This was and article in our local newspaper today. This sounds like a great idea and one that could catch on all over. I thought about us stagers doing this, it may work for consultations, but not on the staging day itself. Does any other city besides Portland do this?

  AP Photo/JOHN KLICKER Kirsten Kaufman, foreground, a realtor for Prudential Real Estate, and new home buyer Emily Gardener tour a house in North East Portland in Portland, Ore. Kaufman has a monthly bike tour for people who want an alternative to driving when they look for homes to buy. Gardener, a first-time home buyer, was thrilled with the street access to the garage and bike storage and said it was a major reason for wanting to buy the house.

Agents pedaling to make the sale

Realtors begin to market to growing bike crowd.

WHITNEY MALKIN
Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - With gas prices high, bicycles flying out of stores and a buyers' market for houses, a handful of real estate agents around the country are touting the two-wheeled appeal of their listings.

Some even show houses exclusively by bike, wheeling through the neighborhood with potential buyers to show off bike lanes and bike-focused businesses and repair shops.

Clad in a purple helmet with plastic flowers dangling from her handlebars, Portland's Kirsten Kaufman is part of a new generation of agents eager to replace the stereotypes

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There was an article in our local paper today about a realtor who got attacked as she was showing a house. It was a one time incident and nothing like this has happened in our city before. Luckily she was able to get away and call for help.

Is this a new way for criminals to rob and attack people now? This is really scary especially since we live in a city with about 150,000 people. Police are telling realtors to not show houses for now until this person is caught. Police also adviced realtors to show houses in pairs.

Maybe we should start carrying mace with us now. The realtor was attacked in a corner of the basement and she said she felt uneasy about showing the basement and the man told her his wife would be along but that was a lie.

Is anyone safe anymore? I know this is scary and thank goodness it was a one time thing, but this should not deter anyone from doing their job. Just take precautions. It is a sad state of affairs when we women now need to work in pairs so we don't get attacked.

Who knows how long the realtors won't be able to show houses is anyone's guess. I'm not a realtor but a stager and we need to take precautions now too. What gets me mad is that on top of all the business details we need to remember like if we brought the stepstool or if we have enough business cards with us, we have to remember to be cautious about some yahoo attacking women.

I know being cautious is a good thing and this incident taught me to be more aware of my surroundings, but it just ticks me off to no end when we need to worry about whether or not we will be attacked on the job. Criminals are getting more and more clever. We need to think one step ahead of them.

As the captain on Hill Street Blues always said, "Let's becareful out there".

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I thought you guys might like this article I got in an email today. Seller's and agents are resorting to some really weird tatics to sell a house. Enjoy!

By Douglas Trattner, FrontDoor.com | Published: 1/14/2008

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Roberta Murphy's realty office was having an impossible time selling a breathtaking five-bedroom, five-bath Mediterranean in Encinitas, Calif. Despite sweeping vistas of the Pacific, not to mention a guest suite, five fireplaces and over 5,000 square feet of living space, no buyer was prepared to pony up the $2 million asking price.

That is, until the seller decided to toss in a shiny red Ferrari.

"In the current housing market, home sellers are resorting to more creative sales tactics because buyers are sitting on the fence," Murphy says.

As an agent with Villa Sotheby's International Realty in San Diego, Murphy has witnessed a rise in creative tactics sellers are employing to attract buyers. But not everyone can afford to toss in a sports car, trip to Hawaii or fancy furniture. Sellers desperate to unload slow movers should re-evaluate their listing price and consider these strategies.

1. Upgrade

"When you have a glut of inventory, your house really has to shine above the competition," says Adam Kaufman, a Cleveland-based agent with over $400 million in real estate sales. Buyers in today's market know they can be very particular. As a seller, Kaufman explains, you have to make a stellar first impression.

Kaufman strongly advises that sellers replace dated carpeting, strip wallpaper, install granite countertops and upgrade to stainless steel appliances.

"If a buyer walks through the front door and is dissatisfied in any way, he or she is off to the next house," Kaufman warns.

2. Stage That Home

"Sellers need to understand that the way we live in our home is not the way we sell our home," says Karen Hirschberg, a home stager in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

When Hirschberg is called in to help sell a house, she tells her clients to emulate a model home. With a model home, she says, everything from the landscaping to the interior is picture perfect and designed to attract the widest pool of buyers.

The first step in any home-staging is a thorough de-cluttering. Sellers should purge the house of all personal belongings, family photos and countertop appliances. Furniture should be rearranged so as to make the room appear larger. "Space sells," she says.

