Even back in 1928, Hillcrest lived in the shadow of northwest DC.

“People have become so accustomed to going Northwest that they have overlooked entirely one of the best sections of Washington from every point of view,” a resident wrote in the inaugural issue of the Hillcrest Bulletin from that June.

Nearly 90 years later, residents are still waiting for people to start looking closer at a southeast neighborhood famous for its suburban charms and lack of development.

In 2006, it was the suburban charm that drew Cortez Johnson to a neighborhood he thought of as a secret. Now, the president of Fairfax Village Community Association, wants that to change.

To read more, visit Urban Turf

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What do the words qualify, fit, prepare, ready, train, educate have in common? Webster’s definition says they mean to provide the necessary materials or supplies, provide a feature or ability, or to make ready. In the real estate arena, this is what you will get when you work with an Equipped CSP! 

Think how it can help your client. Summer, 2017, Washington, D.C.: There were many properties on the market and lots of upwardly mobile millennials looking for their special place. Millennials are today’s buyers; however there are things to consider when selling to this demographic. During the prestaging consultation, it is imperative updates to the property be addressed. 

Fact: Many D.C. properties are outdated. Millennials want move-in ready homes, so, staging recommendations need to include fresh paint and lighting, updated kitchens and bathrooms, and removing excess furnishings. Sellers may not understand what needs to be done, who to call, or what the costs involved will be, let alone have a pool of contractors they can trust. Working with an equipped real estate stager benefits you and your clients because we have specialized training, know what to look for, what buyers are looking for, and have the resources to get the work done while increasing the seller’s ROI.

I recently met with a client who was selling her deceased parent’s property; after my prestaging consultation she was impressed with my wealth of knowledge and that I took the time to explain in detail how the three-step staging process works. I also explained the services I could provide at preferred rates and she hired me immediately.  

A lot of preparation was needed before I could work my magic. We started with organizing the removal of the entire contents of her parent’s house—over fifty-five years of belongings. Wallpaper was removed, repairs made and the whole house was repainted; you can imagine it was a very stressful and emotional time for her. 

To show the true value of the property and ensure great photographs, it is important to have properties staged prior to marketing. Without showcasing, property does not show well in person or online. Buyers want turnkey properties, and 97% of them are looking online.

(Be sure to read the client testimonial for more.) 

Agents should also be mindful of the preparation time required to get a property fully ready for the public! In this case, we were under the gun because the agent booked the photographer the morning of staging day, and couldn't change it. To facilitate that deadline, my team and I had to work through the night until 5:00 a.m. to meet that commitment! It was exhausting, and definitely more stress than necessary when a simple phone call would have prevented it. So please, before marketing, agent tours, open houses, or photographs check with the stager to ensure all major repairs and showcasing are completed. 

After two days of preparation, my client’s beautiful family home in the prominent neighborhood of Hillcrest, Washington, D.C., received multiple offers! Potential buyers were very pleased with the property itself and with the staging. It was listed at $515,000 and sold for $545,000! That’s $30,000 over the asking price. My client, without a doubt in her mind, said to me and others that if it had not been staged it would never have sold for that price. Oh, by the way, the buyer of this property is a female millennial—one of the fastest growing buyer demographics!

I was inspired by the Diana Ross song, “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand. Make this world a better place if you can,” and I created my own version for agents and their clients to strongly consider when securing staging services: “Reach out and touch an equipped CSP stager’s hand, together we can make this real estate industry a better place. YES CSP can.” My client was so moved by seeing how staging plays a huge role in selling property that she has trained for her real estate license. Guess who her number one stager will be? Me! ! Yolanda T. Tillman is the owner of Tiera Interiors, LLC, in Washington, D.C. You can read more about her and her business at www.tierainteriors.com. 

