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If you watch Design Star, you’ll know this Latino cop who loves interior design.

Who’dda thought?

Enjoy the videoclip Verdugo sent in to be on the show!

Full Story Here!

Rebecca

Stager Idol Winner Announced

Kathleen Garvey from Ft. Myers Florida takes All in first ever Stager Idol Competition sponsored by the Real Estate Staging Association.

Stager Idol Winner Announced
Ft. Myers, FL, June 07, 2008 –(PR.com)– The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) is very proud to announce Kathleen Garvey of Enhanced Interiors & Home Staging has been selected as the winner of the very first Stager Idol competition for Professional Home Stagers, the property merchandizing arm of the Real Estate Industry. Kathleen Garvey has been a professional stager in Fort Myers Florida has many supporters, Joe Hall, Affiliate Chairman of the Cape Coral Realtors Association of Cape Coral, FL, says homeowners and real estate professionals should “Experience the Difference” a home stager can provide when selling a property. With Kathleen Garvey’s staging expertise, creativity, and knowledge, rest assured that the property will be showcased as one of SW Florida’s finest properties. The extra touches Kathleen adds to a home make a world of difference in selling a home quickly. They are very proud to hear of her “win” and Jeffrey D. Peterman General Manager; Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings said, “With great energy and enthusiasm, Kathleen Garvey takes staging to the level of excellence that sets the bar in the industry. In our continuing effort to support Home Staging in SW Florida, Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings congratulates Kathleen on the outstanding international win of Stager Idol.”

Garvey went through 4 stages of the competition. First there was a public vote to determine the top ten finalists. Those top ten submitted staging projects in a report format and those were judged by the Celebrity Judging Team to move to the Final Five Finalists. The Final Five submitted another project and the round continued to the Top Three contestants. Those contestants participated in a final round of judging consisting of a phone interview with each of the celebrity judges.

Celebrity Judges; Ann Maurice; the House Doctor, Stephanie McWilliams with the HGTV hit show Fun Shui, Margi Kyle of TV’s Desperate Designs reviewed the staging projects and award points to each contestant ultimately Garvey pulled ahead in points and was determined the winner.

Garvey will receive, fame and cash and prizes totaling over $12,000.00. Sponsors of the competition include Real Estate Staging Association, Certified Staging Professionals, Dewey Color Systems, Smart Stagers, Brook Furniture Rental, Kirkland’s Home, Active Rain, 3 Ddream.net, Feng Shui Cure, Feng Shui Plaza, Village Workroom, Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (IRIS), Inventory Guardian, Stager Talk Magazine, Real Estate Shows, Trade Secrets, Diva in the house Radio.

For more information on Stager Idol or future sponsorship opportunities please contact Shell Brodnax at shell@realestatestagingassociation.com. For more information on Kathleen Garvey please call 239-849-6009 or visit www.Enhancedinteriors.net

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0805/gallery.resg_gainers.moneymag/index.html

Well, who knew little old Rochester would come in at #2 for Hottest Housing Market? Although the majority of big cities are experiencing a housing price “adjustment”, smaller cities who never experienced a big bubble are still chugging right along. Click the link above for full details on the top ten cities on the rise.

So, if you’re looking for good housing prices with a potential for going UP in value, check out my fair city of Rochester, New York!

And if you ARE trying to sell a home in less than favorable market, do yourself a favor and learn some home staging techniques (my e-book at http://home-staging-secrets.com is a good place to start and way cheaper than hiring a professional stager).
Rebecca

I just read the March 2008 Consumer Reports on interior paints and was pleasantly surprised to see that the best quality paints are also some of the cheapest! The best overall paints were: Kilz Casual Colors from Wal-Mart, Behr Premium Plus Enamel from Home Depot and Dutch Boy Home from Wal-Mart. Of course, they had specific recommendations for sunny rooms which would require more fade resistance and specific categories for best flat, low-luster and gloss paints, but those 3 are all good values no matter what your needs are. And they all cost around $20 a gallon.

