Veteran's Day 2010

Julian S. Cottrell

Sarge...Daddy...Papa

Veteran of WWII Career Army

Today is Veteran's Day, 2010, and my thoughts turn to my father.

My dad enlisted into the Navy on February 8, 1944, and four months later on June 6, 1944, the 17 year old "kid" was on Omaha Beach...D-Day.

It's not unusual that he never talked about those days with us, but I am sure they haunted him in phantom moments throughout his life, how could they not?

For every Veteran who served...in times of war, or times of peace...we honor you today.

In honor of my father, and all the brave men who were with him on the beach that day I offer an excerpt from a press confernce held by Secretary Forrestal on September 27, 1944:

..."Some day when the story is told, I think you will all agree it's a conspicuously gallant undertaking.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Presidential Citation to the Navy Combat Demolition Unit of Force "O":

For outstanding performance in combat during the invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944.

Determined and zealous in the fullfillment of an extremely hazardous mission, the Navy Combat Demolition Unit of Force "O" landed on the "Omaha Beach" with the first wave under devasting enemy artillery, machine-gun and sniper fire.

With practically all explosives lost and with their force seriously depleted by heavy casualties, the remaining officers and men carried on gallantly, salvaging explosives as they were swept ashore and in some instances comandeering bulldozers to remove obstacles.

In spite of these grave handicaps, the Demolition Crews succeeded initially in blasting five gaps through enemy obstacles for the passage of assault forces to the Normandy shore and within two days had sapped over 85 percent of the "Omaha Beach" area of German placed traps.

Valiant in the face of grave danger and persistently aggressive against fierce resistance, the Navy Combat Demolition Unit rendered daring and self-sacrificing service in the performance of a vital mission, thereby sustaining the high traditions of the United States Naval Service."

- For the President and myself as Secretary of the Navy

And there listed among the Non-Casualties is my father, my hero

COTTRELL, Julian Sterns, Seaman, First Class, USNR, Star Route 1286, Belfast, Maine....

Thank you , Dad :)

Little Surprises

"Reach for the high apples first, you can get the low ones anytime"
....
What does that mean to you? What does it mean when life doesn't turn out quite like you had scripted it?
...
For me, today, it means that life is tough enough, confusing enough, and risky enough...
...don't play it safe,
...don't muddle through with ordinary and expected,
...reach higher!























Don't get lost in the routines of life, in the "have to's" and "must do's", all the while leaving the exceptional for some future date.

Forget the ordinary for a moment, toss in a little surprise here and there...and toss them in for no other reason than they make you smile on an otherwise ordinary, dreary, rainy-with-no-puddles-to-jump-in kind of day....


















And while you're tossing in surprises, surround yourself with EXCEPTIONAL.

There is no need to attach a price tag, and no need to offer any explainations, just knowing that they touch your heart is reason enough.

Once you have finished "tossing in" and "surrounding yourself" with exceptional, take some time to enjoy the simple design of how your life really is fitting all together in ways you may not have anticipated.

You may not appreaciate it yet, but one day you will see how all these unplanned moments have played their role.

A bit from here and a bit from there can make the entire production a beautiful experience.

The dark days, the lonely days and the difficult days can become the standard that you will one day measure against the bright day, the packed day and the effortless, carefree day...


















Take some time to enjoy the still quiet voice inside of you that in the middle of all the clatter around you whispers what your heart longs to hear.

Realize that it's not the absence of clattering that allows you to hear, but rather it's the clattering that makes it possible for you to hear.

Your heart leans in to hear, all the while knowing that risk is there, and the risk of knowing is worth taking.























Whatever risk you are reaching beyond....know that we are standing and cheering you on.

When life gets beyond you, when life happens too fast and slides beyond the reach of your control...

Reach higher than you thought possible.

See beyond the pain of today and reach into your dream of tomorrow.

And by all means,

definately,

Reach for the high apples first!

This sweet deal takes the cake!

It's time for Back-to-School and Fall Fix up projects! Wouldn't it be great to save 10% on supplies from Lowe's?

Lowe's has been helping customers improve the places they call home for more than 60 years. Lowe's operates more than 1,700 stores in the United States. Lowe's is here to help you with all of your Home Improvement and ASP Staging Needs.

Call me if you would like to learn more about staging your home or saving 10% at Lowe's...Lowe's offer ends September 30, 2010..Blue Ribbon Home Staging offer good indefinitely:)...any way you slice it, that's a sweet deal!

This and That for Here and There

Some of the best lessons learned are those we go into somewhat dragging our feet. It's not that we want to be difficult, it's just that we don't seem to know any other way to go about it.

This is proving to be one of those weeks...and these are sure to be some of those lessons.

I have no doubt but that when I get to the other side, these lessons learned will be of great value. How do I know that? It's really quite simple...though I am no longer silently screaming inside, I am quietly dragging my feet at the thought of the task that now lies ahead.

Years of gathering and storing, collecting and reorganizing adds up to a fair amount of inventory. Don't get me wrong, they are all useful things, they are just no longer particularly useful in my life.

I understand when you tell me the same thing of your life as we set about to make our Staging plan to prepare your home for sale. No one said it was going to be easy...but few things in life that are worthwhile are ever easy.

