“Can we decorate for Christmas?” By Susan Adair

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Tis the season when, if your house is on the market, you might ask, “Can we decorate for Christmas?” The holidays are fast approaching and all the stores, not to mention your attic are full of beautiful, candles, stockings, lights, ribbons, garland and your favorite family ornaments.

So, good question! After all you are still living in your house. You and your whole family want life to go on as normally as possible all the while you are keeping organized, clean and de-cluttered. It may seem like a tall order, but you are motivated.

Let’s say the photos of your house are scheduled to be taken just before or just after Christmas so they will be ready for the first of the year. Now, here are two questions that will give you your decorating answer. Do you want your photos to be dated? Do you want potential buyers to remember your house as the “Christmas house” or the house with the great floors?

For the exterior, you can stick with a beautiful planter(s) of winter greens. Have as much fun with it as you like. Greens, birch sticks, branches with berries, eucalyptus leaves, pine cones, and some great ribbon can all work together to create a welcoming introduction for buyers. While the real estate agent is opening the lock box, buyers are standing there on the stoop or porch looking around. If you have made it look beautiful, it will help buyers to fall in love! Don’t forget the exterior light fixture. It should be sparkling clean with a nice clear glass bulb shining “Welcome, I’m beautiful!”

Inside, remember what you hear me say all year around, “Always remember what you are selling.” Photos can be taken before the tree and all the decorations come out. Then go ahead and let your house celebrate, but keep it low key this year. For example, use small white lights as opposed to those with lots of color. You still want to show off the banister, the fireplace, the floors, windows and the space without things feeling full, cluttered or overwhelmed by the season. Think about what you want buyers to remember about the house, the holiday decorations or the great space?

Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year in your new house!

Susan

 

Introducing Susan Adair…My Friendly Staging Consultant for Occupied Homes

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A successful business is not usually run by just oneself.  It takes a team of incredible people to unite with the similar thoughts and insight to accomplish the tasks at hand.  Please meet one of these people.  Part of The Stage Crew at Kariel, is Susan Adair.  Susan and I met years ago when we partnered for a project with a common real estate agent.  She consulted on his occupied homes, and I on the vacant ones.  We hit it off and have joined together for several other stages.  As Kariel Home Staging grew, I needed someone who could mirror my passion and vision for staging vacant homes in occupied homes.   Susan is just that!  Staging vacant homes and occupied homes can be quite different.  Whereas our final visions may be the same, Susan will tell you the exact measurements to hang a picture, fill an existing book shelf, or those many basic points to prepare the home that you still occupy for amazing selling photos.  Important details to display your home for sale!  Susan will be writing blogs here addressing many of the challenges and issues that arise with preparing occupied homes for sale.  Enjoy.

Without further ado….my friend and colleague, Susan Adair.

 

Hello everyone,

I am so pleased to be part of Kariel Home Staging.  My name is Susan Adair.  I have been  a staging consultant for nine years.  Kari and I met a few years ago when we collaborated while getting a large, unoccupied townhouse ready to sell. I used the home owners furnishings , but the house needed more to make it complete.  When we were finished, Kari and I looked at each other, smiled and nodded.  A friendship was born.

A few years ago, Kari asked me if I would like to do staging consultations for Kariel Staging.  I though about it for about two seconds and said, “Yes!”

As a staging consultant, I work with the home owner, using his or her own furnishings, art and accessories.  We walk through the house together and I give suggestions for ways to show off the space, enhance the finishes and make buyers fall in love.  I am so fortunate to be doing a job that is so much fun!  I work with interesting, talented home owners, real estate agents and Kari, of course!  I tour an incredible variety of houses and am challenged to make them look their best and photograph in the best possible way.

All the best!

Susan,

Your friendly staging consultant

Puzzled by a Ceiling Light… Hang in There.

