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?

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.

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.

When it comes to basements, everyone wants fresh air without too much moisture or water damage. No one loves basement smells, especially potential buyers who are critiquing every aspect of you home. To avoid the hit-you-in-the-face sudden stench of cellar, clean the carpets and use a dehumidifier. 

Note - One general rule of staging is not to run appliances during showings, so having a dehumidifier exposed is like raising a red flag. Hide them during showings.

The first of the nation’s 76 million baby boomers are expected to reach retirement age in 2011…

Senior moving services, a growing $7 billion dollar industry, is increasingly in demand. Seniors’ children are busy business people with their own children and daily duties. To make their parents’ moves easier on both the elderly loved ones and the family member, there are many companies offering senior moving services. Of course it is crucial that the children stay involved during this difficult time to be there for comfort. But these movers do everything possible to make the homeowner feel at home. An example of this is literally photographing bookshelves and setting them up in the new home exactly like they were in the previous home.

We have listed some of our resources to help make the transistion as comfortable as possible.

Organizers - The first step is to have someone come in and organize the years of build up. Belongings will be sorted and like-items will be with other like-items. This is a key to packing.

   National Association of Professional Organizers - http://www.association-office.com/napo/referral/index.cfm

Stagers and interior designers- As stagers we can help a homeowner make decisions on which items to keep and which ones they can take along to the new home. We also help shop for new furnishings that fit the smaller home.

    Staged Makeovers  www.stagedmakeovers.com

Senior moving services - These specialists make the move seemless and preserve the memories and comfort of the homeowners.

   Smooth Transistions - http://www.movingforseniors.com/about.html

This definition of VOC came from one of our favorite design websites, Plinth and Chintz, were you can find almost any interior design related term. Plus they have the best newsletter in the design industry.

“The initials V-O-C stand for “volatile organic compound,” which is essentially any organic compound which evaporates readily to the atmosphere. Why are we listing this term in the DESIGN SPEAK section? Because they are a hot topic in the growing Sustainable Design trend. VOCs contribute significantly to photochemical smog production and certain health problems. These organic substances easily become vaporous / gaseous, and they are often used as quick dry solvents which, upon evaporation, give off volatiles, an increasing environmental concern. You know that “new car smell” or the lingering aroma hanging in the air after the installation of new carpet, hard-surface flooring, paint, or wallcovering? VOCs! Therefore, in an effort to improve the health of the planet, as well as the health of the end-users of their products, many manufacturers have developed (and are continually refining) production methods to lower, and ultimately eliminate, VOCs in their products.”

Hmmm… I heard that the new car smell is actually formaldehyde. Why would anyone love that smell?

Earlier this month beloved Bombay, a furniture and accessories company, filed bankruptcy. 420 stores are now liquidating and that means complete clearance of the inventory. Stores will start closing soon. Now is the time to stock up on some really great accessories for your home. Happy shopping. Bombay will be missed.