One day we will downsize, the reasons "why" won't matter. The reality is that letting go must happen. In that moment of letting go, the heritage of being my father's daughter and a keeper-of-all-things-that-may-one-day-be-useful, will meld with the sensibility of being my mother's daughter and keeping-only-the-practical.

This is the week that I get a jump start on that day. Closets, cupboards, bookshelves and drawers...there is no longer a safe hiding place.

And so it goes with preparing a home for sale. It doesn't matter why you are moving...by personal or professional choice, or by a force of some financial hand that has been dealt you...the art of Staging can move in and take over where we are paralyzed to move.

We are faced with questions at every turn: Where do we begin?...What do we keep?...What do we pack away?... How can this emptiness feel like home?

With a deep breath, some boxes and a plan, the moving dance can begin. We may find that it's not altogether an unpleasant tune we are moving to as we learn to trust the process.

The process of creating order out of chaos is about making one decision at a time. Do we keep, toss, or donate? With each decision made comes a bit of cleansing until the last decision has been made...the last counter cleared...the last box has been packed...and the last sigh released. In the end of it all we look about us and realize that clutter has been replaced by order.

We may have kicked and screamed at placing away our treasures so that buyers could walk through our rooms and see themselves living here. We may have silently revolted at the idea of living in cold and vacant rooms. We may have thought we were giving away too much of ourselves.

Yet we find that with our "things" now distributed to appropriate places, we haven't lost the memory of the moments we had been displaying. The memory remains safely stored in our heart. The Staged rooms we now occupy are warm and inviting, not only for the buyer, but for us as well.

And though we thought our life was tied up with the wonderful things that surround us, in the end we realize that the important things in life aren't things at all.

Sweet Give Aways

July: Chapter, Realtor, Homeowner....sweet give-away...Saltwater Kisses!

Nothing says "summer" like cotton candy and watermelon kisses...fresh from the shore!

NARdiGras 2010

Stagedhomes.com is proud to announce that Barb Schwarz, CEO and Creator of Staging®, once again will be a featured speaker at the annual convention of the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR’s annual convention, NARdiGras 2010, is scheduled for November 5 through 8, 2010, and Schwarz’ presentation will take place on Sunday Nov 7, 2010, from 3:30 p.m.to 5 p.m.

During her presentation From Staging to Pricing to Getting it Sold!, Schwarz will share hot Staging ideas and tips, listing presentation key points and how to better price a Staged Listing to sell too. She will discuss how REALTORS® can handle sellers’ objections and how to positively educate sellers on what agent and Stagers really do as they work for the seller. “Too many agents assume the sellers know, but the truth is that the public does not know what we do,” said Schwarz. “It has to be verbal and very visual.”

This year, Schwarz celebrates 25 years as Certified Professional Speaker. Since 1972, Schwarz has educated Realtors®, Home Stagers® and the public on Home Staging®.

As a seasoned speaker and top real estate producer, Schwarz has logged over 18,000 hours on the speaker’s platform. To date, over a million REALTORS® have attended her various programs, including her one-day program How to List and Sell Residential Real Estate Successfully. Having traveled 40 weeks each year, she’s been a featured speaker at almost all National Association of Realtors® conventions, state Realtor® conventions as well as all major real estate franchise conventions.

Her gift for speaking and ability to educate, motivate and entertain was recognized by the National Speakers Association in 1990 when they awarded her the coveted designation of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), earned by less than 250 speakers worldwide. Barb Schwarz is a leader, an innovator, and a truly gifted speaker who shares the wisdom of her personal triumphs. Those who experience Schwarz are always struck by her incredible energy as well as the practical substance of her programs. Schwarz is also the author of seven books, including the recently published Staging To Sell: The Secret To Selling Homes In A Down Market.

Barb is the creator of “Staging To Sell and Staging To Live” ® concepts and she holds the Federally Registered Trademark from the US and Canadian Governments on Stage®. Barb invented the Home Staging concept and industry when she entered the world of real estate as an agent in Bellevue, WA, in the early 70’s. Nearly 40 years later, Schwarz has repeatedly been acknowledged as being among the top 50 most influential women in the real estate industry. To date over 21,000 have participated in the accredited ASP® Course and Designation for Realtors® and Stagers. Schwarz is the Founder and Chairwoman of ‘The International Association of Home Staging Professionals®,” and the Founder and Director of ‘The Staging University®.”

Schwarz is also the founder and CEO of Stagedhomes.com, the internationally recognized leader in the Home Staging Industry because of the Home Staging educational trainings of the ASP® Course and Designation, the Stagedhomes.com Home Staging Directory where the public finds ASP® Real Estate Agents and ASP® Stagers to list and Stage® their homes, and the Stagedhomes.com Staged Homes portal which lists homes that are Staged for sale.

As I reflect on the events of the day, I am humbled on just how blessed I am:

• It was just about a year ago that I was re-introduced to professional Home Staging. I was having lunch with my dear friend, Eleanor. Among other topics of conversation, she asked if I had ever considered a career in Home Staging. I had remembered seeing something about that in the paper years ago. It had caught my eye then, but at the time life circumstances were such that a career was out of the question. But now the time was right!
  
