Unfortunately, in this day and age one can’t take for granted that everyone who visits an open house or books a showing is actually in the market for a home.

There’s always a chance that someone browsing photos of real estate online and visiting open houses is actually trying to scope a property for valuables with intentions of breaking in later…or possibly something even worse.

There are several things you should keep in mind when staging a home to help ensure the homeowners safety.

Ensure small valuables are hidden. Make sure small items of value such as figurines, jewelry, cameras, iPods and even laptops aren’t out in plain view. Suggest to the homeowners that they have a designated bag or box to stash these items in and to take it with them when they leave for a showing if they don’t wish to store them off-site while the home’s on the market.

Keep paperwork out of site. Not only does a stack of bills and junk mail add clutter to the home, but it would only take a quick glance for someone to gain enough information to steal the homeowner’s identity. Tell the homeowners to keep items like this hidden well.

Personal items have to go. If you’re having a hard time convincing the homeowners that those trophies and diplomas will distract buyers by making them wonder about the current owners, remind them how much information those things give to people walking through their home. Trophies and photos of the kids playing their favorite sports would give someone plenty of information to use if they were wanting an easy way to lure those children. They’d have their names and their favorite hobbies to work with. Remind the homeowners they need to get rid of anything that identifies their children, where they go to school or what hobbies they enjoy.

Tone down the presence of large valuables. It’s important to note that photos of the home’s interior will be all over the Internet. Valuable artwork and expensive electronics will be shown, which saves a thief the trouble of scheduling a showing to see what goods are in the home.

Protect childrens’ identities. If the homeowners have their childrens’ names on the walls as a decorative item, that gives everyone looking at the photos online or walking through the home a very important detail especially when they have a home address and a map of the home via interior photos. Sure those signs are cute on a wall, but it’s not safe while the home’s for sale.

Be sure that your clients realize that during an open house, complete strangers will be walking through their home completely unsupervised and that you want to take all safety precautions you can.

I was inspired to write this post after reading a blog post on home staging and security written by Staging Diva Graduate, Heather Stewart. I’ve written about Heather several times before, for the wonderful job she’s done with branding her home staging business and also to acknowledge her for being named Entrepreneur of the Year by her local Chamber of Commerce. I’m not playing favorites by writing about Heather, but because she’s active on Twitter, I know what she’s doing.

If you’re a Staging Diva Graduate and you’d like some free publicity, just click here and fill in the blanks to let me know what you’re up to. Or start following me on Twitter and we can stay in touch that way. If you’re not on Twitter yet, check out the Home Stager’s Guide to Twitter and learn why you should be and how to get started!

Do you have any more home staging security tips I may have overlooked? Please share your best advice by leaving a comment below.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould’s mission is to inspire people to follow their dreams. She developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Courses to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.

Technorati Tags: home stager, home stagers, home staging, home staging and security, staging diva, home staging business

In the hundreds of homes I’ve staged, I have yet to see a house that has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But I have been in many real estate properties where it was a challenge to find the good features!

If you’re worried about what to do if you find yourself in a home like that, first of all, remember the current owners decided to make that home theirs at some point. So you have to assume there are at least a few good things about the property and it’s your job to find them.

As a professional home stager it will be your job to make sure the home’s good points shine and that the buyer doesn’t have the same reaction walking in that you initially did (that there is nothing good about the place).

How far you go to accomplish this transformation will depend primarily on the price point of the home.

For example, in a more expensive home when the furniture is dated, unattractive (or simply too cheap looking to belong in a home of that price range), you might store it off-site and bring in new rental items.

But in a less expensive home that might not be a feasible option, so you’ll have to be creative.

If the furniture is very bad, slip covers might work. If it’s wooden furniture you’re working with, you might be able to paint it or have hardware replaced to give it an updated look and a new lease on life.  Think about all those magazine articles and TV shows about the transformation of “flea market finds”. Well, you’ll be doing the same thing only with something you find in your client’s home, rather than something you’re buying at a flea market.

Rather than feeling deflated by a real estate property that has no immediately obvious qualities, embrace it as a creative challenge.

After all you decided to become a home stager because you have a creative eye for seeing possibilities. These ugly homes with ugly contents, and boring cookie cutter properties are just your chance to stretch your talents.

You can always do something to improve the look of any room.

