Listings for ICON South Beach

If yoursquo;re in a tough sellerrsquo;s market or just looking to get top dollar for your home, you want to do any little thing you can to make your house stand out in a potential buyerrsquo;s mind. Staging is one of those things that can make the difference between a sold sign and a house that lingers on the market.

The National Association of Realtors suggests that staging has a real impact on home sales. In fact, a majority of realtors report that staging increases the sales price of a home anywhere between 1 and 10 percent. However, the real impact of staging seems to be how quickly a home is sold, with 39 percent of Realtors stating that it greatly decreases the time spent on the market. Buyersrsquo; agents confirm the positive impact of staging, stating that 77 percent of buyers were better able to picture a home as their own when it was staged.

Of course, there is an art to staging a home, and a poorly staged home can have a negative impact on a potential sale. Here are five tips for staging your house that will have you putting up that ldquo;SOLDrdquo; sign in no time.

1. Declutter and Clean

Before thinking about decorations or furniture placement, the No. 1 suggestion of realtors is to declutter and deep clean. Clear countertops and other surfaces, and pack away anything that is not essential. Your goal is to remove anything that will distract buyers from seeing the positive aspects of your house, which is why realtors often suggest removing family photos and overly personalized decorations like your giant bobble head collection. Remember, decluttering includes removing excess furniture, which help make your rooms feel bigger.

2. Group Furniture

Once yoursquo;ve removed furniture that is unnecessary or too large for the space, group furniture into conversational groups away from the wall, instead of pushing sofas and chairs to the corners. You want there to be a flow to each room, and keeping the walls clear of big furniture will actually make the room feel bigger, says HGTV.

3. Accessories in Odd Numbers

Although yoursquo;ll need to declutter, you still want your space to feel like a lived-in home. Do this by decorating with groups of accessories like vases, books or plants. Staging professionals often recommend grouping similarly hued objects in odd number pairings of varying heights and shapes.

4. Add 1 or 2 Bold Accents

While you want to keep your staging deacute;cor fairly neutral, adding one or two bold accent pieces will help highlight a particularly great feature of your home. Adding a dramatic chandelier that matches the >

5. Use Mirrors

Mirrors can help brighten a dark hallway, bring light into a room and make a room seem larger, says Forbes. For a big impact, get a cheap mirror and add a decorative frame, or group a lot of small mirrors in differing shapes and sizes. In a room with a window, place mirrors across from the window to reflect the sunlight.

Staging is all about helping potential buyers create an emotional connection with your home. Help buyers picture themselves living in the house by decluttering, grouping furniture and accessories, adding one or two bold accents and using mirrors. Now get ready for the offers to roll in.

As residential towers and commercial buildings rise toward the heavens, as they pierce the clouds and refract the light from sheets of glass unto frozen crystals, creating a rainbow so many stories above the ground but below the stars, construction accelerates. It accelerates in cities large and small, increasing the need for real estate developers and agents - in addition to buyers and sellers - to have sound legal representation. For construction to continue apace, so the economy does not lose its pace, we need real estate experts and lawyers to work together. Anything less than full collaboration threatens to stall growth and bring the real estate industry to a standstill.

According to Wayne R. Cohen, a professor at The George Washington University School of Law and a partner at Cohen Cohen, P.C., lawyers are an essential part of this equation. He says:

Growth is sustainable only to the degree that there are enough lawyers to ensure developers can break ground without fear of breaking the law, because they do not have the right permits or are in violation of some zoning ordinance. As much as the law can hinder growth, or an injunction can slow or stop it, good lawyers can do their best - they can do everything in their power - to reverse that restriction.

I second Cohens analysis, since the real estate industry cannot operate without effective legal counsel. The same rule applies to the rights of tenants who can too easily be bulldozed pun intended by one side. If there is to be balance, lawyers who specialize in these matters need to come forward.

What I foresee is not so much an adversarial >For these things to happen, a conversation must begin and actions must follow. The arrangement must be right, so lawyers can do justice and real estate developers can pursue legal means for a just outcome. In turn, a national conversation can ensue for the good of the public and the advancement of those goods that benefit the republic - things like the construction or repair of parks and playgrounds, the renovation of libraries and museums, the expansion of roads and highways, and the availability of affordable housing.

If the currency of the legal profession is language, if lawyers pride themselves on the precision of the words they use, much like architects and engineers must be precise in their calculations, they have a duty - we all have a responsibility - to have a dialogue about how lawyers can aid the real estate industry and assist the economy.

The jobs that result from that discussion are one of several rewards for us to enjoy.

I welcome this chance to talk, so we can succeed greatly and grow mightily.

A writer and branding consultant, Lewis Fein covers the real estate industry, technology, and marketing, among other issues. A graduate of The Emory University School of Law, Lewis resides in Southern California. You may reach him at
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June 28, 2018 Las Vegas, NV ndash;nbsp; Realty Times is pleased to announce the addition of two of the most prominent industry professionals as Executive Editors. They bring over 80 years of combined real estate expertise and knowledge, engaging and influencing all functions of real estate; as a managing broker, MLS/Associations board member, licensed attorney, architects of real estate communities and passionate educators.

Together, they will pursue the Realty Times mission to deliver an experienced and competent voice, providing balanced bilateral reporting and editorial.nbsp;

ldquo;For 21 years Realty Times has been a trusted source of real estate news. In todayrsquo;s world of misinformation, Saul Klein and John Reilly will provide Realty Times readers a significant level of confidence and trust as their integrity has been well established,rdquo; stated John Giaimo, Realty Times President.

ldquo;This is really the dream opportunity for John Reilly and I, after long and successful careers in the real estate Industry.nbsp; It is like being able to step off the field, as an athlete or coach, and being able to step into a commentator role. We are excited about getting started.rdquo;

About Realty Times:

As one of Americarsquo;s largest and most trusted real estate news portals, Realty Times connects buyers, sellers, brokers, nonprofits and agents with everything real estate >

About Saul Klein:

With over 40 years in real estate, Saul Klein is well recognized as an industry pioneer, especially in real estate syndication and education, and one of the few luminaries that paved the way for real estatersquo;s transition to the online world. Saul is the co-creator of ePRO, technology certification course that certified 70,000 students, as well as the creator of the 2 National Listing Syndication Service, Point2 Technologies. Mr. Klein is a proud member of the first REALTOR.com Team, pre-IPO, responsible for obtaining first 500,000 listings.

About John Reilly:

John Reilly is a real estate educator and one of the foremost writers of real estate materials, including several published books and numerous articles. His national bestseller, "The Language of Real Estate", published by Dearborn Publishing, is now in its seventh edition and selling over 125,000 copies. Together with Saul Klein, John founded Real Estate Electronic Publishing Company REEPCO, which produced RealTown and Internet Crusade. In 2000, John moved to San Diego to devote his efforts full time to real estate electronic publishing with a focus on the development and moderation of NARrsquo;s online e-PRO Technology Certification Program.