• Jump ahead a year..I am a professional ASP Home Stager. I have been personally trained by Barb Schwarz, the creator of Home Staging. Barb's tireless energy and enthusiasm is nothing less than inspirational.
  
• I am on the Board of the Seattle Chapter of International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP)...Patty Bonnell, President, and Ede Bookstein, Ethic and Education Chair, have mentored and encouraged me...and I am privileged to call these talented women not only colleagues, but friends.
  
• I am involved in a profession I love! Home Staging completes me in so many areas of my life while providing an opening for hope for the unknowns of tomorrow...Blue Ribbon Staging Auburn, WA .

On so many levels, ASP Home Staging found me just when I needed it most! If you are a realtor, or a home owner in the market to list your home for sale, Home Staging may very well be just what YOU are looking for!

If you want to sell your home for the highest dollar amount possible while being on the market for the shortest amount of time possible, let ASP Home Staging find YOU, just when you need it most!

I welcome the opportunity to ASP Stage your home and help move you closer to your dream:

Visit me : https://www.stagedhomes.com/featured/featured_old.php?asp=27308

"After" Photos

Summer has come to Washington!

Along with fields of ripe berries, ice cream trucks joyfully ringing the bells as they tour our neighborhood, and the smell of sun tan lotion...it's legitimately sandal season!

Sandal season is so much prettier with a pedicure!

It's Saturday morning, and the first order of my day is a trip to the salon.


On my drive home, I pondered my situation:

In a basket under the sink in my bathroom, I have my own nail care station complete with bottles of polish, cuticle cream, brushes, files and toe separators. I already own everything I need to apply polish to nails...and if polish on the nails is the intent, then why would I choose to spend three hours in a salon on a beautiful Saturday morning to pay someone else to paint my nails?

I have an artistic eye for these kinds of things. I know my way around a color wheel and a beauty counter. I know good work when I see it. In the end I come to the conclusion that I am able to do them "good enough". While they may be "good enough" for me, any one looking at my "polished" nails would have quite a different opinion of my results.

How can I get such drastically different results? It's a basic reality that though I use the same tools, read articles and own books on nail techniques, and even work from the same expert hints...I lack the expertise to gain the same results.

These comments are not so different from the comments we hear from Sellers / Realtors who opt not to have a professional ASP Staging of a home before listing on the market. There seems to often be a wife, sister, or girlfriend who has an "eye" for this kind of thing, afterall they watch all the HGTV shows on home staging. What they are really saying is they believe they can present the house "good enough", but just like my toes..."good enough" isn't necessarily "Good!"

The investment in having your house professionally staged by an ASP Home Staging Professional prior to listing with your agent is always going to be less than the first reduction on your listing when it sits in the market...days, weeks, or months. It may help you to make your decision to Stage or not to Stage when you ask your agent when and how much the initial reduction will be. (Yiikes...How much?)

Since "a picture is worth a thousand words", it's really the "AFTER" photos that will be your Buyers first impression of your house. They don't care what it looked like "before," they are here NOW.

When it comes to making the offer, buyers won't care how much "stuff" you took out, or how much time you spent getting your product ready for sale.

It won't matter to buyers how long this has been your home, or how difficult it may be for you to be selling this chapter of your life.

Buyers are in the market to buy their "home". If your house doesn't capture their hearts, they will move on down the aisle to find one that does.

Price is generally the first filter for the buyer. Price is the ingredient that will get them to your door step. In today's virtual market, that "door step" may very well be a visit to the web listing via a googled address and not through your agent at all.

The buyer's first visual, emotional impression will be the "After" photos on your web listing and posted brochure.

The second emotional impression will be the "feeling" that they get when they tour through the house.

Buying a home is an emotional decision. You want buyers to fall in love with your house and see it as their home.

You will never know how many Would-have-been Buyers walked away from your house without ever opening your front door because "good enough" wasn't "GOOD!"

Give yourself every benefit possible! You are selling every room in your house, be sure to maximize every viewing and ASP Stage EVERY room!

...As for my morning at the salon, yes, I staged all my nails and had a manicure too!

You'll have to trust me on this one, no one wants to see my "before" shots!

Create something extraordinary

I just simply couldn't resist this...not that I have a "Sam" in my life, but I find the "Goodnite" irresistibly sweet.

These simple, every day items interrupted my day and got me to thinking...So much of life is wrapped up in our ability to create.

Writers take letters and create masterpieces of journalism.
Designers take scraps of fabric and create fashion.
Bakers take flour and sugar and create everything delicious.
and...
ASP Home Stagers take bits and pieces of ordinary and create something extraordinary.

Passion and creativity combine in a simply beautiful way as staging changes are orchestrated. We enter a property, not really knowing what we will find...bright and shiny, or tired and dated. Either way, when we walk out, neither we nor the property have remained unchanged.

As property owners, we are connected to our design. We are comfortable with our treasures around us. We are familiar with every stick of furniture, every photo and every memory piece that we see resting in it's place.

When we think of clutter, we think of the junk mail on the counter, the newspaper on the chair, and the shoes that have been left near the back door.

We remove the obvious and consider our property is now staged and ready for an Open House.

But Mr. and Mrs. Buyer realize something quite different.

