HAPPY NEUTRAL DAY… Home Sellers are your Decorations Up?

With the 2nd most decorated holiday right around the corner, I thought it would be a great time for me to discuss a home staging issue that comes up each year… Should a home seller put up holiday decorations?

Typically, I advise sellers to use VERY little or NO decorations for ANY holiday. WHY? Well, for the simple reason I have said time and time again... when selling a property the house is to be the "star” not the stuff.

It is a fact that a house holds the greatest appeal when it is neutral. Neutrally makes it easier for a buyer to map their lives into a house that is for sale. If a holiday is not a part of the buyer’s life, then the decorations are no longer neutral and they then become a distraction.

But even if you suspect that most likely the buyers looking at your home do celebrate the holiday you want to decorate for… the decorations can be a distraction. Holiday decorations, by design, are made to stand out from the ordinariness of our lives and to be looked at. The time a buyer allots to look at a home is short and precious… having it used up looking at decorations is not the best use of it when in reality the house is what they have come to SEE and are considering BUYING.

So, if a home seller insists on putting up decorations for upcoming holidays, I strongly recommend that those decorations then be taken down immediately (and I do mean immediately) after the holiday.

Remember... the most important day to decorate for is Neutral Day.

Stage It Forward…
Me
(Craig @ Real Estaging)

Post Script: I have to thank Ines Garcia of Miamism. She wrote to me asking me to re-write on this topic. She remembered a post of mine from over a year ago she thought shared an important message about using Halloween Decorations in homes that are for sale. That post can be found here: Halloween Decorations or DISTRACTIONS?

What's In Your SPAM Folder?

If I don't show up for our real estate appointment this week it's because I've decided to retire. You see, I got this e-mail from a Canadian attorney . He represents the estate of a Shell Oil executive that died in a plane crash. They have not been able to locate family members and so he's asked if I would step in as next of kin and inherit a fortune. (Shell Oil....Shelsby...kind of sounds alike.

Congratulations Al Gore

Last weekend the local newspapers reported that leaf pick up service was starting this week. The problem is, there aren't many leaves available for pick up. Today's real estate travels took me through Monroe, Livingston, Wyoming and Genesee Counties. For the most part, things are still pretty green around here with the exception of the Warsaw and Wyoming, NY areas and even there, I didn't see

Bitch-N-Moan, Bitch-N-Moan… FINALLY I Am Not Alone

For over a year now I have been venting the personal frustrations I have with the fact that I see more and more POORLY qualified people entering the field of staging. For the sake time and space, I don’t think it is important that I regurgitate what I have already written of, but if you are interested reading what I had to say, check out these past posts…

• Under Qualified "stagers" Flood the Market
• Another FEISTY BLOG about "Professional" Staging!
• ASP? HSE? What's-a-stager-SUPPOSED-to-be?
• Stone Cold Reality: Dying Dreams & Limited Opportunities
• Inconvenient Truths about Home Staging

Anyway, I find am no longer alone. Lately more and more expirienced stagers all across the US have begun to email me and/or called me to voice similar concerns and frustrations.
In fact, quite recently, I received a set of photos (above) of a Bad Staging sent to be by an experienced stager (CF) that says they “…have had it with crappy staging!”

CF recently lost a job to a new “professional” whose work is pictured. CF found the After Photo and sent it to me with the Before Photos they took. CF also shared with me quite a few details about what was wrong with the overall staging. But since I do have pictures of the entire project I am only going to concentrate my critique on the one set of images show here.

I have to admit that at first I was a little reluctant to post these images. But then I got to thinking… what besides Bitch-N-Moaning could i do that would be postive? How could I turn BAD STAGING into something that would ultimatly help a seller sell and help this industry grow? I then realizewd that if I can turn examples of BAD staging into something positive… then mediocre stagers, home sellers and realtors can begin to undertand and appreciate what makes good real estate staging good.

So getting back to the BAD Staging pictured above... what is wrong with the makeover pictured above?

Well first off, CF told me that the “picture” above the fireplace in this family room is not actually a picture; rather, it is in fact a fake flat screen TV. Because it is a family room the way the furniture has been arranged is not conducive to watching TV… as it SHOULD. CF says that having the sofa face the TV was a viable and correct solution.

I immediately noticed and had problems with the 3 pictures on the wall behind the sofa. Why are they stepping up to the right? Why are they off center? And why are they so small? While scale and proportion (size) is important. I would be more understanding if the sofa would be centered under them and they ran side by side, equally spaced and at the same height. As they are now it makes the room feel out of balance.

Next, by simply sliding the lamp on the end table from the left to the right (closer to the sofa) would establish the lamp & table as and end anchor point. The lamp slid to the right would also frame the sofa and when lit brighten up the dark and heavy element in the room… the sofa.

Finally, CF wondered why the bar stool was set between the sofa and the fireplace. To be honest I don’t know either.

So there you have first example of Bad Staging that was sent to me. If you have examples that you would like to share with me, feel free to send them. I will try to post one example of “Bad Staging” per week… by doing so I hope stagers all learn and the consuming public will know and demand more of all in this industry who present themselves as “professional”.

Stage It Forward…
Me

Get Your Thoughts OUT of the GUTTER!

Until recently, it was always true that what a home buyer saw the instant they first drove up upon a property could make or break its sale. If the home was appealing, from the gutter, it was said to have "Curb Appeal".

But times have changed, and while "Curb Appeal" still matters... today it matters in a different place and way. Watch this 30 second Curb Appeal Quiz Show to find learn just where Curb Appeal ACTUALLY now begins... the final conclusion might challenge your way of thinking.

CURB APPEAL QUIZ SHOW 30 Seconds Long

(If you can not see the show above... Click Here.)

Home sellers need to know that with the vast amount of inventory in the market today, home buyers are now first prescreening homes online to help them decide just what they want to tour in person.

Because online prescreening (or should I say pre-shopping) is now so prevelent, it is my opinion that with today's easy to use digital technology, Realtors have the obligation to capture and present the absolute best images and comprehensive visual experience of a property for buyers to shop and consider.

So if your home is languising in the market you might want to work with an expirienced home stager who can not only help you re-examine but also update your property's "Web Appeal"... because if you don't, your home's sale could remain in the gutter.

Stage It Forward...
Me

PS: This post was inspired by a ongoing series of post by one of my favorite real estate bloggers, Athol Kay. On his blog (ReAgent in Connecticut) page he is constantly posting examples of BAD real estate photograpy... as well as giving tips on how to FIX pictures. For a shock and a chuckle I suggest you check out his series Bad MLS Photo of the Day.

Hmmm, Now that I think of it I think Athol may be on to something... maybe I should have people start scouring the web for BAD STAGING photos and start sending them to me?

Harvest Season

One of the things I like most about my job is the diversity. Just yesterday, I was in a very urban setting and today it was out in the country. Today, it was Mendon, last week Perry and the week before Macedon. I do love the local countryside. I've been too busy the past few weeks to take many new photos but I've pulled out a few of my favorite shots of old barns and pastures.

Zero Tolerance

Yesterday I had the pleasure of touring the Caring and Sharing Child Care Center at Webster Avenue in Rochester. If you are not familiar with Rochester, Webster Avenue is in the heart of the city and is surrounded by some of Rochester’s most neglected and violent streets. The building that houses the child care center is recently renovated and freshly painted. Maybe it’s the playhouse