Consider fresh flowers for the kitchen, new towels and a shower curtain in the bathroom, accent pillows in the living room, a new “bed in a bag” for the bedroom, art and accessories throughout the home to create islands of beauty. All these serve to distract a potential buyer from the worn furniture, boring architecture or less than ideal room dimensions.

However, if these things aren’t in your budget and you literally have no choice but to work with what you have in front of you, often rearranging the items in the house will make a great improvement after a good cleaning and de-cluttering.

When you have the power to help someone in a home like this to make more money on the sale of their real estate property, you could be making more of a difference in someone’s life than you know.

These types of staging projects are often the most rewarding.

If you’re thinking of starting a home staging business and are nervous that you won’t know what to do in a situation like this, check out the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips Tricks and Floor Plans. It will help you stage any room in any home, plus give you many ideas for creating curb appeal without spending much (if any) money.

Home stagers, have you ever found yourself in a home that you initially thought had no redeeming qualities? Please share your experiences by leaving a comment below!

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love while helping others at the same time.

Technorati Tags: home stager, home stagers, how to stage a house, home staging design guide, home staging training, design for home staging, real estate staging, staging diva, debra gould

In a home staging business dilemma I posted last month, I tried to get you thinking about what you would do if you were asked to stage a house that was completely taken over by Christmas décor. A special thanks to those of you who contributed to the discussion by posting your own advice to the story (If you would like to read that original post and comments, click here).

Contrary to what was suggested in a couple of comments on that post, I would not suggest that the homeowner hold off on listing their property until after the holidays, nor would I ask them to hold off on having the property shown.

There are still people looking for a home in December and there often isn’t much for buyers to look at during this time of year because so many sellers are waiting until after the holidays to list.

Basically, having a house listed over the holidays presents a wonderful opportunity for a smart seller. When the supply of homes is low, that’s THE ideal time to be on the market because there’s a greater chance of selling and more potential for selling at a higher price. Remember, when demand exceeds supply, prices go up.

That being said, you don’t have to swoop in like the Grinch and steal Christmas from your clients, but you do have to make sure they go easy on the tinsel! Here are my best holiday home staging tips:

• Ensure listing photos are taken without any Christmas decorations. Nothing dates a photo like holiday decorations and details like that in a photograph are simply too distracting.
• Keep holiday decorations simple to avoid overwhelming buyers and distracting them from the actual house you’re trying to sell.
• Don’t deck all the halls! Choose one area of the house to decorate and keep it simple.
• Décor doesn’t have to be focused on Christmas because not everyone celebrates the holiday. For example, elements of nature like berries and pinecones in a glass bowl can be decorative and understated without being “Christmas.” With home staging we want decorative accents not theme rooms, even if that theme happens to be many people’s favorite holiday.
• Chocolate brown is a big color in decorating this year and it can be used to tastefully tone down more colorful Christmas decor. For example, you can combine dark brown and jewel-toned ornaments for a tasteful and beautiful alternative to red and green.
• Plant an outside urn or window boxes with an arrangement that will last all winter, like the one I did shown above. Twigs and evergreens, pine cones and dried poppy pods can look attractive and festive without screaming Christmas.

I love the comment Donna left on my original post. Especially where she shares the words of wisdom she leaves with her clients:

“For every holiday decoration you add to your home, that’s one more reason to keep a prospective buyer from buying your home because they can’t really see your home through the distractions, lovely as they may be.”

Hopefully this article will help prepare you for any holiday home staging situation you find yourself in this month!

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.

Technorati Tags: home staging business dilemma, home staging Christmas, home stager, home stagers, home staging for the holidays, staging diva

Last month I posted a home staging business dilemma asking what you would do if you found yourself being asked to stage an absolutely filthy property. A special thanks to everyone who left comments on that blog post!

I’ve been in situations like this more times than I would like— meeting with homeowners who belong on an Oprah episode about compulsive hoarders. And just like you, when this happens, my first instinct is to turn and run!

But instead of running, fight that impulse and remember one important thing about home staging – no two projects are the same and every home staging consultation will happen on a different level depending on the clients and the property.

Some houses are relatively clean and you can spend all of your time on the creative side of things, what we typically think of as “home staging”. Other homes just need a good thorough cleaning to make a huge difference— in those cases you’ll spend more time covering the basics.

You can still talk about decorating while you’re addressing the cleanliness issues. For example, you are going to have to address the fact that the kitchen is filthy and there can’t be dirty dishes in the sink when showings are happening but you can also say something like, “once this is all cleaned up, here’s what will need to be done in this kitchen.”

