That is FAST CASH. Despite the fact that we are in a down market throughout the better part of the entire country, and we keep preaching “buy and hold, buy and hold” logic never replaces the allure of fast and sexy cash. Everywhere I go, there are new investors entering the market, not for the common sense marketing strategy of holding properties which will create true long term wealth for you, but rather, that good old fashioned “GET RICH IN REAL ESTATE TODAY” why on earth would you wait or want to get rich slow philosophy.

Well, there are a few reasons…First of all, there are a ton of great deals out there right now for those of you willing (and brave enough) to have tenants for a little while. There is so many inventories on the market that you can really negotiate a sweet deal, then you have the luxury of waiting a few years and can get top dollar when you sell, while your tenant has been paying down your loan.

Another reason that you may want to think about getting rich slowly when you decide to “get rich in real estate today” is that many people who get rich quickly, get poor quickly as well. They usually are buying in a quickly appreciating market and don’t actually know how to invest properly when the market is not appreciating at an insanely high rate. Hence, they lose faster than they gained, and don’t have the knowledge to go back and work in tougher markets. There are still appreciating markets out there, Seattle and Mobile, to name a few, but boy are there only a few. Continue reading ‘Fast is Still the Sexiest’ »

Recently I have been speaking in the warmer areas of the country, twice this past month in Florida, February, I am in Hawaii, March, Houston, Atlanta and The Bahamas…you get the idea. What is so interesting is that it forces me to understand everyone’s definition of “cold.” It does not really seem to matter where you live, once we hit November and the temperature dips, it is still cold to the person that lives there. The advantage of the warmer climates in the colder times of the year is, of course, more options for curb appeal. Curb Appeal still seems to be the greatest mystery of all. I am amazed at how people continue to ignore the second most important component in staging and selling. But, if Curb Appeal is the second most important component in staging and selling, what is the first? Marketing. This month though, with that big “marketing” teaser out there, I want to talk about pure, solid, much needed, curb appeal.

Here are the TOP 15 most powerful steps in creating great curb appeal:

1. Cut the grass

2. Plant grass seed if needed and keep it watered

3. Trim along the sidewalk and driveway

4. Trim and form hedges and shrubs

5. Paint or replace your mailbox Continue reading ‘Top 15 Most Powerful Steps in Creating Great Curb Appeal’ »

In the past month, I have been traveling extensively and it seems to me as though that is not going to stop any time in the near future. The reason, very simply, is the lousy state of real estate. What is interesting is that my Simple Appeal method is quickly gaining nationwide recognition, because, at the risk of sound arrogant, it works. The truth is that effective staging works and should be used every time. In a sellers market, it will serve to transact the property at a much higher price than other comparable properties. In a buyers market, it serves to transact the property faster. After all, time is money and there is no greater example of this than when you are still paying for a mortgage that you thought would have been gone months before.

As my system, services and speaking become more and more in demand; it tells me that people become more and more aware of what it takes to still run successful real estate businesses no matter the market condition. How many times have you looked back in life over something that seemed very tragic and ultimately you were grateful for the lesson (sometimes this takes awhile…I know!)? That is what is happening right now. We are being taught many lessons, and if we pay attention, we will continue to thrive today, but even better, we will explode our businesses on the next market transition.

Most of you know that I am a very active real estate investor. As a matter of fact, that is how got my start as a Professional Home Stager. Okay, I digress… As we watched our market comes to a screeching slow down (in other words, the real estate brakes were slammed on)—I had to focus on reworking my staging system and then repositioning it as well. It is what forced me to come up with the “5 Steps to Selling Real Estate in 30 Days or Less.” As a result of that, I recently sold nearly $80,000 in 75 minutes to investors that knew that my system would help them to transact their properties faster—and they are right. The difference between my system and that of everyone else in the staging and design industry is that I know real estate and I know what it takes to sell a property. I did not get in this just to make a property pretty, I did this to sell. Continue reading ‘Home Staging Training The Schaefer Synopsis’ »

This month in the Staging Report I want to talk about something so exciting, you will hardly be able to sit and read this at the same time. No, you will jump for joy, scream at the top of your lungs and no doubt, run naked thru the tulips. What could possibly be so exciting? Rugs. I know what you are all thinking, that I definitely need to get out more, and yes, I do realize that, but please, hear me out on this one.

Rugs are probably the single best staging item you can get. That is why I generally will pay more for a better one, so I can use it time and time again. Why are rugs so great?

Well, you can use them to add color to any room. If possible, I even drape them from a wall or over one wall into the next room. They also carry, color throughout a house. Your rugs don’t all have to match, but if you can match a color or two in each rug from one room to the next, now they have the appearance of all going together. The best general color choices are to start with a neutral pallet and then have color or pattern added from there. Try to look at rugs with either a neutral border or a neutral center, and then you will always have the option to coordinate with the opposite pattern. One thing that I find continually is that people want to add heavy design in small houses. Although you can and should have design on your rugs, unless the house is huge, it should be kept to a minimal. If you can see a rug from a rug, in other words, the rooms are open to one another; you must make sure the rugs coordinate. This not only makes it more aesthetically appealing but when you go to use those rugs again, they already match, so you are one step ahead of the game. Continue reading ‘Home Staging Why Are Rugs So Great’ »

It seems as though it does not matter where I am, people are saying the same thing. “How do I sell my houses?’ I was just in St. Louis last week and as I was giving a one day seminar, the biggest concern was the increasing days on market, currently up to 180!

Nearly every investor in the room was sitting on properties and you could almost feel the pain in the room.

Last week I had an investor from New England call about 2 investment properties in Florida and he was upside down by $40,000-$60,000 on both!

My heart bleeds for these people. Not just the investors, but everyone that bought too late and is trying or needing to sell too early. Real estate is not for the faint of heart and you should definitely make sure that you can lose before you begin. Continue reading ‘Staging Your Home How to Sell Fast’ »

Have you ever seen a MR. Clean commercial? Isn’t he clean? Don’t you wish he would just come over and take care of all of your properties for you? Some big shaven headed one earring wearing really clean guy all in white—you got to love it. There has to be a song in there somewhere.

My topic today though, is cleanliness—you know who it is next to!

Sellers, Agents and Investors will do one of two things.

1. Not realize their property is dirty because they have been living in it for so long that they just don’t see it.

OR

2. They will have it cleaned once in the very beginning, but not ever again. Continue reading ‘How to Properly Clean and Stage Your Home for Sale’ »