Home Staging SOP

Home staging in London is the latest way in which home and property owners are improving the market resale value of their properties in the British capital. They are also reducing the time for which their properties sit on the market place without being sold with faster turnaround times for sale of homes.

These companies also provide a laundry list of other services in addition to rented furniture that are sure to make your house look much better and stand out from the rest. They offer services like rental of household equipments, vacuuming of carpets, cleaning and polishing the faucets in the bathroom and kitchens and polishing hardwood floors. Now you may think that you could do almost all of these things by yourself but before you grab a brush and get down on your knees, you should probably do the math and work you how much of your precious time all this may take. Chances are that you will find that these services provide package deals that are truly worth it and not just in terms of the time and effort saved.

There is a lot of evidence that points to the fact that most houses that home staging services have prepped, sell for higher prices that not only cover the cost of the services but provide a fair margin over and above the costs. These houses also sell faster which is great for the owners because as anyone who has ever sold a house will tell you, nothing is as frustrating as having an unsold house languish on the market for a long time. The upkeep and cleaning and the endless showings can take a huge toll on the owners. Prospective buyers too are usually spooked when they learn that the house they are looking at has not sold for a while.

Nowadays in the United Kingdom the practice is so prevalent because of its proven benefits that it is hard to find properties on the market that have not been improved through home staging services in London. So the pressure on sellers who do not opt for these services is even greater to just keep up with their competitors. The first impression that potential buyers have is often one that sticks with them, so it is important that they have a great one if you are going to make a sale.

In this tough real estate market, it is imperative that anyone who is trying to sell their home do everything possible to present that home in the absolute best state possible. The way to achieve this goal is by staging the home for sale. Home staging is the process where the seller or someone else, such as an interior decorator, professional home stager or real estate agent, takes action to get the house in showroom condition. People quickly form an opinion about a space within seconds of setting foot inside the door; therefore, the house needs to make a positive impression at first glance.

Paint
Paint is one of the most inexpensive ways to change the look and feel of a space. Since a fresh coat of paint will make a room appear clean, the right paint color is very important. The walls in the house need to be a neutral color so it is appealing to the largest number of people. While the current homeowner may love the color blue, a potential buyer may be turned off by the color, as well as the prospect of having to paint over that color if they do indeed purchase the house. Certain colors and shades of a color can make a room appear smaller than it actually is. This is because the paint color may make the walls appear to close in around anyone standing in the room. Many people think that white would be the best color choice, but white can appear too cold and generic looking. The prime choice for paint, when staging a home, is a slightly warm yet neutral color like an ecru, which is a warm off-white, a light green, which will reflect the color of nature or a pale yellow, which is warm without being too bright. The only exception to this rule is in the case of a small powder room, bedroom or a dining room. These are rooms that can look inviting if presented as cozy and intimate.

Modern Furniture
Because modern furniture tends to have clean lines, it is the best choice when staging a home for sale. Again, this goes back to the theory that potential buyers need to be able to envision themselves living in the space and modern furniture will work with many different design styles. The use of modern bedroom furniture, which has sleek lines and contemporary finishes, combined with neutral bed linens can easily remind people of a luxurious hotel. In the living room, sofas with streamlined frames and nondescript fabrics allow visitors to see the large windows and architectural details of a room, instead of focusing on a dated, wooden floral couch or an unappealing recliner. One last tip about furniture is the arrangement in relation to traffic flow. People need to be able to easily walk around furniture without having to squeeze past it, otherwise the room will appear small. If possible, pull some of the furniture away from the wall so it appears to be floating. It does not always have to be pushed up against a wall. This is another way to help a room to look larger. Position the furniture into groupings such as around a coffee table or facing the fireplace.

Remove Clutter
The idea is to remove or store all clutter and any personal items like family photos, pet beds or children’s toys from the home so that anyone viewing the house can easily picture themselves living there. This will, again, make a room appear larger. Too much stuff and too many tchotchkes interfere with the look of a room. These things can also make a house look dirty and too lived in for a buyer’s tastes. To enhance the allure of the house, only keep the most tasteful artwork and innocuous items on display. The items that are removed from the space can be sold or stored in a rental storage facility or at a friend or relatives house. It is not a good idea to simply box everything up and put it in the attic, basement or a spare room because potential buyers need to see the entire house in the best state.