They don't notice our lovely bay window view of Mt. Rainier...they can't get past the ornate draperies that frame the view.

They don't notice our high ceilings...they get stuck in the photo collages of our annual photo sessions that line the entry walls.

But they are observing, and they do notice.

They notice our collections, our hobbies, our family members, and our accomplishments.

Above all the things that they don't notice is that those things are the very things that have made this property our home, and our home is not for sale, our home is going with us.

They don't realize just how wonderful our property is, or just how perfect it could be for them.

They don't realize it, because our things are creating visual noise that is crowding them out.

And just that quickly, the first impression has been made, and just that quickly, they have moved on.

An ASP Home Stager will help us to see the big picture, to see through the eye of the buyer. After all, our goal is that Mr. and Mrs. Buyer will fall in love with our property...not our home.

Let's not let the opportunity to realize the greatest return on our investment pass us by.

Remember, we only get one opportunity to make a first impression...let's make it an excellent one!

Visual Markets

I love the Jetsons...homes in the sky, cars that fly, dogs that talk and picture phones. It's the perfect world that we were all going to live in when we entered the space age.

I don't know about your home, but mine is still grounded on earth, my car still runs on tires touching asphalt, my dog barks, and the picture phones ...well, c'mom, those are pretty cool!

Every week we SKYPE a visit with our family living 3,000 miles away...have you heard of it? From our computer in Washington we are transported to a living room in Ohio. We watch as songs are sung, castles are built, presents are opened and memories are made. What an amazing time to be alive.

It's not just picture phones that have changed...every corner of our life has changed. Technology has opened doors we never before had access to...information, entertainment, necessities, and frivolities.

You may have heard the familiar saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

When we are in the market for a home, we realize this is very likely the single biggest investment we will make. We may not all have investments in the stock market, 401K accounts, or bundles of cash in a vault somewhere, but we tend to buy into the American Dream to own our home. Housing markets rise and fall. Furnishings go in and out of style...but the constant remains, we are all looking for shelter, a place to call "HOME".

When we are in the market for a home, the access to technology gives us new avenues to access to the multiple listings of properties that will entice us to a closer look. "Back in the day", and not so many years ago, home buying was quite a different process.

We used to take our weekends scouring through the Sunday Classifieds, driving from property to property, touring through Open Houses, all the while trying to remember the pros and cons of each property...and taking notes, pages and pages of notes, to help us remember the details of each address.

Times have certainly changed!

Today we can get an advance first glance of the property our realtor will show us. We can google the address, find the directions, look at the satellite view and check out the neighborhood! We can even take a visual tour of the property...inside and out, in the middle of the night, from the comfort of our computer! Pretty amazing, don't you think?

On the other hand, when we are selling the property, we may not always know who is visiting our listing. Mr. and Mrs. Buyer's first look at our property, may not require so much as a knock on our door...all they may use is a click of a mouse.

Visual marketing is a busy Buyer's first introduction to our property.

What does your on-line listing say about your property?

• "These rooms are empty, this space is lifeless."
  ...a vacant home can present like an empty cave.
  
• "Watch where you walk, we have life happening here."
  ...a cluttered home may be the sign of a happy life, but it leaves the imagination no place to dream.
  
• "A family lives here, but the place isn't much fun."
  ...don't confuse bare walls and clean counters with a staged property.

or does your ASP Staged property say:

• "This property is warm and welcoming."
• "This property is clean and cared for."
• "This property is our new home."

When buyers like what they see, they set the appointment, visit the property, and if everything "feels" right, an offer is made, papers are signed, a new key is made...and a house becomes a home.

Don't give up your edge by presenting an awkward first impression...it may be the only chance you get!

Have your property staged with an ASP Home Stager...don't confuse decorating or emptying a room as staging...the camera can be your listing's best friend or worst enemy...which will it be for yours?

Your Wonderful Family

I caught myself thinking today about my adorable grandson...here he is at three months old, and in a few short weeks he will be blowing out TWO candles on his birthday cake.

In the past two years I have seen him only a handful of times. They live in Ohio...we live in Washington. I purchase a new photo card every time I am going to see him. And every photo card ends up with HUNDREDS of pictures of him...smiling, running, eating, sleeping...well you get the idea, I am a proud Grammy :)

But...as cute as he is, and he IS cute....and as adorable as he is, and he IS adorable...how many of those pictures would you really want to see when you tour through my house for sale?

That's what I thought...not so much, right?!

Your buyers are no different than you are. They don't really want to see the pictures you took last Christmas, the photo shoots from graduation, or the sweet little girl getting on the bus for the first day of school.

When we stage your property, we will ask you to pack your treasured memories away, not because your pictures aren't wonderful...quite the opposite, it's because they are so wonderful, so personal...too personal, actually.

Rooms that are shown filled with YOUR memories, don't leave visual room for Mr. and Mrs. Buyer's memories. You don't need to sell anyone on your wonderful memories...your memories are not for sale :)

Let an ASP Home Stager help you prepare your property for sale. We will remove the decorations that make your home personal, and set the staging that will make your property warm and inviting.

Remember, it's nothing "personal"...it's staging :)

Too much of a good thing.....

