Jumat, 28 September 2007

Ranting & Raving... I Guess it WILL get you Top Blogging Awards!

Well... September was a good month for Home Staging Rants & Ravings.

We are very pleased and honored to announce that this site was ranked in the TOP 100 Real Estate Blog Sites by International Listings.

International Listings is "the premier listing service for luxury homes world wide." WOW ! We are honored to be recognized by such a noted real estate site.

With the thousands of real estate blogs out there I know it took International Listings quite a while to scoure the web to find the best of the best. They then group the blogs in one of the following categories for their TOP 100 BLOGS: Appraisals, Entertainment, Green Ideas, Home buyers, Home Improvement, Doom & Boom, Investing, Marketing, Mortgage Brokers, News, Niche Markets, Technology and the Title Industry. (This blog can was categorized in the Niche Marketing catigory.)

So thank you for the TOP 100 AWARD!

The honor is insprirational... so keep watching. We plan on writing more compelling blogs and being a powerful voice for home staging and the home staging industry in the future.

Stage It Forward...

Me

Kamis, 27 September 2007

Reassessment in the City of Rochester

We got the letters in the mail several weeks ago announcing a reassessment of all residential and commercial property in the city of Rochester during the next four months. There was a neighborhood meeting last night with good information about the assessment process.The city announced that on average, property assessments will go up 10 percent in order to have assessed values closer to market

Senin, 24 September 2007

First Time Homeowner Assistance

Last week the local real estate board hosted a real estate agent fair. Imagine this! Hundreds of licensed agents all under the same roof at the same time. Generally, I enjoy the fair because it's an opportunity to learn what is new in the market place. This year's event seemed rather bland. Most of the exhibitors were banks and mortgages companies and their message, loud and clear, was we're

Rabu, 19 September 2007

It's Busy Out There

My goal is to write here three times a week. I'm not doing so well at that. It's tough to be bright and witty when I'm struggling with grief and sorrow. But I'm getting a little better everyday.I've buried myself into my work. Since I returned home, I've shown at least 25 properties, written 3 offers and received two offers on my listings. Lots of negotiations going on! I think it is a mad rush

Sabtu, 15 September 2007

I'm back!

My younger sister passed away this week after a long illness. I spent as much time with her as the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital ICU rules would allow. I think it was the most difficult week of my life. I'm back to work now. It is the greatest distraction of all times.

Kamis, 06 September 2007

Clearing Churned Up Waters

Recently I posted two similar blogs entitled: "Inconvenient Truths about Home Staging". One, which was shorter edited version, was posted on Active Rain while a more complete and comprehensive version was posted here on this site. The post created quite a ruckus with a foundation training company whose website I quoted directly from and linked to, to prove that I was not making an unsubstantiated point. Agitated with what I said, they contacted me with Cease & Desist email and comment. I honored their request and removed all references to them in my posts and all links I had placed on both my blogs to their site.

Obviously, I now know they view my words as direct attack on their program, which was not the point. This staging foundation training organization is/was NOT doing anything that most other training organizations within the staging industry are doing or have done. Heck, for all I know this training organization my offer one of the most compressive and in-expensive training programs available in the industry today.

It is no secret that foundation training programs are a big part of the home staging industry. The point I was making had to do with the industry's foundation training programs as a whole. Being that I am one of the LEAST formally trained stagers in home staging industry (I happen to be self trained) I am in a unique position that allows me to be neutral about training. Staying neutral, yet believing in the benefits of training, I tried to be a trusted resource to those that seek out my advice on foundation training program. To make it easy for those who are interested in home staging training, I have compiled a FREE reference list (in alphabetical order) of 33 different training programs I currently know of here for all to access. (This list is being used. How do I know? Well, for one thing Goggle Analytics lets me know.)

But I digress… the point I was making in the original "Inconvenient Truths" blog was that I see the staging INDUSTRY being partially responsible for the bashing the staging industry got in the report on staging by the National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (NAEBA). While I felt much of what the NAEBA said was wrong and a bit sensationalized, I still don't believe it was all wrong. The report got me thinking about the Home Staging Industry... and the collective "who and how" we have been and how there was some truth to what the NAEBA reported.

