You may be feeling overwhelmed? You may be feeling tired? You may have lost your passion? You are not alone…

Without giving you an ear bashing…‘YOUR LIFE IS TOO CLUTTERED’

As a professional home stager who has worked for years with clients preparing their homes for sale it has always astounded me that a large majority of people live very disorganised lives that do not support them emotionally.  Their solution to the chaos is to sell their home and buy a new one where they upgrade to a  more expensive but still cluttered lifestyle!

If I had a dollar for every time a client said to me (at the conclusion of their home transformation) “I’ve always wanted to upgrade the kitchen”, ” wish I had made these changes years ago” or “the house looks the best it has ever been and now I am not going to enjoy the changes”, I’d have a very big pot of gold!  I specialise in transforming broken, outdated, chaotic sellers homes into warm, inviting, nurturing homes that buyers fall in love with because buyers do not buy a house – they buy a lifestyle. The same principles apply for people who need some inspiration to stay and rejuvenate.

Would you like to stay in your existing home and create the lifestyle you have always dreamed of?

If you are madly nodding your head then read on……..there is a solution

Transform and evolve your family space

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun.

I have joined forces with International Interior Designer and Author of  Create Your Dream Sanctuary, Victoria Millar-Wise to present a one day Master Class that will be a practical and enlightening guide to give you the essential keys needed to discover what truly inspires you in your home and life.  Victoria and I are both passionate about inspiring people to create a simpler more serene lifestyle and we believe there is no better way to gain clarity and create a better lifestyle for yourself than by “De-cluttering Your Home – De-cluttering Your Life“

Based on the 5Cs of design, the Create Your Dream Sanctuary Design and Life Styling Academy aims to teach others how to acquire or transform an existing property, visualise a space, clarifying their individual goals, needs and desires thereby creating a holistic home that is unique and timeless.

In the one day Masterclass you will discover how to

1) Connect with your heart in the home

2) Gain great clarity on what to keep and know the stuff to let go of

3) Create a home that is healthy and sustainable using climate-smart eco-friendly principles and products

4) Create purposeful rooms such as a fabulous kitchen or an inspiring studio office to balance work and play

5) Balance your design budget by learning how to be savvy, stylish and practical

You will reignite your inner  passion and learn how to live a holistic lifestyle that is in alignment with your soul’s purpose yet supports your family, your friends and the environment.

If you are serious about de-cluttering your home, if you are serious about de-cluttering your life – then this is a must for anyone who is interested in enhancing the energy of their house into a unique, harmonious environment to nurture both your senses and your soul.

Join us in Adelaide for the Masterclass on Sunday 18th September, 2011.

Explore your dreams, take action and fulfill your goals.

BOOK NOW

It’s time for a change, forever.

Charyn Youngson

Author | Professional Home Stager | Inspirational Speaker | Mentor

As Australia’s leading home staging experts, we help our clients maximize the selling price of their homes and speed the sale week in and week out. From bachelor pads to luxury homes and new developments, we expertly transform properties to achieve the highest return on investment in the shortest period of time. But you don’t have to take our word for it.

Tom Panos is regarded as Australia’s premier authority on Real Estate marketing and considered by his peers and Australia’s leading real estate agents as the No. 1 educator and thought leader in his field. Tom also lectures across Australia on House Price Maximisation strategies and is one of few experts in this field that is able to use evidence base data to support his views on this area.

Tom has undertaken significant research into the study of House Price Maximisation and the formula he has come up with to achieve a premium price is close to my heart.

High Quality Advertising + High Quality Negotiation Skills + an Emotional Connected Buyer + Competitive Bidding from Buyer

When we “stage” a home to sell, what we aim to achieve for every vendor is to create a look and feel to the home that inspires potential buyers to “fall in love” with the home. In other words we specialise in Emotional Buying.  Connecting to Emotional Buyers is the Number 1 strategy we use to get Fast Sales and Top Dollar.  While vendors across Australia are struggling to sell their homes in the current soft and slow real estate market, most of our clients are still selling after the first open  or in the first couple of weeks for the price they wanted.  Why? Most vendors have no idea how to present their homes for sale.  They believe their personal taste is going to win over buyers but Tom Panos stresses that vendors should hire a specialist because Presentation is Everything.

At Houses to Impress we are passionate about helping our clients to Sell their Homes FAST. An investment in one of our FAST Property Transformations is worth more than the first price reduction you will be forced to make when you fail to attract buyers. Still not convinced.  Read More of Tom’s article here.

