Jo Potvin-Home Staging Cincinnati - Design To Market

It's quiz time...what did 3 homes priced at $125,000, $225,000, and over $1,000,000 all have in common? They were homes that had damaged ceilings caused by a long ago leaky roof that had been repaired. And, they were on the market with showings occurring on a regular basis!

It sounds impossible to think a homeowner would not see this as they prepare to put their home on the market but it happens and it is fairly common. Think about it. You are writing a letter that you have worked on for several hours. You are finished and you ask 3 people to read it for errors. They all point to a glaring mistake and you cannot believe it. Well, the same principle applies in your home. If you are going to have a successful sale, you should spend the money for a professional stager to find these things for you. It is not that the writer of the letter was incapable of putting forth a well written letter, it was that they had looked at it too long and the problems faded away.

The job of a good stager is to see those things that you have lived with and that you might be likely to overlook. So, my advice is to spend the money on a professional stager and let them walk around your home looking for problems. Better they find it than the next prospective buyer that loved your home until the moment they found the ceiling damage that scared them away!

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004 (and we have seen lots of stained ceilings!). For more information about our Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website at www.designtomarketllc.com .

According To Lawrence Yun a Chief Economist with the National Association of Realtors, "A vacant home listed for sale always applies downward pressure on home prices. The opportunity cost of carrying a vacant home is high."

According to the U.S Census Bureau records, we have the highest number of vacants on record since 1956.

What does this mean for homesellers as we wrap up 2008 and look with hope to 2009? It means that if you have a vacant home on the market, it is critical that you investigate staging your vacant home. Design To Market Home Staging in Greater Cincinnati has been staging vacant homessince 2004. We have seen phenomenal success in homes ranging from just over $100,000 to homes as high as $2 million. A complete warehouse of furniture and accessorieshas allowed us to meet the needs of our client's vacant home.

The right professional stager is well armed to create the WOW! Factor in a vacant home that compells a prospective buyer to buy and at the same time to keep an eye to the budget restraints of home sellers. In selecting a home stager make sure that you talk to your Realtor for referrals and look at the stagers website to evaluate the quality of their previous work.

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004. For more information about our Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website at www.designtomarketllc.com .

The election has passed and we are all looking optimistically for change. Change in the economy, change in financial markets and most importantly...change in the housing market.

What is a seller to do? There are many theories on best times to capture a buyer. Spring, Summer, Fall or even winter: A buyer is a buyer if they need to buy. Corporate transferees, changes in family status, successful sale of a home that has been on the market...all of these are perfect reasons for a buyer to buy. Keeping this in mind it is critical to have a 2 pronged strategy at this time of year:

1. If your home is already on the market but is not getting the showing activity you and your Realtor would expect then you need to step back revisit your home through the eyes of a buyer and decide what isn't working. If the pictures on the web are not compelling. Especially if they look less impressive than your home. Or, if your home has had lukewarm feedback that has you stumped, then you need to consider the help of a professional home stager.
2. If your home is not yet on the market but you are planning to list in the "spring" make sure you begin the process now! Spring in the real estate world typically begins in late January or early February. If you know that you have your work cut out for you...again call a professional home stager and schedule a consultation. It may seem early but the relatively small investment in a professional consultation that can prepare the to-do list and even assist you with the project is the best investment. Realtors and their staging counterparts are best prepared to insure that your investment dollar is most wisely spent.

The best way to select a home stager is to first ask your Realtor. They are likely to have experience with stagers in your city and can assist you with referrals. Also, searching the web for stagers in your area can be helpful. Look at the websites and review their portfolios. Professional presentation and effective before and after shots are often indicators of the best stagers in an area.

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004. For more information about our Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website at www.designtomarketllc.com .

I think I am becoming a tree hugger!

I have worked diligently over the last 6 months to minimize the number of catalogs that come into my home. It has become a game for me to see how effective my campaign is as we fall into the holiday season and the storm of catalogs that usually begin appearing in early November. I have attempted to stem the tide by using Catalog Choice and I have also resorted to sitting with my latest stack and calling the customer service lines of these same companies.

The reality of all of this is that a cancelled catalog does not mean I plan to buy less (but wouldn't that be great!) I am a stager after all! It is my job to buy! I buy all of the time. But guess what? I can save innumerable trees if I sit curled up with my wireless laptop as I watch TV and thumb through virtual pages of on-line catalogs. I find better deals and I really save a lot of trees!

Here's to a nice holiday season with a lighter recycle bin!

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004. For more information about this project and our other Cincinnati home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website at www.designtomarketllc.com .

I want to first remind my readers of a blog post that I wrote over a year ago titled Before and Afters In A Web Based World. Both homes featured in that article sold quickly after staging and much of the success of these sales was attributed to staging.

In our current competitive environment the impact of home staging continues to grow in importance. As we head toward the spring market and see more listings come forth it will be critical to grab buyers who make effective use of their time by pre-screening those listings that fit their buying criteria.

Please look at the following photos. This listing was staged on October 8th and is currently pending. Which photo would compel you to visit this property.

This......

or this?

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004. For more information about this project and our other Cincinnati home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website at www.designtomarketllc.com .