When it comes to cleaning, there's a familiar saying, "Your stuff is junk, and my junk is stuff."

I think it applies to a lot of corners in our life...our office cubicle, our overstuffed purses, the trunks of our cars...and our homes.

We bring our treasures home and surround ourselves with the memories. We look at the treasures on our shelves and we are reminded of the moments of our life. Our treasures remind us, they comfort us, and they keep us company.

When we list our homes for sale, our homes become products on the shelf.

Mr. and Mrs. Buyer begin the process of comparing, evaluating, and considering just which product they are going to invest their dollars in. Our product is picked up, examined, and judged worthy, or left behind on the shelf.

To you this is a collection of tiny treasures...they are Christmases and birthdays, they hold your memories of yesterdays, each with a story all thier own.

But...to Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, your wonderful treasures are clutter, they are noise. In their first impression glance, your "stuff" has become "junk". And sometimes all you get is the first impression glance.

Anything of more than two or three, becomes a collection. Collections become visual clutter. And visual clutter can quickly become junk to the Buyer's eye.

While your property is on the market, make room for the Buyers!

Pack away your collections. Edit your treasures. Don't let your wonderful product remain on the shelf.

Remember, when it comes to Staging and collections....too much of a good thing...is too much! :)

Be prepared to sweep it clean :)

Stop and Smell the Roses

Sometimes we get so busy with the details of life that we really do forget to stop and smell the roses :)

...When we have done all we can do.

...When we have prepared as far as we can see.

...When we have planned away every reasonable doubt.

...When our "To Do" list is all "Ta Done!"

...In the hustle and bustle of life, there is that moment when we benefit more from stopping than from anxiously wandering and fussing over details beyond our control....stop, put up your feet...and take time to smell the roses :)

I have a friend who says that if she was a rich woman, she would have fresh cut flowers in every room of her home.

...I think I agree :)

It's not "personal"..it's Staging

The process for staging an owner occupied property is a challenging one: Where does the showroom end and real life begin?

You will be asked to pack away some of your most treasured things, edit away your collections, and even step out of your comfortable furniture arrangements.

And what will you gain for all your efforts?
...A property with clean lines, a warm feel, and room for Mr. and Mrs. Buyer to see how their life will now fit at your address. Remember it's not "personal"...it's Staging!

Get ready, moving day is just around the corner...box up the memory pieces, edit the collections and listen to your Stager!

Five Things You Should Never Hear

In the world of Staging, there are heros....Jennie Norris is one such hero: http://www.sensationalhome.com/ I think you will agree with me that in her following article Jennie has hit the nail on the head, not once, but five times:

Here are FIVE things you will NEVER hear me say:

1. You have no taste!
2. What were you thinking!
3. These woods or colors don’t match.
4. Your things are outdated.
5. You need to replace all your things to get a Buyer.

1. Your taste is your own.
Home Staging is not about the “things” in your house. It is about featuring the house and the floor plan for the Buyer. Your things may be worn, may be a bit dated, but that’s OK. We are not selling your furniture. The Buyers have furniture – they just need to see if it will fit and so they use your furnishings to get an approximation of scale and size visually, and this helps them mentally move in to your house.

2. Your things are what you enjoy.
Who am I to come and tell you that you have the “wrong things” in your house? If you like a particular color or collect certain things, that’s your choice. Again as I have learned from Barb Schwarz, “The way you live in your home, and the way we market and sell a house are two different things.” So I focus on things that could be potentially distracting to Buyers. When people are walking through your house, they do get easily distracted by photos, collections, and anything that is too “incredible” to leave out – as that becomes the only thing the Buyers remember about your house. So, you do have to make changes to Stage your house for sale, but they are not done to criticize you or your belongings.

3. Matchy-Smatchy.
Your furniture woods don’t have to match – in fact we don’t’ really need to focus on that at all when we Stage your house. People that come and tell you that “your things are all wrong” are focusing on the “stuff” and not the space. They must not have gotten the memo that the “eclectic look is in” and we can do wonders with what you have by simply reducing, rearranging, and possibly refreshing with a little “WOW Factor” inventory.

4. Most people don’t replace their furniture every season so guess what – their things are “outdated.”
My own house has things we’ve owned for 10 years or longer. I am not going to replace all my furniture any more than you should be expected to. That is not realistic. A house that is dated can still be Staged and reflect the best way for Buyers. Of course, if you have dated fixtures and colors, those are easy fixes for Selling and as your Home Stager, I am going to suggest making improvements as your budget allows. However, if you tell me you don’t have any extra money, then I am going to successfully work with what you have and make it look the best for Buyers. That is what I am trained to do as an ASP® – I use my Creativity and Ideas to Stage – and don’t just rely solely on your money to replace and upgrade everything.

5. Please don’t fall into this trap.
Even if you have a very high end house – don’t fall into the trap of “you must remove all your things and we will bring in rental furnishings to get your house sold.” Now if your house is vacant, yes, you do need to rent some things. But if you have furniture in your house, I can work with that. I may bring in some added “pizzazz” with décor or key Staging items, but I am never going to tell you that all your stuff has to be removed in order to sell. Anyone that does that is focused on money and not the goal of selling your house. It makes me cringe inside when I hear that some Sellers are being gouged in the tens-of-thousands of dollars to Stage their house with some supposed “stager” (usually some other profession cloaked in the guise of Staging) – that convinces them the only way their house will sell is with all new stuff. Ouch.

