Stagers, why spend money? List your business for FREE on a national Home Staging directory.

I know that I have shared my thoughts about the real estate social network called Active Rain before. So now that it has grown in membership I once again eel compelled to share with you once again what a great site this is. Active Rain simply amazes and inspires me. For while Active Rain is wonderful marketing, educational, networking and showcasing resource for all professionals in the real estate industry... this one site provides more possibility and opportunity for the home stager and the growing Home Staging Industry then any other I know of.

December 31st marked the closing of Active Rain’s inaugural year (actually they launched themselves in June 2006)... and what a year it was for all the members who have joined and shared in this incredible cyber community.

In a year where the real estate industry was spinning with change and challenge and as we saw large companies jockeying for position on the web... Active Rain appeared as if out of nowhere.

An important lesson for home stagers and leaders in the real estate staging industry can be learn from the simple fact that the creators of Active Rain believed that individuals, not corporations, ARE the heart of the real estate and the industry segments that make it up. It is for this reason they created a means to give dedicated real estate professionals a way to share their ideas, insights and concerns about all aspects of real estate.

Using Active Rain blogging, industry professionals found a totally FREE way to share their voices and highly effect means of educating both colleagues and consumers as to the realities of a dynamic and ever changing industry.

Generosity has worked in Active Rains favor. Since its start, membership has exploded! As of today (December 31) Active Rain proudly has over nearly 12,500 members. With all those members and the fact that countless non-members visit to read and take advantage of the daily feed of fresh information, this site a force to notice among ALL segments of the real estate industry. Pure possibility ripples out as more and more real estate professionals join, find their blogging voices, and share their insights.

Just when one thought it couldn’t get any better, the developers of Active Rain looked to make the services they offer even better. While Active Rain is predominately a social net work of information to, for and within the real estate professional community, Active Rain created another site called “Localism”. Localism is going to give professionals a voice that will be seen DIRECTLY by the consumer into the markets served by the real estate professional.

So while you will find many professionals representing different segments of the real estate industry, I know Active Rain and its sister site, Localism, holds the greatest possibility to create amazing marketing impact for the staging industry, as well as for individual stagers. Their national listing of stagers is truly a Home Staging Web Directory. It has blossomed to nearly 300 Home Stagers. Innovative, fresh, and unique... Active Rain provides real estate stagers with a means to freely gain differing perspectives, share ideas, showcase their businesses, ongoingly grow in knowledge (in both real estate and home staging) and market services.

Where else on the internet can any home stager (regardless of where they were trained) go to join a FREE national staging directory that openly and willing offers and shares so much? More than any other any website on the net, this one totally FREE directory site provides more current information for the Home Stager working to grow and showcase their business on a daily level than any other.

So in 2007, as Home Staging Industry continues to struggle for continuity and awareness, look to Active Rain's National Directory of Stagers and it's FREE Stage It Forward group to provide a forum for Home Staging professionals to turn small ripples into waves of opportunity and move our industry ever forward.

Wishing you, "all the best" on and in the New Year.

Stage it forward...
Craig (Me)

Beautiful weather

This has been the mildest fall/winters that I can remember. I am looking out side this morning and wondering if I am going to boat, kayak, or play golf. Hope the weather is fine where you are.

Joy to the (Active) Rain

For those professionals in fields of real estate, mortgages, real estate staging I just want to make sure you know that there is an AMAZING site full of information about real estate and pretty much every aspect of the industry. It is called Active Rain.

Active Rain,now with over 11,000 members, is a social network (like MySpace)... but with out the controversy.

Anyway, in an effort to visually demonstrate the generosty, unity, diversity and professionalism that occurs daily on Active Rain, I created the wreaths below.

If you are a professional in ANY aspect of the real estate industry I strongly encourge you to join Active Rain. Oh and to be a member is totally, 100%, no hitches FREE!
















If you are a professional in ANY aspect of the real estate industry I strongly encourge you to join Active Rain. Oh and to be a member is totally, 100%, no hitches FREE!

