Turn Your Home into a Money-Maker, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

Turn Your Home into a Money-Maker by Delicious Decors, Santa Barbara California

Did you know that 80% of people planning a vacation book their reservations 6 months prior to their vacation? Of those travelers, 75% of them will chose to stay in a home rental in 2012.

Now is the time to get your vacation rental home spruced up and booked up for the summer! Delicious Decors is here to help.

Vacation Rental Preparation Services

• Just need some sprucing up? From new fresh bedding & towels, replacement kitchen ware, to fresh paint and curb appeal, our team can get the job done.
• Perhaps it’s time to replace that old sofa or ragged rug. From one sofa to an entire house, call Delicious Decors.
• Would you like to get more $$$ for your rental? Add a second bathroom, extend the patio, remodel the kitchen; our team is ready to get started.
• If you’re interested in managing your rental on your own, we’ve got the know how on what it takes to get your rental booked all summer long and we’ll pass that information on to you.
• Looking for a great management company to handle your vacation rental for you? Just ask us and we’ll steer you in the right direction.

From remodeling, to sprucing up, furnishing and decorating, to booking and managing, we’ve done it all and would like to pass on a few tips to you.

1. Is your vacation rental a place you would like to spend your family vacation? This is always a good question to ask yourself.
2. Curb appeal, you’ve got to have it! Give your house a fresh coat of paint, trim plants, add fresh plants & flowers, repair anything damaged or unsightly.
3. Whether you are just now turning your property into a vacation rental or sprucing it up for this year, select attractive, comfortable furniture. Keep in mind how many people your house will accommodate, and then double-check to make sure you actually have enough dining chairs, TV viewing seating, outdoor seating and eating capacity. You get the picture.
4. Décor & Accessories … make it vacationy. If you’re near the beach, add beach décor and beach toys. If you have a mountain cabin retreat, go with mountain cabin décor. Include some fishing rods if there’s a lake or river nearby.
5. Do everything on the “Honey-do” list to make sure everything is running in smooth top form.

How do you get your vacation rental rented?

These are my Top 3 suggestions for success on turning your property into a Money-Maker:

1st Your vacation rental should look great! You are appealing to people’s emotions, they need to be attracted to your home.

2nd PHOTOS. I capitalize this because it’s your #1 selling tool. You need excellent photos that not only show the property accurately, but show off the property as well. Again, you are appealing to emotion!

3rd Whether you are managing your own property or you have hired a management company, responses to inquiries must be done Promptly. If they have contacted you, they have contacted 5 other property owners as well, so jump on it.

Please call Delicious Decors today at 805.448.9226 or email peenny@deliciusdecors.com for a FREE estimate to turn your investment property into a Money-Maker and a retreat your entire famiy!

Santa Barbara Home Staging by Delicious Decors

Santa Barbara Staging by Delicious Decors

I just Love Home Staging! We turned this house from a construction site into a Home Dressed to Sell, let's take a look at some before and after photos.

        

The remodel update throughout the home is somewhat contemporary. To appeal to the largest potential market, we used traditional furniture with a blend of contemporary accents. Just what the realtor was looking for!

         

The living room is rather deep and has unbelievable views! To show this off, we added a pop of color with traditional wing back red chairs creating an inviting sitting area with views, views, views!

          

We offer FREE professional staging photos when you stage with Delicious Decors!

Check out this kitchen/dining area ... a dining delight along with counter barstools to join the chef of the house.

          

I absolutely love this master bedroom suite! Nice warm and luxurious bedding, along with beautiful artwork and a chaise to relax and enjoy the view. I think we nailed it! Custom Staging is what we're all about.

          

Views, views, views! I love detail photos, so here's one more! 

          

Santa Barbara Staging by Delicious Decors! Contact us Today for your FREE staging estimate; 805.448.9226, penny@deliciousdecors.com. We stage along California's Central Coast; from LA to Arroyo Grande and everywhere in between!