So do some spring cleaning and then indulge in a new color, or two. At those prices, you can easily enjoy living in a staged home right now! No need to wait to put your home on the market to add a little panache.

Rebecca, who is currently remodeling her kitchen!

P.S. I just tested out the 3 paints mentioned above and was very pleased with Kilz and Behr paint. Dutch Boy, which is the lowest price of the three, was very runny and did not provide good coverage compared with Kilz and Behr. So, although cheap is good, the cheapest is NOT so good! Just thought I’d share my experience with you.

I just read this great blurb that clarifies what expenses can and cannot be deducted from your gains, along with realtor’s fees and legal fees incurred during the sale of your home.

Here’s a quote straight from the article posted at: http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/551615.html

“Specifically, home staging would be considered “advertising fees” and would fall under the allowable selling expenses.

Second, you may be able to negotiate with your Realtor and add the expense to the commission paid for selling the house. Either way, the same result is accomplished, and the services provided will be considered deductible.

That said, if the home stager recommends the entire interior needs a fresh coat of paint, these selling expenses are not allowable deductions.

Bottom line: Paying for the home stager’s services is deductible, while expenses for repairs, maintenance or permanent redecorating of the house are not.”

Tax time is coming soon, so be sure to keep track of your deductible Home Staging expenses,
Rebecca

Bay Area home sellers offer timely tips for getting your house ready to sell: Get the pricing right, and do your home staging homework!

Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/20/REDOUF7J4.DTL

Okay, many of you have been eagerly awaiting the release of my Color Palette Selection Guide. The Guide focuses on a 5 step plan to help you choose your own custom color palette with the end goal of successfully home staging your house to sell. It also contains 9 interior palettes with 2-3 neutral wall colors, one accent color, and one trim color if you don’t feel courageous enough to design your own custom palette. There are also 3 exterior palettes to create fabulous curb appeal for your home. These paint choices utilize Sherwin Williams paints and are “safe enough” for home staging yet exciting enough to warm the heart’s of your prospective homebuyers.

The Guide also contains 8 do-it-yourself home decor projects with step-by-step instructions for: refreshing wood, faux finishing, painting kitchen cabinets, creating a linen texture with paint, creating your own color-coordinated artwork, window treatments, pillows, and replacing worn chair seats. In addition to these projects, you get a painting checklist and a painting order chart for goof-proof painting.

I have also included a frequently asked questions section that answers your top 9 questions about painting and choosing a color palette. I even wrote about how to deal with special situations like — what to do with that retro blue bathtub, how to update 80s kitchen cabinets, how to handle ugly wallpaper, how to properly stain a deck, and how to deal with paneling and popcorn ceilings.

Just head on over to http://Home-Staging-Secrets.com to check it out!

Warmly,
Rebecca Wolfe

Sherwin Williams has a great fall line up featuring paint colors that are very chameleon-like, meaning they change color in different lighting. These colors are great for home staging or preparing a house for sale. Here’s a page with their listing of these special colors. I have the Ivoire in my house and it is a grayish yellow that shines in the morning sun and retreats to a pale glimmer in the evening. Very nice for living areas!

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Sherwin Williams Fall Colors

Rebecca

Here’s a press release about a new home staging course just for realtors. This is a great topic for agents to get informed about, given the changes in the market.
Rebecca

RISMEDIA, August 22, 2007—The real estate industry, while morphing through its tough time adjusting from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market, has created quite a buzz surrounding home staging. While home staging isn’t a new concept, it has certainly found new life in the eyes of today’s sellers and real estate professionals.

Although there have been many quality courses around for many years, and being a “Professional Home Stager” is unquestionably a unique and full-time career for many people, there is a growing need for agents to improve their general knowledge about this subject to effectively serve their clients.