Charyn Youngson

Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator | Author

Second Hand week brought out the best and worst in The Block couples.

Jenna and Josh were in their element and delivered a bedroom that impressed the judges and gave them a back to back win. This will give them a huge head start going into week 3, renovation of 2 rooms – bathroom and laundry. Bathrooms are always big budget rooms to renovate and Jenna and Josh not only have the plumbing advantage over the other couples, they now also have $10k up their sleeve! There is no reason why they can’t manage their budget wisely with Josh being able to do ALL the plumbing himself so they can hold some cash over for the rest of the reno.

Katrina and Amie struggled with the second hand theme, which resulted in a room that lacked wow factor. Their biggest mistake though was designing a room that could only be utilised as a study. The bulkhead they built will ensure that a potential buyer will not have enough space to change the room to a functional bedroom and the judges penalised them for this oversight. This cottage will now have to be marketed as a 2-bedroom property, which John McGrath pointed out will greatly devalue it when it goes to market.

One of the easiest ways to add value to a property is to increase the number of bedrooms and this is one option I always discuss with clients who are preparing their homes for sale.  Quite regularly I consult with homeowners who have repurposed a 3^rd or 4^th bedroom as an office, gym room and most frequently a junk room with no purpose.  I recently saw a home where the client had the third bedroom as a “toy room”. The first thing I recommended to her was to pack up the majority of toys and bring in a bed so it could be marketed as a three-bedroom family home.  I always recommend that these “extra rooms” are returned to and styled as a fully functioning bedroom.  Depending on the location of the property this can add many thousands of dollars to the market value. Home buyers are very visual and if a property is displayed as a 2 bedroom + study they will literally view it as such and not imagine the potential third bedroom.  Even if some do they will put a ‘renovation cost” on having to change or improve the room. This results in lowers offers and a reduced sale price.

The Block houses are located in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond on the doorstep of Bridge Road’s very best cafes and shops.  On realestate.com.au I found two recent sales of renovated Victorian cottages in Richmond.

2 bedroom 1 bathroom renovated Victorian cottage

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-richmond-107389729

Sold for $886,000 June 4, 2011

3 bedroom 1 bathroom renovated Victorian cottage

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-richmond-107432367

Sold for $1,100,000 June 18, 2011

Even though there are a few differences between these 2 properties, that is a $200,000 price difference between a 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom cottage of the same era!

Week 2 – Lesson 2 – ALWAYS display your home with the maximum possible bedrooms and add thousands to your sale price.

Charyn Youngson
Property Renovator | Professional Home Stager | Author

This challenge was so much fun to watch. In all my years of renovating I don’t think I have ever paid full retail price for anything and part of the enjoyment was bargain hunting in salvage yards, at auction houses, and discount outlets.

Being prepared when you undertake a renovation is a great asset.  As soon as I had signed a contract for a property I was going to renovate, I would spend the four to five weeks before settlement day sourcing all my products.  I made sure plans had been drawn, photos were taken and measurements were noted so I was ready to start bargain shopping. Junk mail was always welcome in my house because I love discount sales.

Some of my best finds have been items found on the roadside waiting for collection. My favourite item was an old sculptural piece that I used to style an outdoor entertainment area when the renovation was complete.  See the before and after picture of this area below, with the sculptural piece leaning against the shed.

Recycling the things you pull out of houses at the early demolition and preparation stage is another way to make your dollar go further.  Paying for mini skips and rubbish disposal can be a costly side of renovating so be mindful of ways to reuse your rubbish.   Old carpet and underlays are great to use as weed mats in garden beds before you lay mulch or pebbles and much more effective than expensive plastic weed mat.

It is obvious that Jenna and Josh love recycling furniture pieces and it will be interesting to see if the other couples on The Block are now inspired by the trash and treasure challenge to manage their budgets better with smart recycling and budget buying as the competition progresses.

Jenna and Josh “Wowed” and “Styled” their way to victory on The Block this week.

Their room was a stand out winner for both of the judges and for me too. Although Katrina and Amie came close the two judges for this series of The Block, John McGrath and Neale Whitaker emphatically agreed that Jenna and Josh not only demonstrated the best aesthetics with their “clean, light and contemporary style” but the most telling comment came from John when he declared that from the standpoint of sales (as in selling the property) “This team clearly won – hands down”

Why is that comment so important to me in this early stage of the competition? Well although the couples are competing room by room for mini challenges each week, the big picture event is going to be who designs a “whole” house that sells for the highest price.

