Come see us at the Upstate Women's Show!

We will have a booth at the Carolina First Center (formerly the Expo Center) for the Upstate Women's Show coming up on the weekend of August 22-24th!
Most exciting to us is that Terry Haas from HGTV’s hit show “Designed to Sell", will be there discuss staging on Friday, the 22nd at 1:00 and again at 3:00.
Her information will be relevant to the South Carolina housing market, as she lives in Charleston, S.C., where she has her own home-staging consulting business.
Come on out to the show and stop by our booth to say HELLO!
Let us show you how organizing, redesign or staging can make your house a home!

SWEET Epiphany! (aka Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl!)

As I was frosting our daughter's birthday cake last week- I had a SWEET (pardon the pun) epiphany!
Listing a house without considering curb appeal is like offering an unfinished birthday cake to the birthday girl or boy!
Here's what I mean:
Would you want a cake that looked like this one on the left? Unfinished?
The shape of the cake (house)is very nice, the color (siding) is even very nice (for a girl)!
The sprinkles look fun and colorful, but do the cake no good on the counter. The pound cake inside is very buttery and dense, and the butter cream is 100% butter, no Crisco here. The cake inside is only holding an unfinished shell.
But somehow, it doesn't look quite right.
The project lacks pizazz.
Edible, perhaps. But attractive, it ain't!
Wonder how embarrassed our daughter would have been in front of her slumber party crew if I'd plopped this down in front of her prior to embarrassing her even more with our own family's rendition of "Happy Birthday to You?

Buyers form immediate judgments based on their first impression of a home.
And that first impression, whether it is good or bad, is usually a lasting one.
It’s typically made during the first drive-by, viewing the home for the first time from the curb, and looking at the house’s front stoop.
The moment potential buyers drive up they are looking over the exterior of the house and forming their opinion of the home. (Will this cake be worth eating?)
This is why curb appeal is so important to the house’s sale. A negative first impression, will cause them to drive away and check this home off their “MUST-SEE” list.
The yuck factor of a negative first viewing will remain fixed in the buyer's minds. That is why from the very beginning, when the house is first listed for sale, it should be shown at its very best.
If the outside of the house looks welcoming, they’ll stop and take a look, even peeking over the fence to get a glimpse of the backyard, even if not open for viewing. (Pass me that cake knife!)
All it just takes a little thought and, in most cases, not a lot of time or money invested to achieve desired curb appeal. (A few sprinkles and a welcoming touch).

She was, and you'll be, relieved to know that this is the cake she did receive:
Amazing what a few well-placed confetti pieces and swirly candles and dotted frosting blobs can do to increase a cake's morale.
I received a squeal of happiness instead of a sigh of disappointment.
And a hug instead of a shrug!
The finished cake was memorable not miserable.
Our girl was beaming in the glow of quickly melting candles and I was beaming as only a mom does, watching her eyes close to wish for that special wish that only birthday cakes fulfill.
I look forward to a new year with her, watching her grow into a beautiful young woman that loves her family and life and the Lord.
What else could I have wished for or prayed for?
('cept maybe a little thicker layer of buttercream?)
If it's your birthday today, I hope your wish comes true- make it a BIG one!!
~Leslie