Congratulations to our president, Karen Otto, for making the 2022 Fixr Top 200 Interior Design Influencer. That makes it 6 years in a row!

The post 6 Years Running – Top Interior Design Influencer appeared first on Home Star Staging.

The post How to Stage a House: A Room by Room Guide. appeared first on Home Star Staging.

One thing I’ve learned about working with the media is that time is of the essence.

So if you are contacted make sure you can respond in a timely manner and if not, let them know you’ll help them find someone who can help them if not you.  Not only will this be a great way to connect with the reporter, it will also show your commitment to being a trusted resource for them as well as an expert in your field.

What you write and say IS being read and heard! Saying it consistently with passion and purpose is key.

Here’s the article which features Home Star Staging:   Home Staging Dos and Don’ts!

Here’s just a small a sample from the article of the Dos and Don’ts to get you started:

Home Staging “Dos”

1. Clean, clean, clean!
2. Focus on curb appeal. Clear the outside of the house, especially the front yard and front entrance.

Home Staging “Don’ts”
1. Don’t do nothing!
2. Don’t assume potential buyers will be able to look past your clutter and sloppiness.

The post Home Staging Dos and Don’ts appeared first on Home Star Staging.

One of my favorite tips to share with my clients when giving them information during a home staging consultation and explaining what to pack when preparing their home for sale is to

Pack up anything smaller than a cantaloupe. 

This reference for scale also helps eliminate any awkward or involved conversations that may ensue about said items smaller than this lovely fruit. It has nothing to do with me not “liking” the item(s) but it has everything to do with taking better MLS photos and removing the visual clutter, which very well may be covering up or overshadowing the parts of the home you are actually SELLING!

The cantaloupe is an easy to remember for scale visual that helps clients understand what needs to be packed without repeating in every room “pack the” (you fill in the blank & this includes small framed art or photos, examples below):

• Spoon collection
• Hummel, Precious Moments or other like collectibles
• Paper weights
• Turtle, pig, cow or other small fake animals that may roam the house collection (in my house it’s the pigs)
• The list could go on and on

Now some collections and items are contained in large curio cabinets or wall shelving units that may work for the collection. It is still a common recommendation to pack up those types of items (including the curio cabinet) however if a client refuses, it’s best to suggest that the entire collection be contained in one location as a group and to pack up any access outliers if there are a random smattering around. (You can’t win all battles).

I even shared this tip on FOX 4 Good Day Dallas! when I was asked to come in to do a segment on home staging. It’s that good! (can you find it?)

So if you need an easy way to help a home seller remember a visual to help them pack before photos and showings, feel free to blame use the sweet cantaloupe as a point of reference.

The post What Does a Cantaloupe Have To Do With Selling Real Estate? appeared first on Home Star Staging.

Even after receiving tips and information from a home staging consultation, a client may feel they have no budget to update their possibly very dated home.

A professional home stager worth their salt can offer up solutions for budget challenges even if the home seller can’t afford to do a whole lot. Home stagers aren’t in the business of making you spend more money but investing some to get you the best return along with providing real life, cost effective solutions to challenges you may have whether it be budget or design (aesthetic) related.

Here are 7 Money Saving Home Staging Tips with Great ROI & Results

1. Remove dark colors and wallpaper. In the vast majority of homes painting a light, warm, neutral color is the best way to go.
2. Remove heavy window treatments (or at least the valance & allow the side curtains to hang straight not “swagged”)
3. Get rid of excess large furniture (even taking the top of a china hutch off, eliminating a table leaf or removing a chair or two helps)
4. Clear the clutter to storage! If you don’t have time to sort before photos, sort once you move!
5. Remove tablecloths and knitted doilies from all tables.
6. Strongly consider removing or repurposing area rugs. Only rugs that anchor a space should be used, no scatter rugs!
7. Edit, edit, edit! Pack up ALL dusty faux floral arrangements, collectibles and knick knacks smaller than a cantaloupe. Less is often more when selling a home!

Even if you can’t afford higher-end updates or the purchase or rental of home furnishings, minimizing your décor & bringing in natural light can go a long way for a little buck ! Home staging can be affordable and give you a great return on your ‘sweat equity’ investment. Getting the advice from a home staging professional in your area is the first step to know where to focus and how to do  it!

The post No Budget for Staging? 7 Money Saving Home Staging Tips with Great ROI appeared first on Home Star Staging.