One of the first lessons in renovating and styling a home purely for sale is that you need to appeal to the largest amount of potential buyers and then romance one of these buyers into falling “in love” with your home.

I think all the couples need to have this foremost in their minds when they are designing and styling each room. A favourite quote of mine from the creator of Home Staging, Barb Scharwz in the USA is

“You’re selling a house NOT your personal tastes and belongings”.

While each of the couples has their own personal style and they are all 100% committed to winning each room, I am concerned the emphasis on being so “individual” to win over the judges will mean the homes at the end that will be too personalised.

One of the 10 steps to Home Staging for Profit that I describe in my book “Sold for Top Dollar – Low Cost Home Improvements to Maximise your Sale” is to Depersonalise! The real essence of home staging and preparing your house for sale is removing yourself from the picture so that prospective buyers can place themselves living in your home. Although buyers will not notice that your home has been depersonalised, they will definitely notice if it has not!

The couples on The Block need to remember that it is not their personal taste they are selling, it’s all about the space. Renovating your home to live in and renovating to sell are two different concepts. The more personal the couples rooms become each week, the more likely that the buyers will be distracted from making an emotional connection.

So lesson 1, week 1 – when you are preparing your home for sale ask yourself – “Will the buyers be able to imagine themselves “falling in love” with my space?

Charyn Youngson
Author | Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator

Watching The Block tonight brought memories flooding back of my first reno.  I recall walking into the front room of that first house, which was a mortgagee sale that I purchased at auction. I was thinking, Oh my God, what have I done, where I am going to start, have I got the skills to do this? It was so much worse than I remembered from the open inspection and for a while I felt completely overwhelmed.  Just like Polly and Waz, I had no renovating experience at all whatsoever– just big dreams!

Polly and Waz, on paper, are considerably disadvantaged from the other three couples who all have varying renovation and building experience and it will be interesting to see if they can keep a positive mindset and not let their lack of experience sabotage their efforts.  All the couples have the ability to access experienced builders and Polly and Waz seem to show early promise of being able to follow instruction and advice from the “experts”. As long as they are willing to ask lots of questions and be guided, their lack of experience will be overcome by the oodles of passion they have already displayed.

After the overwhelm wears off, I can’t wait to see each couples actual renovation plans. With any home renovation – you need a well structured step-by-step plan, a timeline to complete the whole job and don’t forget the budget.   There is no telling what extra renovation disasters are going to be uncovered over the coming weeks to threaten the viability and execution of their well laid plans.

It’s interesting to watch how the contestants manage their time, budget, plan and execution of their projects. It becomes very evident when couples are not great at forward thinking and the difference it makes being super organised to the finished job.

This is something we have to be very aware of when we project manage a renovation for a client. Sure we do not complete renovations in a 24 hour period but we always complete our renovations in a short time frame, generally 1-3 weeks depending on the size and scope of the project and property.

We are looking forward to seeing what The Block brings us this week!

How visitors or potential buyers first view your property is called street appeal or in the case of a house that looks bad, lack of street appeal.

One of the top improvements I recommend to clients when they are preparing their property for sale is to upgrade the interior lights because light, bright spaces sell!  Using outdoor lighting to enhance the outdoor areas is another great way to create a dramatic look.  I always recommend that homeowners and real estate agents request that the photographer who is taking the photos that are going to be used for the Internet marketing campaign, take some photos at twilight with the front of the house all lit up.  It certainly makes the house look like magic and increases that important first impression by bucket loads.

I love using feature outdoor lighting that creates a great atmosphere and lights up key focal points in the garden.  My favourite type of lighting that is simple to install is solar lighting.  Solar lighting has come a long way and provides a low cost eco friendly solution to your outdoor environment.

Solar lights are a great way to increase the value of your home and the best outcome is it allows you to light up your outdoors for free, using sunlight for power.  Outdoor solar lights can be installed yourself so you can save the money a contractor would have cost and invest in some extra lights! As longs as you install the lights where they receive adequate sunlight to recharge the batteries throughout the day then the solar lights can operate for hours on a single charge. In these days of rapidly increasing power bills this is an added bonus and one that potential buyers will be impressed by.

So Many Styles to Choose From

There are so many solar light choices to make your yard or patio light up at night.

