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

courtesy of i can has cheezburger? Photo courtesy of i can has cheezburger?

Everyone has tastes, and everyone has an opinion about other people’s tastes. However, in home staging, all that personal taste is out of the window.

In home selling, sellers often get defensive. It’s completely OKAY to LIVE with your orange tigger print on regular leopard print, but just because you like it doesn’t mean buyers will too. One of the biggest myths that I hear is that “oh, it’s all about the type of furniture I put in” or “I just need to cram in as much furniture as possible to show how big the room really is” or “as long as I declutter and depersonalize and stack everything neatly, it’s fine.”
Frankly, we are in the business of selling houses and square footage, not furniture. Furniture only really has about 15% in impacting the overall staging effects of the sale, majority has to do with a) the FEELINGS of Functionality of space and b) Being at Home, given pricing and location are both excellent.

Home staging has nothing about your taste or mine, what it matters is if the house appeals to buyers to get the best prices and sell in the least days on market.

It is OKAY to stage your own listings for sale, BUT please do make sure that when you do, you are not just piling furniture into the space. That’s the #1 lethal mistake that I see when people stage their own listings. Do it right, stage it warm and classic, more importantly, make it feel like home without the feeling of feeling bogged down with mundane everyday life stuff like taking out the trash or putting the toilet seats down.

Don’t Be Fooled by the 2 big D words in Home Staging

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

I read this script today that teaches realtors how to teach their clients “on staging home to sell:”

“I’m going to give you the two biggest money-making words there are when it comes to showing your home: depersonalize and declutter. It’ll make you house look bigger and is the best thing you can do.”

Hmm, really?

De-personalize and de-clutter, although 2 important aspects in home staging, does NOT substitute home staging.

Actual MLS Photo: this is what I called

I have heard agents telling their clients all the time, and I even have sellers say to me all the time, Oh, I know I need to de-personalize and de-clutter. I learn that from HGTV. or All I need is to de-peronsalize and de-clutter, I don’t need anything else.” And that’s ALL they do.

And you know what happens when you just de-personalize and de-clutter? You are just showing an empty space and a shell of a home. BUT PEOPLE WANT TO BUY MORE THAN JUST 4 WALLS AND A ROOF.

We often forget what it felt like when we were buyers when we sell our homes. We forgot that we (more…)

See Tim Ferriss Speak in San Francisco. Discount Code BIZSCY148

Monday, September 15th, 2008

Hello ladies & gents

I know this has nothing to do with staging ;) But many of you who read my blogs know I am passionate about technology and its application to small businesses. My business certainly has benefited from technology tremendously and I would not have found the success that I have without using technology to streamline processes and lower my overheads.

With that said, I am one of the co-organizers for BizTechDay and I just found out we have booked Tim Ferriss of 4-hour Work Week for our keynote!

Here are the details:
BizTechDay – Technology Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners Saturday October 25 All Day Event
BiztechDay is the only conference that puts your business first before technology. Come meet Timothy Ferriss, best selling author of 4-Hour Work Week and George Wright (Marketing Genius behind the (more…)