If the family has already moved -- and taken the furniture with them -- Hirschberg suggests calling in a stager to furnish the home. "People have trouble connecting with an empty house," she says.

3. Curb Appeal

"People make assumptions about the interior of a house based on the exterior," Hirschberg says.

Try these easy strategies for enhanced curb appeal:

• Power wash the house
• Lay a fresh cover of mulch in the flower beds
• Paint the front door
• Replace the address numbers

4. Ancient Chinese Secret

"Feng shui is something that sellers are beginning to appreciate more and more as a technique to sell their home. Especially within the Asian community," says Beverly Hills-based agent Joyce Rey.

If a house isn't selling, some believe the fault lies in a shortage of Qi (chee), or energy flow. Bringing in a feng shui expert to evaluate the home and make modifications to the placement and arrangement of items within is said to improve the odds of a speedy sale.

5. Going, Going, Gone

"Home auctions were all but nonexistent a few years ago, but they are more widely available now," says Roberta Murphy.

I got this in an email today. Hope you like i

By FrontDoor.com | Published: 7/08/2008

Say goodbye to the days when baking a batch of cookies and putting out fresh flowers before an open house would be enough to sell your home. In today's market, it takes more than that to attract buyers, and frustrated home sellers are resorting to some unusual methods to get their homes noticed. From clever to downright bizarre, here are our top 10 unique home-selling tactics.

Hello.

I was just curious to see if anyone has blogged on the quality of service and these times of higher prices. I remember seeing a blog on changing your prices, but I don't recall seeing one on the quality of service.

One example that I can give of where this is not true is when I accidently bounced a check and the grocer called to let me know and wanted to know when I would be in to take care if it. Usually when you bounce a check you get socked with a fee from the bank and a fee from whomever you wrote the check to. The manager said that his bank doesn't charge a fee and neither did he, so I just had to repay the check amount. I thought that was very nice and I never heard of anyone doing that .

I know in my contracts I put a statement in there saying that a bounced check will result in a $25 fee. It seems like maybe I should take this clause out of my contract and try to be a little nicer. How many of us have stood at a checkout line only not to be acknowledged by the checker. They don't say anything at all. Sometimes I say hi first and sometimes I wait until they do. I don't think this has anything to do with the quality of service going down as the prices climb.

I know that some businesses are really tightening their belts and some of the services they once offered are no longer present. Or some departments in stores are relegated to one person whereas there might have been 4 or 5 persons doing this job. I know they get hassled since they are the only ones working at that time. But it seems like today's home sellers want more in a home for as little money as possible and don't want to hire us stagers because of the up front payment. The quality of my services have not gone down.

I also know that the quality seems to go down on the phone rather than in person. You try and talk with some one only to play phone tag after having gone through all ten numbers on the phone. After going through all the numbers, the person you are tying to reach is out or on the other line. This is one instance where the quality of service is going down when the prices are shooting through the roof.

I suppose another example could be in busy restaurants. The staff gets busy and things are forgotten or rung up wrong. Still usually, they try really hard to do their job.

Has anyone run into this quality of service problem with higher prices? I certainly hope that the quality of service doesn't go down but it is nearly impossible with these trying times. There are however, exceptions to the rule. 

Color in Decorating

Warm Colors – Think the colors of the sun – red, orange, and yellow. When using a cool color on a wall, the wall will appear to advance, making a room feel a smaller and more intimate. Avoid using warm colors in a room that is already warm – viewing a warm color can actually make a room feel warmer. 

Cool Colors – Think soothing shades of water - blues, greens, and purples. When using a cool color on a wall, the wall will appear to recede, making a room feel a larger and more airy. Cool colors are great in a room that is filled with sunlight, since viewing a cool color can actually make a room feel cooler.   

Connecting Colors – Colors from the tans, browns, beiges, whites, and grays family. These colors work to connect rooms, as well as create a background for more vibrant color combinations. 

Red – Hot and spicy and known to actually raise your heart rate. Red is great in a dining room (count how many restaurants you know that use red in their color theme) because it is thought to increase a person’s appetite. It is also often used in bedrooms to add a sensuous touch. Many designers say that a bit of red should be used in every room in the house.

Orange – Orange has been known to actually make people feel nervous and edgy. It is a high energy color and is great as an unexpected color burst in a room. When decorating a room orange is much more daring than red. It can be used to energize a dull room, such as the laundry room or mud room.