You should make it a non-negotiable fact that the house be thoroughly cleaned as a first step.

Generally the filthiest houses also have the most clutter. I don’t clean houses, nor do I sort through belongings so I have cleaners and home organizers that I recommend for these tasks. I make it clear to the client that these individuals are less expensive than I am and that’s why it’s best to use my time to focus on home staging and how to best decorate each room so that it shows to its best potential.

When I’m in a filthy house, I’ll use my initial consultation to give them very specific direction on what needs to be cleaned and to what degree, and also how much clutter has to be removed. For example, I’ll say these pieces of furniture will need to be removed, this closet has to be emptied by at least 50%, etc.

I’ll ask them point blank whether they’d like help taking care of this all the while making it very clear that not doing it can cost them thousands of dollars or make it impossible to sell their home in a timely fashion. Then I provide contact information for the cleaners and organizers and ask if they’d prefer if I have them call them directly to set something up.

Then it’s clear that’s the first step that must be taken— no getting around it.

By the way, in course 5 of the Staging Diva Training Program, called “Over 30 More Ways to Make Money in Home Staging,” I discuss how you’ll find and evaluate the right outside companies to work with, and how to make money from their services too.

Remember that every house you go into you’ll be faced with different challenges and different personalities. One of the things that makes home staging such a gratifying career is that you will never stage the same house twice— you’re doing something new every time you tackle a new home staging project because the layout is different, the contents are different and the personality and needs of your clients will change.

Sometimes you have a clean slate to work with and sometimes making the slate clean is your main goal! There is also a deep satisfaction that comes with helping someone get control of their environment, especially when you see how this starts to ripple out into the other areas of their lives.

Do you have any stories to share about how your ideas and input changed how your clients live?

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Through the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has taught more than 4000 people around the world how to make money as home stagers.

Technorati Tags: home staging, staging a dirty house, home staging dilemma, debra gould, staging diva, home staging career, learn home staging

I get approximately five calls a week from people interested in shadowing me for a day to see how I work as a home stager. I have yet to say yes, and if you’re trying to find a successful home stager to shadow before you start your own business, you’re not making a good use of your time.

There are many reasons why I’m not interested in having someone shadow me. First of all, I would have to screen them beforehand because that person would be a direct reflection on me. We would have have to meet ahead of time and then try to coordinate times to meet a the consultation and staging day and I’m not getting anything out of this arrangement. Also, the fact that someone in my market wants my help in entering my market isn’t very attractive.

I’m sure if you’re looking to shadow someone, there’s no malicious intent there, you’re probably thinking it would be a lot less scary if you could follow someone around and see what there is to it. But the thing is, what you do when you get to a client’s house is the easiest part of operating a home staging business. What you do there has everything to do with the natural talent you possess. The difficult part of running a successful home staging business is figuring out how to get those clients and how to get paid for your time. Nobody you shadow is going to teach you those things. That’s why I created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, to teach you the nuts and bolts of starting a home staging business. It’s valuable information and nobody is going to give it away.

Remember, if you’re considering starting a home staging business, you must already have the talent. Since I’m betting nobody is going to want you to job shadow them, a better way to gain confidence that you will be able to do this is to go around to open houses on the weekends. You don’t have to say anything when you’re there, you don’t even necessarily need to introduce yourself. Just walk through and pretend you’re in a client’s house for a home staging consultation. Imagine what you would be recommending for different rooms.

The more houses you go into, the more comfortable you’ll become. Go around to other cities to get a feel for real estate prices and different types of properties. Every house you go into, you’ll learn something new. You’ll encounter all kinds of “don’ts” that you can figure out how to correct. You will never encounter a house that is completely perfect and that will help you learn that there’s always something to be done.

If you’re feeling very nervous about your first home staging consultation, consider ordering Course 3 of the Staging Diva Program. It’s the one where you learn how to conduct yourself at consultations including what to wear and what to bring. It takes the mystery out of home staging consultations.

Home stagers, did you spend time touring open houses before you started your home staging business? Did you use it as a tool to ease your anxiety? Did you spend time shadowing other stagers or do you allow others to shadow you on the job? Please share your experiences by leaving a comment below.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. In course 3 of the Staging Diva Program, Debra teaches her students everything they need to know to conduct a home staging consultation. There are over 4000 Staging Diva students around the world.