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Why would they put that light there?  A question many people ask themselves when they are looking at homes.  Even tougher, all of the homes without ceiling mounted lights in certain rooms.  An issue I will address more in my blog, Properly Lighting a Dark Space.  My conclusion is this…

Most homes are built with the chandelier centered to the windows or smack dab in the middle of the room.  I am convinced that very few builders think of furniture placement as they are installing the electrical wiring.  So now you, as the home owner, are faced with where to put that dining room table.  You try to place it directly under the chandelier, but then the chairs are snug up to the patio door or the kitchen island.  Frustrating!  How do you address this?  Another great question for your home stager!  My advice to the home owner is to take down that chandelier and put in a ceiling mounted light.  No-one will notice how off centered it is.  My advice to home builders and investors, call a staging company.  Like us, Kariel Home Staging.  Ask us where the best place for the light fixture would be.  I understand having to follow the National Electrical Code (NEC) for safety, but can’t we all get along?  🙂  We carry a very large inventory of dining room tables, and can advise you to the best place for lighting.  If you are located in the Minnesota Metro Area, we will stop by for free.  That way, your potential home buyers won’t be so perplexed on how they will fit their furniture into your homes.  The lighting will blend so well with the staging that it will make a very positive and lasting impact on potential buyers.  Your homes will Shine!

Final Thought…

Home owners can make a simple fix to a very common issue.

Home builders could possibly work with us to design and build homes with efficient lighting better suited for furnishing.

 

 

Giving a Room a Purpose!

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Does your home have that catchall room that holds all of your miscellaneous pieces of furniture and things you have collected over the years?  Or maybe a weird space that still puzzles you as to what it’s for?  You want to show a possible buyer all of the potential that each space in your home has to offer.  Homeowners sometime think that adding that extra desk or crib to the master bedroom will show how much extra space that room has.  Wrong!  Now all that potential buyer sees is less room.  We, at Kariel Home Staging, can walk into a questionable space or that catchall room and find its purpose.  We assess the home to find what it may be lacking; more sitting space, a small office, a child’s play area.  A better solution for that extra desk would possibly be behind the couch as a sofa table?  There are many solutions, it just takes an unbiased eye to see them.

When selling your home, you must give every room a purpose.  Buyers walk into a home and instantly assess each room.  Do you want them to see wasted space…leaving them puzzled and confused.  Or should you show them how great that extra area is by giving it a purpose!  Don’t leave potential buyers guessing if your home is the one.  Wondering if they will have the space they will need.  Questioning if that small loft is useless, or the extra room in the basement with no windows is for nothing.   Show them that every inch of your home will fill their needs.  That your home will be the space they need for their things, their family.

We are here to help you do just that!

Final Thought…   “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.” – Joseph Campbell

 

The Short and Simple Truth…Furniture Placement is Key

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Blocking off any room with furniture will only mask its true potential.  Furniture placement plays the key role in showing potential buyers how great your home can look.  It can make a small room look larger, a darker one look brighter, and overall the entire home more inviting.  You want buyers to walk in and Feel like they are Home!

Find out more on this in my upcoming blog Giving a Room a Purpose.

Final thought…  Why the short blog?  Because pictures are worth a thousand words!

 

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Staging Can Show the Maximum Space in Every Room!

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Everyone seems to constantly be looking for more space.  I never run across a homeowner that feels they have too much space for their family or belongings.  One of the most important spaces is the main living room, with the bathrooms and kitchen in close second!  A good sized living room is where we can relax.  Be a family together.

Do you ever find yourself looking at homes online and wonder why they angled their couch across the living room space.  It also appears to be facing the wall and not their beautiful fireplace?  The room looks so small!  I understand interior design and displaying the room with different angles and conversation spaces…but not in a 12 x 14 foot room!  You need all of the help that you can get to maximize that small main living space.  Angling the couch cuts off part of the room.  I know, I know…that old saying of don’t push the couch up against the wall and designers now saying that the couch should “float”, may have you feeling like a rookie.  So what is the best arrangement?  Well, that all depends on the space.  Ninety percent of the homes on the market do not have 30 x 40 foot living rooms, so walls are all they have.  Push that couch up against the wall, add a coffee and end tables, and remove all other bulky unneeded furniture.  Then add a few accessories, nice lighting at eye level, and Viola!  Your living room looks larger and more inviting for those potential home buyers.