Happy Holidays and Stage it forward...
Craig (Me)

Show Thanks & Share Your Message... in a Bubbly Way

I know I write a lot on real estate staging. But my REAL passion is marketing and advertising. I LOVE finding new ways to break through the typical "advertising noise" and connect with people in the market. (Staging happens to be an amazing tool that cuts through the noise of other ordinary properties in the market... that is why I am so committed to it.)

Anyway, a few years ago we decide to divert some of our advertising dollars out of our print media budget and find ways to connect to our clients and potential clients in more creative and rewarding way. So what did we do? We threw a small party!

Well, actually we always had a personal holiday party... we just decided to give it over to our company.

We gave the party a name "Tween the Holidays" so that ALL (regardless of religious beliefs) knew they were welcome. (We don't specify which holidays it is ‘tween... heck, we could be talking about Halloween and Valentines Day.) THEN we gave it a theme twist... we made it a Champagne Party!

The best date to have this party we found is the night right BEFORE the last work day before the New Year's holiday break. Why on this day? Because no one typically plans a party for that night, hence no conflicts. And since no one really WANTS to work the next day... our party is well attended! Last year we had over 125 people.

Providing Champagne for this many party goers could be costly venture. So to spread the expense around we ask those we invite to bring one bottle of (QUALITY) champagne. We then of course provide more drink and the food. Typically we can cover the night's food and drink for under $800... which is really not the expensive when you look at the cost of ONE 1/4 page ad in a local newspaper.

To make the party a bit more intriguing there is another fun gimmick tied to the party night. Well, we also ask that people bring and donate one champagne flute. To date we have nearly 100 different glasses in the party's collection. THIS is a great ice breaker... and a unique conversation starter.

Finally, we invite EVERYONE! Friends, clients, family, colleagues, network contacts, neighbors, potential clients... you name all are welcome! All who are invited are welcome to invite who ever they like too.

The party is starting to generate and ride on its own "BUZZ!" So to make it even better we are "giving" the party over to a local not-for-profit. Of course our name is "on" it... but someone else now can benefit too.

I share this with you all because it doesn't take much time, its effective and its fun. I hope you spin my idea in your own way to help you and your business

Stage it forward...

Craig (Me)

PS: Consider yourself invited, if you are interested in attending. Again ALL are welcome. If interested please RSVP. (I will send you the location details.)

POST SCRIPT & UPDATE:

All of us, at Real Estaging, were delighted and thrilled when Chicago Agent Magazine, Chicago's premier news & trade publication reporting on Chicago's real estate industry, choose to cover our event. I have to say that Chicago Agent Magazine has consistently been a champion for Real Estaging's success... so I don't know how to thank them enough. But I will find a way...

Anyway, here is a reprint of the photo spread that Chicago Agent published on our event in there February 12th issue.

THANK YOU so very much Jennifer Morrell, Editor. In this age where ONLY the "big dogs" seem to get all the attention, Jennifer choose to include us... a small dog of the real estate industry here in Chicago.

Plus, we would like to extend an EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU to Jodi Schallman, Events Photographer for the magazine. Next year, Jodi you need to come as a GUEST and let some one else shoot us... you are TOO much fun.

Me (Again)

TRIX TO FIX YOUR PIX

For both the stager and realtor, GOOD quality photography taken of a property that is a necessity. For the listing agent, the photos you take of your client’s property show the “product” you are marketing and trying to sell. For the home stager, photos of your work capture and depict your staging talent.

Therefore it is to the advantage of BOTH the realtor and stager to take and display the ABSOLUTE BEST PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES you can. This is especially important NOW as more and more people use the internet as a means to prescreen a home or a stager they are interested in.

Knowing this… the other night I went online and looked at listings on Realtor.com for properties currently for sale in the metro-Chicago market area. While there are those realtors that are doing a good job, I have to admit much of the photography I that agents use to market a listing concerns me.

Below are a few common mistakes I saw occurring repeatedly. (Please note, while I did the best I could to repair the photos of properties on Realtor.com, I did NOT have access to the original digital image file. So "clean-ups" are of the images are NOT as good as they could be. All "original" images are shown to the left.)

BIG SKY: When taking interior photos, be aware of how much ceiling you "capture". Unless the ceiling has an interesting architectural feature or finish... there is no need to place so much emphasis on it? In the right hand picture I cropped the image and warmed its tones up. TOTAL edit time: 3 MINUTES!