• Solar patio lights
• Solar yard lights
• Solar walkway lights
• Solar house number lights
• Solar floodlights

Solar garden lights are stocked at all hardware stores but if you like to really SAVE money by shopping online check out dealsdirect for their amazing range of low cost lights that will surely inspire you to light up your house.

Charyn Youngson

Property Renovator | Professional Home Stager | Author

I sold one of my properties last year and one of the final clean up jobs I had done before sale was to bring in my expert pressure cleaner professional.  After 40 years of wear and tear, the concrete driveway and paths surrounding the house badly needed a facelift.

Pressure cleaning is one of my most common recommendations for vendors before they go to market.  It is a simple way to give instant appeal.  Not only can a professional pressure cleaner clean your cement but he can give all your external walls a wash down prior to painting or selling. Sometimes it makes such a difference that painting is no longer necessary. It is amazing what a good scrub will do.

When my pressure cleaning guy was giving my outdoors the once over, I also had him pressure clean the timber decking on my balcony. It came up a treat and then I re-coated it with a natural timber stain and it looked like it was brand new!

Of course you can hire or buy a pressure cleaner to DIY but my feedback is these small machines just do not stack up against the industrial pressure cleaners and only get half the result.  There are some jobs that are just better done by a professional and I think this is one. Some of the other areas that benefit from being pressure cleaned are:-

• Dull and worn pavers
• Moss covered pavers and concrete
• Drink, BBQ and oil stains
• Roller doors and security screen doors
• Fences

Even if you are not thinking of selling your property consider pressure cleaning one of those prevention and maintenance jobs that will keep your concrete and paving looking new and fresh.

Here are some before and after photos to motivate you.

Before                                  After

Real Estate agents are being quite restrained in reporting the fact that there is “softness” in the auction clearance rate.  The truth is the nation’s capital city auction clearance rate fell to 46.2 per cent last week from 48.6 the week before.  This time last year the national auction clearance rate was 60.6 per cent, which is 14.4 per cent less.

While an auction does give the vendor a marketing campaign that results in an unconditional sale over a set time frame, the reality is whether the house is marketed by auction or private treaty, buyers can’t afford to put their homes on the market looking half-baked.  It is a buyer’s paradise out there. They have so much choice and if a home doesn’t grab their attention, they will just shrug their shoulders and keep walking.

RPData have just released an article Premium Housing Markets Plundered where they have reported that many of the higher priced capital city regions have recorded a significant decline in median house prices whereas the more affordable markets are recording better housing market conditions.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter which end of the market your house sits in, low medium or high.  If the vendor fails to

• Present it to its best potential
• Price it realistically according to the current prevailing market (declining)
• Use a professional Real Estate agent who is prepared to go the extra yard in marketing and negotiating

then vendors need to be prepared to have their house sit on the market for months on end with no offers and risk losing thousands of dollars in the process.

Despite the gloomy outlook I’m pleased to report that my clients are still getting great results.  I recently worked with a vendor whose 6-bedroom home needed a few finishing touches before going to market. He had already engaged an agent who decided to conduct a 4 week auction campaign.  After assessing the property and making a few maintenance and upgrade recommendations, my client heeded my advice about giving the buyers what they want, and delayed putting the house on the market for a couple of weeks.  In that time he

• Revamped an ugly bathroom
• Painted the rear of the home
• Installed some new exterior screen doors
• Installed some new plants and garden mulch in both the front and rear garden
• Patched and painted two of the bedrooms
• Removed some ugly lace curtains
• Tidied up the back garden
• Dressed up the front entrance with a welcome mat and potted plants
• Pressure cleaned the pavers and concrete driveways around the house
• Finished the house off with furniture and accessories styling from one of my team to enhance his existing pieces

My client was well rewarded for his efforts.

I was there to watch the auction and inspected the house along with the large number of attendees who showed up on the day.  The house looked stunning and had a great atmosphere.  One lady commented to me during the walk through “the house has been beautifully maintained”.  There were 9 registered bidders at the auction, an amazing turnout considering the above statistics.  Although the auction was a bit slow to get moving, in the end there were 3 keen bidders and the house sold for $664,000.  $14,000 above the advertised price!

The property was featured in the real estate section of The Advertiser on June 11, 2011 as one of the Top 5 Auctions in Adelaide for the weekend.

It is possible to do well in this market. Just give the buyers what they want!

Charyn Youngson

Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator | Author