This article is delivered by Elliman Realtors, New York City Apartments.

Staging professionals across the world will agree that many of the things that we miss upon staging a home are simple oversights. In order to address many of these, we must first focus on three separate categories of neglect, and further break those down into separate do’s and don’ts. The first would be appearance.

Appearance

One of the most accommodating things any seller can do is make more room. The more rubbish you have lying around, the less chance you have of selling in a short period of time. In fact, the overall look of both the inside and outside of your home is priority #1.

What some stagers have deemed as “counter intelligence,” simply translates to keep your countertops clear. A home always looks dirtier when countertops, or floors for that matter, are covered in unsightly clutter.

Another notable word of advice is to play it safe. Refrain from hanging provocative decor (i.e. – deer head). Meanwhile, be sure to check your house for other distasteful furnishings. Dust, cobwebs or trash are three other examples of DO NOT DISPLAY.

Damages are serious no-no’s; Replace deteriorating wallpaper and cover scratches or holes in the wall and floor.

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HomeGain.com announced today that it has released the results of its nationwide home improvement and home staging  Home Sale Maximizer™ survey. Past findings from the survey have been a guide for thousands of home sellers in preparing their homes for sale.

HomeGain recently surveyed nearly 600 real estate agents nationwide to determine the top 10 low cost*, do-it-yourself  home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.

The top five nationwide home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers, based on average cost and return on investment (ROI) to sellers, are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($290 cost / $1,990 price increase / 586% ROI / 99% recommended)
2. Lightening and brightening ($375 cost / $1,550 price increase / 313% ROI / 97% recommended)
3. Home staging ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase / 299% ROI / 80% recommended)
4. Landscaping ($540 cost / $1,932 price increase / 258% ROI / 93% recommended)
5. Repair Electrical or Plumbing ($535 cost / $1,505 price increase / 181% ROI / 92% recommended)

Costs are averages and rounded up.

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Home stagers will tell you to keep your home attractive but neutral when hoping to sell quickly. It should be appealing to potential buyers and also allow them to envision themselves, their style, and their possessions in the home. How does that translate to holiday decorations?

Do wreaths, lights, trees, and holiday figurines have a place in a well staged home? How should you advise your clients when listing their homes around the holidays?

From a practical standpoint if your client is hoping for a quick sale, holiday decorations are one more thing to pack when it’s time to move. This helped me make the decision to leave everything tucked away in the attic when we sold our house this time last year. It helped that we were traveling for Christmas and my daughter still got to enjoy decorating the tree with Grandma. Someone who will be home for the holidays might prefer to keep up the annual traditions to minimize the disruption the family is likely experiencing with a house on the market.

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Fifty-seven percent of Georgia Real Estate Professionals Expect Home Values to Decline over the Next Six Months

Last month, HomeGain, the first company to provide free online instant home valuations, released the third quarter results of our nationwide survey of over 1,100 HomeGain current and former members and 2,600 homeowners. Our survey asked their opinions on home values and what they thought of President Obama’s performance as President. On this blog we published the 3rd quarter 2010 national results as well as the complete 3rd quarter 2010 regional results, including commentary from real estate agents and brokers.

Recently, we released the results of the  3rd quarter 2010 California home values survey,  the 3rd quarter 2010 Texas home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Florida home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New York home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New Jersey home values survey , the 3rd quarter 2010 Illinois home values survey the 3rd quarter 2010 North Carolina home values survey the 3rd quarter 2010 Ohio home values survey,  the 3rd quarter 2010 Nevada home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Michigan home values survey the 3rd quarter 2010 Colorado home values survey ,the 3rd quarter 2010 Washington home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Pennsylvania home prices survey  the 3rd quarter 2010Virginia home values survey and the 3rd quarter 2010 Arizona home values survey.  In the coming days we will be releasing home values survey data from and Massachusetts.

Today we release the result of the third quarter Georgia home prices survey.

Georgia  home buyers have long believed that home prices are too high in their state. In the first quarter 2009 Georgia home values survey, just 5% of home buyers thought homes were fairly priced. In the second quarter 2009 Georgia home prices survey not much changed with just 8% of Georgia home buyers believing that homes were fairly priced. In the third quarter 2009 Georgia home prices survey, only 5% of Georgia home buyers believed that homes were fairly priced. Little changed in the fourth quarter 2009 Georgia home prices with 7% saying that homes were fairly priced and 35% saying homes were overpriced by 10-20%. In the first quarter 2010 Georgia home prices survey just 6% of home buyers thought home prices were fairly priced and 37% thought homes were over priced by 10-20%. In the second quarter 2010 Georgia home prices survey the percentage of Georgia home buyers that thought homes were fairly prices jumped to 32%. In the current survey 17% of Georgia home buyers believe homes are fairly priced.  (see question 3)