Staging a home before potential buyers view it is the most effective way to get the house sold as quickly as possible. It will also ensure that the seller gets the best and highest price possible. Therefore, it is, without doubt, worth the extra time and additional expense to stage the house for scrutiny.

Decorating your kitchen backsplash can be a fun and exciting weekend project. Kitchen backsplash tiles fit right into that special space between your upper kitchen cabinets and your kitchen counterop.

They are usually 18 inches high and 12 to 20 feet wide. Because your backsplash is a small area, it’s a relatively affordable place to use the pricier tiles, and also the place to get a little fancier with laying them. It takes a lot less time to tile your backsplash. This makes installing kitchen backsplash tiles the ideal weekend project for the do it yourself tiler. In one weekend you can transform your backsplash into a beautiful eye catching kitchen focal point.

There are many beautiful decorative tiles available to use as your kitchen backsplash tiles, and they are also fairly easy to install. There’s the ever popular glass wall tile which is impervious to stains and moisture. Some of these glass tiles are even strong enough for floors, but due to their expense they are usually used as an accent tile for walls. Glass tiles come in a wide variety of beautiful gleaming colors and textures.

Mosaic tiles are small tiles to 3 inches in size. They come in just about any shape you can imagine, such as fish, circles, stars, squares and the list goes on. These tiles may be glazed ceramic, marble, glass, natural stone or even metal, and these decorative patterns come already assembled on 12 inch square sheets with mesh backing, making for a quick and easy weekend tile installation.

Then there’s metal backsplash tile which can be made up of stainless steel, copper, brass or iron. These tiles offer a very up to date look, especially for kitchen backsplashes. They may be smooth, mosaics, cast in shapes or even stamped with patterns, and they are perfect to use as a backsplash tile, because they’re perfectly sized to fit the common 18 inch backsplash.

You can also use decorative accent tiles to dress up your kitchen backsplash. Simply choose a handful of dressy tiles that have painted or ingrained images you like, or are embossed with fish or palm trees or any other shape that suits your fancy. You can even use tiles that are glazed in bright colors and sprinkle them throughout your backsplash.

Continue your backsplash designs all the way to over your range, or create a different design for this area. Turn your backsplash tiles on the diagonal and frame the design with picture frame tiles and create a tile mural, or create a color collage using decorative color tiles that compliment the color scheme of your kitchen.

The designs you can create for your kitchen backsplash using decorative tiles are endless. All you need is a little imagination. The tiles will take care of the rest.

It seems like we get so caught up in our everyday lives that we rarely take the time to focus on building something that is really near and dear to us, such as our Home Staging and Real Estate Business. We take care of everyone and everything else, but fail to give our business the attention it needs to sprout, grow and thrive.

As we start off this new year with a bang, I decided we should start off our Home Staging Business with a bang as well.

I think that in order to get your Home Staging Business off the groundand then some, you have to have a specific plan in place. During my APSD Property Scene Designer Training, I actually do a business blue print with each PD so we can specifically create a 12 month plan of success. Needless to say, the PDs that follow the plan have a booming home staging business.

But, it is one thing to say you have to have a plan and another to actually understand how to do one and figure out what goes into your plan.

That is why this year, I am going to do an APSD 12 month Home Staging Blue Print with every single one of you that joins me for our ONLINE STAGE EVENT because that is how strongly I feel about you having a specific vision and plan of action to carry out the vision. (By the way, all the details are at www.APSDmembers.com/OnlineSTAGE -hurry it starts next week!)

The important thing though, is to start now. Dont wait because we all know how quickly time passes us by right? So please, I am asking you, encouraging your, willing to support youmake the choice right now, to be a success in the home staging industry!

