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About Lafayette Parish, LA

Suckers Fall for Real Estate Staging!

Michelle Molinari : Home Stager in Lafayette, LA

Stagers.

The very term alludes to a performance designed to dazzle.

Bewitching buyers, suckering sellers, a real estate ruse.

Illusion. Hocus Pocus. Deception. Fantasy. Magic. Mirage.

Greedy shysters perform, utilize, and promote "staging." From the staging associations, to the schools, all the way down to the Agents who employ staging tactics. It's one big swindling conspiracy to part ignorant buyers from their money, and line the pockets of sellers with undeserved equity.

It's a disgraceful business, and a blemish on the Real Estate Industry as a whole, and should be vanquished.

OR perhaps...

Fair Market Value is a moving animal, and people who claim to stage properties know the behaviors of this creature. Perhaps a stager can offer solutions to not only enhance the perception of your our your client's equity, but increase the fair market value of the property in question, realizing more of that equity by implementing the suggested solutions.

The only way to find out is to call a skilled stager, and hear what they have to say. Most professionals will offer an initial consultation free of charge, and are more than willing to present the merits of their services to groups.

Speaking one-on-one with a stager will confirm what you believe or change the way you view real estate sales entirely. Either way, you've taken care to avoid the Number One Real Estate Mistake according to HGTV:

Not Considering Hiring A Professional to Stage.

A Public Heartfelt Thank You to A Special Lafayette Stager and her Husband

Michelle Molinari : Home Stager in Lafayette, LA

Yesterday, fellow Lafayette Stager Amie Chaney and her husband, Paul Chaney, stopped by our farm to drop off a very kind gift for my family, who sustain massive damage from Hurricane Ike to three of our homes.

Amie and Paul brought us a "care package" including many, many essentials to aid in our clean-up efforts. Having been a flood victim herself at one time, she knew exactly what we would need.

Thank you, Paul and Amie, on behalf of myself, my mom, grandmother, father, & sisters. What you did for us will never be forgotton, and we appreciate your kindness and concern more than we can express. The items you gifted will go a long way toward our rebuilding and clean-up of our homes, and have already gone a long way to help heal our distressed souls. Just knowing such good-hearted people would reach out to us in such way, is very moving to us all.

Saying thank you is not enough, but it is all we can do.

Blessings always to you and yours,

~Michelle, Carol, Sue, and Family

CURB APPEAL 101- Is Your House A ONE-INCH Wonder?

Michelle Molinari : Home Stager in Lafayette, LA

A picture is worth a thousand clicks. At least, when putting it on the market, it ought to be. Buyers today have every advantage, and one of those is the convenience of cruising the internet when deciding on which houses they would like to entertain as possible future residences.

When potential buyers do a virtual drive by on your house via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), how many seconds do you think they spend looking at each individual house? For most, the answer is one. One second per house. They scan the page, and if it doesn't strike their fancy, click, and they are off to the next page of listings. This is how over 90% of property buyers shop today.

So, how does your house vie for attention in a one-second world? Maybe you have a house that is interesting, and it gets a two or three second lifespan on the computer screen. So, how do you get that slippery little sucker...the elusive "Click" on your house?

Here's the part where most people will list the crucial aspects of curb appeal, such as a tidy, power-wash fresh walkway or a vibrant lawn with flowers punctuating the doorway. I am going to skip past all that and explain the psychology of staging for curb appeal.

In one second, people are going to determine whether your house is in good repair, if your yard is a pain to care for, if there is room for the kids to play, and if it is a place they would like to invite their friends and family over to visit. It is either going to trip these triggers, or it's not.

The color is going to fall into three categories: Gorgeous, OK, or Horrible.

The landscaping is going to register as Immaculate, OK, , or Unkempt.

The welcome-ability factor ( I also call it the red carpet effect) is going to be Inviting, Reserved, or Withdrawn.

That's about all people will take in during your property's one-second of fame.

You ought to try it out! Go to any real estate website. Or, simply try one of my favorites for ease of use, www.century21.com. Enter your zip code. Sellers have a one-inch square to make an impression that will last, as you can see. One inch, one second. It is pretty apparent by the time you get to the second page that your window of opportunity to snag a buyer's attention is not ample. How many houses on page one grab you? Page two? Did you feel compelled to view ANY in detail? Did any of them strike you as Gorgeous, Immaculate, and Inviting? Were the details impactful on such a tiny scale?

Looking at the big picture means truly keeping this little picture in mind firmly when making decisions about how to spend you curb appeal cash. On a budget? Don't buy small flowers... go for the bold marigolds, even if you don't like them. Whip out a quart of fresh bold paint for the door. Jerk out those bushy shrubs that hide the windows. Push your house out there! Pop out that trim work if it's substantial. Hit those buttons!