So with the home staging industry in my sites, I started to re-examine and write what I refereed to as a "Frankenstein" of a problem in our industry... Credentials. I have found at least 34 different foundation staging training programs in North America. I have no idea how good or bad any of these courses are. I can tell you that I have spoken to MANY stagers from all over the USA & Canada... some have raved about their training others were not impressed. I’ve heard all opinions. But, in general I believe people are pretty happy that they received formal training... even if only for the fact that training was a springboard for them in the industry.

However, with no industry "board of staging education" overseeing what is actually being taught... there is no way of knowing how truly good or bad the training these organizations are offering is, or how compressive and complete it is.

Currently how the industry is set up, to be a staging trainer all one needs to do is open their doors.... and say they are a staging training school. Plus, on top of that the fact anyone can easily open up a training school, many of these organizations then offer quick "Accredited Certifications" for their graduates to add to their names in the hopes to legitimize their graduates as "stagers" to the eyes of the consumer, I believe this further compromises the whole industry. Who decides what is good? Who decides what is bad? Who decides what is right? Who decides what is wrong? Who knows!

For the most part the consuming public has no understanding of all this backstory. Historically the consuming public views and relies on credentials as proof of ability. The consuming pubic believes the person who has been "Accredited/Certified" by an organization has gone through a process were they have been trained, tested and PASSED thru a testing process. Even baby sitters can now be certified, but only after being tested. TESTING is TYPICAL and expected in an ACCREDITATION PROCESS. As the staging industry stands today, what it takes to be a stager is more about credentials and less about the combination of talent, experience, & education. So much emphasis is being placed on Accrediting Credentials.

I am not the first to broach this topic, for it has been in the industry's conversation and has been a point contention for awhile.

I believe the industry's allowance of and reliance on unregulated certification and accreditation can exposes the consumer to less then good and qualified staging. I believe it can and will ultimately dilute what staging can make available. With no regulation on training, training schools, curriculum, testing, or certification this will a problem that will continue to get bigger. Having no standards will ultimately mean there will be consumers that use stagers that do substandard work and give organizations ammunition to continue to write negative reports on staging as the NAEBA did.

In my opinion, because of the way the home staging industry is, the consumer is currently becoming more and more venerable and exposed to substandard staging... and because this is so our industry will ultimately loose face and legitimacy.

THIS IS ONE OF MY TRUTHS in Inconvenient Truths about Home Staging.

Stage It Forward...
Me

Selasa, 04 September 2007

Staging is Simple Arithmetic... Sort Of


If you spend any time researching real estate staging you will quickly read some of the most fundamental advice commonly given by home stagers is to REMOVE the CLUTTER and THIN-OUT any excess "stuff" in a home that is going to be for sale. Stagers seem to effectively communicate the message that SUBTRACTION is part of Staging 101.

However, we here at Real Estaging have come to learn that sometimes what it takes to properly stage an occupied home is NOT just what needs to be taken out... but what needs to be put in. ADDITION, or adding items to the home, is the other half have to the staging equation that is often overlooked by MANY stagers.

It is easy for a stager, that does not have inventory, to say nothing needs to be added to improve a homes appeal. Which may be 100% correct. But what if just by adding a few items your home goes from ordinary to extremely memorable and wonderfully appealing? Having access to props could be to your selling benifit.

When looking for a stager, consider the fact that stagers who have invested in prop inventories have made a strong commitment to not only their profession, but ultimately the sale of your home.

So what props do we typically see a home needing? Well, most often we bring in wall art, plants and lamps. Time and time again we find that home sellers do not have enough of these basics decorative items that really add to a property's overall appeal.

Finally, even if a stager has props, when it comes to adding them... scale, proportion, style, color, selection and then placement matter GREATLY. This I can not stress enough. As you watch the above show (or if you need to click this link) notice how our props blend seamlessly with the home owner's existing accessories and furnishings. If you have a hard time determining which props are our props... then we have done our job.

We know our Staging Arithmetic.

Stage It Forward...
Me

Senin, 03 September 2007

It's All About Timing

I often tell my clients that the closing date on a purchase contract is much like a baby's due date. Not very many babies come into the world on their due date and not many houses close on the exact date in the contract. "If you have to pick a perfect moving day, what would it be?" is generally how I start a discussion with a new client. And from there we try to put together a game plan that will

Sabtu, 01 September 2007

Inconvenient Truths about Home Staging

Negativity about good things always seems to attract attention. So it is not surprise that in a recent report published by the National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (NAEBA) entitled: “How to not get tricked by staging and potentially save $5,645 when you buy your home” has attracted main stream media attention.

