One of the most requested services my company, Home Star Staging provides is a home staging consultation. And if anyone is wondering whether there is value in a home staging consultation, I'd like to provide an answer to that question for any skeptics out there or those who may feel there is no value in this service.
For those who feel that they don't need or cannot afford to stage their home using the services 
of a professional home stager, I'd like you to think again. A home staging consultation is your personal blue print to do that very service yourself, enlist the help of others or hire the home stager if budgets allow and it is most affordable!
In fact, I dare say you cannot afford NOT to have this service at your disposal if you have any questions about the marketability of your home in its current condition.
A home must stand apart from the competition in today's tough real estate market!
Any home at any price point could benefit from a staging consultation with a professional home stager.
Here are 2 things you can expect to gain from a home staging consultation:
Buyer feedback is crucial to understand why buyers may not be interested in your home. This important information is often non existent but you get the message loud and clear when your home has been sitting on the market for months, price reductions are taken and still you receive no or too low offers.
Recent Home Staging Consultation result:
Last Friday I provided a home staging consultation for a North Texas home seller whose home had been on the market over 45 days. The house had multiple showings but received NO offers. When I arrived at the home the seller informed me that a showing was scheduled that same afternoon just after our consultation. I really felt the need to make sure we could do some work in the 2 hour time frame that could help showcase the home better.
I immediately identified a few areas that needed addressing and we quickly went to work. Yes, the home seller and I worked together in the 2 hour time frame to get some things moved, fine tuned and "tweaked" before the showing. From what I could initially see, the home was clean, neat, very de-cluttered (in fact too much so) and well, lacked some warmth, appeal, purpose in some areas and flow was a problem in another area.
We were able to do some of the work and I also made further recommendations to be done after I left. We got a lot accomplished in a short time frame and my client was surprised at the difference the changes made in how the house "felt" and showed.
Home staging is not just cleaning, neutralizing and de-cluttering folks, sometimes I think too many Real Estate professionals overlook that and recite that mantra and some homes are actually too stark and unappealing due to a lack of "stuff".
Neutralize does not mean sterilize.
I left hopeful for the client's prospects after these changes and thanked him for allowing me to provide him with the service. I don't always hear back from my consulting clients but this time I did the following Monday. The message was short and to the point and I've included it here below:
"Hello Karen. Thank you for your help last week. The people that came by after you left made an offer on my home." Jeff D.
I followed up with an email and asked if it was an offer that was acceptable to him and he answered yes and I congratulated him and am hopeful this will go through to a successful closing.
If you're still a skeptic you may be thinking this was just luck. For those who believe in the power of home staging and the marketing and merchandising of properties to showcase them to their fullest potential this was no coincidence.
Home Staging has the ability to get a home noticed on the market, it can create buyer appeal and the desire to purchase. It can be as simple and affordable as a home staging consultation or a full service staging job if a budget allows.
If you sell homes or you are selling a home, one of the best values for your marketing dollars is to consult with a professional home stager.
Professional Home Stagers are here for YOU!
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For expert advice on preparing a home for sale contact Home Star Staging, a Real Estate Staging and Consulting company. Home Star Staging is here for you North Texas!
Copyright 2009 Karen Otto
Selling a home?
Then staging your home is like gettin
g 
ready for a big date.
Only it's your house that has to impress its potential mate.
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For expert advice on preparing a home for sale contact Home Star Staging, a Plano,TX based Real Estate Staging and Consulting company. Home Star Staging is here for you North Texas!
COLLIN COLLEGE, Plano,TX IS OFFERING A HOME STAGING COURSE STARTING SEPTEMBER 16th 2009. This is the only session being offered for the Fall Term 2009. Next course offering will be in Spring 2010.
This Home Staging CE course is designed for the home seller or professional real estate agent to prepare a home for resale. Learn from a professional home stager the benefits of home staging and how staging a home can help you achieve a faster sales time and top dollar.
Please note:This course is not designed for those interested in starting a home staging business.
REGISTER NOW!