Georgia home sellers also have long disregarded what their agents and brokers tell them about the value of their homes. In the second quarter of 2010 just 3% of Georgia home owners agreed with their Realtors’ recommended listing price vs. 6% in the first quarter of 2010 and vs. 5% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Last quarter, 32% of Georgia homeowners believed their homes should be priced 10-20% higher than their Realtors’ recommended listing price, down from 46% in the first quarter of 2010 vs. 48% in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 39% in the third quarter of 2009. In the current survey 12% of Georgia home owners agreed with their Realtors’ recommended listing price and 50% thought their homes should be priced 10-20% higher. (see question 2)

In the current survey 57% of Georgia agents and brokers expected home prices to decline over the next six months vs. 36% who so believed in the second quarter of 2010 vs. 25% in the first quarter of 2010 vs. 30% in the fourth quarter of 2009 vs. 32% in the third quarter of 2009 and vs. 27% in the second quarter of 2009. In the current survey 33% of Georgia agents and brokers expect home prices to remain the same over the next six months. Forty-eight one percent of Georgia home owners expect home prices to remain the same over the next six months and 39% believe they will decline. (see question 6)

Georgia real estate professionals surveyed continue to disapprove President Obama’s performance with 71% disapproving vs. 69% who disapproved in the second quarter. In the first quarter of 2010, 58% of surveyed Georgia agents and brokers disapproved of the President’s performance. (see question 10) Sixty-five percent of Georgia home owners surveyed disapprove of the President’s performance with 55% “strongly disapproving”.  In the second quarter 60% of Georgia home owners disapproved of the President’s performance. (see question 10)

Set forth below is the third quarter 2010 real estate professional and homeowner Georgia home prices survey data along with the 2nd quarter 2009 and 2010 real estate professional survey data along with the third quarter 2010 national home prices survey data.  Click on each question to see complete results:

1. Have home prices increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last year?
2. On average, what do homeowners believe that their home is worth?
3. How do buyers feel that homes for sale are priced?
4. What is the average difference in price between what sellers believe their home to be worth and the amount at which the home gets listed?
5. What is the average difference in price between what a home is listed at and what a home sells for?
6. In the next six months, will the values of homes in your market increase, decrease or stay the same?
7. What percentage of homes for sale are foreclosures in your area?
8. What is the average home price in your area?
9. What percentage of your clients are first-time buyers?
10. How do you think Barack Obama is performing in his role as President?

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In July, HomeGain, the first company to provide free instant home valuations online, released the second quarter results of our nationwide survey of over 3500 home owners and 900 HomeGain current and former members. The survey asked their opinions on home values and what their opinion of Barack Obama’s performance as President. We published the complete 2nd quarter 2010 national results as well as the complete 2nd quarter 2010 regional results, including commentary from real estate agents and brokers on this blog.

Recently, we also published the results of the 2nd  quarter 2010 Texas home prices survey, Florida home prices survey , California home prices survey, New York home prices survey , New Jersey home prices survey , Illinois home prices survey, Georgia home prices survey, North Carolina home prices survey, Massachusetts home prices survey, Virginia home prices survey and Colorado home prices survey results.

Today we are releasing the Nevada home prices survey results.

Set forth below are the agents and brokers second quarter 2009 and 2010 Nevada and the national second quarter 2010 data. Also set forth below for selected questions is the Nevada home owner response data for the second quarter of 2010. Click on each question to see complete results:

(click on each question to see complete results):

1. Have home prices increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last year?
2. On average, what do homeowners believe that their home is worth?
3. How do buyers feel that homes for sale are priced?
4. What is the average difference in price between what sellers believe their home to be worth and the amount at which the home gets listed?
5. What is the average difference in price between what a home is listed at and what a home sells for?
6. In the next six months, will the values of homes in your market increase, decrease or stay the same?
7. What percentage of homes for sale are foreclosures in your area?
8. What is the average home price in your area?
9. What percentage of your clients are first-time buyers?
10. How do you think Barack Obama is performing in his role as President?

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“Reuse, Reduce and Recycle” is a tune my grammar school son chants all the time. He learned it in school and I have even found myself chanting it at times. And as with anything, once something gets in to your head you find yourself applying it to your everyday life.

As Earth Day approaches I am excited by how I have applied some of the “Green” principles of my son’s song to my own home staging business in Marin. As home stagers, we try to have environmentally sustainable designs that improve our environment rather than detract from it.

REUSE & RECYCLE

The most obvious is that we reuse our furniture for home staging. And when we need to add to our collection we try to buy locally so we can reduce transportation costs and waste.

When clients are thinking of replacing their upholstered furniture I suggest that they have their furniture recovered rather than just throw it away. Upholsterers can recycle the furniture to look like new, with half the waste as buying new, and half the cost.

REDUCE

Lighting is also an easy way to be eco-friendly. Before any open house Realtors turn on all of the lights in the home. This creates light and a welcome environment. This is also something I do before a party when I want my guests to feel welcome and the energy in the house come alive. But before wasting all of that wattage consider using only compact florescent light bulbs. Switching from a traditional light bulb to a CFL is a simple change everyone can make to reduce up to 20% of our greenhouse gases without skimping on the ambiance.

Another way we reduce waste is to reuse our packing materials over and over again rather than have our moving companies use new materials. Continue reading this post