First of all, there are several factors to consider when you decide to run and effective Home Staging and Real Estate Business:

1) Vision. Have you stopped to decide specifically what you want from this business? Are you looking to niche a specific service like Curb Appeal. Color Analysis, High End Homes, etc.? Or, are you happy to just set a goal, like 4 stagings a week and take what comes? I find by starting anything with a very clear vision, you are far more likely to quickly achieve your goal.

2) Momentum. Once you decide what you want, you need to build momentum by taking massive action. I know most of you work other jobs or take care of your children (many of you do both!) so the thought of massive action could stop you in your tracks. But stop to think about what massive action could be. Maybe you decide that you can make 10 calls every Monday to local real estate offices. Then, on Friday, you send out follow up emails to the same 10. If you are not doing anything right now, that is Massive action. When you do it consistently, you will get results which leads to momentum. It is like losing weight, drop a pound or two in the first week by saying no to sweets and yes to a daily walk, you get results, which leads to momentum and before you know it you are in week 4 and have lost 10 pounds. Massive Action leads to Momentum which leads to results.

3) MindSet. Now that you have a little momentum going, you may start to second guess yourself. Maybe it is because of how you were raised, or you dont have enough support at home or you simply lack confidence, but I find that in order to have continued growth, your head needs to be in the right place. Normally, we call this mindset and during my recentAPSD Stager Pro and APSD Certified Trainers Program, we talked a great deal about confidence and mindset. It is a special session that I will be teaching during ONLINE STAGE.

I am a big believer in putting yourself in the right frame of mind, and keeping it there, in order to achieve the success you deserve. I know when I first started out on my own home staging business, I lacked confidence in my ability, did not think I could succeed, had a wonderful husband that didnt understand what I was trying to do and was a very well conditioned mid-westerner that kept thinking work harder and I will be fine. WOW! Did I ever have a great deal to learn. Mindset is one of the biggest keys to success which is why I am devoting an entire session to it at our ONLINE STAGE training.

As women (and a few really cool guys) we have to put our mind in the right place for ourselves and our family. Otherwise we will live a life of poverty mindset and even worse, pass it along to our children. Wouldnt you prefer a mindset of abundance?

4) Extraordinary Skills. When my APSD Certified Home Staging Professionals ask me how to compete, or blaze the home staging trail, I always tell them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. The funny thing, is that I tell my small business consulting clients the same thing, so it works for every industry. It is easy to just look at what others do and do the same. What takes a little more effort is to be better. One of my mentors, Dan Kennedy, says look around at your competition and whatever they are doing, do the opposite.

I took this to heart when I created APSD. I looked around at everyone and I did the opposite. I created an association that supported our members. Also, I assumed you were already smart and talented, so instead of showing you how to create a trilogy of candles (because I assume you already know how to put 3 candles on a plate), APSD gave you a proven Home Staging system; a model to follow so you can yield specific results. Then, and this is the best part, APSD came out with specific trainings that spoke to our members and their bottom lines. I think you should make a bunch of income with your Home Staging and Real Estate business and be able to help your client in the biggest and best way. In order to do that, you have to offer multiple services which yield you multiple streams of income. In the APSD ONLINE STAGE training, I will introduce you to 25 streams of home staging income. Everything from Color Analysis to Curb Appeal to our propriety programs like Bang for the Buck and Estage!

But it doesnt stop there. We continually differentiate ourselves from any other program by offering courses for todays Home Stager such as Vacant and Distressed Property Staging which we will be doing during our ONLINE STAGE event. This is a hot button across the globe and once you learn to effectively stage Vacant and Distressed properties, you will have every real estate agent in your market place knocking down your door for help.

The new APSD Certified Trainers have already had a sneak peek into the program and you will have your chance to do so as well at ONLINE STAGE. Make sure you have the best skills possible and that is what will differentiate you in your Home Staging Market and get clients rushing to you vs. you having to chase them down.

5) Marketing. You knew I would get there, right? This has to be one of the biggest parts of your plan. During the point on Momentum I talked about setting a marketing schedule such as calling 10 real estate offices on Monday and following up with the same 10 on Friday. Believe it or not, if you just did this, and did it with good marketing, like that which you receive in How to Market Your Home Staging Business after a short time, you would have enough business.