As published in Volume 11 Issue 6 STAGING STANDARD 

About Yolanda

Hello and Welcome! My name is Yolanda Tillman, and I am a proud Certified Staging Professional servicing the Washington, D.C. metro area, and my hometown of Sumter, S.C. and CEO of Tiera Interiors, LLC a Washington, DC home based interior decorating and real estate staging company. Years ago, I started out with a college career majoring in Interior Design, and truly have a passion for great design/décor when it comes to assisting my clients. I furthered my educational achievements with a Master in Business Administration, which enabled me to understand how to operate a successful business and learned management and people skills which landed me in my new found passion in real estate staging. I work with homeowners and their families through the staging and showcasing process. In addition to getting the staged home sold, Tiera Interiors, LLC is there to assist clients with the interior decoration of their new home. I am also a member of the Real Estate Staging Association, and affiliate member of Women's Council of Realtors. My team and I will be happy to assist you in the staging of your property, so you no longer have to spend stressful time in not knowing if your home will be sold. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you maximize your property's equity while selling one of your greatest assets. "We go the extra mile with a smile".

Welcome to my 1st blog! I hope you will enjoy reading my personal take on how I grew up under a time period where there was no name for the word “Staging” as we know it today.

As a young girl growing up in Sumter, South Carolina, I have reflections of what we know as the word “Staging” today, really occurred during my era as society calls it the “baby boomer” period (1960s) and even before. According to one definition of the word “Evolution” its the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to more complex form.  In the south, homeowners including my late grandmother, family members, and their friends really took special pride in the up keeping of their homes. When the old couch would wear out especially on the arms, it was replaced with a draping of whatever they had whether it was a spotless white ironed starched cotton sheet (there were not many colored sheets back then) tucked over, or material that was sown on a Saturday afternoon in time for guests to come over after church for Sunday dinner. All of the furnishings were always polished, and the clean smell of the various types of cleaning products that the traveling salesman would come door to door selling products to those who could not make it to the stores. Vinegar, and baking soda was very popular, along with hand made soaps (this could classify as a form of “greening”) Each room of the homes were always neat and clean (beds were made up, clothes were hung) no unpleasant odor and everything was in its rightful place.  Walls in the homes were only one basic color which was “white”. Now today, there are so many paint colors in the homes which stagers offer as one of their services to clients known as a “color consultation”.

Home chores on Saturdays were given to the children to do before going out to play.  I can recall that what we know as “curb appeal” today also occurred many, many years ago. The man of the household would cut grass, trim bushes, and watered their grass on a weekly basis. Everyone on the whole street homes were simply beautiful and they even had special prizes given to the home that displayed the best pictured yard with flowers, and was displayed on the front cover of the town newspaper.  My, my, my we have come a long way, and now in today’s society it is known as “staging”.  So, our work as home stagers is cut out for us in helping today’s homeowners to bring their homes up to par and getting it market ready for selling.  Its fitting to say as described earlier in this blog, that this process has evolved from what was known as a gradual development over the centuries to more complex form. We now have statistics attached to what potential buyers are looking for in a staged home versus un-staged, we now have an array of articles and definitions of what staging means, to replacing furnishings, and advising the homeowners to make repairs and upgrades which should have been up kept from day 1 when they moved into their home. WOW! where has the pride in the home gone?

Well, based on my experience, and upbringing I am so proud to have achieved my Certified Staging Professionals (CSP) training under our very own Christine Rae. This classy lady, is the Founder and President of the Certified Staging Professionals (CSP) International Business Training Academy, and is highly known throughout North America, Canada and beyond as the world’s leading authority on staging from her global experience, as well as through her work in developing standards, examinations, professionalism and trend forecasting.

Lastly, you want to know how the homes are viewed today in my hometown, well I am happy to say that after all these years, the homes are still well kept and lawns are well manicured. Therefore, I shall now take what my personal evolution of today’s “staging” and help as many homeowners and buyers to take pride in their homes for years to come. Thank You, and Happy Staging!

