New Year's Resolutions

First, I am sorry that I only posted 7 tips for the 12 tips of Christmas. That was 5 tips too few. Real fast now: tips 8-12: 8) Keep a positive attitude. 9) Be thankful for what you have. 10)Don't forget to enjoy the holiday. 11)Have a "Last Holiday in This House" party for the neighbors. And the last tip--not specifically for the holidays: 12) Put a link to your MLS page in your email signature. You never know who might click that link.

New Year's Resolutions

I think we can all agree that the number one resolution for people selling is "I Will Sell This House." Wake up with that thought in your head. Go to bed with it in your head. Do something every day with the express intent of selling the house.

If you received presents for Christmas that you don't really want, see if you can make them work on your stage. If you can't, please donate them to someone who can really use them. Now is not the time to be re-cluttering. Keep the house as stripped down of clutter as you possibly can. You want your buyers to see space for their stuff, not space cluttered up with your stuff. Resolution 2: "Give to those less fortunate." There is always someone who is in worse shape than you, so channel your worry about selling into helping others. Click the picture to join your local Freecycle chapter. Or visit Charity Navigator to see which charities will accept what you have.

Check back here for more tips and information. Also, please visit I CAN Sell This House to request free sample chapters of my ebook, I CAN Sell This House: Secrets to Selling Quickly in a Buyers' Market.

Countdown to the Sale!

Tip #7: An Intention Every Day

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Advent Calendars. You open one window every evening starting on December 1 right through Christmas Eve. Behind each door, depending on the calendar, is a picture, a Bible verse, or a piece of candy. I propose an Intention Calendar for your sale. Of course, you can't know when you will sell exactly, but you can certainly write down your intentions every day. What you can do is make a Christmasy green felt banner with little red pockets on it. Every day during the holiday season, get together with your family and come up with one affirmation of your intention to sell. Or maybe an invitation to your buyer family. Whatever it is that has meaning for you--a small prayer, a mantra, even a little picture of you holding the house keys out. Every day, have a short "ceremony" and place one of these little prayers/intentions in a pocket on the banner. Make the banner in your chosen Christmas themed colors, and hang it in the kitchen or family room. This way, you can have a personal invitation to your buyer family right out in the middle of your stage, "disguised" as an Advent Calendar!

The Scents of the Season

Tip #6 Make it Smell Like the Holidays

During most of the year, unless you are having an open house, I suggest that the scents you use in your rooms are as neutral as possible. Maybe some fabric refresher and a clean-smelling air sanitizer. And that's it. The holidays are different, though. Although not everyone celebrates Christmas, most of the major religions celebrate holidays right around the time of the winter solstice, so the scents of the season will be familiar to most potential buyers and make them feel at home.

Simmer some mulling spices, hang or display clove-studded oranges, make ornaments out of cinnamon dough. Use plug in air fresheners with holiday scents--evergreen, cranberry, spice, etc. I would caution you about using too many different scents. Choose one scent, with only slight variations, and let it be the predominant holiday scent of your staged house.

Tone Down the Outdoor Decorations

Tip #5: The Outdoor Decorations

One person's trash is another person's treasure. But, at the holidays, one person's festive display is another person's tacky nightmare. Please don't get me wrong. I enjoy a profusion holiday lights and props. Rarely, though, does an over-the-top display featuring a light-up nativity next to Frosty the Snowman next to Santa's sleigh next to a blow-up snow globe with a penguin in it with lights zigzagged throughout the yard and strung willy-nilly among the trees and from the eaves inspire me to say, "Gee, I'd love to live here!" More likely, I will appreciate their enthusiasm, but I won't be compelled to replicate it in my own yard.

Consider your buyers' feelings when approaching a staged house. Most showings will happen during the daylight hours. And, many of the lighted decorations really look their best when lit. Often, they just look a little sad and tacky in the harsh light of day. I suggest you decorate with wreaths or evergreen boughs with bows and electric candles. These decorations don't lose impact in the daylight hours. While they might be enhanced by a spotlight on them at night, they still look welcoming, timeless and cheerful during the day.

