This is the home I staged today for a fellow Keller Williams Realtor in my Overland Park office. It's always fun to help motivated sellers bring out the best in their home by using their own things.

    

Blog post by Melinda Bartling, Another Staged Home, www.anotherstagedhome.com , www.melindabartling.com
(913) 642-6814.

Part of my job as a Realtor, is previewing houses when they come on the market. My personal goal is to see at least 25 Overland Park houses a week. Sometimes, I grab Cyndi or Thom or both and we head out to see what's new on the market. Often times we talk about our business while we're out so we kill two birds with one stone. But we can be very critical. OUCH! Especially that Thom! And yet it's amazing what we see. These houses are on the market and people think it's ok to act like they live in the house. Not in this market, you don't. The way you live in a house and the way you sell a house are two different ways. And someone forgot (or probably didn't know) to tell those sellers what they need to do before they leave for the day. Yesterday at my office, we had a meeting about the houses on the market and how bad they look. It's just not me. It was embarassing some of the things those agents said they saw while showing houses to buyers. Today's buyers are looking for a reason not to buy your house and why it's ok to beat you up on the price when they do make an offerl. And it's in all price ranges. Don't let your guard down for one minute. You'll get caught everytime. And it's not worth it! Every showing is crucial. It might be that one buyer you're waiting for. But then, we stage houses to attract buyers versus waiting for buyers. There is a difference. And there are always more houses for buyers to look at. Today, in the area I work, 25 new listings came on the market. Yikes! Your competition is getting worse. Wise up - the clock is ticking on those tax credits!

Blogpost by Melinda Bartling, Accredited Staging Professional Realtor in Overland Park, KS, www.melindabartling.com

Every week, home sellers in Overland Park and surrounding areas call to ask me about my home staging services. Since we are well known in the Realtor community, many agents recommend us. Sellers tell me their feedback is good, nothing negative and everyone seems to love their house. But for some reason, they can't get an offer. Are they overpriced? I don't know. Does their house show well? They say it does. And yet everytime I go out and take a look, within 5 minutes I know what stands out to me from my perspective, as a home stager, as a negative. It's usually the arrangement of their furniture that is blocking the flow that will bring the offer. That's the most important part of our staging techniques that we use.Those are the tried and true secret weapons of our business - making us stand out from our competition. It's in the smallest details that most people don't even see. But it's keeping them from rising above their competition. How is your house standing out? Most houses pretty much look the same. What will you do to be different? I learned a long time ago, being just like everyone else doesn't get you very far. What is your competitive advantage? When you figure that out, you will sell your home. Until then, you'll sit on the market with the rest. It's not supposed to be painful selling your house. But sometimes it is. It's a shame people have to suffer. But they do. Have you been there?

Blogpost written by Melinda Bartling, Accredited Staging Professional Realtor in Overland Park, KS, www.melindabartling.com

What is home staging? What does home staging mean to you? What is the definition of home staging? I suppose it depends on who you ask. It also can mean different things in different parts of the country. I own a home staging company in Overland Park, KS. My definition is it's decluttering, depersonalizing and rearranging your own things to create the right flow that will attract the largest number of buyers. But there again, I am an Accredited Staging Professional Realtor so I probably look at home staging with a different set of eyes than most home stagers. When you also sell real estate, you get a different perspective about the way houses look because buyers are always commenting on things they see that they don't like. And I suppose I'm guilty too by making comments - such as - why would they put that there? That's odd. That makes no sense whatsoever. But looking at houses all day  can sometimes be entertaining but also sad because I know that if the homeowners would stage their homes, they would have a better chance of selling them. You see, buyers will continue to look until they find the house they fall in love with and are afraid of losing. So, for those home sellers who think we'll be back and maybe make an offer, they're wrong. There is always a better house out there...we're just waiting to find it! So when your home doesn't grab those buyers that are currently looking at it, you just lost another opportunity to sell your house.That's why our mantra at Another Staged Home and Amazing Rearranging, is "We Turn Great Houses into Hot Properties That Sell 50% Faster and For 7% More Money!" Before you hire someone to stage your home, you need to ask a few questions. What's their claim to fame? And what is their definition of home staging? But most importantly, you must ask yourself...how much longer do you want to have your house on the market?