When you want an honest assessment of what to do to put your house on the market to get the best price in the shortest time, please make sure to work with an Accredited Staging Professional® (ASP®) Home Stager or a ASP Master.

You can find an ASP on the http://www.stagedhomes.com/ directory or http://www.iahsp.com/ membership directory. ASPs are licensed and insured to do business in the areas where they serve and are specifically trained to prepare houses for sale.



Don't you just love how Jennie thinks? I know I do! And I am proud to be part of a professional organization that holds such high standards of ethical behavior. Life isn't all about the bottom line....and neither is staging.

If you reside in the greater Seattle region, I would be happy to assist you or your client in preparing your house or listing for sale.

My commitment to all my clients – one that any ASP will share - is that I will provide an honest assessment and work with your budget and timeframe to successfully Stage the house for sale.

What is Staging....Why do you need an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP)

What is Staging and Why Do You Need an Accredited Staging Professional®?

The moment home owners decide to put their homes on the market the properties they’ve lived in effectively become products. Their real estate agents assess a sales price, devise a marketing plan to get the home sold and prepare to put the listing in the multiple listing service.

Especially given today’s market conditions, homes will compete against a huge inventory of available homes. Now more than ever, especially in the current buyer’s market, it’s extremely important to make a listing stand out in the marketplace.

So what can consumers and their agents do to catch the attention of home buyers?
They need to:

Make the first impression of the home positive and inviting.
Enable buyers to envision themselves living in the home.
Show the full potential of the home.
Make the home visually appealing for online listings.
In short, sellers and the real estate agents representing them need to Stage their homes with the assistance of an Accredited Staging Professional®.

Defining Home Staging
Home Staging is professionally preparing homes for sale, so that they appeal to the most amount of buyers and generate the highest price in the least amount of time on market. Staged Homes traditionally present themselves better than the competition by being clean, clutter-free, and ready to show to prospective buyers.

Home Staging is NOT decorating, fluffing, interior design or redesign. Instead, Home Staging is detailing, de-cluttering, depersonalizing and preparing a seller’s home to give it a “model home” appearance so that the potential buyer can “see” themselves living in the home.

Introducing the Accredited Staging® Professional®
Accredited Staging Professionals® are dedicated professionals who have studied and learned the proven and powerful techniques of Staging® homes with two primary goals: sell faster and for a higher price.

Accredited Staging Professional® have successfully attended and graduated from the ASP® course and have passed a required thorough examination on preparing homes for sale to earn the Accredited Home Staging Professional® Designation.

Accredited Staging Professionals® are committed to the principles and practices of marketing properties as Staged Homes

By their membership and participation in the International Home Staging Association, IAHSP®, ASPs® are held to professional ethical standards as they follow the IAHSP® Home Staging Code of Ethics.

Must pass a detailed written examination in the ASP® class. The test is 10 pages in length and created by Barb Schwarz, The actual Creator of Home Staging

ASPs® are taught to follow the below in the ASP® Course as they earn their ASP® Designation:

Renew yearly their detailed ASP® License agreement of membership with Stagedhomes.com, the World’s Leader in Home Staging Education
Agree to and uphold the ASP® Code of Ethics
Agree to and Uphold the ASP® Consumer Foundation of Service Creed
A Business license for their ASP® Staging Business as an ASP® Stager.
A Real Estate License if they are an ASP® Real Estate Agent.
Staging Insurance as an ASP® Stager
Error and Omissions insurance as an ASP® Real Estate Agent.
A Sales Tax ID number in the state where they work as an ASP® Stager
A commercial Checking account for their Business
To continue their education by returning to additional ASP® Courses to stay up to date in the Home Staging Industry and their ASP® Designation.
Hold current active membership in The International Association of Home Staging Professionals®

IAHSP® and the ASP® Designation are the benchmark association and designation and have been established and strongly built over many, many decades of time. This helps the public know that ASPs® are the true proven leaders in the Home Staging Industry as they serve their clients and consumers where they live and work.

About the Accredited Staging® Professional, ASP®, and Master®, ASPM®, Courses:

The Accredited Staging Professional® Course and the Accredited Staging Professional® Master Course were created by Barb Schwarz, the Creator of Home Staging, President and CEO of Stagedhomes.com and the International Association of Home Staging® Professionals. Schwarz developed the concept of Home Staging® in the early 1970’s and has since educated more than one-million people on the subject. She is a nationally known and award-winning speaker, author and trainer.

About Stagedhomes.com:

Training one person at a time; Staging® one home at a time; and empowering one family at a time through the magic of ASP® Home Staging®. We are dedicated to change what worked yesterday for what now excels today, and that which opens the way to tomorrow through the world of ASP® Home Staging® and Training at Stagedhomes.com

About the International Association of Home Staging® Professionals® Foundation, IAHSP®:

The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®) Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Barb Schwarz, The Creator of Home Staging®, organizes the annual World Wide Staging Service Week, when local chapters around the United States and Canada participate in a week-long event to improve the lives of others through the magic of Home Staging®. Past benefactors have included improving such places as the Ronald McDonald House, nursing homes, schools, women’s shelters and assisting individuals who may be in need of selling their homes or businesses.