My husband and I went for a walk yesterday and came across many tastefully decorated houses. I actually said, "Wow! That's a great house. I'd love to live there!" a couple of times, mostly just based on the impact of the decorations set against the backdrop of the house. Decorations that we saw and that looked lovely in the day included a wreath hanging from a broad red ribbon in every window and on the door, pine bough sprays in every window sill with a red bow and a candle (the candle, of course, was inside), large snowflakes in each window, garland wound around columns and railings, and large red bows on the rockers on the porch. Decorations that did not play so well in the daytime included lots of strings of lights--they just looked a little sad during the day--and large prismatic light-up snowmen and Christmas trains. If you simply must have a large blow-up Santa in the yard, make sure the fan is on during showings. There is nothing sadder than a crumpled up Santa in the middle of the yard.

If You Have Kids, You'll Need a Children's Tree

Tip #4 The Children's Tree

I've already talked about the importance of a unifying holiday theme for your house. If you have kids, though, I doubt they will be on board with this. They'll be making crafts and bringing them home. They have special ornaments that they got as infants and to commemorate special days. They'll make paper chains and string cranberries and popcorn. Don't get me wrong. This is wonderful. Especially during this "transitional" holiday season for your family, you need to uphold the traditions your children love.

I recommend you set up the main, themed Christmas tree in a formal area of your home. You should also set up a children's tree in a less formal area--the family room, den or even the playroom, if you have one. This can be a table top tree, and this is where you will display all of your children's Christmas crafts and ornaments. The true message this sends to your children is that they are important enough to have their own tree. The message it sends to your potential buyers is that there is a specific place in the house for children's decorations--the crafts don't take over the whole house. You can still have a themed Christmas stage for showing purposes without losing the unique quality of your children's Christmas.

Now, your house appeals to buyers with children and those who do not have children. This is what you were shooting for, because you are trying to appeal to the broadest segment of potential buyers as possible. I know it's tough to live on a stage, but you can do it; I know you will do everything possible to sell that house.

For more information about my ebook, I CAN Sell This House: Secrets to Selling Quickly in a Buyers' Market and to receive free sample chapters, please visit I CAN Sell This House.

The Cookie Jar Isn't Just for Santa

Tip #3: The Holiday Cookie Jar

People like cookies. The thing is, folks rarely eat cookies "out." Very few people order cookies for dessert at a restaurant. Cookies are home food. When you leave the house for a showing during the holidays, leave a small plate of holiday cookies on the table next to your fliers and other selling information. Better yet, put them on a domed cake stand. Leave a note saying something along the lines of "Take one. Happy Holidays!" or something. "Have a cookie on the house!" probably isn't the right thing to say, although it is a little bit funny. Whatever you write on the note, though, this is the intention: "Cookies are home food. You are enjoying this cookie in your new home." So, write the note while holding that intention. It certainly won't hurt, and at the very least, it is a nice gesture and is another way to help your house stand out in a crowd.

For more information, and for a free sample chapters of the ebook I CAN Sell This House: Secrets to Selling Quickly in a Buyers' Market, please visit I CAN Sell This House.

You'll Need a Card Wreath

Holiday Staging Tip, the Second

You'll really need one of these. Let me just say that I'm not affiliated with this product in any way. I don't make any money by encouraging you to buy this. You can even make your own, if you'd rather. Click on the picture, though, and it will take you to a site where you can buy a card wreath.

Christmas cards are a wonderful way to keep in touch; to send a yearly newsletter; to say "Happy New Year." They are reminders of the people who live in a home. Christmas cards represent personal relationships, and as such, they really don't have a place in a staged house. If you take all the cards you receive and arrange them on a card wreath, these personal notes, these reminders of the lives lived in the house, become just another holiday decoration.

This doesn't mean that you can't read and enjoy your cards. It just means that you can't leave them displayed all over the mantel, counter tops and bedside tables. Read the cards and acknowledge the relationships signified by each card. Then, put them on the card wreath with the intention that they become set dressing on your holiday stage and that they will help you sell your house.

The Twelve Staging Tips of Christmas

In the spirit of the season, and as a nod to a famous Yuletide song, I thought I'd offer up twelve tips during this Christmas season--one a day. As I said before Thanksgiving, it can be quite difficult to live on a stage during the holidays, especially if children live in the house. Sellers need all the help they can get, and I hope these tips will make your seasonal stage go as smoothly as possible.

Tip, the First

Choose a specific color scheme to unify your decorations. I grew up in a house where all sorts of ornaments and decorations were displayed together, regardless of the style (homemade vs. heirloom) or color. While this certainly made for a festive and colorful holiday, it failed to convey a unifying theme.

This year, purchase a tree that is truly in scale with the room (often people tend to buy a larger tree than the space should hold), use white lights, and decorate the tree with a decided color scheme. You can choose gold and red, blue and silver, green and white, silver and gold--whatever scheme you like. Just make sure that all the ornaments and decorations reinforce the scheme.

