Beth Lester Real Estate Staging & ReDesign

Once a year I do a special drawing for a free redesign to a homeschooling family. These families typically sacrifice a second income for one parent to invest their time and energy on nurturing and educating their children. Sometimes in the midst of all the activities, the home itself gets cluttered and scattered with school books, science projects, sports equipment and musical instruments. A special space for the parents to entertain other adults or just visit with one another often gets lost in the process.

This year's winner, Elizabeth, was unable to take advantage of our half-day redesign due to a temporary living situation, so she "gifted" the prize to her sister, Judy, in Palos Verdes Peninsula.

In less than half a day, my wonderful assistant (my 17-year-old daughter) and I were able to take a room that was rarely used and make it a warm, welcoming space for the family to gather or to entertain (after carefully listening to the homeowner's needs and desires). Here's the process and some photos:

Beautiful furniture to work with, but the arrangement was too scattered and had extraneous pieces.

Borrowing a rug from the dining room pulled the grouping together.

Bringing a round table from another room and hauling a beautiful buffet down the stairs helped to complete the room. When a tree is added back by the fireplace and the pictures are hung, this room will truly feel comfortably and beautifully like "home."

The den also had extra pieces that didn't fit the space and interfered with some of the potiential activities in the room. By removing those extra pieces and turning the furniture to face each other, the room immediately become more functional in just a few minutes. They have the option of adding an area rug and coffee table, or leaving it open for Wii activities.

In a short amount of time, a home can become more functional and lovely for very little cost. We'd be happy to help you anytime - just call for your consultation or redesign (paint color consultations are included!).

For more photos, check out our website at www.hsdca.com .

BethLester

Home Staging Designs of California specializes in making homes beautiful, whether selling or staying, in LA's South Bay area.

So many times I've had friends say, "I'm not on Facebook. That takes way too much time." I can certainly understand that - I have a teenage daughter, after all. :)

So how do you use this social networking tool without letting it become your master - and stealing your time away from more important pursuits?

Here's how I limit my time on Facebook:

1) Don't mix business with pleasure. I use Twitter for only business (although status updates go automatically to Facebook), and use Facebook only for friends & family. While this goes against the recommendations of some "experts," it works better for me this way. Business associates and strangers, even with common interests, have no need to see my family pictures or the details of who I'm meeting at the beach. I do have a separate Facebook for my business, but I haven't developed that yet.

2) No time for games. I play no games and take no surveys or quizzes. I'd rather use my rare playtime with my family or meeting with a friend (or taking a nap.....).

3) Ignore good causes. Yes, buying pieces of blankets and supporting dozens of causes may be a good thing to do; however, I'd rather support my pet projects in real time, on-site volunteering. I also click "ignore" for cute things like virtual hugs & gifts.

4) Hide & Don't Seek. Yep - I hide most quizzes, such as "What's your Native American Indian Name?" "What do your eyes say about you?" and the "Beach Personality Test." Say what? By hovering your cursor over each person's status area, a "hide" button will appear on the right side and you can either hide everything from that person, or just that particular quiz.

5) Stay Current. I briefly scan my friends' status updates 2-3 times a day to stay current, and only briefly comment when I actually have something to say or want to touch base with a friend or distant family member.

And there you have it - my fast, easy, efficient and fun way to use Facebook to stay connected. How about you?

I got a call on Wednesday afternoon from a realtor who had listed a 60-year-old "tear down" in Palos Verdes Estates that she wanted to improve upon before the open house on Sunday. By Thursday afternoon when I met her at the property, the painters had already started prepping. We agreed that they would start painting in the living room so we could bring in some furniture from the realtor's house along with my accessories and start staging the main living area the next day.

The next evening when I got there, they were still many hours away from being ready, so I unloaded some accessories and left. Around holiday activities and a wedding, I spent several hours there the next day with my helpful husband, the realtor and her family, and 3 workers. By Sunday morning, the painting was done except for touch-ups, so we set up the office, master bedroom and bath, hauled trash, washed windows and floors. Everything was finished on time except for the remodeling of the 2^nd bath, which will continue.

The first interested buyer came at 12:30, and the afternoon saw a continuous flow of people - some of whom had seen it the day before and couldn't believe the transformation.

Click on picture for slideshow

The pictures say it all.....well, most of it anyway. Needless to say, the owner of this home was unable to keep up with everything. We are thrilled to be able to present a lovely, livable home. Although it could still use some updating, a family could now easily live here with the work in progress.

While this home probably falls into the category of a quick extreme makeover, you can easily see what a difference "staging" has made. Yes, painting & pulling up the carpet made a HUGE difference, but still would have left an empty, uninviting space, obviously in need of updating. Any buyer would want to offer less than asking price.

For a small fraction of the sales price, this home is now welcoming and attractive. You can see why, according to the National Association of Realtors, staging statistics overall boast an 8-10% price increase. Vacant homes that had been staged sold an average of 85% quicker in 2008 over empty properties.

Occupied homes can also benefit from an inexpensive consultation and/or staging services by a professional certified home stager. Give us a call today to upgrade your properties from "Okay" to "Wow!"

The latest study by Real Estate Staging Association shows that in our worsening housing market, home staging shortens the time on the market by up to 89%.

With the changing market over the last year, many realtors and homeowners are wondering if the buzz about home staging is really true, or just a waste of time and money. Statistics from 2007 and 2008 have just become available through the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), proving that professionally staged occupied homes sold 46% faster in 2007, and up to 89% faster in 2008. Staged vacant homes previously on the market sold 68% faster in 2007; 85% in 2008.

Homeowners must take advantage of this relatively inexpensive investment opportunity. By properly preparing a home to entice buyers, homes sell faster, saving valuable equity for the homeowner and decreasing the time and cost of keeping a home on the market. And did you know that 63% of buyers report that they will pay for more for a home in move-in condition?

Real estate staging is one of three necessary strategies of selling homes - proper pricing for the size, location and condition, marketing and preparation (staging). The cost of staging is much less than a price reduction. With over 90% of home buyers using the internet to select which homes they will view, it is critical that your home be shown in its best possible light. To learn how we can help your South Bay home sell more quickly, call us at 310-809-7467 or visit our website at www.homestagingdesignsca.com.

Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Click on image to see slideshow

See press release at http://www.prlog.org/10190890-new-staging-statistics-prove-success-in-faster-home-sales.html