Technorati Tags: home stagers, learn home staging, home staging business, home staging training, home staging consultation, debra gould, staging diva

At a recent Ask Staging Diva Live event, I was asked whether or not I bring an assistant with me to home staging consultations. I realized this might be something other aspiring home stagers are worried about, so I thought I’d discuss that question here.

When I arrive at an initial consultation, I’m not actually doing the staging at that point. As we walk through the house, I’m mostly taking everything in and making suggestions for improvements. For example, I might suggest that a large wall unit would look better on a different wall, or that the current living room furniture would work better in the family room. But at this initial consultation session, it’s not going to be moved.  These recommendations will go on a to-do list for later.

I frequently move small items during a home staging consultation. I might say something like, “You know, your fireplace could be a fabulous focal point in this room, but I feel like it’s a bit lost under all this stuff on the mantle. Would you mind if I showed you how this can look a lot better?” Then the client will say, “Of course, go ahead.” Then I jump in and start changing things around.

It’s actually doing small things like this that make your clients will light up because they can start to see a transformation and they’re excited about what you can do with the rest of their house.

I rarely bring an assistant with me to an initial home staging consultation. I generally only get help when I’m doing a vacant house that’s being staged from top to bottom in a single day. In that case it’s helpful to have someone to assist with hanging artwork, placing towels, hanging curtains, ironing bedding – that type of thing.

Most of the time, I work on my own with my clients and because I do, I get to keep more of the profits and I’m better able to stay focused on the task at hand.

Course 3 of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program answers all your questions about what happens during a home staging consultation. It comes with a bonus home staging check list and covers topics such as:

• Avoiding the “free estimate trap”
• What to wear and what to bring to your consultations
• How to turn a potential buyer into a paying client
• Who moves what and when (and other home staging mysteries)
• How to build your client relationships
• How to get paid on the spot
• Much, much more.

Home stagers, please feel free to share how you handle your home staging consultations by posting a comment below.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are over 4000 Staging Diva students around the world.

Technorati Tags: home stagers, home staging consultation, home staging assistant, staging diva, staging diva home staging program, home staging course

Articles on home staging or how to decorate a house to sell quickly in a slow real estate market often focus on de-cluttering and neutralizing (unfortunately, often to the point of blandness). There is also much talk of the importance of kitchens and bathrooms, but bedrooms are important too.

The right touches can take a sad room that would never stick in a buyers mind to one that is memorable and says “wow!’

Staging Diva Graduate Jayne Steuart of Colorado-based Pearl Home Staging and Redesign LLC really shows us how it’s done in this transformation of a 13 x 14 foot extra bedroom.

Before Jayne transformed this space the placement of the bed was awkward and made the room look small. The focal point was also the unattractive window.

Jayne moved the bed to go under the window to refocus and re-balance the room. At the same time she dressed both to create a relaxing and stylish haven.

Her use of muted tones and well chosen accessories create a lush environment that make the room look larger and far more elegant. I love how she handled the window. Now it looks much larger because the soft chenille panels and silky sheers are hung close to the ceiling. This is a great trick to make ceilings also appear higher, one of the many I share in the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans.

Some home sellers worry about the cost of staging, reluctant to invest in a home they’re selling. This is short-sighted because selling an unappealing property costs the seller more in lost time and lower offers, than would dressing it up to appeal to buyers and attracting higher offers sooner.

It’s interesting to note that Jayne Steuart staged this bedroom with furniture the home seller already had in other rooms. The new bedding and window treatments can be used in the sellers new home, so purchasing these items was not a waste. They serve the important purpose of letting the home show well on the real estate market with the added bonus that the owners will live in much better style in their new abode.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are over 4000 Staging Diva students around the world.

Technorati Tags: home staging, decorating bedroom, staging bedroom, bedroom staging, Jayne Steuart, Pearl Home Staging, Staging Diva, home staging colorado

If you’ve never had to move with kids, it’s important to understand how stressful it is for a young family to sell their home. A child’s schedule is thrown off when showings coincide with bedtimes or meals. Cleaning and packing are extremely difficult to do around children and there are tons of other details that are all harder to take care of with kids involved than without.

As a home stager, it’s up to you to make a space as beautiful and easy-to-sell as possible. Anything you can do as a home stager to help make this happen will be especially appreciated by parents with children because of the ongoing difficulties of living in a show home while their house is on the real estate market.