Your house is for sale...Congratulations!

Your home is not for sale, but your house is! Congratulations!

You’ve made the decision to sell your house! You will soon realize that now is the time to prepare yourself to move into the marketing mode because you will soon be presenting your home to your market…the home Buyer.

Getting Mentally Prepared

• Your home has become a product. It can be difficult to think of a home as a mere product, but it helps to do this in order to get top dollar and sell it in a reasonable amount of time.

• That product is your house. Your home will become the new residence you choose—How exciting!

• You want to sell that product.

• As with any product for sale, your house will have to be marketed.

• Before you can market it, you must determine how you will package it.

• You want to package your house so that it is attractive to customers (in this case, the home Buyer) because you want them to choose your house and not the competition. To gain an edge in your marketplace, you must be priced right and look better than the competition! The best, proven way to package your house and gain that competitive edge is to…

STAGE IT!

Stage® is a federally registered trademark of StagedHomes.com. ASP™ is a trademark of StagedHomes.com. © StagedHomes.com 2006

Quick Tips for Staging Your Home

Bedroom Before:

The homeowner has decorated to her taste...personal decorating is a wonderful thing to have in your bedroom...when you are not selling your home. Remember, staging is not about "decorating"!

Bedroom After:
It isn't always required to paint before staging...we can neutralize the paint with soft choices in the material...bringing in neutrals will give the eye a place to rest while de-personalizing a very personal space.

Before you show your home to any potential buyer be sure to go through your whole house with your agent to finish the Staging process. Meanwhile, here are some quick tips to help you start.

Follow these general tips and your home will look better than the competition. Staged Homes sell faster and/or for more money!

INSIDE

• Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items. In general, a sparsely decorated home helps the buyer mentally ‘move in’ with their own things.

• Rearrange or remove some of the furniture in your home, if necessary. Many times home owners have too much furniture in a room. When it comes to selling your home, thin out overcrowded rooms to make the rooms appear larger.

• Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn’t been used for three months…put it away! Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, magnets, pictures, etc.

• In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, tub, shower stall and commode top. Keep only the most necessary cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels in one or two colors only.

• Take down, reduce, or rearrange pictures and objects on walls. Patch and paint all walls, if necessary.

• Review the house interior, room by room, and:
1. Paint any room needing paint.
2. Clean carpet and draperies that need it.
3. Clean windows.

• If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit.

• Leave on certain lights during the day (your agent will show you which ones). During showings turn on ALL lights and lamps.

• Play light FM music every day in the house, for all viewings.

Get ready to move... START PACKING!

OUTSIDE:

• Go around the perimeter of the house and move all garbage cans, discarded wood scraps, extra building materials, etc., to the garage or, if applicable, take them to the dump.

• Check gutters and roof for dry rot and moss. Make sure they are swept & cleaned.

• Look at all plants. Plants are like children…they grow so fast. Prune bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows: “You can’t sell a house if you can’t see it!”

• Remove any dead plants, weed all planting areas and put down fresh mulching material.

• Keep your lawn freshly cut, edged and fertilized during the growing season.

• Clear patios or decks of all small items, such as little planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbeques, toys, etc.

• Check the condition of the paint on your home, especially the trim and the front door. The first impression, or ‘curb appeal,’ is very important.

IN GENERAL

Try to look at your house “through a buyer’s eyes,” as though you’ve never seen it before. This exercise will help you see what needs to be done. Any time and money invested on these items will usually bring you the return of more money and a quicker sale.

Working together, you and your Accredited Staging Professiona™l make a WINNING TEAM!

www.StagedHomes.com

Sweet Endings

I went on a consultation...spent an hour with a delightful homeowner....walked the property inside and out and came up with an extensive list of recommendations for getting her property ready for going on the market.

Not all consultations end with a signed Agreement....some homeowners are DIY all the way, but I think there should be a sweet ending to every Blue Ribbon Experience :)

...Don't you agree?

Call me, we'll do a walk about :)

Staging Advantage

Home Staging is the very best proven way to get top dollar for your home as you prepare it for sale.

Homes that are Staged with an ASP Professional Home Stager sell faster and for more money! This is because Staging sets the scene throughout the house to create immediate buyer interest in your property. This will then lead to your home selling for the highest possible price in today's market.

Remember, "The way you live in your home, and the way you market and sell your house are two different things." This gives you "The Staged Homes Advantage®"

What is Staging

What is Staging and Why Do You Need an
Accredited Staging Professional®?

The moment home owners decide to put their homes on the market the properties they’ve lived in effectively become products. Their real estate agents assess a sales price, devise a marketing plan to get the home sold and prepare to put the listing in the multiple listing service.

Especially given today’s market conditions, homes will compete against a huge inventory of available homes. Now more than ever, especially in the current buyer’s market, it’s extremely important to make a listing stand out in the marketplace.

So what can consumers and their agents do to catch the attention of home buyers? They need to:
· Make the first impression of the home positive and inviting
· Enable buyers to envision themselves living in the home
· Show the full potential of the home
· Make the home visually appealing for online listings

In short, sellers and the real estate agents representing them need to Stage their homes with the assistance of an Accredited Staging Professional®.