Blogpost written by Melinda Bartling, Accredited Staging Professional Realtor in Overland Park, KS,  www.melindabartling.com

Last week a home owner in Overland Park called to ask me if I could take a look at her home and give her my opinion of why her house hasn't sold. This is not unusual. I make the statement that staging will cause a home to sell faster and for more money than a home that hasn't been staged. However, sometimes it's not only about the staging. The price also needs to be right. So when an overpriced house that has been staged doesn't sell, they blame it on the staging and people say home staging does not work. You also have to realize that you could take the same house and have 5 different stagers come in and you will have 5 very different outcomes. My staging business is built around 10 very stringent Staging Techniques we use to stage every home. I was trained by the lady who created home staging back in the 1970's. Yes, I know, you thought it came with HGTV. What a surprise! We stage to create the right flow that will appeal to the largest number of buyers. Many of the houses that we re-stage, were decluttered and depersonalized but the arrangement of the furniture and accessories doesn't work in my world. You will have different results from different stagers. We stage from a Realtor's point of view because we stage to get our listings sold faster and for more money. And we use those techniques.
 
Here's a testimonial from a recent client:

Melinda Bartling created a totally different look by rearranging our furniture and accessories in our Overland Park home. Our former realtor had hired a home staging company but our house never sold. Melinda came in and rescued us by giving us her opinion of why she felt our home did not sell. She said our furniture was in the wrong place to create the right flow to attract the most buyers. It made sense to me. She did a fabulous job of rearranging our things. We are actually excited about coming back on the market. Rosie Niles, Overland Park, rosieniles@yahoo.com
 
What's your opinion? What does home staging mean to you?

Homeowner, Robin Fish of Overland Park, KS said about Melinda Bartling & her home staging services:

"We hired Melinda to stage our Overland Park home and within two hours of coming on the market, we had our first showing and received a full price offer. Think home staging doesn't work? Think again. It was the best investment we'd ever made.

                                   robin.fish@hotmail.com

1.  Staging works
2.  Staging de-clutters
3.  Staging de-personalizes
4.  Staging rearranges what you have
5.  Staging makes you start packing
6.  Staging makes you throw stuff out
7.  Staging makes you donate to someone who needs your stuff more than you do
8.  Staging creates a better first impression to your buyers
9.  Staging makes buyers want to buy your home
10.Staging makes buyers think you really live like that
11.Staging makes buyers want to buy your home faster
12.Staging makes buyers want to buy your home for more money
13.Staging makes your home look bigger on the internet
14.Staging makes your home look bigger in person
15.Staging makes you donate your skinny clothes to someone who is skinnier than you
16.Staging makes you donate your fat clothes to someone who is fatter than you
17.Staging makes you donate your high school clothes to someone who would wear them
18.Staging makes you donate that torn up couch to someone who doesn't have one
19.Staging makes you pack away all those family photos
20.Staging makes you throw away those spices you've had since you've lived there
21.Staging makes you rent a storage place
22.Staging makes you feel like you've accomplished something
23.Staging makes you donate food that you're not going to eat to Harvesters
24.Staging makes you appreciate what you have
25.Staging makes you live without what you can live without
26.Staging keeps me in business
27.Staging keeps my Stagers happy
28.Staging helps you get started packing
29.Staging helps your home look better than your competition
30.Staging helps your home sell faster & for more money
31.Staging makes you say "WOW"
32.Staging makes your family say "WOW"
33.Staging makes your buyers say "WOW"
34.Staging makes you think about your next move
35.Staging makes you proud that you Staged your home
36.Staging will cause your home to sell fast for full price
37.Staging will allow you put up the SOLD FAST FOR FULL PRICE sign rider
38.Staging will make your friends happy for you
39.Staging will make your neighbors envious
40.Staging will make your enemies dislike you even more
41.Staging will make everyone wonder
42.Staging will make people think your home was underpriced
43.Staging will make you realize that the Staging made your home sell
44.Staging will make your neighbors who are selling very envious
45.Staging will make those same neighbors want what you got
46.Staging will make the entire real estate market come to life
47.Staging will make other sellers take notice
48.Staging will make the media think maybe the market isn't so bad after all
49.Staging will make your friends think you're a genius
50.Staging will make you think you were the smartest seller on the block