It’s almost a full time job to keep a home in ’showing-ready’ condition for anyone, but babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers can’t grasp the concept of keeping their toys put away at all times. This is why it’s important for you to give the homeowners your best advice about staging a family home and to set up some good storage solutions for the children’s things.

Here are some tips you can use the next time you’re staging a home where small children reside:

• Encourage your clients to keep only one box of toys per child in the house. Make sure the pieces they keep aren’t things like Play-Doh or Lego which is impossible to clean up in a hurry for a last minute showing.
• Remove large items. Play kitchen sets and kid-sized furniture should be put into storage instead of taking up valuable floor space.
• Keep outside toys tidy. Remind the homeowners to keep bicycles and other outdoor toys stored neatly and not strewn across the yard as well – you never know when a drive-by will happen.
• Use attractive storage for remaining toys. A good way to store and showcase the toys that are staying while the house is listed is on a cubical storage shelf with canvas baskets in the family room or child’s room. When toys are organized this way it’s easier to clean up in a hurry.

You’ll find more home staging tips like this in the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans.

The presence of toys  probably won’t turn off a buyer without children or a plan to have them, but keeping things tidy and preventing toys from overwhelming the home will help increase the property’s appeal.

If you want to be remembered by the family whose home you’re staging, give them this tip for moving with children:

When packing, put a toy or two in every box so the kids are excited about unpacking and the parents have their cooperation while getting the boxes emptied.

Do you have any favorite tips for staging a space where children live? Please share by leaving a comment below.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world. Debra created the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans to provide design direction to home stagers feeling they need it.

Technorati Tags: home staging for a family, home staging, home staging tips, home staging and children, staging diva

When you’re staging a home, don’t neglect the hallways of a home because they’re the paths that lead people through the house. It’s also a great opportunity to leave a strong impression with prospective buyers because most people don’t bother doing anything with the hall before they sell.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re staging the hallway of a property:

• Hallways usually take a lot of abuse so they usually need repainting.
• Long, dark hallways can always use better lighting.
• Remove all clutter.
• Add a table and floral arrangement if you have space at the end of a long hallway and a piece of art to serve as a focal point.

Whether you’re dealing with a garage, basement, attic, laundry room or hallway, remember it’s your job to romance the buyer and you must be doing this throughout the home.

If they’ve seen a dozen houses with horrible garages or creepy old basements, these might be the spaces the buyer is putting a great deal of importance on. Help your clients sell fast and for more money by being the stager who takes care with these less glamorous, but equally as important, spaces in a home.

For more home staging design tips, check out the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans. It’s sure to be a great source of design inspiration (and direction) for your future home staging projects.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world. Debra created the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans to provide design direction to home stagers feeling they need it.

Technorati Tags: home staging, home stager, home staging tips, how to stage a hallway, debra gould, home staging training, staging diva

When staging a house to sell, you can’t just ignore a room because it presents a staging challenge, or because you don’t think it would be as important as staging the kitchen or bathroom.

The goal of home staging is to have a buyer make a strong emotional connection with a property and who’s to say their dream is to have a study in the attic or a craft room in the basement?

Your job is to make the property you’ve been hired to stage appeal to as many people as possible. This means you have to pay careful attention to every room of a house because you can’t assume nobody will care what the basement, attic or garage looks like.

In a series of blog posts, I’ve been sharing tips for staging different spaces in a home that are often neglected; the garage, the basement, the laundry room and today I’ll cover the attic.

If you have a usable attic to work with when you’re staging a house, show buyers how much storage they’ll have when they buy the property. Don’t let the homeowners cram all of their stuff up there to hide it while the house is on the market. Have them move their things into storage or donate unused items to charity instead.

• Get piles of stuff off the floor and tucked away neatly in closets and cupboards.
• Repaint the walls if needed.
• If there’s a dusty old carpet on the floor, suggest replacing it with laminate.
• Add lighting so it’s as bright as possible.

All of these things will go a long way towards creating an attractive usable space in the attic.

Do you have an attic home staging story you’d like to share? Please add a comment below and contribute to the discussion!

If you’d like more home staging design tips, you should check out the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans. It covers every single space of a home and offers advice along with my own before and after photos and floor plans for reference.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world. Debra created the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans to provide design direction to home stagers feeling they need it.

Technorati Tags: home staging, home stager, home staging tips, how to stage an attic, debra gould, home staging training, staging diva