It’s my lucky day today!  Mike Tinsley of Longmeadow Builders was on-site at our new construction model.  This interview was a bit short, but I’ll get more detailed on the next one!

The construction of our new model, The Forsythia, moves along.  Here is some of the latest video.

Rose Hill is located in Leicester, North Carolina, which is the country side of Asheville.  Our exclusive builders are Longmeadow Homes.  Our website is new and coming along: RoseHillAshevilleClick here to view the embedded video.

I plan to video the various stages of building, I think it will be an interesting process to see exactly how our homes are built.  In this segment, the very beginning stages, you will see the footers or foundation of the home.  Next week they will be laying the block and we’ll take a look at that too.  See you then . . .

A home should never look like it’s been staged.  Home staging should show off the great features of your home and diminish the negative ones, not create a phony atmosphere.  It’s all about marketing that feeling of the good life and what is possible for the room without going overboard.

So, with over ten years of experience as a Realtor and seeing just about everything people can do wrong to their house, I have decided to share with the Universe (meaning you), the Top 20 Tacky Staging Techniques.  Why? Because we remember tacky!  What you put in the home is the perception of what the value of the home is worth.    If you poorly prepare and stage your house, it can easily become “That house with the saggy, deflated blow up bed,”  or “The living room that only had two easy chairs in it”.

It is better to leave a house empty then to use bad decor.  Staging should enhance the architecture of the home, bad staging draws attention to itself and distracts your buyer from you home!

Ok, so now that you have my drift, on to the Top 20!

1. Napkins stuffed in wine glasses (Creates a phony atmosphere)

2. Place settings on a table or bar (Nothing says, “This home has been staged”, more than dishes, stemware, silverware, and napkins.)

3. Old bath towels hanging on a bar with ribbon. (Old towels will not give a buyer the spa feeling, even with a ribbon.)

4. Single piece of artwork on a wall with nothing else in the room (Buyers will only see the art and not the room, especially online.)

5. Furniture store tags on items that are for sale (Staging should be about the house and not what furniture is being sold)

6. Old, dirty rugs (Rugs should only be used to define space or add color. Buyers need to see the floors and what they are buying.)

7. Dusty, plastic trees with only a few branches (I don’t mind trees, but they have to look good)

8. Cuttings from bushes and branches brought inside (Will wilt rapidly, and it will take the eyes away from the room.

9. Accessories that have nothing to do with the style of the home (Ex. You can’t take a country look and put it in a contemporary house.)

10. A card table with a sheet covering it in a dining room (A cheap look and does not represent the room dimensions.)

11. Plants or greenery over window treatments (Shows off bad decorating, and again takes the buyer away from the overall room.)

12. Plastic patio furniture inside that is covered or not (Just don’t!)

13. Cheesy old lamps (Get the granny lamps out.)

14. Cheap plastic flowers (What I like to call “forever flowers” usually found at dollar stores.

15. Sofa covered with a sheet as a slipcover (Planning on painting anytime soon?)

16. Blow-up beds (From personal experience: blow up beds will only stay fully inflated for a short time no matter how expensive they are.)

17. Plastic fruit (Fruit can be done right, but the majority of the time it looks tacky, creating a phony atmosphere.)

18. Breakfast tray on a bed with tumbled wine glasses (Creates a phony atmosphere)

19. Only two chairs in a living room (This will no give a buyer a sense of the space.)

20. Wine bottle sitting on the edge of a garden tub (Creates a phony atmosphere.)

Oh believe me, I have more . . . but let’s start with these twenty,  look around and see if you have slipped into the tacky zone.  If you have, you know what you need to do . . .

For those of you who have never attended a show, I’m showing an 8 month old male puppy named Edgemere Loganlee ”Logan”.  This was his first show and he won!!  In fact, he won first in his class both days at the Asheville Kennel Club.  The judge is putting us through our paces to make sure he is conformationally sound.  What a little showman he is!  Yes, I was proud of him and thought I would give everyone a glimpse of my off-duty hobby.

Free Wine Tastings

• Appalachian Vintner, 2-B Huntsman Place, Asheville, offers free wine tastings on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 4-8 p.m. Call (828)505-7500 for more details.
• Divine Wine, 1011 Tunnel Road, Asheville, offers complimentary tastings, featuring Italian wines and hors d’oeuvres, 5-7 p.m. Fridays. Wine bar open daily serving wines by the glass. Special theme events every Friday. Call (828)505-1814.
• Get a taste of what the mountains have to offer at the Grove Arcade Corner Market on Page Avenue in downtown Asheville. Enjoy fresh bread and other local products, wine tasting and classical guitar, 4-6 p.m. every Friday. Call (828)225-4949.
• Hops and Vines, 797 Haywood Road, Asheville, offers free wine tastings 3-6 p.m. Saturdays.Call (828)252-5275.
• Magnolia Lounge, 290 Macon Ave., Asheville, offers free wine tastings on Saturdays at 3 p.m.
• Weinhaus, 86 Patton Ave., Asheville, offers free monthly tastings. For times, call (828)254-6453.
• Wine Emporium, 229 Airport Road, Arden, offers free wint tastings 4-6 p.m. Saturdays, featuring a new vineyard or distributor each week. Call (828)687-8028.
• The Wine Guy, 1200 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, offers free tastings 4-6 p.m. Saturdays. Call (828)254-6500.

Find more wine stores

Free Beer Tastings

The Grove Arcade Corner Market on Page Avenue in downtown Asheville features eclectic, new micro-brews, 4-6 p.m. the last Thursday of each month. Call (828)225-4949.

• Hops and Vines, 797 Haywood Road, Asheville, offers free beer tastings 4-7 p.m. Fridays. Call (828)252-5275.
• Sample various brews and ales at Bruisin’ Ales, 66 Broadway St., Asheville, Thursdays at 5. Call (828)252-8999 for details.

Contributed by ExploreAsheville

So, you will notice that I mention Rose Hill quite regularly, frankly I can’t help myself, take a look at my environment and you’ll see why.

Why would you want to move to the Asheville area?  Since I am lucky enough to live here, I could go on for quite awhile, but instead I am going to list what some other companies have recently said about us!  I especially like the very last one!  Is the Asheville area really all that?  YOU BET!

*Top 10 Best Places to buy a second home – MSN Money

*Ranked in the Top 20 “Best Places to Retire in the World” – Barrons Magazine

*#1 Adventure Town – National Geographic Adventure Magazine

*Top 10 Best Places to Live – Frommers Cities

*Ranked #2 of America’s Top 25 “Small Arts Destinations” American Style

*Top 25 Most Secure Places to Live – Farmers Insurance

*Top 10 WhiteWater Towns – Whitewater Paddling

*The Ten Best U.S. Cities for Mountain Bikers – Mountainbike.com

*America’s Happiest City for Women – Self Magazine