Gail's Blog

Don't Forget!!!! Open House Party This Sunday April 11th 11-2 PM


Take $10,000 off the asking price of this home for 1 day only, April 11th, 2010. If you qualify for one of the home buyers tax credits that could be a total of $16,500-$18,000 of value to you.

View The MLS listing with link below:



https://webmail.johnlscott.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://locator.nwmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Locator%26PRGNAME=MLSLogin%26ARGUMENT=I9xUF6hi%252BAmcF%252B8gU%252BqONrHHCvJj5GuKcP1lFG6qXn4%253D%26KeyRid=1%26Include_Search_Criteria=

This Realtor is thinking out of the box and trying something new with her listings.  Hopefully it will work for her.  Kudo's to her for trying something different.  Like the old saying goes, "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you will keep on getting what you've always got."

I think this is a great idea.  Please blog after the Sunday Open House to let us know how it turns out.  WHere did you come up with this great idea?  Hope it works for  you.

I received one of my online newsletters this morning and enjoyed the article it had about Color Trends for 2009.  This was a new site for me called the Paint Quality Institute and they have lots of great information.  http://www.paintquality.com/.

It has a design center where you can choose different rooms, colors, techniques, and lots of other neat stuff.

Just another way we all can keep up on what's happening in our industry.

The Plant Atrium has high quality, affordable silk trees and plant for all you staging and redesign needs and a unique income stream for your business.  Please check us out at www.theplantatrium.com and then contact me at gail@theplantatrium.com for further information.

Great idea for an additional income stream for your business.

The Plant Atrium's distributor in Houston, partnering with a stager/designer just staged one of the largest furniture stores in the area with high quality, affordable silk trees, plants and table toppers.  The owner, as well as the manager of Hilton Furniture, was excited that the plants are assembled in the U.S. and had been endorsed by RESA, the Real Estate Staging Association.  They made the decision to start carrying our products and invited The Plant Atrium to come in and stage a portion of the store using some of the products.  Hilton's, which has a huge showroom also has a clearance center, which is open Saturdays and Sundays only is carrying discontinued items from The Plant Atrium.

The manager was so impressed, that as they finished dressing the area for success, asked, "When can you come back and finish the entire store, it has never looked so nice!"  Customers in the store complimented the team on how much warmer and more beautiful the furniture looked with the addition of the new trees and plants.  Hilton Furniture feels that The Plant Atrium's products will be one more resource for stagers, designers and redesigners and for customers wanting to complete a look.

Everyone is looking for ways to survive in this economy so you may want to visit with the furniture stores in your area.  Hopefully you can stage their stores, leave your cards and nice signage as a way to get more business.

Are you doing everything you can to be a successful professional stager? 

There are many, many ways you can grow your business.  And as an independent business owner, you need to do everything you can to make sure you survive and thrive, especially in this economy.  Realtors are constantly taking all kinds of classes and are affiliated with many different associations and organizations which shows the public that they are serious about what they do.  You, as a stager must do the same thing.  Why do you think that so many Realtors you meet have what they call the 'alphabet soup' after their name?  Ask them and they will tell you, the more education and associations they have, not only helps them keep up with their industry, but when someone is looking for a Realtor, guess who has the most credibility?  Are you following their lead?

Imagine this...you are selling your home and interview several agents.  They all tell you pretty much the same thing and so there doesn't seem to be a clear choice.  Fast forward...you are reviewing everyone's proposals and one of the agents has several abbreviations behind their name and the others do not. Which one will you choose?  I can tell you which one I will choose...every time!  Now, that Realtor you chose tells you that your home needs to be staged before it goes on the market (and if they are good, they already have a stager on their team) but not every agent is there yet.  Once again you interview several stagers and they show you beautiful photos (some of which are NOT even their own)!  You are struggling with your decision until you see the abbreviations behind one of the stagers names.  Again, which one will you choose?  Which one do you think is the most serious about their business?

Remember, your business is just that...YOUR business and you must make your own decisions about what is going to help your business grow and be successful.  Only if you are getting a paycheck from a company, are you working for them and only then do they have the right to tell you what you can and can not do. 

As a Professional Real Estate Stager who has been in the business for over 10 years, I have seen and been part of the many changes happening in this industry.  And I can promise you this...there is going to continue to be many more changes.  Do you want to be part of an industry that is looked upon as professional?  If so, you need to read what I have said very carefully and make the decisions that are right for you.