About Yolanda

Hello and Welcome! My name is Yolanda Tillman, and I am a proud Certified Staging Professional servicing the Washington, D.C. metro area, and my hometown of Sumter, S.C. and CEO of Tiera Interiors, LLC a Washington, DC home based interior decorating and real estate staging company. Years ago, I started out with a college career majoring in Interior Design, and truly have a passion for great design/décor when it comes to assisting my clients. I furthered my educational achievements with a Master in Business Administration, which enabled me to understand how to operate a successful business and learned management and people skills which landed me in my new found passion in real estate staging. I work with homeowners and their families through the staging and showcasing process. In addition to getting the staged home sold, Tiera Interiors, LLC is there to assist clients with the interior decoration of their new home. I am also a member of the Real Estate Staging Association, and affiliate member of Women's Council of Realtors. My team and I will be happy to assist you in the staging of your property, so you no longer have to spend stressful time in not knowing if your home will be sold. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you maximize your property's equity while selling one of your greatest assets. "We go the extra mile with a smile".

There are so many articles, blogs, pinterest, instagram, and facebook postings for all different types of food combinations. At times, its been categorized as healthy foods, whole foods, vegan foods and the list goes on and on and on. But, lets talk about how the color combination of food items can make you feel, and how to bring those colors into your living spaces.

Above are pictures that I actually cooked for a few of my dinner meals. The picture on the left is sautéed green and yellow squash with sweet onions, and the picture on the right is brown rice, sautéed orange, yellow, green peppers and again my favorite sweet onions. They both are healthy meals, yet very colorful while depicting warm soothing palettes, with hints of earth tone combinations. The squash meal, there’s your mellow yellows, smoothie green with beige undertones. Then the rice vegetable dinner, is more flavorful, and colorful with more brighter and playful colors.

You see, when considering wall colors for your home, let those ideas come naturally to your mind when incorporating food items. Certainly, when in doubt and you don’t know what colors to pick, just prepare your favorite meals and be creative, then the color inspirations for your home will come to life.

About Yolanda

Hello and Welcome! My name is Yolanda Tillman, and I am a proud Certified Staging Professional servicing the Washington, D.C. metro area, and my hometown of Sumter, S.C. and CEO of Tiera Interiors, LLC a Washington, DC home based interior decorating and real estate staging company. Years ago, I started out with a college career majoring in Interior Design, and truly have a passion for great design/décor when it comes to assisting my clients. I furthered my educational achievements with a Master in Business Administration, which enabled me to understand how to operate a successful business and learned management and people skills which landed me in my new found passion in real estate staging. I work with homeowners and their families through the staging and showcasing process. In addition to getting the staged home sold, Tiera Interiors, LLC is there to assist clients with the interior decoration of their new home. I am also a member of the Real Estate Staging Association, and affiliate member of Women's Council of Realtors. My team and I will be happy to assist you in the staging of your property, so you no longer have to spend stressful time in not knowing if your home will be sold. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you maximize your property's equity while selling one of your greatest assets. "We go the extra mile with a smile".

According to Webster dictionary the word “Elite” is defined as skillful, quality, professional, gifted, educated, best of a class. Another definition; those people or organizations that are considered the best or most powerful compared to other of a similar type or considered to be the best of their kind”.

Recently, I received my Certificate of Achievement as a Certified Staging Professionals (CSP) Elite Stager, and so very proud of what it means to me in my staging career.  As a recent retiree of the federal government giving 35 years of hard work and dedication, I achieved various levels of training as I moved up in status.  Like among the elites of those who achieved high education, and management skills, that is what I bring to the table based on my skills, quality, education, professionalism, gifts, and now considered the best of the CSP class.  By working with Agents, this prestigious status gives me that boost of determination to educate them on the fundamentals of staging and to understand the process in today’s real estate market.  You will be surprised that a lot of agents think they can do the staging themselves with no problem, and prefer not to work with a professional stager. But on the other hand they wonder why their listings suffer from huge deductions, and have to take the property off the market while not giving explanations to their clients as to why.  This is just one example of an agent not working with an “Elite” stager. Someone who knows and study the real estate market, someone who studies the demographics of the location, someone who keeps up with the statistics, someone who knows the changing trends (i.e. color palettes, upgrades, uprising millennials), and someone who is passionate and can easily identify the pitfalls of not staging properties based on conditions right off the back.  So, I welcome agents, and homeowners to consider what Tiera Interiors, LLC have to offer and let’s work together and get your property staged and sold, so it too can be “Among The Elite.”

