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Change is Motivating This Holiday Season

The other night I found myself watching “Stripped”, a new show on Bravo.  It’s more than a show about stripping participants of their clothes, personal possessions and excesses.  It’s an opportunity for participants to reflect on themselves, their life direction, their loved ones and, generally, what really matters.  Participants are given 21 days to figure this out and to make changes.  What a great concept!! Obviously, the rest of us don’t have to get stripped to come to this revelation.  Any significant break that allows us time to stop, reflect and evaluate our priorities or what we want in life is a good thing.  I started my journey a little over two-(2) years ago when I started my home staging business.  While it’s been challenging, I love how it’s changed me.  I’ve grown.  I’m stronger for it.  I give back. Overall, I’m more in touch with what truly matters.  What a great feeling!  I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You owe it to yourself to find your happy place.  I challen
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Home Staging is Not Just a West Coast Thing

Several months ago I attended a networking event in Edgewater.  As I was preparing to leave, a gentleman standing nearby asked me to explain home staging.  After offering up an explanation, he immediately equated it to "that HGTV thing".  He added that New Jersey is slow to pick up on this new trend and that home staging is a "California" thing.  Was I hearing him correctly?   Did my ears deceive me?  Did he actually believe that home stsging is better suited for the West Coast than the East Coast?  I wonder how many other people actually share this view. On the off-chance it's more widespread than I suspect then, my challenge is to educate potential clients and real estate partners of the merits of professional home staging in the buying and selling process irrespective of which coast or whether in a buyers or a sellers market.  The staging goals remain the same: To transform a property from empty, cluttered or dated to one that is show-worthy and appeals
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National Small Business Week is April 30 - May 6, 2017 Only...So, Buy Small Everyday!

Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year. As part of National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S. territories. Every day, they’re working to grow small businesses, create 21st century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness. This year, National Small Business Week runs April 30 - May 6, 2017, however buy small everyday.  Go out of your way to support us.  The big guys are so very convenient, but please inconvenience yourselves to buy small.  Practice this until it becom
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Staged and Sold in 3 Days

Are you struggling to get your house sold?  Is your listing stale?  Are you not getting the foot traffic needed to increase the odds of selling your house?  If it doesn’t sell soon, are you on the verge of carrying two-(2) mortgages and facing a real financial burden?  How can you push the process along?  One possible solution is to stage it. Home staging is defined as the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace.  The goal of  staging  is to make a  home  appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. There are only two-(2) times you must do this:  Now and Right Now.  If you’re hemin’ and hawin’ about what it’s going to cost, just think what it will cost you, if you’re forced to carry two-(2) mortgages until you first house is sold.  The small investment in staging will more than pay for itself with the return you get from selling your property.  It typically costs far less than
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Would You Hire a Generalist When You Need a Specialist?

Have you ever hired a generalist to do a specialist’s job?  If so, what was the outcome?  If your experience was anything like mine when I hired the wrong contractor, you probably did not fair too well. It’s easy to fall into this trap because many of us are looking to save money and may not fully appreciate the value a specialist brings.  We may think a generalist can pull off the job, but quickly learn that it comes at a price.  Also, indecision as a result of over-thinking or over-analyzing whether to hire a specialist can cost us far more time and money in the long run. As a professional home stager, I see this quite often.  Based on my experience, the key is to educate prospective clients on the home staging process and the amount of prep work required to get the home in sell-ready condition before it is listed.  Once homeowners and realtors see the value of home staging and understand the statistics around why it works then, they’re better able to buy into the initial stagin
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Street Fairs And Home Staging Don’t Always Mix, But What Fun!

THE STAGE IS SET What a great day to be out.  The last weekend in September.  The weather was awesome – just right for a fall day and a street fair in Westfield.  I arrived about 12:30 PM to relieve a member of our business networking group who had covered an earlier shift at our table.  Upon arrival, I couldn’t help but notice the amazing sights, sounds and smells of everything wonderful about street fairs from the crowds, to the array of food trucks for all the “foodies” out there, to the more than 300 vendors, to bands cranking out tunes on the makeshift stage and to the air-filled bouncy tents attracting the little ones.  Having had a light breakfast, my stomach still had that low rumble that we sometimes get when we’re hungry.   I couldn’t help but notice the aroma of the mouth-watering grilled lamb, chicken gyros, sweet potato fries, shish kabobs, crab cakes, polish sausage, hots dogs and burgers – you get what I’m saying?  When you’re hungry, they’re all calling your name.  T
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