Imagine if you added a postcard to the mix! Whoo Hoo! Now you may have to hire someone to help you! Okay, okay, I know I am being a little sarcastic but most home stagers dont market. Part of the reason is they just never get organized enough to do so and the other part is that APSD is the only Home Staging Training Association to offer REAL WORLD home staging Marketing. The important thing is that you set up a marketing schedule and follow it. The more aggressive you are, the better your results. But there is one result that I know for sure, and that is if you dont do any marketing, you will get zero results. So, set a schedule that you can manage and follow it. Your 12 month home staging blue print will be a step by step process to help you with this for every single month in 2012.

In the Home Staging and Real Estate Industry, there are at least 19 ways to effectively market your business and during our ONLINE STAGE event I am going to go through each way with you, step by step so when you leave, you have a MARKETING PLAN! It doesnt have to be hard, but you do have to do it!

By simply following these 5 steps, you will find that your Home Staging Business is doing far more than just getting off the ground in 2011.

And because we are going to cover so much of this during our ONLINE STAGE training I wanted to give you an opportunity for you and a friend to come at our 2 for 1 pricing! Just check out my special offer below!

Log on http://www.apsdmembers.com/ for more details!

Home staging is one of the keys to increasing the value of your property so you can sell it a higher cost. Staging experts can be employed for a level-headed fee to evaluate your home, highlight assets and play down imperfections. These options may include doing minor fixes, furniture arrangement, adding accessories, tidying up closets and buffing up decorations. Some home stagers may recommend room-by-room evaluation, offer pointers regarding paint colors, and modifying traffic patterns. Regular consultations last for a maximum of two hours and rates are relatively cheap.

Professional stagers also provide a lot of tips to savvy homeowners. The first is to make sure that all nooks inside the house are in excellent condition. Mend all tattered screens, broken plaster and busted light bulbs. Take away all personal adornments such as family portraits and art frames. Maintain the cleanliness of your kitchen and remove unnecessary items from the counter tops. Put the small appliances inside the closets. Update kitchen embellishments by investing in elegant-looking tiles or galas mosaic pieces.

It is possible to save by using granite tops which are really beautiful investments. The material is expensive but you can actually reduce expenses by purchasing leftovers from past projects Renovate worn-out cabinets with brand new designs. Use clean linen for chair foams and tea towels. Get professional cleaners to make sure that all alcoves of your kitchen are spic and span. The key is to look for budget-friendly decorative items so it will not be difficult for you.

Renovate your outdoor spaces. The beautiful outdoor deck is a main selling point for homeowners who plan to resell property. Give your backyard a novel look. Paint your porch with light shades to give the area a bucolic appearance. Furnish the gazebo for entertainment purposes especially during family get-together parties. Add life to the washed-out patio by painting the bricks with a buoyant coat of paint.

Highlight individual rooms to display the true potential of your house. This is important if you plant to resell your abode. Remove all the disorder that tends to sidetrack prospective buyers. Paint your dividers with a neutral tint and put in furnishings to accentuate functionality. Remember that dilapidated wooden partitions do not make up a solid selling point. Try to cover this imperfection and make use of wooden fillers to plug all crevices between the walls.

Opt for vinyl tiles because these are fairly inexpensive. However, take note of the proper and incorrect ways of doing this. Stay away from patterns that may seem to be picture perfect. Instead, intersperse tile placement and directions to blend the designs. The floor will end up with a natural look which makes it more attractive to likely buyers. Unfurl your window blinds to let in natural light. People will always go for well-ventilated living rooms and dining areas. Go for light paint shades instead of artificial illumination. Get rid of disagreeable pet smell because this will create a negative impression. Your carpets should smell fresh and be free from unpleasant stains.

To learn more about tips in Home Staging Brisbaneh, just click on the link. Or visit http://www.castlehire.com.au/ to to visit Castle Hire.