According to Thomas M. Mitchell, SVP of RealtyU, many of today’s sellers are anxiously looking to use every advantage they can get to ensure both the highest possible price and the fewest number of days on the market. Many may opt to use a fulltime stager to “re-make” their house from a home to live in to a house to sell, while many others are just looking to their real estate agent to provide general staging tips and guidelines on how to make their home show better.

“For that very reason, the one-day Accredited Home-Staging Specialist (AHS) course was created,” says Mitchell. “At RealtyU and its school network in over 42 states it’s all about helping the agent become more knowledgeable and better prepared to provide the home buyer and seller the best and most professional experience they can.” The AHS course provides an excellent overview of staging and guides the agent through the entire process providing hundreds of tips, suggestions and solutions to every staging issue.

The AHS course does an excellent job of preparing the agent to not only intelligently explain the process to the client but also assist them in putting together a staging plan. In some cases this may require the assistance of a professional stager and in others it may just involve showing the client how to “de-clutter” and “clean” to their greatest advantage.

Asked if this course is designed to make the real estate agent a professional stager Mitchell noted, “The AHS course is basic and fundamental in its format. It was designed with one purpose in mind – clearly and effectively provide real estate professionals with a solid understanding of the staging process and the elements involved. They need to be able to respond effectively when the sellers ask the question – what about staging? Real estate professionals are consummate facilitators and staging has become just one more part of the process they help their client through,” Mitchell said

The course is now available in over 200 classroom locations from one of the accredited RealtyU Affiliates (visit www.RealtyUSchools.com to locate the location nearest you) or online through a cutting edge, multi-media format at www.RealtyUOnline.com (check under (Designations).

Here is a press release from a new home stager in Canada.

Enjoy,
Rebecca

What is home staging or house fluffing and how can it help you?

Written by Kathy Somers
Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada — Apr 03, 2007 — /prbuzz/ — American’s have been using staging strategies since the 90′s but the trend is just starting to be recognized by Canadian homeowners.

In order to make a home more appealing to a wider variety of buyers it’s important to de-clutter and neutralize the space. Home stagers are able to take this marketing tool one step further. Buyers today are more real estate savvy, baking cookies and putting on a pot of coffee doesn’t cut it anymore in today’s competitive market. Beautifully decorated model homes have elevated the expectations of the homebuyer. Regardless of the market it’s important to stand out from the rest!

A “home stager” is a person who will come into your home and give advice on the things you can do to improve your homes overall appeal. Home stagers look at your property with the objective eye of a buyer. They help you to understand the things that are working for you and also the things that may need to be corrected or reworked.

Generally a home stager will do a 2-3 hour consultation. During this time they will go through each and every room with you and make personalized recommendations for your home. A home stager can also suggest paint colours furniture layout, and placement of artwork. Most home stagers will shop for you or accompany you on your shopping spree for decorative items, linens etc. If you need furniture rentals that can be arranged: as well as handymen and tradesmen referrals for any repairs or painting that needs to be done.

Professional help can range from $100-$150 per hour on average, although you can have a home stager do only the consultation and leave you to make the changes on your own. Most people should expect to spend 1% of the list price on staging. While that can seem expensive, it’s a great deal cheaper than your first price reduction which usually means $5000-$10,000 dollars. It’s up to you how much of the staging project you want your home stager to complete: from the consultation only, down to the final details of the showing.

The object is to create a pulled together look that is contemporary and appealing to the sophisticated buyers of today’s real estate market. Staging your home will give you a competitive edge.

Kathryn Somers, President and Creative Director of Stage it first would like to offer you your first hour of a home staging consultation free. To take her up on this exclusive offer, contact her by email at Kathy@stageitfirst.ca
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and mention that you saw this offer in the PRBuzz.

Before you call a real estate agent!
Before your first price reduction!
If your property is vacant!
Stage it First!

If you need any information on home staging, visit www.stageitfirst.ca or email Kathryn Somers at Kathy@stageitfirst.ca