May 23, 2011 at 09:42 AM · Posted under Lisa Rossetto-Glowacki
Clear jars: Gather up several clear jars, different shapes, lids or no lids and fill them with various items to match a room. Create a vignet of three of them on a table, dresser, shelf, or mantle. What to put in the jar? Think simple--different kinds of colorful candy; rocks or seashells; different types of branches; different types of nuts in their shell; Christmas ornaments; spools of colorful thread; buttons; crayons; soaps; soaps in fancy wrappers.
Textiles: The most obvious is a throw or afghan over a sofa or chair, but what about draping a nice afghan over a stair balcony? Take old decorative pillows and tie scarves around them for a new look. Something crafty for winter? Hang hand knit mittens or hats from a cord in front of the fireplace. In the bathroom? Layer small, decorative hand towels on the towel bar. Fashion a new, decorative shower curtain from a quilt or decorative sheet.
Walls: Feel like painting? Purchase blank canvas from an art store, some paints to match a room and paint abstract shapes and hang. Cluster small items on a wall to take up large space--12 plates hung three across and in four rows. Like that old calendar? Cut the 12 photos and frame them with matting to create an inexpensive wall grouping. In the bedroom, hang a grouping of lovely evening bags or scarves.
Bookshelves and bookcases: Arrange and pile books based on color of the binding. Mix in colorful vases and candles in between groups of books. Hang pictures from shelves in front of bookcases to obscure some of the books and create interest.
Posted by: 
Lisa Rossetto
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August 13, 2010 at 05:48 AM · Posted under Pat Tasker
It’s expected to be the hottest day of the year, and you have a request for a showing. Here are some tips and tricks to make it a success.
AIR CONDITIONING: If you’ve got it have it on!! It’s not the time to be frugal. If it isn’t on, or set too high, buyers wonder if it works at all or needs service. They will rush through your home and run back to the air conditioned car.
REFRESHMENTS: Refreshments? I should be serving refreshments? You’ve heard of baking cookies, well the hottest day of the year is not the day to turn on the oven. Let’s try something cool and refreshing. I can clearly remember a showing, many years ago. While I don’t remember the buyers or the exact house, there are 2 things I clearly remember- it was sweltering hot, and the refreshments! The seller had a tray on the kitchen counter filled with ice, bottled water and cans of soda. There was a note from the seller to enjoy a cold beverage and stay as long as we wanted to cool off. That was a smart move. If she had left a note that there were refreshments in the fridge, we’d feel awkward helping ourselves. But with the tray on the counter it was welcoming, and it worked! We needed the cooling off, and stayed longer in that home, than any other that day.
CEILING FANS: If you have them, use them. Don’t have them on high, sometimes that gives the appearance you are fighting a losing battle, or the noise is a negative distraction. Medium or low speed, gets the air circulating and creates a slight cooling breeze.
HUMIDITY: Don’t use the showers within a few hours of the showing. You don’t want any extra humidity or stickiness in the house. Cool and refreshing is what you are going for here.
COOKING: Like I said before, baking cookies is not in order today. Don’t add any extra heat (or smells) by baking or boiling before the showing.
BEDDING: Be sure at this time of year to change the bedding even more than normal. Sweat seems to cling to sheets and pillows and the college dorm dinge is not appealing on showings. Fresh and clean is what you want in bedrooms and baths.
POOLS: If you have one, show it off. That means the cover is off, the water is crystal clear and inviting anyone to dive in! 
The lawn furniture is also uncovered and set up in conversation areas, some pretty beach towels out. Even the table is set with some summer table ware like a colorful pitcher and glasses or those cute place settings you can get at Kohls (on sale) this time of year. Another memory I have is a buyer who requested to see a home, and the house across the street was also for sale and it perfectly matched their wish list. The only negative in their book was the in ground pool, which they said they’d never want. Since we were right across the street, and the house matched, I made them look at it. Guess what? They fell in love with it and really enjoyed that pool. What had happened there? Mr buyer worked in a very hot job, and he came to find the pool a great way to cool off and relax after a long day at work.
LAWNS: this is important no matter how high the temps are. A manicured lawn, watered, edged is so appealing. Try to cut the lawn the day before the showing. Hose off the drive, or use the blower. Super neat and trim is enviable and buyers love it. If you have pets, be sure the lawn “free of deposits” and is safe to walk on!
Again, you are trying to get the buyer to imagine living there. You want them to stay as long as possible in your home, placing furniture, cooking in that remodeled kitchen, entertaining friends. Keeping them in the house longer is a good sign, and you can do that by having the house so appealing, cool and providing refreshments.
If you are considering selling your home in the city or suburbs of greater Milwaukee, this is just the tip of the ice berg of advice I can give you. Whether its staging, pricing, negotiating or strategies, call me to help you put up a SOLD sign!
Posted by: 
Pat Tasker
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February 17, 2010 at 08:50 AM · Posted under Menomonee Falls
Yes Yes and Yes!
Just a quick story I remember from a past transaction. Sarah and I listed a home in Menomonee Falls a few years back. It was very small- right around 900 square feet. You walked into this home and it was furnished perfectly. It was straight out of Pottery Barn! The furnishings fit the space and the walls had mirrors to make the rooms seems larger. They were decorated with accents that match the furnishings and carpet. And they had very few family photos that allowed the buyer to see themselves in the space and not the seller.
That home was purchased in less than a month by a woman that was coming from out of state. She viewed the home and loved it and wrote an offer right away. She closed a month later and had all of her furniture shipped to the new home… None of it fit. Everything she owned was too big for the spaces in the home. She ended up having to buy new furniture for almost every room. Why did this happen? Because the buyer fell in love with the “feeling” the home had. She totally forgot to keep in mind what would happen when the sellers’ belongings were removed and hers put in there place.
Is this a good story? It depends on how you look at it! It was truly a bummer for the buyer but she dealt with it. But for the seller who had a home that they knew was small and would have a hard time selling it couldn’t have worked out better! They loved the home and had it decorated the way they liked and in the end it was that sense of space and style that sold there home quickly and for more money then if it was vacant.
The moral of the story is this: people may tell you that you have to stage your home and even more people may tell you that people can see past your belongings. But at the end of the day you’re selling more then just a home when you put your house on the market- you’re selling someone’s dream! And the more you can do to make that dream as visible as possible upon entry, the more buyers you’re going to have interested in your home.
Remember! Clean, de-clutter and de-personalize, and if your real estate professional says your home would benefit from staging by a professional please hear them out. They may just know what they are talking about…
Posted by:
Mickey Koch
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