We aren’t kidding when we say the market is rough and that you need to stage your home to sell it as quickly as possibly to avoid taking a loss. Here are some terrifying facts from foreclosure1.com:

• Last October 115,568 foreclosures had been listed 
• This year it is 224,451, showing a 94% increase.
• In October the ratio was 1 foreclosure for every 555 houses.
• The foreclosure filings are inclusive of default and auction sale notice as well as bank repossessions.
• 45 states saw a high jump rise from last year.
• Year by year the number is still up but it had leveled during the last two months after making an all time record in August this year.
• The pace has slackened most probably because of the lenders bending to pressure and beginning to modify terms of loans. Another reason may be a lull in filings after the shooting up following a new surge in interest rate rise.
• It usually takes two to three months for a borrower to be marked as defaulter after the reset sets in.
• Roughly 2 million loans are about to reset in the following eight months. Inevitable this would lead to a surging of foreclosures.
• In October lenders repossessed more and more houses after failing at the trustee auctions. Very few of those who were marked foreclosed managed to save their houses.
• In Ohio especially 45% of all the filings were bank notifications for repossession.
• In Missouri and Michigan the numbers were 46% and 37% respectively.
• Apart from the sub-prime other causes were economic woes like job loss.
• Nevada topped the foreclosure list with a ratio of 1:154 compared to the national average of 1:555.
• In October the filings numbered 6,618 showing a rise of 20% from September and triple that of what it was in the same month the previous year.
• In California the ratio was 1:258 but it recorded the highest number of foreclosures – 50,401. It had come down by 2% from September but triple that of what the numbers were in October 2006.
• The ratio in Florida was 1:273 with the state recording 30,190 foreclosures. It was a 9% drop from September but up by 165% from the previous year.
• Ohio showed 1:290 with 17,276 foreclosure listings – 10% more than last month but 136% higher than the last year.
• The other top ranking offending states were Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, Indiana and Illinois.

A great idea to spoil yourself or someone you love is to create an at home spa sanctuary or give a spa gift basket.  Purchasing these items are much more affordable than a day at the spa and a whole lot closer to home. To do an at home luxury spa treatment, you should focus on touching all 5 senses. Here’s how:

• Sight - Start by clearing out the room. Who can relax when they are looking at clutter? If you are giving a spa gift basket to a friend, you can’t exactly clean her bathroom for her, but you can give her a large enough basket to quickly shove all the clutter into. Flowers, candles, and plants are spa must haves. Think of choosing relaxing colors like whites, pastels, ocean, or sky tones.
• Sound - Give a CD with relaxing music.  These can be found almost anywhere in the music and even fitness sections of the store. A “Do Not Disturb” sign is a great addition for those who have to lock themselves away for a rare moment of alone time.
• Smell - This ties into the candles and flowers. Pick scents that de-stress such as lavendar, ylang-ylang, or lemongrass.
• Taste - Add to the spa gift basket a mug and a relaxing herbal tea like chamomile, an organic juice, or her favorite gourmet coffee. Chocolate truffles or chocolate covered strawberries are other great additions. Everyone loves to be pampered.
• Touch - Nothing feels better than a warm fuzzy robe after a hot bath. Add a couple different sizes of plush white towels to the basket. Go for a high thread count cotton for both the robe and the towels. Other ideas to add to the basket are massage oils, scrubs, masks, body butter, etc.

Other ideas to add to the basket are a book, magazine, or a home-made gift certificate ”Good for __________ (fill in the blank).” Get creative and be thoughtful. Who wouldn’t appreciate a gift basket full of hand selected luxurious indulgences?

Say goodnight to hotel wake up calls and blaring alarm clocks and say good morning to HiH66 by Hotel Technologies.  Alarm clock, iPod player, and radio all in one, now you can wake up or fall asleep to your own music while on the road. Bonus - it even charges your iPod or iPod shuffle when it is docked in one of the stations. Plus it resets daily so you won’t be disturbed by yesterday’s out of town guest’s settings. Similar products are also available for your home without the single day alarm setting. It’s simple, sleek design is easy to use and goes with any decor.

K+BB (Kitchen and Bath Business) magazine is one of my favorites, because of my background as a professional NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) trained kitchen designer. Here is a list of the top 10 kitchen requests interior designers receive:

1. Sub-Zero refrigerators
2. Solid surface, granite or quartz countertops (not tile).
3. Fully integrated appliances
4. Pullout pantries
5. Warming drawers
6. Timeless, not trendy designs
7. Wine refrigerators
8. Stainless-steel appliances
9. More storage
10. Products clients pull from K+BB

Women are the top consumers, holiday season or not. So well designed stores and savvy salespeople and real estate agents use marketing strategies to appeal to their number one customers… the ladies. Females are responsible for the majority of household purchases (including major appliances) and remodeling and building desicions. Women analyze more when it comes to making a purchase and don’t follow a direct path. Instead they explore their options.

