Sheron Cardin's Input...: August 2007

Recently RESA posted a survey for stagers in Active Rain. Participation has been excellent and the results are in. The survey was spawned as a direct result of a deceptive article published by the NAEBA earlier this month.

Stagers, your input is extremely important in helping gather important facts about our business so if you did not take the survey, please go to the original post by RESA and take it there. The survey will remain active. It serves everyone and the results can be used in your own marketing materials.

Thank you all for your participation. The results speak for themselves. Surveys are a great way to shed light on a subject to better understand what is really going on...so if you have a subject in mind, please let us know at RESA and we would be happy to develop it for you/us. Your suggestions are appreciated.

I think it would be a fun to share and explore favorite web site's with each other and in so doing; open fresh doors of interest and opportunity for each other. You can promote or you can share, it is up to you. Give us a glimpse into what you do on your own time.

If you agree then jump right in...you don't have to be invited but once you do add your list, then you must invite 5 others to do the same.

Do let us know who you have chosen and please make sure there are links to your favorite sites and to your invitees profiles.

In your invitation you can just add a link to this post and it will do all the talking for you. 

So here goes mine:

1. Around the World in 80 Homes at Fine Living
2. I love Sunset Magazine for it's creative ideas and those of you that are not from the west may find it interesting.
3. For obvious reasons I visit Google Analytics daily.
4. For rest and relaxation I go to Soulful Living.
5. And of course I have to put a plug in for RESA.

The 5 people I am choosing are: (I might have to do this a few times to get everyone on the list I want to know more about)

1. Shell Brodnax because I want to know where she goes when she is not working (if there is such a thing)
2. Carole Provenzale because I think I might learn something new.
   
3. Terry Haugen just because she is so cool.
4. Ginger Foust because she lives so close to me and I want to get to know her better.
   
5. Yvonne Root because she is so funny.
   

As an interior designer and home staging consultant, pets conjure up a big red flag and a potential mine field for me. In the past it was my job to rid any evidence of the household critters from existence during open houses and showings...and removed entirely for a time. Are pet owners afraid to invite us into their homes because they know what we will say: "GET RID OF TOR LOVED ONES...NOW!"

Some of you may already know about my change of heart (heart life actually) recently because of , and either the world has changed and filled up with dog and cat lovers or that is all I see these days. Either way...it is a animal lovers paradise that I now dwell in. So finding the Pet Friendly Real Estate Organization is not surprising to me.

Have we been taking the LOVE out of the home unknowingly? What is this new kind of love? Are we turning potential buyers who are animal lovers off? Do they see a home as cold and uninviting because there are no animals living there? I am wondering!

So how can we, as staging consultants, advise our sellers? Hide the bowls? Keep them hidden! I think it is something we really need to rethink. Stage the animal feeding area? Hmmm, why not? We stage the garbage can area. I would like to know what percentage of homeowners (both buyers and sellers) consider how their pets are going to fit into their new home.

Please take this short survey to help me find out if I am off my rocker or am I dead on. Have I just discovered the secret to successful selling and buying of real estate for 2007-2008? Do we buy our houses for our pets and we are just there to maintain them and try to be comfortable while doing it?

Click Here to take survey

After you answer, you will be taken to Survey Monkey if you want to create your own survey. Then click on the back arrow until you have returned to this post to comment. I am looking forward to the results. 

Read this blog too if you haven't already... 

In doing my research for my feng shui adventure, I ran across a chart that shows what characteristics are of Yin and which are of Yang and if you have too much of either one then...well, I know this is another side trip but Feng Shui for me seems like a whole series of side trips so taking that into consideration, I really like this one and want to share it with you.

First you need to find your attributes on the Yang and Yin charts so I will enter them here. (From the book Feng Shui Chic)

No one is entirely yin or yang, but at any given point in time you have a predominant energy in your body.

Start with how you are right now. Check the attributes in each list that describe you in the present moment and count up the score.

Now believe it or not, there are actually adjustments you can make in your homes decor to balance your Yin Yang or energy. Isn't this great? I know how to cheer myself and my clients up but did not realize that we could use Feng Shui ensuring a successful transition.

Very briefly, you can change the following if you have too much Yang:

• Shapes - include curved or flowing shapes. You can replace a wood cocktail table for a curvy wicker one.
  
• Colors - tone it down. Black is the most Yin color...deep dark colors are good too. Stay away from white walls.
  
• Furnishings - soften and absorb. Minimize mirrors, increase your upholstered furniture, reduce your wood.
  
• Lighting - think soft. Install dimmer switches, use full window coverings and add downward lamp lighting.
  
• Windows and floor treatments - think rich and full. Change wood shutters to draperies. Cover hard flooring with plush rugs.
  
• Density and size - full it up. Lots of furniture and a heavy armoire or chest increase Yin energy. Cover light colored counter tops with potted plants in the corners.
  