Your house has to psychologically cue the buyer that this house deserves a click, and from the click, it absolutely makes it to the must-see list to give their Real Estate Agent. It's importance cannot be underestimated or skipped over, or your house will be, too.

Michelle Molinari

Certified Staging Professional

"Feature This... "Real Estate Staging

www.FeatureThisDotDotDot.com

www.CurbAppealForDummies.com

The Smell of a Sale Going South ...Not a Blog for the Faint of Heart

Michelle Molinari - CurbAppealForDummies.com: Home Stager in Lafayette, LA

Been to a listing with an aroma so unpleasant, it can prevent a sale?

How about a listing with a suspicious perfumed scent you just know is there to disguise something sinister?

Homeowners and Realtors are taking drastic, expensive, and unnecessary measures to eradicate the smells generated by pets, smokers, and the ever-present stinky and unhealthy mildew associated with the high-humidity that permeates Louisiana and all the Gulf Coast states.

There is a fast, easy, and affordable, solution that works on every possible stink one can ever encounter.

Not to get too gruesome, but even crime scene cleanup pros know exacty how to attack a malodorous dwelling, and have the odor and it's originating bacteria destroyed permanently and without chemicals.... SWIFTLY!

NO REAL ESTATE OFFICE SHOULD BE WITHOUT ONE FOR MALODOROUS LISTINGS!!!

You have probably heard of it, and dismissed it. Or maybe you have used it, improperly, and not acheived the purported results. But the bottom line is this: Industrial Strength Ionizers, when used according to the square footage, are 100% effective to eradicate odor, permanently, and in less than two hours. One use!!!

The secret is in the strength. Yes, you must leave the house. Return two hours later, and the home smells like it has been freshly bleached clean from top to bottom. Open the windows and air it out. In 10 minutes the air becomes inert. There is all kind of science behind the effectiveness of ionizers. They use them in hospitals, and the infection levels in surgical rooms have dropped to zero. Ionizers kill bacteria, and bacteria causes most horrific odors. They also wrangle paint fumes, smoking & cooking odors, and anything else you can wrinkle your nose at.

The only way an odor can re-occur in a properly ionized environment is if the source of the stench is REINTRODUCED, but old and imbedded odors are GONE FOREVER.

I know it's unbelievable. But I have a first hand experience, involving a cousin, a pack of chicken necks, a hot car, and a one very incensed sister:

My cousin, Steve, borrowed Michelle's car while we were on vacation. He was house sitting our beach house near Galveston, Texas. It was JULY. He wanted to go crabbing, which requires chicken parts. HE LEFT A PACK OF CHICKEN NECKS IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR. When we came home a week later, the scent was overpowering and absolutely condensed in that Mustang. No amount of air circulation or deodorizing products put a dent into the thick stench of death that permeated the car's upholstery. Two days with the doors and trunk wide open didn't help one iota. Car detailers said the car was a total loss!!!!

A lady we know heard about the problem and offered help. We went to her house, gagging and hanging our heads out the windows, for 45 minutes, to Houston. She put this little box in the car, rolled up the windows, snaked an electrical cord to an outlet through a crack, and invited us in for iced tea. Michelle was a train wreck, as the car was NEW and chicken rot was not covered by her insurance. About an hour later, the lady said the car was ready. To our shock, the car smelled super-clean. We didn't believe the smell would not return, but we were grateful it was gone for a while. Except, it never, ever, EVER came back. Michelle had that car for 7 more years! And, I am happy to report, Cousin Steve is still alive and presently resides in the Austin area with all his limbs intact.

We are now very proud to be able to offer

brand new units for $649 to Realtors and homeowners alike!

We also rent our units for $79./for a half-day rental.

NO REAL ESTATE OFFICE SHOULD BE WITHOUT ONE FOR MALODOROUS LISTINGS.

Contact us if you would like to know more. Shipping is included with the price, and we absolutely take credit cards, and offer you a money-back guarantee!

Sue Eldredge - Certifed Staging Professional

Abbeville, Louisiana

www.featurethisdotdotdot.com

and

www.curbappealfordummies.com

ACADIANA REAL ESTATE STAGING ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN FORMED!

Michelle Molinari : Home Stager in Lafayette, LA

Looking for a Stager in the Lafayette/Acadiana area? The Acadiana Real Estate Staging Association can help! We promote the ethical practice of home staging techniques, and help people learn more about the Staging Industry in general. We offer tips on how to choose a qualified home stager to showcase your home or listing.

If you are a Realtor or Homeowner, or Stager, and you would like to know more about, or affiliate with, our local chapter of the Real Estate Staging Association, please go to www.acadianaresa.com and learn more!

Michelle Molinari President, Acadiana Real Estate Staging Association