One’s home should be their pride and joy, just like a new born baby. You must treat it with tender loving care.  Homeowners seek that special house just for them, whether it’s an old traditional style, modern, upscale or just the little house with the white picket fence. Once a upon a time, homeowners would keep their properties up by keeping the grass freshly cut each week, painting the wood back to its natural color after a hard and cold winter season, and made sure all repairs in the home were kept up.

What happened to the value of a home over the years? Why don’t homeowners take back pride in their investments. Therefore, I have created the feelings of a home and decided to write this blog just for you.  Let’s hear from “Cries From A House”.

Homeowner, you once fell in love with me at first sight. I was such a beauty from the outside as my green hair was always cut short each week, you enjoyed planting flowers, gardening, and made sure I was kept clean. My glass windows where my eyes looking out use to be cleaned weekly, now I can’t see out anymore to the beautiful sunshine, nor can buyers see from the outside.  I used to hold my own water during the raining seasons, but now my roof is leaking, and its running in on the inside of me. My entrance steps are now cracked and broken in some areas, and I’m afraid when buyers come to see me that I don’t look good, and they just walk away from me.

You used to repair my broken spaces on the inside. I had such great features when you first saw me. You loved the kitchen cabinetry, flooring, and the appliances were new. Oh, how I loved when you cooked in the kitchen and others would gather eat and have good conversations. I’m old now and falling apart. The appliances are old, dirty, and the flooring does not look new anymore.

You painted me with such dark colors in the rooms and I feel so sad and gloomy.  After years of accumulating items, there’s no more room inside my belly to hold the excess weight of belongings. When buyers come in, they stop at the front door and don’t really want to look any further, because they can’t envision themselves living here. The constant odor is no longer appealing as it stays for days, and no cleaning solution seems to help.  Buyers again, come in and some have allergic reactions and must immediately walk out. So, homeowner hear my cries as to what is wrong and fix me back up again so I can breathe in the fresh air, I can see out into the world, and foremost I want to be loved again by you before we depart ways so that the new homeowner will take back pride and see my best features.

Homeowners, as a CSP Real Estate Elite Stager during my pre-consultation, I encourage you to take heed in the staging preparation process that are necessary for you get your home prepared for selling to the potential buyers.  Remember, when you were looking for that perfect home and how you wanted a turn-key ready home that you could call your own, well do the same for the new homeowner.

About Yolanda

Hello and Welcome! My name is Yolanda Tillman, and I am a proud Certified Staging Professional servicing the Washington, D.C. metro area, and my hometown of Sumter, S.C. and CEO of Tiera Interiors, LLC a Washington, DC home based interior decorating and real estate staging company. Years ago, I started out with a college career majoring in Interior Design, and truly have a passion for great design/décor when it comes to assisting my clients. I furthered my educational achievements with a Master in Business Administration, which enabled me to understand how to operate a successful business and learned management and people skills which landed me in my new found passion in real estate staging. I work with homeowners and their families through the staging and showcasing process. In addition to getting the staged home sold, Tiera Interiors, LLC is there to assist clients with the interior decoration of their new home. I am also a member of the Real Estate Staging Association, and affiliate member of Women's Council of Realtors. My team and I will be happy to assist you in the staging of your property, so you no longer have to spend stressful time in not knowing if your home will be sold. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you maximize your property's equity while selling one of your greatest assets. "We go the extra mile with a smile".