Atlanta Georgia Home Staging : January 2009

This was a sign I read on a corner of an intersection a couple of weekends ago.  Not only did it catch my attention, it's a sign I haven't forgotten. And yes, if I were in the market for a home, it's highly likely that I would have jotted down the information and paid a visit for a couple of reasons; 1) they obviously have a great sense of humor (I like that in people) and 2) I'm curious to see the lawn (smile) and the FREE home that comes with it.

Had the sign been your typical "House For Sale" you can be rest assured that I wouldn't have noticed.  And sadly, the yellow signs that look like they are all individually hand written no longer capture my attention.

All that said, I was so intrigued by this sign that it got me brainstorming.  Here are a few of my ideas:

As you can see in this first one, it's going to take some cooperation from my husband.  He keeps harping on the "what-ifs", like nicks, bleeding.  You know, all that silly stuff that men worry about.

I, of course, keep telling him that if he truly loved me, he would do this for me.

As of today; 4:51 eastern, he hasn't budged.  I'll keep you posted.

     Okay, I'm in Atlanta with the Atlanta Motor Speedway less than an hour away.

Surely this would be a hit at the race track.  Right?  If nothing else, it would tickle-me-pink that each of the drivers, as they sped around the track, would be reminded  that Home Staging Atlanta.com exists to help them sell their home more quickly.   So what if they're going hundreds of miles per hour.  

Or wait.  Maybe the real purpose behind those banners are for the fans.  Duh.

All kidding aside, it takes clever and unforgettable marketing to help sell any product.   The sign "FREE House with Purchase of Lawn" really did exists and again, is a sign I won't forget.

If you too have seen some clever marketing ideas, I'd love to see them.

Kathy

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Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392.

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About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...

Well you’re not alone.  The question; "how do I arrange the furniture?" is perhaps the most frequently asked questions I receive.  And with reason.  Most sellers have seen enough shows on TV to understand that there's a need to change.  However, they're challenged on exactly what changes would benefit them the most.  

Let's begin with reviewing the objective:  

The objective for the seller is to showcase the features as well as the space the home has to offer.

How is that accomplished?

• Find the feature you want to highlight.  Perhaps it's the fireplace in the living room or the built-ins in the keeping room.  Your objective as a seller is to draw the buyers' eye to that feature.
• Add visual space. This can be accomplished by removing an item or two from the room.  For example, if you have two end tables today, try removing one.  If you have a dining room table with a leaf and 6 chairs, try removing the leaf and two of the chairs.
• Expose your flooring.  This is especially true if you believe this to be a feature of the home. Try removing the rug or reduce the size of the rug you use.  Yes, area rugs can add warmth but if over-sized, then you risk covering up one of the best features of the home.

With those basics in mind, know that it's perfectly okay to have a room re-arranged 5-6 (or more) times before you settle on the right arrangement.  

Also know that there are experts in place that are use to "putting the pieces together." An experienced home professional can easily help you identify the features, knows what it takes to add that "visual space" and can recognize what features may be hidden and need to be exposed.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...

Call it an inherent trait; when I do something, regardless of what it is, I strive to do my very best.  My ultimate goal is to be proud of what I've done.  I know I'm not alone.  In fact, I firmly believe that the majority of people strive for the exact same thing.

I'm also not naive.  "Born at night; but not last night", as the saying goes.

One of the things that I work hard at is my web site.  I work hard at the verbiage it contains, the photos it houses, etc...  And like most who take pride in their work, I spent (and spend) hours in an attempt to stand out.  One of the things I'm most proud of, as a home stager in Atlanta, are my photos.  In fact, I have the following verbiage:

There are no purchased photos, no pictures from catalogs nor have photos been altered in any way other than to lighten or sharpen them.   Photos of staged rooms are true illustrations of our work.

Those 34 words above represent many things; 1) an investment in my camera 2) an investment of my time 3) an indication of just how proud I am of the transformation that occurred.

Unfortunately these 34 words along with 365 additional words were copied verbatim from my home page last week. That amount represents about 70% of all the words contained on my home page.  The month before, there were two individuals who also thought that it would be "okay" to copy my work.  Fortunately, I use Copyscape throughout the month to ensure my hard work, the work I'm so proud of, isn't copied.  