If you have too much Yin:

• Shapes - straighten up. Add tall vertical lines like bamboo sticks, plants, vertical stripes.
• Colors - turn on the heat. Add some bright color to your spaces like a red bowl on your table, bright bed sheets, bold art, colored candles
• Furnishings - be firm. Get your stuff off the floor like baskets, magazine racks, plants. You want firmness like wood arms on your upholstered chairs.
• Lighting - go natural. Use natural light as much as possible. Light up your dark rooms with bright track lighting, use halogens that send light upward instead of downward.
• Windows & floor treatments - think open and clean. Replace fabric window coverings with wood shutters or blinds. Expose all your hard surfaces and keep rugs to an absolute minimum. Surround yourself with shinny surfaces
• Density and size - lighten up. Clear pathways, use lightweight furniture, and keep the scale small. Keep your counters clear.

Every once in awhile I need a boost...a reminder of how wonderful life is today. I don't know I need it until it appears. Yesterday I was making the adjustments to my everyday life after spending a glorious week in Seattle. 

More times than not, my little Costco monthly newsletter has provided me with either business information that I specifically need for that moment, or a web address that I need, or even a "boost".  Every month I hang onto the newsletter until I take the time to read it and sure enough...not knowing I needed a boost, there it was;

When the going gets tough...by Wally Amos. (Famous Amos) Here is what he said in the first paragraph:

The Bible says, "It came to pass." And as the late Unity minister Eric Butterworth said, "It came to pass, it did not come to stay; it came to pass." 

Boy I needed to hear that and maybe you do too.

The rest of the paragraph goes like this...History has proven this to be a very true statement. Everything that ever was has passed. One day we too will pass. It is important for us to remember that truth during these so-called turbulent times, which are no more or less turbulent that times past. 

God Bless! 

I am so upset that I had to put my hat back on!

Do you know people who BAIT conversations with wrong information or incomplete sentences? I HATE that and I hate this survey that everyone is talking about for similar reasons. Anyone who 'Google alerts' home staging or home stagers has read it.

• Home Buyer Beware - Staging on the Rise - Industry Report on Buyer's View of Home Staging Released
• How not to get tricked by Staging - and potentially save $5,645 when you buy your home so eloquently covered by our own Cindy Lin.

Based on the results they have gathered, I am trying to imagine the questions they asked, aren't you? With all the real estate agents out there, why are they satisfied with the answers of so few? What kind of question would get this answer: “When we surveyed our brokers and agents, 82% of the respondents stated that buyers were likely to get distracted from important issues when viewing a staged home. WHAT important issues could they be talking about? 

Let's see, the questions had to go something like this...

• Would you be able to tell if there was violence in a home if large pictures were hung over gapping holes in the wall  by a home stager? Don't the authors of this survey know that professional stagers prepare a to-do list for sellers and at the top of that list would be REPAIR HOLES IN WALLS! Stagers would never cover holes but the home sellers might.

• If the kitchen were clean and decorated, would you know that the dishwasher was unusable? Getting our clients to follow through on their to do lists and maintenance lists tell them to keep their kitchens clean. It is the listing agents responsibility to inform potential buyers about the dishwasher. As a matter of fact, a good stager would recommend the dishwasher be in working condition.

• You walk into a home that is staged and you see the high ceilings and beautiful crown moldings instead of the fact there isn't a fireplace in the living room? SO? Better than buyers asking themselves what the room is used for...living room or dining room. Stagers identify spaces for their purpose or function removing any doubt. Is this the TRICK they are talking about?

• You open closet doors only to find real space and fresh smells instead of how many coats can you cram in there? Do you think that is lying to your buyers?

• Would your clients feel deceived by a home that is staged or would they rather hold their noses and step over last weeks pizza?
  

I could just go on and on but maybe you would like to add what questions you think was in that survey. I for one would like to see this survey!!!

THEN...these fictitious real estate professionals went on to say that "The purpose of staging is to draw attention to the decorating and away from the actual structure". Can we get their name please! This whole article is full of lies and deception and to what end? The buyer's agent is a hero and coming to the rescue of unsuspecting buyers? Are they trying to convey "We love you and we will protect you from these perpetrators" kind of image? OH PLEASE! 

What are they suggesting a buyer's agent do...reject any homes in the MLS that look good? When calling for an appointment be sure and ask the seller's agent if the home has been staged? Accidentally walk into a home and if it is clean, organized, and presented to your buyers a merchandise, turn around quickly and run back to your car? 

I will add, however, that in the beginning, staging students who caught the wave of the sellers market, did experience heightened excitement over price increases to their staged properties, and their clients profited from their staging investments, but in the buyer's market a staged home helps the seller get their asking price. Beauty is just better than ugly any day of the week. 

I commented on the Home Buyer Beware post and it probably won't be published. As in my title of this post, it takes a lot for me to shift from supportive to defending a position. The release of this survey has done just that and I hope that those that read the survey results can see through it. If they can't, then I hope they stumble upon our posts. 

I suggest that stagers unite and reach out to buyer's agents to make sure they are not buying into this negative spin on a positive movement that benefits everyone. I am requesting a copy of the survey and if we all request it, maybe we will get it.