We look forward to working with you,

Penny & The DD Team

Which is More Important, A Wedding or a House?

Which is More Important A Wedding or a House? 

via Bryan Robertson               

Bryan makes an excellent point here. Perhaps we just need to make sure young couples know the cost of a down payment vs. the cost of their special day. The wisest choices are always made when people have all the information to consider. There are plenty of ways to have a Special Day and the savings for a home. 

I read an interesting article this morning that talked about the cost of weddings and the impact on parents saving for retirement.  Then I looked at the current average cost of a wedding.  Wow!!  Are you kidding me?  Have we really brainwashed couples for so long that the whole wedding racket costs this much.  The obscene overcharging that goes on with anything associated with a wedding is a whole other article.  Guess how much the average wedding costs!  $25,631!  That's the cost for ONE SINGLE DAY.

Now, consider the down payment on a house.  Given the average price of a house in the United States, that $25,000 could be a nice down payment.  How long will the house last?  Homeowners stay in their homes an average of 7 years.  So, which is a better deal, the house or the wedding?  Is one day worth 2555 days?  In today's world where budgets are more important than ever, how about spending less on the wedding and more on the house?   

OK, I know, it's "that special day" and all that.  I'm not cynical.  My first marriage was a blow-out and the cost went WAY beyond that $25K.  When I think back on it all, I don't regret the fun everyone had but I think the money could have been spent better.  My second marriage (and definitely my last) cost about $5K.  It was held at a high-end resort overlooking the ocean.  We had music, a beautful ceremony, flowers, etc but we cut the guest list from 150+ to only 10 - including me and the bride (immediate family only).  The reception was held there as well.  It was very memorable and not as exhausting as the massive wedding.

I guess my point is that couples considering getting married might consider that all the money spent on one day isn't worth the home and life you could get if that money were spent on a house.  Just a thought.

Keeping informed by Delicious Decors!

Gorgeous Redwood Deck by Delicious Decors, Santa Barbara CA

Gorgeous Redwood Deck by Delicious Decors, Santa Barbara

When your daughter is getting married and you need a deck to host over 50 people for the wedding reception, what do you do? Call Delicious Decors!

We built this deck on 9 levels to accomodate the slope. To make sure everything was going to be safe for over 50 people dancing we added more posts and cross braces to the framing.

Framing Going Up

New Post Footing

Great Views!

We made some changes to the look of the original railing and to the design of bracing the railing, which was very important to the home owners. The old railing moved when leaning against it! The home owners surely wanted to eliminate movement.

New Railing Design

After 3 weeks of hard work and over 10,000 screws, the deck was completed. The home owners were thrilled with their new 9 platform deck, safe and sound and ready to be danced on all night long!

Ready for the Party!

Need a deck? Please give me a call at 805.284.2628 or email fredrikbergstrm@me.com for your FREE estimate.

I Love custom carpentry! Just let me know what your looking for and I'll get started on your project right away!

Fredrik Bergstrom

Wall Art Sells, Custom Staging in Santa Barbara

Much-A-Do-About Nothing? Custom Home Staging in Santa Barbara, California.
(Part 1 in a 4 part series about the importance of wall art in home staging.)
We, at Delicious Decors,  believe that wall art in professional home staging has much to do about everything!

A Home Stager's job is to "set the stage," to get the home sold quickly at top dollar. A large part of setting the stage and creating a feeling for prospective home buyers is wall art.

We specialize in custom home staging; top to bottom. "Custom wall art, this is what we're talking about ... "

When we were hired to stage a classic Santa Barbara home located across the street from the Santa Barbara Mission and Rose Gardens, our first thought was custom artwork. We knew setting the stage for this home meant including artwork of the Santa Barbara Mission and the Santa Barbara Fiesta, both stuped in Santa Barbara History.

One of the strongest selling points of this particular home is it's Santa Barbara history and it's location. So, we knew our job was not only to compliment this attribute, but to show it off! 

