Excerpts

There was no time to waste. If Sal and I didn't stay focused on our goal to rebuild the home, we knew it would never be completed, and quite frankly camping out in our small bedroom with our four animals was becoming a hassle. It was a tireless cycle that never would have been broken if we didn't change our mindset. Rather than sit back and wait for others to help us or feel sorry for our situation, we made a goal and changed our habits to take action to meet that goal. While other neighbors were just starting to gut their homes we were already living back on our first floor. The entire rebuild took about four months to complete, and we definitely faced obstacles along the way, but this experience taught me the exact process of what it takes to construct a home from the subfloor up, and it's a lesson I use on every staging our company completes. Keep Your Eyes on the Goal Whether you're rebuilding your home or staging it, the homeowner has to have a goal in mind. For us it was to have our first floor living space back, especially the kitchen. For you as a home seller, it may be getting a certain amount of money or having your home sold by the time school starts. Everyone's goal will be different, but it's important to have a goal and stay focused on achieving it. This is what will drive your habits and decisions even on the worst days during this process. I think part of the reason we were so successful in rebuilding our home in a timely manner was because we didn't lose sight of our goal. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that we lost ten years of our lives in ten minutes---memories we will never be able to replace, like a trunk full of 9/11 memorabilia or photographs of our childhood. But Sal and I both knew that dwelling on this catastrophe wouldn't get us any closer to returning to normalcy. A part of us knew that when we walked down those stairs the morning after the storm, we were lucky to be alive and everything else was superficial. My emotions might not have been so composed about the destruction if I didn't witness the storm's wrath firsthand. Staying in our home that night changed our lives forever, so it was easy to make a goal that would expedite the rebuild. Many people questioned why we didn't just sell the house or raze it to the ground, or they would ask why we added custom finishes on a floor that could flood again. We say, "This is our home. We want to feel at home again." A lot of work went into making our house "feel at home" once more. While it's effortless to put up sheet rock and create the four walls of a room, what is going to be the purpose of that room? How is it going to look and feel? The expression "feel at home" means to feel as if you belong, to feel as if you are home, to feel accepted. This is exactly what we want buyers to feel when they walk into your home for the first time, like this home belongs to them. I realized that by going through this rebuild I could not only teach homeowners how to expedite repairs and remodels but show them how to create a stylish, comfortable living space that makes anyone who walks into that space feel accepted. This "feel at home" process has helped hundreds of homeowners reach their goals to sell their homes. These homeowners have also spent on average 78 percent less time on the market and have a combined increase in sales of $980,000 after staging their homes with Stylish Stagers. This process has not only helped me rebuild my home, it has helped hundreds of people move on with their lives---and it could help you sell your home. Now it's time to dig even deeper and explore in detail my 10 Steps to Feel At Home process. Are you ready? Let's get started! Excerpted from Feel at Home: Home Staging Secrets for a Quick and Easy Sell by Tori Toth All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.