Home Staging is professionally preparing homes for sale, so that they appeal to the most amount of buyers and generate the highest price in the least amount of time on market. Staged Homes traditionally present themselves better than the competition by being clean, clutter-free, and ready to show to prospective buyers.

Home Staging is NOT decorating, fluffing, interior design or redesign. Instead, Home Staging is detailing, de-cluttering, depersonalizing and preparing a seller's home to give it a "model home" appearance so that the potential buyer can "see" themselves living in the home.

· Accredited Staging Professionals® are dedicated professionals who have studied and learned the proven and powerful techniques of Staging® homes with two primary goals: sell faster and for a higher price.

· Accredited Staging Professional® have successfully attended and graduated from the ASP® course and have passed a required thorough examination on preparing homes for sale to earn the Accredited Home Staging Professional® Designation.

· Must pass a detailed written examination in the ASP® class. The test is 10 pages in length and created by Barb Schwarz, The actual Creator of Home Staging

· Accredited Staging Professionals® are committed to the principles and practices of marketing properties as Staged Homes

· By their membership and participation in the International Home Staging Association, IAHSP®, ASPs® are held to professional ethical standards as they follow the IAHSP® Home Staging Code of Ethics.

ASPs® are taught to follow the below in the ASP® Course as they earn their ASP® Designation:
· Renew yearly their detailed ASP® License agreement of membership with Stagedhomes.com, the World's Leader in Home Staging Education
· Agree to and uphold the ASP® Code of Ethics
· Agree to and Uphold the ASP® Consumer Foundation of Service Creed
· A Business license for their ASP® Staging Business as an ASP® Stager.
· A Real Estate License if they are an ASP® Real Estate Agent.
· Staging Insurance as an ASP® Stager
· Error and Omissions insurance as an ASP® Real Estate Agent.
· A Sales Tax ID number in the state where they work as an ASP® Stager
· A commercial Checking account for their Business
· To continue their education by returning to additional ASP® Courses to stay up to date in the Home Staging Industry and their ASP® Designation.
· Hold current active membership in The International Association of Home Staging Professionals®

IAHSP® and the ASP® Designation are the benchmark association and designation and have been established and strongly built over many, many decades of time. This helps the public know that ASPs® are the true proven leaders in the Home Staging Industry as they serve their clients and consumers where they live and work.

The Accredited Staging Professional® Course was created by Barb Schwarz, the Creator of Home Staging®, President and CEO of Stagedhomes.com and the International Association of Home Staging Professionals. Schwarz developed the concept of Home Staging in the early 1970's and has since educated more than one-million people on the subject. She is a nationally known and award-winning speaker, author and trainer.

Stagedhomes.com Training one person at a time; Staging one home at a time; and empowering one family at a time through the magic of ASP® Home Staging.

We are dedicated to change what worked yesterday for what now excels today, and that which opens the way to tomorrow through the world of ASP® Home Staging and Training at Stagedhomes.com

The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®) Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Barb Schwarz, The Creator of Home Staging®, organizes the annual World Wide Staging Service Week, when local chapters around the United States and Canada participate in a week-long event to improve the lives of others through the magic of Home Staging. Past benefactors have included improving such places as the Ronald McDonald House, nursing homes, schools, women’s shelters and assisting individuals who may be in need of selling their homes or businesses.

Gaining Ground

So it is that life comes at us...sometimes in giant leaps...and sometimes in baby steps.

I am reminded that this new life of mine is coming in baby steps. First the idea to stage, then the decision to register...and make plans to attend the training..and pay attention...and ask questions...and contribute, and finally to graduate.

Then the sorting of all the new information into a new set of steps all its own. Sort and settle on a company name, design my logo, create the cards, design a brochure...and on and on the list of steps goes.

And somewhere in there is the actual work of Staging...but where does it all fit together. And when does the dream slide over into reality? I wonder, I ponder, I plan, and still, I wait.

Yet in between the steps, I do! I actually DO!

I make the decision to go! I become an active member of my professional community. I answer the call to assist and I show up.

I make the decision to contribute. Contributing is more than merely showing up. It's taking the risk of putting a piece of my heart out there. It's the risk of the unknown, again. It's experiencing my first day of real life Staging. It is tiring, exhausting, exhilarating, and invigorating. And in the end it is knowing that I have found my Bliss.

I make the decision to be involved. I get invited to be on the Board. To give of my time, my talents, my energy, and my heart. Perhaps in this particular venture I am a novice, and still in the grander scheme of things, I am experienced in the pieces that make up the whole..so I say, "Yes!"

And one wonderful day, when the first of my "to do's" can be checked off as "done", I get the call to solo...and a Consultation is mine. The call has been mine to make. The appointment on the calendar bears my name. The card I leave, the brochure I drop off, the first and last impression...are all mine.

I am not yet soaring, nor am I flying. I don't even imagine I am yet running or even walking, but crawling?...I most definately am crawling.

And this my friend, is advancement.

This is certainly forward movement.

And this is absolutely gaining ground.

March....Keepin' it Green