Using his professional photography skills, Fredrik created custom artwork of the Santa Barbara Mission for the living room niches. He shot the photos, had them enlarged and printed on canvas for added dimension. 

       

              

We went a step further to set the stage by purchasing Santa Barbara Fiesta posters, framing and hanging them in just the right places throughout the home.

In fact, these Fiesta posters touched the heart of one guest that viewed the home during caravan enough to give me a call.  He is the grandson of the original artist that painted one of the posters we used in the home!

                 

               

Did our custom staging with art work do the following:
1. Create a feeling?
2. Showcase the property's #1 asset (it's location and history)?
3. Add interest?
4. Add a sense of welcome, warmth and home?

The answer to all of these important aspects of the home staging purpose is Yes. And that's just the artwork side of the job. :-)

Does wall art matter?

We at Delicious Decors believe, "Wall art has much to do about everything!"

(Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Much-A-Do-About Nothing?"  I'll be unveiling my choice for this blog tittle on my final blog of this series.)

For your FREE staging estimate call Penny Today at 805.964.0866 or email penny@deliciousdecors.com.

Please join us on Facebook / LinkedIn / Blog / Videos  

Stage it Forward,

Penny & The DD Team                                  

Much-A-Do-About Nothing? Custom Staging in Santa Barbara, California

Much-A-Do-About Nothing? Custom Staging in Santa Barbara, California.

(Part 2 of a 4 part series about the importance of wall art in home staging.)

We, at Delicious Decors, believe that wall art in professional home staging has much to do about everything! 

A Home Stagers job is to "set the stage,"  to get the home sold quickly, at top dollar. 

And we believe in custom home staging. 

There are many things to consider when staging a property, but in this series we are talking about wall art in particular. 

For this staging project, the existing wall art chose the staging! The home owners had several signed original black and white photographs of old time movie stars lining the walls of this contemporary home. We combined the wall art and the contemporary style of the home and created a "Hollywood Glam" feel with our staging. 

We added contemporary furniture and decor to create the finished look for this high end contemporary "Hollywood Glam" home. 

Did our custom staging with art work do the following:

1. Create a feeling that goes with the architectural style of the home?

2. Add interest?

3. Showcase the property's style and attributes?

4. Entice potential home buyers?

All of these important aspects of home staging was met with our custom home staging using the home owners' original art work along with Delicious Decors inventory and decor. 

Does wall art matter?

We at Delicious Decors believe, "Wall art has much to do about everything!"

(Stay tuned for Part 3 of our "Much-A-Do-About Nothing" blog.)

For your FREE staging estimate call Penny Today at 805.964.0866 or email penny@deliciousdecors.com.

Please join us on Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn, Videos

Stage it Forward,

Penny & The DD Team

Professional Real Estate Photography, Santa Barbara California

Now, more than ever, it is essential to use professional photos to sell your home!

Did you know that 99% of home buyers are looking online for their next home? And that 84% of these folks said what they valued most from their online research were the photos? The first impression of your home is no longer when the potential buyer walks through the front door; they are only a click away.

 

Extensive industry research demonstrates that professional photos of your home will help increase interest, drive traffic and result in a significantly higher sale price. You need a professional photographer!

A professional photographer uses a high quality camera, a wide angle lenses and knows how to maximize space and shoot interesting angles. A pro knows how to showcase your homes' best features and most interesting details. A professional will make your house stand out from the crowd.

                   

If you are not using a professional photographer for your listing, you are not truly marketing your home to its fullest potential. Homes with many professional photos receive more page views online, making them rank higher on Web sites, resulting in increased visibility. 

After staging your home ... cleaning, organizing, repainting, removing personal items and adding curb appeal ... you need a series of professional marketing photos to ensure potential buyers can see how special your home really is.

Please resist the urge to capture snapshots with your own camera or smartphone and let the professionals do the job! 

We offer FREE professional staging photos when you stage with Delicious Decors.

Please join us on Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn, Videos

We look forward to working with you,
Penny & The DD Team