Yellow – Though often thought of as sunshiney and happy, yellow is a very tricky color to use when decorating. It is very easy for yellow to have green undertones, which quickly turns the color to an almost sickly shade. Golden yellows and buttery yellows work best in decorating.

Blue – The color blue is known to physically lower a person’s blood pressure and decrease a person’s appetite. It is not advisable to use blue in a kitchen, since your decrease in appetite might make you think that the food you cook does not taste good. Blue and white is a classic combination and is re-interpreted in decorating trends every few years, as seen in wedgewood, country, and navy blue.

Green – The saying “green is serene” exists for a reason. As a dominant color in nature, green does double duty in that it is both energizing and relaxing at the same time. This combination makes green a perfect choice for offices. Also recommended for bedrooms and living rooms, as green is known as peaceful, rejuvenating, and refreshing.

Brown – In former design periods brown translated to “blah.” Today brown is the new black and goes with everything. A rich, deep brown (think chocolate bar) can be used with most every other color – red, black, hot pink, orange, lime green, powder blue – you name it. Dark brown is versatile and can be worked into almost any color scheme.

Pink – Not just for little girls anymore. Pink has grown up with undertones of gray for a rich look or saturated to a hot pink intensity. Pink will always have a feminine quality and portray your softer side, so care must be taken when using it in rooms for mixed company so that a feminine/masculine balance is achieved.

Purple – Often associated with royalty. Every stage play that needs to portray a king and queen uses deep purple and gold, so if purple is overused in a home it is easy for it to feel “stagey.” Use it sparingly to add a rich and dramatic touch to a room. 

Black – Not just to designate the “bad buy” in a movie. Black is a fabulous accent in any room and has moved from accent pieces to upholstered pieces and even wall color. When using large amounts of black there is fine line between rich and luxurious and depressing – be sure to stay away from depressing. Black will always be considered a classic, in both contemporary and traditional looks. 

Beware the “Danger Days” that accelerate the accumulation of clutter.

JANUARY

News Years Eve

We insist on starting our year off miserable with too much liquor, rich food, tootie horns, hats, streamers, pages of unresolved resolutions and twenty-seven more calendars than we’ll ever use.

FEBRUARY

Valentine’s Day

This high holy day of accumulations rolls around just about the day the last piece of Christmas Clutter finally disappears. We only prepare for it a week or so in advance, but manage to swiftly replace the missing Christmas junk with frilly paper doilies, cheap candies stuck together in a gaudy dish bought for the occasion, over-frosted cookies that hang around for weeks in drawers and on shelves, shiny cupid-shaped cake pans to be tucked (or crammed) into storage for next year…. And who with a grain of romance in their soul could throw away empty embossed candy boxes with lace and ribbons?

APRIL

Easter

Think of all the awful Easter bonnets and broken Easter baskets, battered chicks and bunnies, baggies of plastic grass, and picked-over jelly beans stashed somewhere; along with the leftover egg coloring kits and peekaboo candy eggs that we’ll never eat and never throw away.

MAY

Opening day of fishing

Full grown adults (especially the males) become insane weaklings on this day, so hide the checkbook. They buy assorted rods, reels, creels, lures, and hooks, fish fooling and finding gadgets, books and bait incubators, tons of real and artificial foodstuffs, attractants, repellents, and special fishing togs, 80 percent of which are expensive (and ultimately destined to dry-rot in the storage room).

JULY

Fourth of July

We always get twice as many sparklers, wienie buns, cooler, and charcoal briquettes as we need, and more suntan lotion that we could use in three summers- and then spend the rest of the year trying to keep it all out of sight.

OCTOBER

Halloween

We buy racks of creepy costumes, a bale or orange and black napkins, a six foot paper skeleton and witches for the walls, keep a 50 cent mask with our kid’s first trick-or-treat candy crushed on it- and then at the after Halloween sale buy four more plastic lanterns to store till next year.

NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving

Got to have ugly miniature turkeys, six extra giant platters, assorted relishes in assorted little awkward display dishes, shedding centerpieces and door ornaments, and an extra meat thermometer in case the other three extras don’t work. (And we’ll keep those gap-toothed Indian corn ears and dried-up gourds into infinity).

DECEMBER

Christmas

Keep the wrinkled wrappings, crushed bows, and snarled ribbons, sagging Santa candles, frayed pine cones, faded wreaths, broken bulbs and tree ornaments, every tree stand we ever bought, nad the last two surviving pieces of the Nativity set (even if Joseph’s head is missing).