1. GO TO www.ccccd.edu/ce
2. LOCATE CE Courses at the top of the page then find Workforce Development. Go to Real Estate.
3. Under Real Estate you'll find HOME STAGING.
4. At bottom of page you may login to register. Make sure to type in CRN 70110 Home Staging (WECM RELE1091).
WHEN: Mondays - Wednesdays 6:30 - 8:30 PM, September 16 -28th, in Plano, TX
WHERE: Collin College Courtyard Center (across the street from Border's Bookstore) 4800 Preston Park Boulevard Plano, TX 75093-Call to register by phone: 972.985.3711
Address & Directions: 4800 Preston Park Boulevard, 75093 google map | yahoo map
Cost of class is only $69 for 2 weeks of fun, informational, and practical instruction.
Class instruction provided by Professional Home Stager and North Texas home staging expert Karen Otto, ASP, RESA, owner of Home Star Staging www.homestarstaging.com
If you are interested in having an in-home staging consultation or more information on staging your occupied or vacant property please contact Karen@homestarstaging.com or by phone 469.964.0516
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For professional home staging services and expert advice on preparing a home for sale in North Dallas & Collin County, TX Home Star Staging is here for you.
THIS IS JUST A REMINDER FOR North Texas Home Stagers. The Dallas RESA Chapter formation is well under way and we invite you to attend the next meeting.
RESA is open to any and all professional home stagers regardless of affiliation, accreditation or not.
Please join us for this 2nd start up meeting as we:
Please visit the www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com website for your membership application and more information.
This is the 2nd of 3 meetings with the 3rd meeting being the "first official Dallas Chapter meeting" once we've laid the ground work, gotten the commitment from members who are willing to take leadership roles and other members who are interested in stepping up and growing the home staging industry locally through our Dallas RESA Chapter.
PLEASE RSVP by July 28th to karen@homestarstaging.com or this blog post with a comment.
ATTENDANCE IS LIMITED TO 50
I'm excited to have this opportunity and hope you are as well! I look forward to growing our chapter with you!
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF RESA TO ATTEND!
Graciously hosted once again by CORT Furniture Rental at their Irving Conference Center please see the details below for more information.
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Irving CORT Rental Furniture and Clearance Furniture Center |
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Greetings North Texas Home Stagers. The Dallas RESA Chapter formation is well under way and we invite you to attend the next meeting.
Please join us for this 2nd start up meeting as we elect the board members for the Dallas RESA Chapter on July 30th, 2009. We will open the floor to additional nominations should there be any however you must be a current member of RESA in order to be considered for a board position as well as vote. There is still time to join prior to the meeting too.
Please visit the www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com website for your membership application and more information.
This is the 2nd of 3 meetings with the 3rd meeting being the "first official Dallas Chapter meeting" once we've laid the ground work, gotten the commitment from members who are willing to take leadership roles and other members who are interested in stepping up and growing the home staging industry locally through our Dallas RESA Chapter.
PLEASE RSVP by July 20th to karen@homestarstaging.com or this blog post with a comment.
ATTENDANCE IS LIMITED TO 50
I'm excited to have this opportunity and hope you are as well! I look forward to growing our chapter with you!
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF RESA TO ATTEND!
Graciously hosted once again by CORT Furniture Rental at their Irving Conference Center please see the details below for more information.
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Irving CORT Rental Furniture and Clearance Furniture Center |
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There is never a second chance to make a first impression. Make your HOME the STAR attraction in the competitive TX Real Estate market. I don't sell houses but I help houses sell! Call 469-964-0516
I am a Home Staging Professional in Plano, TX specializing in marketing and merchandising resale properties in the Collin and North Dallas County, Texas real estate market and I am an expert in the field of home staging.
With a passion for Real Estate and a diversified marketing background, I understand the relationship of each to give homes for sale a competitive edge. I work to get my client's property sold quickly and for top dollar. Home Staging is a marketing tool in preparing a property for sale much like any other marketable product.
Please visit my website at Home Star Staging for more details .
I am passionate about educating the Real Estate Community on the benefits of home staging.
Offered throughout the year at the Preston/Park Courtyard Center campus, I teach an affordable, highly informative CE course on Home Staging at Collin College, Plano, TX, for Realtors, Sellers, Investors and anyone else interested in learning more about how home staging can improve your bottom line.