A couple of months ago I was contacted by the owner of an online career resource Job Shadow.com  that focuses on sharing all types of careers with students, professionals and anyone in the job market looking for truthful information on careers that may be of interest to them as they enter the job market or transition into new fields.

The Job Shadow interviews focus on real people working in real professions and all were asked to give honest, useful and insightful information to help others understand the jobs we do.

I was honored to be asked to contribute my story as a home stager.

Once I received the list of questions I took several days to compose my answers. It gave me pause at times to realize that some would be staging professionals would be looking at this as a potential resource for starting their own home staging businesses.

I took the request with the utmost seriousness and I hope that in my answers I would provide someone the real life experience of a working home staging professional.

On a very regular basis I receive many inquiries about starting a home staging business. These interesting inquires usually involve lengthy emails and even phone calls to help them understand the staging business. As my own home staging business has grown, I often do not have the time I’d like to be able to respond in detail. Now I use this interview to answer them.

Professional Real Estate Photography by Lance Selgo Unique Exposure Photography

SAR Student Training provides in the field hands-on staging training!

Here are the JobShadow.com questions:

• What do you do for a living?
• How would you describe what you do?
• What does your work entail?
• What’s a typical work week like?
• How did you get started?
• What do you like about what you do? What do you dislike?
• How do you make money/or how are you compensated?
• How much money do Home Stagers make?
• How much money did/do you make starting out as a Home Stager?
• What education, schooling, or skills are needed to do this?
• What is most challenging about what you do?
• What is most rewarding?
• What advice would you offer someone considering this career?
• What is a common misconception people have about what you do?
• What are your goals/dreams for the future?
• What else would you like people to know about your job/career?

I invite you all to take a look and job shadow me here ! I’d also love to hear your comments on the page if you’d care to share your insights as well as experience.

The post Job Shadow a Home Stager FREE! appeared first on Home Star Staging.

Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, if painting is recommended by a home staging professional or your Realtor, it’s best to do it before taking the photos and listing!

Here’s a recent example of a home in the Castle Hills area of North Texas in the high $600 K price range whose staging to dwell to staging to sell transformation took it from a rather Gothic style “castle” to a castle intended for a King!

When staging to “dwell” color is great, but this was too dark and too personal a choice for most buyer’s tastes in this traditional home buyer market.

Take your home from staged to dwell to staged to SELL!

The photo below is now Staged to SELL! ! Paint is often the biggest bang for your buck and gives a great ROI. Buyers often only know what they see and can’t imagine the way it could be. (Book shelves were staged using staging prop inventory from Home Star Staging)

Don’t take a wait and see approach for this easy fix!

The post Paint it Sold! appeared first on Home Star Staging.

So please let me share some insights and information with you to consider when interviewing a home stager.

Having a home stager is like having multiple service providers on call and a home selling “concierge” service at your disposal.  Not only do we come to your team with our own list of service providers (or provide those services ourselves) for you and your clients but we are advocates for you and your clients in the home selling process.  Your successful sale is our success! 

It matters to a home stager that the house sells fast and for the best price!

Staging works! This Highland Park, TX home sold in 8 days after Staging by Home Star Staging!

Does the quick sale of the home matter to your painter, plumber or carpet installer?

Home staging professionals are all about building and keeping equity in the home, not taking it away.

From this Home Gain 2011 Study below you can see the ROI for many of the services home stagers recommend and provide more than pay for themselves.

What really surprises me with this chart though is that although Home Staging is listed in the Top 3 of the ROI on the investment (299% ROI!), it’s in the bottom 2 of the % Recommended by Realtors section!

What gives?

If you’re a Realtor wondering how to incorporate a home stager into your listing presentation or introduce the concept to a client do you have some questions you’d like to ask?

What objections might you have to considering a home stager as part of your team?

Here are 5 thoughts that you may have if you’re a Realtor considering a Home Stager for your team with some answers.  (I’ll also be happy to help answer other questions that you have and I’m sure my fellow stagers will too.)