Some others to beware of

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, any opening day, reunions, graduations, showers, Election Day, St. Patricks’ Day, Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays.

For some reason we can’t just enjoy the spirit of the day; we have to “thing” it to death. It’s as if we have to prove we’re loving or patriotic or happy or thankful. But the proof is in the feeling, not in the accessories.

Taken from Don Aslett’s Clutter be Gone.

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I had a meeting with a realtor yesterday to discuss my staging business. I learned some things I did not know but am glad that I did so I can keep it mind before I do a presentation before a group of people.

1. Professionalism, professionalism, professionalism. This is a play on the saying, "Location, location, location." These people work with professionals who dress the part and carry themselves professionally everyday. I found out that it is not only important to dress and act the part, but also to have professional looking marketing materials. I had forgot to take in my portfolio and instead brought in an example of a thrown together foam core board with pictures of staging. It was not professional looking due to the fact that I had one week to put together a staging speech and needed an example of staging for a booth without having to bring in furniture. The foam core board was something all I could think of at the time. I know the board did not look professional but I was trying to show the realtor an example of what staging looked like.

2. Don't call them realators. They are realtors. Don't put in that extra syllable.

3. It is better to offer say a coupon for like 10% off something rather than to offer free services. The word free conjures up ideas that there is a catch.

4. Don't say "if" say "when". Like "if you hire me as a stager". Say, "when you hire me as a stager" there is no such word as "if".

5. The agent liked the brochures and my flyers. She suggeted I put together information to give to the agents. Wait a few weeks, and give out some more information. This is to establish that I am a professional who knows what I am talking about and to get my name circulating around their office.

6. Email newsletters and not to putthem into the realtors' mailboxes. Chances are if they are in the mailboxes they will be thrown away. The realtor said they always read email but they get too much paper and it usually ends up in the trash.

7. Concentrate on one or two offices at a time. Get well known there first. Focus on the big well known offices.

8. Make sure to state in my presentations and on any marketing materials that there is an urgency for staging. Have an interesting subject line in your newsletter so it will grab their attention.

9. Do not give the impression you are desparate for work even if you are. Again, this really refers to Number #1 where you need to look and act the part.

10.  Make your pictures more valuable. Show how staging really changes the look of a room and why it is so needed in this field.

I am sure there are many more, but these are the things that really spoke to me. I hope this helps someone who is starting out in the business or those who really never thought about this much.

 My company StageStruck is proud to offer virtual staging. Anyone in the world can now have their home staged without having to leave the comforts of your home or state. Please visit our website to get all the details. Log onto www.mystagestruck.com and see if virtual staging is something you want to do.

The Nine Warning Signs of Junkitis

(according to Don Aslett’s Clutter be Gone)

1. UNUSUAL DISCHARGE (from closets and shelves)

2. THICKENING OR LUMPS (under rugs, behind drapes, under beds)

3. NOTICEABLE SWELLING (of drawers, closets, files, pockets, waistlines)

4. OBVIOUS CHANGE OF COLOR (in your face, when you learn you’ve just missed a garage sale)

5. CHANGE IN PARKING REGULARITY (you start parking the car in the driveway because the garage is full of junk)

6. A SORE ON YOUR SHIN THAT DOES NOT HEAL (you keep breaking it open stumbling over junk)

7. UNREASONABLE TENDERNESS (toward shiny automobiles, souvenirs, and silverware sets)

8. NAGGING COUGH OR HOARSENESS (from talking about your possessions, and from yelling at the kids for damaging things)

9. NUMBNESS (to the people you know and places you go)

Preparing a home to go on the market takes a lot of work! I have prepared a list of some of the things that we as stagers let our clients know BEFORE they put their home on the market. As I learned today-- it is the buyer who determines the value of the house.

1. Curb Appeal. This is the make it or break it deal. People determine within the first five minutes whether or not they are going to buy the home. Make sure the flower beds are weeded, add seasonal, colorful plants and flowers, replace address numbers or buy some if they are not obivious, make sure doorbell works, if there is a questionable screen door, get rid of it, paint mailbox, sweep front porch, clear out cobwebs, buy a new attractive welcome mat, put a wreath on the front door, paint or replace the front door, paint shutters, paint garage door, hide garbage pails, make sure all outdoor lights are working properly, make sure lamppost light is working properly; same for the front porch light, do any weeding, rake, mow the lawn.