Home Star Staging welcomes your questions about a home ready for sale and home staging and how it can help you achieve your home sales goals and get you on track to prepare your home for sale. While locally serving Collin and North Dallas counties, Home Star Staging is available to Home Sellers, Realtors, Investors, Home Builders and anyone with a desire of the knowledge about how home staging can work for you. Please call 469-964-0516 or email karen@homestarstaging.com. Thank you!
Education, Memberships & Associations:
On a Personal Note
I am a native Miamian,(FL) who was transplanted to Texas in the fall of 2001 when my husband, took a job transfer here. It was the hardest move of my life but also the most pivotal. It took me from the comfort zone of the familiar territory I grew up in and made me branch out into new and exciting adventures. I thank God for the priviledge and honor of being the proud mom of two healthy, beautiful children. I want for them to see their mom as a role model and a contributor to our family's life in more ways than just being "mom". We all wear many hats, but our children need to know that it's OK to learn and grow even as an adult, that I don't know everything and that's all right. What an eye opener to realize that life is a never ending source of adventures and learning experiences and each day brings a new chapter.
I love the saying that, "the best things in life aren't things at all" No words have rung truer to me.
I wish all of you the best things in life!
Check out my staging articles at 
I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from Florida International University and am an ASP Home Staging Professional. With a diversified background in marketing in the corporate and private sector, and an eye for design I know what it takes to get a house seen and sold. I look at a property through the "buyer's eyes".
provides these and other services to assist you with the sale of your home;
Let us take your house from "For Sale" to SOLD!
Call 469-964-0516 for additional details.
"There's never a second chance to make a first impression!"
What Clients have to say
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"Karen, you have done an excellent, fabulous job on my listing. You probably provided 30-40 times of value, for the price I paid. [Verbal Consultation] You have exceeded my expectations by a great extent. I am going to utilize your services for all my professional and also, personal needs. For a person as skilled as you are, you have absolutely no airs, you are very flexible, friendly and personal which makes you wonderful to work with."
S. Chaparala, Realtor®, DFW Realties, Dallas, TX
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" ...Home staging is a concept that we were unfamiliar with when we started the process of preparing our home for market. Karen came to our home to introduce us to the concept. While walking through our house, talking things over with Karen, our home started to change; it was becoming a commodity to sell. It was no longer our things that mattered; it was about making the house look its best... Needless to say, I came home to a transformed and beautiful house...I believe the real key to everything was de-cluttering and placing key pieces of furniture and paintings in locations that emphasized the high points of our house while making our home inviting to others. When someone comes into my house I am proud to show it. We also have received many compliments from agents showing our home.. Both Dave and I are sold on the Home Staging Concept!"
David and Catherine D., Home Sellers, Plano, TX
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"I have to tell you that the home you helped stage [verbal consultation] at Old Shepard Place in Plano had an offer in 2.5 days! The other home you staged hasn't been listed yet. But both clients were so satisfied with your suggestions & assistance that they commented they loved the way their homes felt after staging & promised to never go back to the clutter again."
C.Hahn, Realtor®, Coldwell Banker Plano, TX
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"We closed on the house today. I just wanted to thank you very much for all of your hard work. I think staging the house is what made it sell so quickly. I was so impressed with your professionalism and attention to detail. I did not have to worry about a thing. I will definitely use your services again."
Kathy H., Investor, Frisco, TX
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"I cannot tell you how impressed we are with what you did at our
house! We love it! Thanks again!"
Paul B., Home Seller, Dallas, TX
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"I just wanted to let you know you did a beautiful job staging my home using my things and yours. You positioned the furniture and nick nacks to accent the features of the house and you were very aware of height and proportion. Your ideas of what to remove from the house and what to repaint were very helpful. I loved how it all looked when you were done! The absolutely best part was that we had a great offer on our home 10 days later! Karen, your services were invaluable! When we move into our new home In the northeast, I am planning to use your ideas for paint and to arrange my furniture and things. Thanks so much! "
Angie M. Home Seller, Plano, TX
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