So... How did I handle the plagiarism? I sent a polite note asking that they remove the duplicate copy immediately.  Given the importance of 'not having duplicate copy' I requested that they notify me when the content had been removed.  The result.  All three individuals had removed the content in less than 24 hours. All three complied with my request and sent me notification when they removed the content.  And while all three made claims that their web master did it, one finally admitted that she had spent hours looking at web sites and admired my work so much, decided to copy it.  I'm sure she knew it was wrong.  I'm also quite sure that she didn't think I would ever find it.  What she obviously didn't know is just how proud I am of the work I've done!  

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...

If you've ever worked with a home stager, then you know first hand just how creative these individuals are.  And while we work our magic in homes, we're constantly on the look-out for creative ways in which to market our service.

Fortunately, I found one by having read through some Active Rain posts.  One of my favorite bloggers on Active Rain is Teresa Berry.  Teresa is a real estate agent in Seattle serving the Northwest.  If you're looking to buy or sell your home, I highly recommend her.

So why is Teresa one of my favorites?   It's because she shares such great information.  Every time I turn around, I'm learning something new from her posts. The first was the ribbon banner in the upper right hand corner.  See it?  It reads "Portfolio."  If you click that button, it will take you directly to my portfolio page on my web site.

Last week, Teresa shared a valuable site called Wordle.  Direct from the Wordle website, here's a description:

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

I've made about a dozen or so thus far and with each new one comes a new marketing idea (and new colors and layouts).  And before I forget, it's FREE!  

Here's one I made just moments ago.  

Thanks, Teresa, for sharing!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...

One of my objectives in 2009 is to reach as many homeowners as I possibly can with solutions on getting their home sold more quickly.  So... at the tail end of last year, I did some out-of-the-box thinking along with one of my partner Realtors, Kirsten Conover with Prudential Georgia.  The solution:  Offer a free seller seminar that would benefit all in attendance.  The plan is to have Kirsten share her perspective as a Realtor and for me, to share insight into things that truly make a difference when a homeowner puts their home on the market.

Sure, this is an investment of our time.  And truth be told, we won't truly understand the impact we'll have until months later (if ever).  However, I can say with all the certainty in the world - it's going to feel good to give.

The event is this Saturday, January 10th between 2-4 p.m.  I'll be sure to create a blog post to let you all know how it went.

GETTING IT SOLD!

Give yourself an edge in this challenging market! FSBO's welcome!

Exclusive, one-time FREE home selling/staging seminar sponsored by Georgia Interior Solutions and Prudential Georgia Realty Midtown. Learn the secrets of selling your home in this challenging market from a top Atlanta home stager and Realtor!

When: Saturday, January 10, from 2-4 p.m.

Where: The Prudential Building 1409 Peachtree Street (park on 2nd level)

Atlanta, GA 30309.

For Reservations:

Call Kirsten Conover (404) 386-1103

Call Kathy Nielsen (678) 522-8392

From Kathy Nielsen, Home Stager:

* Learn how to avoid the 5 most common mistakes made by home owners in showcasing their home.

* Learn the best way to arrange your furniture to highlight the features as well as the space.

* Learn which rooms are "key" to the potential buyers visiting your home.

From Kirsten Conover, Realtor:

* Learn how to see your home through the eyes of a buyer's agent.

* Learn how "not being in a hurry to sell" can actually cost you money!

* Learn the pros and cons of selling "as is".

* Learn Why 87% of all For Sale By Owners eventually use a realtor.

Feel free to bring along photos of your home and questions for one-on-one consultation after the seminar.

**Attendees will be entered to win free staging for one room in their home from Kathy Nielsen OR a free Open House held by Kirsten Conover, including on-line marketing, signage, balloons and refreshments. **

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, we only had two people attend. And while that may be discouraging, this will not prevent me (or Kirsten) from doing them on a regular basis.  Why?  Because I truly believe it's information that's of extreme value to the sellers.  In fact, we're scheduling another for February!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Georgia Interior Solutions (GIS), LLC is Atlanta Georgia's Premier Home Staging Provider.  Owner and Real Estate Staging Expert, Kathy Nielsen has appeared on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You can also see one of her staged homes on HGTV's hit show Sleep On It.

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.  Contact them today for your free no-obligation appointment:  678 522 8392.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...