Women like to talk about what they want. Figuring out her preferences - whether you are selling her a home, redesigning her home, or buying her the perfect Christmas gift - is easier than you may think. Pick up the hints… What is behind her purchasing decision? What is her lifestyle? What magazines does she read? What emotions can you appeal to? Does she use the internet to shop online? 

Use these clues to help buy the woman in your life a fabulous gift or to sell to your feminine target market.

Is Black Friday really all it is cracked up to be? I personally shop all year round searching for (or just stumbling upon) great deals. Believe it or not, sales happen everyday, not just on the day after Thanksgiving. And I don’t have to stand in line for hours in the freezing cold rain and snow mix that is inevitable in Northeast Ohio in November.

Well I guess that’s just my opinion. Share your story. What are your Black Friday fabulous finds and exciting experiences?

A place for everything and everything in it’s place, right? Definitely a good idea when it comes to the linen closet. Yes, the door is closed and guests can’t see the mess, but what about someone who is viewing your home? A prospective home buyer will open your closet doors, and if they see space and organization, subconsciously they think that they will be organized too if they buy your house. The opposite is true if the closet is overflowing. They will think that there is not enough space to store their own linens and towels, regardless of it’s true size.

Here are some tips from Good Housekeeping on organizing a linen closet:

• Relocate random items that do not belong in the linen closet
• Remove and recycle past-their-prime bedding, towels, and tablecloths.
• Arrange what is left by use - seasonal pieces (quilts, beach towels) go on high or low shelves in clear plastic bins (for dust protection and easy recall).
• Keep everyday textiles at eye level with dividers to prevent topples.
• Organize bath towels by set, except for washcloths which tend to get lost in stacks.
• Store washcloths rolled in sock-drawer dividers.
• Stash extra toiletries in bins, baskets, or boxes.
• Hang special occasion tablecloths on over the door towel bars. They won’t be creased from folds.
• Line your closet with contact paper to prevent snagging.
• Label areas of the shelves so you can easily locate items (queen sheets, twin, etc.).

Hectic lifestyles, busy schedules, and the love of the television can make spending time with the family a rare event. National Game and Puzzle week was created to get families to spend time together playing a game or piecing together a puzzle. Patch Products, a company that produces games such as Blurt!, Malarky, Tribond, Talkin’ Tango, and others not only created the week long event, but also goes a step further by sponsoring the Million Minute Family Challenge. “We wanted to create a nationwide Challenge to remind families to take the time to make communication a priority — to clear the table, pull out a game and get a conversation going. Since 1994, we have sponsored an event called National Game and Puzzle Week annually during Thanksgiving week.” So instead of just saying what you are thankful for, stuffing your face, and crashing in front of the t.v., pull out an old favorite like Monopoly or Life and spend quality time with the ones you love.

Maybe you are thinking, “How does this relate to staging?” Well, I suppose we’ll give you a free tip. To stage a game room, set up a game in progress on a card table. The potential buyer will get the impression that they can have a fun and entertaining lifestyle in your house, which might lead to a signed contract and a sold home!

Susan Smith of Rooms that Work in Farmington, CT wrote a beautiful blog post called “What is home staging? How about what it is NOT!” on her Blogger site. This beautiful inventory of facts from my fellow stager and activerain member really impressed me. Below is a sampling of her list.

Home Staging is NOT:

“…Decorating - Anyone can make a home look decorated. Staging is about marketing your home to your target buyer. In fact, personal taste has nothing to do with it. It’s about making a great first impression that creates an emotional connection with buyers and helps them imagine themselves living there.”

“…Just for high-end homes - Every home deserves the best chance at selling quickly and for top dollar whether a starter home or a mansion. Remember, you are competing with other homes within your price range!…”

The list continues with 8 more facts on what staging is not. Check out Susan’s blog to read the rest. You’ll be surprised!

Feng shui is the art of balancing and harmonizing the flow of energy in our homes and other environments. Often we can get a sense of energy when we enter a home. We say, “it feels cozy” or “it’s cold and bare.” In your own home you may see the clutter or work and instantly lack the energy to get things done. When we stage a home, we focus on making the space feel good to the buyer by addressing the clutter, maximizing positive energy, and touching all 5 senses.

Clutter literally blocks energy. People see clutter in a home and assume that the whole house is cluttered or not maintained. Buyers even assume that they will not have enough room to store their own items regardless of how much more square feet they would get.

To maximize energy make sure that furniture is arranged in a way that allows traffic flow. Never place furniture in front of a fireplace (fire is literally energy). Adding a fountain is calming but water flowing is also a positive movement of energy. We all know that light is energy, so open up the blinds and window treatments. This also adds the perception of more square footage, carrying the eye beyond the interior to sell the exterior views.

The five senses are critical to a sale but often overlooked. We address them in both feng shui and staging. First impression usually comes from sight. The rest of the senses follow but are all equally important to making a home feel good.