While some of the NAEBA report on staging was positive and accurate, most of it was a negative spin they were trying to put on staging in a sensationalized attempt to champion their position that buyer’s agents are better agents then traditional Realtors that work with both buyers and sellers. The basic premise of the NAEBA report claimed that buyer agents were more able to sniff out staging “tricks” used to disguise problems and deceitfully lure a potential buyer to emotionally be attracted to a problematic home. It’s as if the NAEBA actually believed that home stagers did not know that all homes are eventually professionally inspected and that hiding problems and issues works against the seller’s best interests.

In the report, the NAEBA warned buyers that “staging effects can make a home seem more appealing to the eye”. How scandalous! How conniving! How shady of the seller to put their home’s best face forward to make it as appealing as possible. I guess the same could be said for anyone applying for a job who decides to wear their best suit, get a haircut and shine their shoes in a shady attempt to emotionally lure a potential employer to hire them.

While the NAEBA report was inaccurate in much of what is said, that does not take the Home Staging industry off the hook for what I see as a rapidly growing problem in this industry. I am going to go out on a limb to say that the Home Staging Industry is a bit responsible for attracting the negative report the NAEBA has published.

Right now home sellers are desperate for a magical solution to help them sell a property languishing in an extremely slow market. Unfortunately, desperate times will bring out both dreamers and dubious characters. It is no surprise that with all the great PR home staging has been getting, more and more people (be they honest or dishonest) are attracted to making money as home stagers.

A multitude of foundation training programs in home staging have sprung up that will “certify,” “accredit” and graduate home staging “professionals” and “experts” in as little as ONE DAY.In fact, just last week I learned of a foundation training program that advertises that for only $249.95, a person interested in becoming a home stager need only buy a training CD that was designed to get budding stagers started in their own business. Two of the benefits they advertise is that their program has low start up costs and low overhead. No previous experience is required. They even include their Certificate of Achievement at no extra costs right with the CD to prove that you were professionally trained. WOW, how generous to send a Certificate of Achievement right with it!

This “overnight certification in a box” points to a Frankenstein that this industry created. The industry’s fixation on quick accredited certifications makes a hypocrisy out of education. This is NOT to say education and training are neither valuable nor helpful. In fact, some of the nation’s finest home stagers started their careers by first taking foundation training programs.

Unfortunately, home sellers looking to hire a stager in today’s market often do not realize that stagers that tout the fact that they are accredited, certified or professional experts may have just yesterday received their certificate in a box or just finished a 3 day workshop in Home Staging. While education is important, the home seller needs to know that in this market where a flood of baby stager’s are just entering it, EXPERIENCE trumps all else and in fact is quintessential. For with experience comes an education and wisdom about home staging that can not be burned on to a CD or taught in a 1, 2 or 3 day work shop.

Much like what the NAEBA report spoke of, some inexperienced stagers will resort to contrived tricks thinking that making a home look and feel staged is the right thing to do. But the experienced stager knows a home should never look or feel staged. If a buyer’s eye is attracted to look at the staging and not the home, then the stager has not done their work. An experienced home stager knows the home should always be the star… not the stuff in it.

The above picture is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Kate Hart of Hart & Associates, an experienced home stager in Philadelphia, just happened to send me this picture of really bad staging. Kate snapped the "staged treasure" in the bathroom of a vacant home she was recently called in to re-stage. The "props" placed in a box speaks volumes as to how much is not known about staging by the stager that initially had been hired to stage it. The rest of the property was as bad... and because it was staged so poorly, the owners actually stopped showing it. Kate was called in to save the day.

All this puts experienced stagers, who believe we can be a strong and respected industry within real estate and want it to succeed, in a precarious position. We have seen time and time again the joy in a seller’s eye when their property has been sold with the help of staging. We also know the passion and exuberance new stagers have for this profession and we know that for the industry to grow it will need more stagers. But most importantly we know we are now being watched and scrutinized. Nothing less than the finest understanding of staging and implementation of it will help us all grow, anything else will not only degrade the industry, but also what staging makes available to the home seller.

Stage It Forward...
Me
NOTE: At the request of the foundation training company that I originally referenced in this blog, I have removed their name and the link to their site.
I have also removed the foundation training company from the hugley popular informational reference list : "33 Home Staging Training Programs to Consider" on the right hand column of this blog.