Here is the perfect way to lose $150,000 in just over a year without being in the stock market.  We were asked to do a bid for this new construction just a little over a year ago.  After presenting the bid of $3200.00 to the Realtor, he said, "Well I can't afford that, it will take almost all my commission.  I'll just buy some things and stage it myself!"  Well you can see for yourself how that went.  When I spoke with the Realtor at the time and suggested he ask the builder if he would pay a portion of the staging, he said oh no, I would never do that because he hired me to sell it for him.  Now just a year later, they have lowered the price of this home by $150,000 and we all know what has happened to the real estate market since that time.  If I was the builder, I would be pretty upset that the Realtor I hired was more concerned about his commission then getting the house sold!  How much do you think has been paid in carrying costs in that year?  My guess is well over the $3200.00 staging bid.  And how much do you suppose the Realtor spent on marketing and purchasing staging inventory?  And of course after spending whatever it was he did spend, he no longer has the listing!  It boggles my mind when we deal with clients like this. Staging is part of the marketing package!!!  While staging doesn't guarantee the sale, stats from many different sources, show what a difference it makes both in time on the market and price.  We staged some new constructuon in that same neighborhood at the same time and they had 5 sales in the first 2 weeks and sold them ALL in less than nine months.   Builders: Make sure you listing agent will stage your beautiful new construction.  Realtors and Brokers:  Hire a Professional Real Estate Stager which you can find by going to www.realestatestagingassociation.com.  Sellers:  Staged homes are still selling...don't let your house linger on the market for months and months.  It is a fact that over 80% of buyers first look online before calling a real estate agent.  If yours doesn't look like those that are staged, they will click "next" and not even look at what your home may offer.  Staging is an investment in your equity, not an expense.  Where do you want to be in 2009?  Lingering on the market or having a SOLD sign in your yard?

The SIF Round Table in the Seattle area was a HUGE success and I would like to thank all those whotook time to attend, Julianna Hind of The Northwest School of Interior Redesign, Judy Swearengin of JA Concepts for helping with the event, Stage It Forward, RESA, IRIS and ASHRS for their efforts to put everything together and sending us the questions and a big thank you to Keller Williams Southeast Sound for providing the room for the event.

I was so pleased that we had such a great turnout and that everyone was so willing to share.  We did make our 3 hour time limit and got through all the questions but we really had to stay on task to make that happen.  I would love to see more time added next year as we would have spent more time on some of the questions.

Several photos taken during the Round Table.  Everyone seemed to be very pleased with the event and would love to see more things like this held throughout the year to bring everyone together.

Julianna had a great idea that day that we should all consider implementing next year and for those of you who have not held your Round Tables yet, which was that everyone bring a can of food to donate to a shelter.

Thanks to The Northwest School of Interior Redesign and The Plant Atrium for sponsoring the brunch.

November is Staging Awareness Month!

SIF ROUND TABLES ARE BEING HELD ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY

There are at least 30 being held during the month so there should be one near you!

Let's challenge each (just for fun) to see which Round Table can get the most participants!  These Round Tables help everyone in the industry.  Sign up and share with other fellow stagers and redesigners in ways to help propel the industry forward.

Stage it Forward, RESA, IRIS and ASHRS have worked hard to make this an event you won't want to miss!  They are FREE and open to anyone in the staging and redesign industry.  The information you will go home with will help you move your business in a forward direction.

Go to www.realestatestagingassociation.com RIGHT NOW and click on the Event Calendar.  Find the nearest SIF Round Table, click on it and register TODAY.  Where else can you spend 3 hours getting tons of information, asking questions of others, share and network for FREE!

The Plant Atrium www.theplantatrium.com provides high quality, affordable silk trees and plants to the industry with over 250 varieties and is excited to be the refreshment or lunch sponsor at three of the Round Tables.

The Plant Atrium www.theplantatrium.com is excited to announce that along with other sponsors, it is helping to sponsor the Stage It Forward Round Tables in Austin and Houston, TX and Seattle, WA.

The Round Tables are being held in Houston on Saturday, November 1st,  Austin on November 3rd and  Seattle on the 14th.  In order for these events to be held each year and share as much information as possible to help our industry grow, we need your participation and input.  Eeach participant will receive  the information gathered once it has been compiled.

HELP SHAPE YOUR INDUSTRY!

Please go to the RESA site at www.realestatestagingassociation.com and click on the Events Calendar to sign up for the Round Table nearest you.  The Round Tables are for everyone in the staging and redesign industry and they promise to be a very informative day for all.   

November is Home Staging Awareness Month

Professional Home Stagers Gather to Discuss Industry News and Promote Home Staging

The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) the Trade Association for Professional Home Stagers has announced that November is Home Staging Awareness Month. 

RESA's goals are to facilitate positive interactions within the home staging industry, provide support to professional stagers in addition to promoting the benefits of home staging to the consumer.

 RESA has partnered with members of "Stage it Forward" (SIF) a powerful internet blogging community that is hosted by Real Estate Blogging website called Active Rain. (www.ActiveRain.com)  "Round Tables" are being conducted throughout North America during the month of November, "Home Staging Awareness" month, in order to bring home stagers together and discuss vital industry issues. .

 Additional professional staging and redesign groups such as the Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (IRIS), and American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners (ASHSR) are also partnering with RESA in a unified effort to bring industry professionals together and participate in Home Staging Awareness Month.  All professional stagers are invited to attend and participate in this ground breaking event.

For more information home staging, to join a Round Table, find a professional stager or sponsor a future event please contact one of these organizations RESA-The Real Estate Staging Association  visit www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.comor call 888-201-8687 speak to Shell Brodnax , IRIS- Interior Redesign Industry Specialists www.WeReDesign.com or call 877-674-8667 speak to Sandy Dixon and ASHSR-American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners  www.ASHSR.comor call 888-563-9271 and speak to Audra Slinkey.

The Plant Atrium offers high quality, affordable silk plants and trees to the staging and redesign industry and has over 250 varieties for all your needs.  These plants are assembled in the USA and drop shipped direct to you.  We also offer state and local distributorships as an additional income stream for your business.  If interested, please contact us at info@theplantatrium.com