1. I’ve never utilized staging services before & don’t know where to start.
   1. This is easy! Start by doing an online search for home stagers in your market and checking out some websites and information they provide. Check their portfolios and photo galleries. Some companies use stock photography to showcase work, call the company and ask them if the work on their website is their own!
   2. The Real Estate Staging Association members also known as RESA  are great home stagers to call. RESA home stagers are committed to building not only their businesses but professional standards, education and adhering to ethical business practices.
   3. Make sure you ask if they are licensed and insured and get some referrals from them to follow up with. Not all home stagers are created equally.
2. I have already dismissed staging based on price.
   1. Home Staging services do not necessarily mean expensive! Many home stagers provide very cost effective and extensive home staging consultations.
   2. Every home at any price point can benefit from a home staging consultation.  A home staging consultation is at the beginning of a sales transaction like a home inspection is at the end of a transaction – a necessary part of every residential real estate transaction!  We help bring the offers to the table!
3. I have no idea how it works.
   1. When speaking to a home stager they should be able to clearly tell you how each of their services works. I encourage my Realtors to come along for at least the very first consultation so they can actually see how it works.
4. Am I expected to pay for it?
   1. No. Unless you want to provide a home staging consultation or other staging service as part of your listing package (which many agents do successfully & can actually secure more listings by doing so) a Realtor is never automatically expected to pay for the services a home stager provides. It is all in how you introduce it to your clientele and how you choose to work with your home stager.
5. How can I trust you with my clients?
   1. Building rapport, trust and confidence in your home stager will take at least one try! Making the phone call or email introduction is your first step.  Not all home stagers can be everything to every client just as not all Realtors can be everything to every buyer or seller.  Just like any other business relationship, trust takes time.

I hope this helps answer some questions or thoughts you may have and please feel free to post more questions and comments here.

I’m always happy to learn more about how I can assist YOU!

The post 5 Thoughts you may have when considering adding a Home Stager to your home selling team appeared first on Home Star Staging.

Please Note: This is the only session being offered for the Winter Term 2012. Next course offering will be in the Fall of 2012.

This fun, practical and highly informative Home Staging class is designed for the home seller, Realtor or ANYONE who would like to know more about marketing and preparing a home for resale using home staging.

Please note: Realtors: This course does NOT provide TREC MCE hours.  However I do offer and teach a TREC approved separate 2 hour MCE course should your office be interested in that.

Learn directly from a working Dallas Texas professional home stager, Karen Otto the benefits of home staging and how staging a home can help you achieve a faster sales time and the best price for your home for sale in the North Texas market.  Also included in this course are great professional photography tips for MLS photos using your digital cameras on the third evening provided by Lance Selgo with Unique Exposure Photography.

Please note: This Collin College home staging course is NOT designed for those interested in starting a home staging business.

This Frisco, TX home  featured above sat on the market OVER 200 DAYS this year BEFORE STAGING and showed how you see it in the first photo. AFTER consulting and light STAGING with some accessories provided by Home Star Staging in key rooms of the house, these sellers SOLD their home in 27 DAYS for 97% OF the LIST price! Staging works!

REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW WITH SEATING STILL AVAILABLE!

1. GO TO http://www.collin.edu/
2. LOCATE Continuing Education Courses at the left side of the page then find Workforce Development. Go to Real Estate.
3. Under Real Estate you’ll find HOME STAGING 

WHEN: Tuesdays & Thursdays February 7th through 16th, 2012 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.

WHERE: Collin College Courtyard Center 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

Investment: Only $69 for 8 hours of fun, informational, and practical instruction from North Texas’ own home staging expert!

Class instruction provided by Professional Home Stager and North Texas home staging expert Karen Otto,  RESA-Pro, owner of Home Star Staging www.homestarstaging.com

The post Home Staging Course offered at Collin College February 7th – 16th 2012 appeared first on Home Star Staging.

Included in the home staging consultation is a list of safety tips for client awareness. On rare occasions potential problems may arise with common items clients may have in their homes that may not even be considered. We grow comfortable in our surroundings and forget about certain things that may pose potential problems once strangers enter our homes while showing. Many household items and collections can present certain safety hazards and security issues. This is not to instill fear but a reality check of what today’s market may bring. Home sellers should be made aware of these things while in the process of selling a home.

In recent years there have been reports of attacks on Realtors locally and nationally. Here in North Texas a habitual offender in “open house” crime has been reported.  Theft is tempting when smaller valuables, cash and jewelry are left out in full view. Identity theft has become a crime that has affected someone we each know, maybe even you personally. Bills, invoices, credit cards and other personal information that we keep in our home offices or on kitchen counters are easily overlooked in our rush to leave before a showing. Prescription medications are easily accessible in a medicine cabinet, the list goes on.

While the vast majority of buyers are in the market to actually purchase a home there are others whose purpose may be far more sinister. Many, many people will be walking through your property and certain precautions are in order regardless of where you live.

The post Top 5 Safety Tips for Home Sellers appeared first on Home Star Staging.