Here are some inexpensive ways to carry a holiday color scheme throughout the house without breaking the bank.

• Most Christmas tree lots will give away the extra branches that they cut off the bottoms of trees. Use these--they're free.
• A bowl of simple glass or satin balls make a simple and elegant decoration. Depending on the size of the bowl, you can use it as a centerpiece or even in the powder room.
• Purchase some inexpensive fabric and some fusible tape and make an inexpensive custom runner for your dining table, end tables or sideboard.
  
• Tie ribbons that match your color scheme around the bases of your candles.
• Place a branch or two of evergreen in a tall vase. Accent with colored ribbons, beads, glass or satin balls or glittery vines from a craft store. Place on the mantel or on a side table.
  

Why is St. Joseph in Your Yard Upside Down?

Here's a tidbit for you. Apparently, in the murky past, nuns used to bury a wee St. Joseph in hopes of getting more land for convents. Nowadays, it's said that if you bury your own wee statue of St. Joseph upside down near your For Sale sign or the front door, your house will sell faster. Okay, let's leave that alone for a second.

Another tidbit: I read a couple of days ago that someone in Germany (I think) did a study on the effect of making the sign of the cross over water with bacteria in it. The prayers and signs were made by believers and non-believers alike, and in all cases, the bacteria was drastically reduced in the water. Here's the main point--everyone was aware of the purpose of the experiment: to reduce the amount of bacteria in the water. Whether the technicians were Christian or not had no bearing on the outcome. It was the action, not the belief, that created change.

What do these two little bits of information have in common? a)Doing something with intent can get you what you want, and b)Even going through the motions--just the act--is powerful enough to get results.

What do I take away from this in regard to selling a house? I don't think the power is in the statue of St. Joseph. It's in the belief that it will help you sell. If you believe burying a hickory nut will help you sell, and you follow through and bury that nut, it will, indeed, help you sell. Maybe you purchased a special memento to commemorate the purchase of your home. Maybe that could be your St. Joseph.

And if a family member isn't necessarily completely on board with the whole intention-driven selling plan, that's okay, too. Have them go through the motions. Either way, as demonstrated in the sign of the cross experiments, you'll get positive results.

Do I have any science to back up any of these claims? Not a lick. What I do have is the abiding belief that everything is energy and can be directly effected through words and intention. The energy doesn't care if you believe the words (although you might).

I know you can sell that house! For more information, and to get free sample chapters of the ebook I CAN Sell This House: Secrets to Selling Quickly in a Buyers' Market, please visit. I CAN Sell This House.

Selling a House Using Squidoo

Want a new and unique way to market your house? Try writing a Squidoo lens about it! Visit Squidoo to get started, or check out this lens to see Squidoo power in action. I know this is a short little post, but I think you'd be better served by going to Squidoo and getting started than you will be by reading a really long post. I know you can sell--be creative; act with intention, and get 'er done!

An Attitude of Thanksgiving

Wow--I have been away for a week, and it's good to get back. I thought that, since we in the US have just celebrated Thanksgiving and we're heading on into other celebrations of thanksgiving--Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc, that I should take a minute to list what I was thankful for during our selling process. Perhaps you can take the lesson and approach your selling process with a spirit of thanksgiving, as well.

1. I am thankful that the house is staged.
2. I am thankful to the wonderful people I hired to get the house in great shape.
   
3. I am thankful that the house is clean and in good repair.
4. I am thankful that I've emotionally detached from the house.
5. I am thankful that I have a great Realtor.
6. I am thankful for my partner and husband and all his help in keeping the stage set.
7. I am thankful for the support of my friends.
8. I am thankful for the Internet and how it helps me market the house.
9. I am thankful that gas prices are lower and folks are willing to drive around and look at houses again.
10. I am thankful that our buyers found their new home in our old house.

Approaching the sale with an attitude of thanksgiving leaves your heart open to search for your new home even as you sell the old house. It also leaves you open to welcome new owners. When you are filled with a spirit of Thanksgiving, it's impossible to feel negative. So, while selling is stressful, and trying to have a joyous holiday season while selling sounds impossible, approach everything you do to sell with a spirit of hope and thanksgiving. Best to you during the holiday season. I know you can sell!

For more information and for a free sample of my eBook, I CAN Sell This House: Secrets to Selling Quickly in a Buyers' Market, please visit my site.