Being realistic about the space in each room and doing a  few simple things, further explained in my upcoming blog  Preparing Your Home for Sold, will help your home sell quickly.  Einstein once quoted, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” I feel this quote relates to yet another reason for needing an excellent stager.  If you can not look at the room and simply know how to furnish it to utilize the space ,  Kariel Staging can.  Every home is different in size, shape, occupied or vacant, and needs to be staged to show its full potential to possible buyers.   We at Kariel, understand furnishing any size space well enough to stage any home correctly.

 

Final thought…  Every inch counts in a small room, and every mistake can drive away a potential buyer.  The solution, Staging!

My Thoughts on Choosing a Realtor and Having them Represent You the Right Way!

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I am writing this blog in reference to the many calls and emails that I receive on a daily bases about picking a Realtor.  This is the information that I tell people to look for in a real estate agent.  Not everyone may agree, but not all real estate agents are the same.  These are the main points that I have learned over the years that will help you to identify the correct agent.

 

Make sure the Realtor that you choose to sell your home will do the following things:

  1. List the property on MLS and have professional photos.  Buyers look online first and your property should have professional photos – this is the first sign of a professional real estate agent that understands today’s market.  Having your home professionally staged will make these photos shine over the competition.
  2. Price the property correctly.  Get to know your competition.  Supply and demand within a neighborhood play an important role in pricing.  Have your agent show you open houses in the area.  Sometimes a seller believes their home is worth a certain number, but that can be far from the truth.  Your agent should be Brutally Honest with you…even if it is not what you want to hear. 
  3. Have a professional sign in the front yard.  The sign should have a direct number to your real estate agent, not a general information number.  Potential buyers are calling because they are interested, you want them speaking directly to your agent.  There should also be a full size brochure box with color photos.  Again, potential buyers are grabbing this information because they are interested.  The real estate agent should keep this box fully stocked.  Exposure creates interest!
  4. Have the property present on the internet.  Social media is very important.  Most agents have access to several real estate websites to promote their listings.  Make sure that you have a web savvy agent.
  5. Print advertising.   Yes…people still read from magazines and the newspaper…crazy right! 😉  Encourage your real estate agent to promote your property in local newspapers or magazines in full color.
  6. Realtor availability.  They should be available day, night, and weekends.  Do not expect a return call instantly, but at least within 24 hours.  One of the biggest frustrations that I hear about is when an agent calls another to make an offer and that agent doesn’t return the call until the next day or after the weekend.  This could make a potential buyer move on to another property that they like.  You want a real estate agent that will network and work cooperatively with other agents.  Seasoned agents tend to know other agents in the area and have good working relationships with them.
  7. Points of interest . Have a printed out Points of Interest brochure available for potential buyers to take with them at your home.  This is the only way that you can tell them about all of the upgrades and great features that your home has to offer.  One of the main conversations that I have with the homeowner when I come to do a consultation is everything that is great about their home and what upgrades that they have done to it.  No one knows the home better than you.  And Remember, from my previous Blog Should I Stage My Vacant Home, one of the most important things is what that potential buyer remembers from your home above all others.  Having this Points of Interest to look back at later with help them remember your homes wonderful features!
  8. Realtor sells full-time.  It isn’t that newer agents aren’t capable, it is just a factor in making an informed decision.  Many “experienced” agents may not be the best choice either, especially if they haven’t kept up with technology. You deserve an agent that is committed and knowledgeable.

Final Thought…  An Educated, Committed Realtor + Professional Staging = SOLD!