TWIST & SLIP: Kitchens have many "clean" vertical & horizontal lines, so when they are photographed, especially when using wide angle lenses, they tend to look all-skewed-up. Note how crooked the refrigerator and stove look in the picture on the left... which were straightened up in the picture on the right. TOTAL edit time: 2 MINUTES!

BRIGHT LIGHTS: Sometimes when taking pictures towards the sun, the resulting pictures can have a "hot spot" that blinds the viewer. One way to clean up the image is simply crop the picture. Notice how when I did this I ended up with a BETTER view of what the property being featured. I also punched up the contrast. TOTAL edit time: 2 MINUTES!

ICY COLD: I saw this particular "problem" occurring on both INTERIOR and EXTERIOR photos of homes. An easy edit that only required I add more red and yellow to the picture to help warm it up. TOTAL edit time: 2 MINUTES!

DATE STAMPED: This goof REALLY surprised me! WHY would a realtor want to let potential buyers know how long a property has been on the market? The stamp will NSTANTLY create doubt with shopper if the property been on the market long for a long period of time. In my edited picture the date stamp was removed. Then... I cropped it and fixed it by straightening it out creating TRUE vertical lines. TOTAL edit time: 4 MINUTES!

DAY NIGHT: This is one of the easiest photo edits one can make. Just by punching up the brightness, I took a "dusky" dark home into what now looks like daylight. Ultimately, more of the house was revealed. TOTAL edit time: 1 MINUTE!

SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Doesn't the realtor's original photo look like the house is about to slide into a big hole in the backyard? While this is a MORE COMPLEX adjustment... once learned it is easy to do over and over again. TOTAL edit time: 3 MINUTES!

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DARK SHADOWS: WOW... would you have thought that adjusting the brightness and contrast that such a GREAT picture of a room would come shining through? The ORIGINAL photo was a total disservice to the seller. I also cropped the pix so not as much of the ceiling was not being featured... really who cares about THIS ceiling? TOTAL edit time: 2 MINUTES!

GREASY SLIDER: Here again I fixed up the "slide" and punched up the brightness just a bit! I corrected all vertical lines so they are truly straight up and down takes a bit more time... but once understood it's easy! TOTAL edit time: 4 MINUTES!

ON FIRE: Occurring mostly on interior shots, this error is just the opposite problem of ICY COLD. This photo is way too HOT. My edits required the addition of more blue and touch of green to cool it down. Again, I cropped the image so that the ceiling was not being featured. TOTAL edit time: 4 MINUTES!

BLEACHED OUT: Simply by increasing the contrast and decreasing the brightness... LOOK at how easy it is to add LIFE to a washed out photo. I cropped the image tighter to show MORE of the house and less of the sidewalk. TOTAL edit time: 3 MINUTES!

TOWER GIANT: THIS is one of the most common problems I see with exterior photos of large condos. Look how odd the building looks on the left... kind of like a pyramid. TIP: Vertical lines MUST always be STRAIGHT up and down... many CAMERAS skew these lines all up. Correcting back to reality is easy. TOTAL edit time: 2 MINUTES!

X

SOOOOO... the TOTAL amount of time I invested in editing these 12pictures was a quick 31 minutes... which means I averaged 2 1/2 minutes to fix each picture.

X

I share all this information because I believe that listing agents have an OBLIGATION to the sellers to show their properties in the BEST possible manner visually. AND stagers, you will benefit too when your clients can clearly see the magic of your work.

Stage it forward...
Craig (Me)

PS: I personally use PhotoShop to edit photos. However, in my previous post entitled "Photos Lie" others share what they use as a photo editing tool. For more information and opinions on editing tools, I encourage you to go back and review that post.

When it Comes to Holiday Decorating Should Sellers GRINch or BARE it?

Last fall I blogged about whether or not it was wise for a home seller to put up decorations for Halloween... and while at that time many people gave varied opinions, I stated that I thought it best not to.

SO... what about decorations for Christmas? Should a home sellers decorate their houses? My answer is a definite and resounding... YES, BUT with conditions.