2. Front entry. Air out the home for a few minutes. Any area rugs should be big enough to hold at least 3 people, if not, remove. Have a place for people to put wet umbrellas, boots, coats,etc. Turn on any lights in the entryway.Clean out coat closet. Get everything off the floor in the closet. Wash the floor or vacuum the entryway. Vacuum any carpeted stairs that lead to a second floor.

3. Living Room. Turn on all the lights, DECLUTTER, declutter, declutter, dust the furniture, clean the tops of any ceiling fans blades, wash the windows inside and out, vacuum, have a stager come in and rearrange the furniture and accessories in order to show the rooms at their best, air out the room for a few minutes, put away all valuables, hide the TV for the open house, close any amoire doors, entertainment center doors, etc, paint(here again a stager can be valuable. We know color and can pick out a color that should appeal to everyone and make the rooms feel light, and airy. Take down any family photographs, religious objects, weapons.

4. Kitchen. Remove any unneeded applicances from the counter, turn on all the lights, paint, remove wallpaper,clean off the outside of the refrigerator and dishwasher, wash floors, remove any area rugs, hide the fact you have pets and trash, clean out drawers and rearrange nicely, clean out under the sink, make sure the stove fan and light work, keep only 4 dining room chairs in the area and store the rest, organize pantry, remove all traces of food odors, pet odors, clean off all appliances, the top of the refrigerator, clean the inside of the refrigerator, dust, do dishes, remove and store any unnecessary extra dishes or cookware, clean off the stove hood, clean under the stovehood, play some soft music. Studies have shown that the best music to play during an open house is soft jazz.

5. Bathrooms. Wash all surfaces, close lid on toilet, turn on all lights, make sure grout is clean and caulked. Remove the medicine cabinet, add some greenery (again, this is where a stager comes in handy. We tend to all these things). Repair any broken tiles, make sure there are no leaky faucets, get rid of any lingering odors, put all stuff away on the bathtub like candles, toys, shampoos, etc. Get rid of things on the sink itself and just put some nice flowers. Replace shower curtain and liner, repaint, get rid of area rugs, vacuum the floor if there is wall to wall carpet in bathroom( a big NO NO by the way). Clean off sink stopper. You would be surprised out grungy and smelly those get.

6. Bedrooms. Turn on all the lights, hide the toys, remove any TVs, repaint, dust, vacuum, wash windows, make the bed, change the sheets, clean out the closets, get everything off the floor, turn on some soft music, clean out under the bed, get rid of dirty diaper smell if there is a nursery, clean off dresser tops, nightstands, make sure window treatment are open, remove any extra furniture, use attractive bedspreads, use fresh, clean window treatments, have stager rearrange room.

7. Basements. Brighten dull basement walls by painting and adding brighter light bulbs, paint steps, make sure handle rail is firmly secure to wall, remove any pictures on landing, remove rugs at the bottom of the stairs, use a dehumidifier if needed, open any windows and air out the basement, remove excess furniture, declutter, make space look and feel as big and bright as possible, remove cobwebs, wash floors, paint the floor if it is cement, clean out store rooms of extra stuff, arrange things neatly on shelves and keep stuff off the floor.

8. Backyard. Clean out the garage, shed, etc. Remove childrens' ride on toys, garbage pails, any recycling bins, remove any boats, cars, off the premises during the open house, clean out pool, mow the lawn, wed the garden, add any extra grass seed before the open house so that grass has a chance to grow and fill in bare spots, repaint the house, pressure wash the house, repaint the deck. have stager stage the patio or deck, put out colorful plants, remove any pets during the open house, trim any trees or bushes, clean out gutters, window wells, add mulch if needed, paint wooden swingsets, clean out birdbaths, remove traces of bird doo doo, put away any hoses, extra lawn furniture or equipment, clean off lawn furniture, sweep the deck or patio, remove any unneeded awnings, wash windows, remove wind chimes, hose off the air conditioner, remove any toys in the pool.

These are just some of the things that need to be done to get the home ready for the market. As you can see, stagers make it easier to do this job because we know how to package the home to show its best features, we can arrange the furniture and help with picking out colors for the home that will appeal to the greatest amount of people, we will give you checklists like this to make your move easier, as stagers it is our job to see that your home out sells the competition and we do this just by staging the home. It is move in ready and the sellers can relax knowing that they have done everything to ensure their house is and looks the best.