Jo Adams

When preparing a home for sale, don't forget about the front entrance. Curb appeal is crucial. No matter how fabulous the interior, if the outside is a turn off... buyers won't ever come inside!

Spruce up the color! The first thing noticed is the color. Use neutral paint colors to enhance the homes features and detract from it's imperfections.

If repainting the exterior isn't an option, consider using some paint to liven up such areas as the front door, garage door, shutters, porch trim, and railings.

Replace or repair worn or outdated items. Easy fixes with a big impact are exterior lighting, mailboxes, planters, house numbers, door hardware and welcome mats. If the home has a storm door... remove it. An entrance without a storm door is much more inviting.

Tidy up the lawn, fill in any bare garden areas with new flowers or shrubs. Set decorative planters and a cozy pair of chairs near the front door. De-clutter the yard and porch area, keeping it free of things like rakes, shovels, shoes, sports equipment, garbage cans and recycle bins.

Last, but certainly not least, keep the front area clean. Windows, walkways, driveways and siding may be in need of a good power washing.

Once these are done, you will have created that much desired 'curb appeal'.

As Professional Home Stagers, the worst thing we can do for our business (and everyone else's) is to devalue our time. By doing so, we undermine our own success... after all, if we don't think our services are worth much, neither will the prospective clients!

If you're not charging at least $150-$200 per consultation or more in urban areas, then maybe it's time to revaluate what a professional home stager's services are worth.

We are the experts in our field and our public persona needs to be that of a professional home stager. By properly pricing your professional services and then marketing their value accordingly... you will be perceived as an expert and your business will reflect that.

For a tech challenged 50 yr old like me, publishing a website is a major accomplishment. I know there are some out there who can do it in their sleep, but not me!

I used a simple pre-made template with www.vistaprint.com and voila... a baby website is born. It may not be much, but it addresses the client's needs, what I offer them, my contact info, before and after pics, etc. It even matches my business cards!! I was impressed with myself!

I am open to constructive criticism, so take a look and let me know what you think. As I learn more, I'm sure it will morph into something much more, but for now it gets me out there on the world wide web!

www.serendipityredesign.com

For a few days, these Ozark hills looked like a sparkling crystal palace of ice... beautiful to behold, but deadly if you're not prepared. We thought we were...

Oh, we have been through ice storms and power outages before... we're on well water, so we'll draw up some water to drink and enough flush the john, nothing to it.

Tuesday Jan. 27 our electricity went off around 10am and didn't come back on until the afternoon of Friday Feb. 6. We were not prepared. Luckily, we have a wood stove and lots of firewood to keep us warm. There were a few nights that dipped down into the single digits and I slept on the couch to keep wood in the stove throughout the night.

The cold nights and lack of utilities weren't the worst of it, not by a long shot.

Tuesday night, as the trees began to get heavy with the frozen rain that had accumulated on their barren branches, started to crack, snap and fall. Some coming down with the ferocity of a rocket launcher. This horrifying sound repeated every 10-15 seconds, with each sound another tree was breaking and falling on whatever was in it's path. With the darkness, the sounds were even more amplified, sounding like each branch was coming into the house with us. I felt as if we were in an all too real Stephen King horror movie.

With the dawn, came the realization that it was, infact, like a war zone outside. The devastation to our 34 acre hardwood forest was unimaginable to me. It was still unsafe for humans or animals to be outside with the falling treetops. The creaking, cracking and crashing continued throughout the day Wednesday and with nightfall, it was a repeat of the night before. I again, paced the floor, afraid to sleep in my own bed for fear that a tree would come crashing in on top of me while I slept.

The temperature Thursday was above freezing, so the ice began to melt and this made the trees move even more... they began to spring back up from the heaviness of the ice. Now we are pelted with melting ice and falling limbs. Up until now only minor limbs have actually fallen on the roof, since we had the forethought to have the trees around our house trimmed last year. We must have missed one, cause it landed on the porch roof and smashed through where I had been standing not 5 minutes earlier trying to get a cell signal.

It took my husband 2 days with a chain saw to clear our 200 yard driveway of fallen tree limbs so he could return to work. Upon returning home that afternoon, he had to cut up 3 more trees that had fallen while he was gone, to get back to the house. I spent my days carrying in enough wood for the entire night, melting wax on the woodstove and pouring up candles, so we could see to walk around the house at night. All we had to entertain us was a deck of cards and a battery operated radio... we listened to KTLO oldies... it was Frank Sinatra week. I now know everything there is to know about Frank Sinatra.

We came out of this ordeal without any physical damage to us or our pets. One car has $2500 of damage and we are waiting for an insurance adjuster to arrive to determine the property damage. Many throughout Arkansas and Western Kentucky were not so lucky. I know several people who are homeless now, because their homes were so damaged they are uninhabitable. I know from a real estate stand point, it won't help the property values in an already depressed market. Our timber is like gold.

But, hey... look on the bright side... we might get a few more HD channels on DISH Network nowl

One lesson we learned, is that we were NOT prepared. We now have purchased a whole house propane generator (that, a dozen pkgs of C batteries and 5 cases of bottled water is our contribution to boost the ailing economy) that will be installed next week. It didn't help us this time, but maybe... just maybe, we'll be more prepared NEXT time.

Home staging is one more opportunity for today's home seller to give their home that competitive edge. Seasoned Realtors know that staging is essential in today's slower market to ensure that their client's home will sell for the highest price, as quickly as possible.

While the market today has taken a slight downturn, lengthy time on the market can result in the loss of equity for the homeowner. Consulting with a Home Stager can help you prepare your home for showings and reduce the time the home is on the market. The result will be more equity in your pocket when you walk away from the closing table.