Decorating a house for sale at Christmas is a bit different then decorating for Halloween. First the Christmas selling market is MUCH slower; and second, Christmas decorations are not as scary, creepy or offensive looking as Halloween decorations.

That being said, keep in mind that any decorations still can be distractions. So if a property is for sale in the market and if a seller chooses to decorate (out side and/or inside) during Christmas, my advice is to tastefully tone-it-down... way down in some cases. Remember in December home sellers are still "selling" a house first... not Christmas.

So my advice is that for one selling season leave the elaborately beautiful displays of Christmas for the neighbors to create and in the windows of department stores.

Stage it forward...
Craig (Me)

Did OPRAH'S SHOW Send a Mixed Message to Home Sellers?

It's no secret how much I admire and respect Oprah. So this week when I finally watched Oprah’s show on preparing a home for its sale I have to say I was let down.

I applaud the shows hope to help home sellers who currently find themselves financially and emotionally burdened with a house that won't sell... after watching this segment I felt the show sent a confusing and false message about what it takes to ready a house for its sale… especially in a TOUGH “buyer's market”. In this episode, the efforts of Oprah's design guru Nate Berkus were chronicled as he helped a financially strapped couple, Zigi & Yosef Edmonds, repair and visually prepare their townhouse before being put up for sale. The home located in Redondo Beach, has 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ bath and eventually listed for $609,999.

The show made it quite clear that in a buyers market the buyer can be fussy. Following Nate's Top 10 tips to ready a house for its sale, is sound "staging" advice. Implementing these tips would surly prove to be beneficial to struggling home sellers.

Unfortunately, my first let down with the show has to do with fact that the staging budget for the Edmond's property was a whopping $10,000. This $10k covered furniture, fixtures and finishes. Unfortunately this "Hollywood" budget is totally unrealistic and fear it will end up discouraging the most home sellers who would and could benefit from less costly home staging solutions. So while home looked FANTASTIC... the show NEVER made it clear just WHO was paying the $10k for all the merchandise that was bought in. I do know that in the introductory bio piece produced on the Edmonds the show said they were financially strapped. The bio went on to say the Edmonds had to sell their home because of grave financial problems.

So my first point I want to make to home sellers interested in staging is that real estate staging typically DOES NOT cost what was spent by Nate on this segment of the Oprah Show.

Now with that being said, it is also important to understand just that real estate staging is breaks down to 3 key areas...TIME, TALENT & TREASURE. And while we know the Edmond's staging budget included $10k worth of "treasure"... I believe it is unfair and misleading not to point out the fact that staging also takes TIME and TALENT to achieve an overall merchandising solution. Therefore, with regards to TIME & TALENT required for Edmund's staging, I have 2 questions:

1. Who paid for the TIME to perform the physical labor of painting, planting, installing, building, removing old carpet & flooring, installing new carpet & flooring, and removing the out dated appliances? (Note: Zigi and Yosef were part of the labor force... but NOT the entire force.)
2. Who paid for the creative TALENT (staging know-how) of both Nate (Interior Decor) and Jamie Durie (Deckscaping)?

So my second major let down with the show is the fact that it was NOT made clear that implementing effective and successful staging requires the seller to know what to do, how to do it, and have skill and physical ability to do it. If the seller does not have knowledge, skill and ability... those who do need to be hired and paid for what they provide.

I am happy to say that while the show may have ended up sending a bit of an over simplified message regarding real estate staging... it still exceeded my expectations in a way that only Oprah does so well. (So, NO I am NOT throwing an “Oprah baby” out with its bath water.)

In typical Oprah fashion she found a wonderful family that NEEDED a home staging jumpstart (a prime "Stage it Forward..." cause for sure). Life for the Edmonds has been a very sad course of events. Yosef, who quit his job in hopes to pursue dreams of freedom and success through self employment, has not triumphed. So to help keep his family of 4 financially alive they MUST sell their home and since January 2006 they have been trying. On top of all the financial problems plaguing the Edmonds, Zigi is a also suffering from a brain tumor. So all in all, they see selling their home as a much needed opportunity to escape some their problems.

The good news is as of last Saturday... a sale is pending for the Zigi and Yosef’s home. I pray this is a sign that the Edmonds are finally turning a corner.

Stage it forward...

Craig (Me)