St. Louis Real Estate Tip of the Week: Top Trends in Home Design and Staging

The Internet offers numerous websites for consumers to preview photos of homes offering suggestions for remodeling or just decorating homes.  Houzz.com is the latest website that is creating a buzz in the real estate community.

Real estate tip of the week: Houzz.com a combination of “house” and “buzz” is a home remodeling website that caters to current and aspiring home owners with a passion for renovation and design.

This new website was launched as a photo database in 2009 by a married couple, Adki Tatarko and Alon Cohen who were seeking remodeling aspiration for their own San Francisco Bay area home.

Today, 90 percent of the of the site’s 14 million monthly unique visitors are homeowners.  The site features two million photos.  There are 350,000 products curated by the sites experts, which are unique and upscale items for visitors to purchase to enhance their homes.

The community of viewers can create “ideabooks” and “projects” that allow them to share and engage with others excited about home design.  Some refer to this website as the “Facebook of the design world.”

Real estate agents are using houzz.com with their clients, whether they are selling, buying, or renovating to help them better envision a home’s potential. There is also a houzz app that agents can easily use to help their clients look past aesthetic challenges.  There is a fabulous area on the site where one can search a library or renovation photos showing how a dated house can be transformed into the modern home that many clients want.

The millions of high-quality photos are uploaded from designers and remodelers, showcasing everything from kitchens and bathrooms to landscapes and exteriors.  These photos can be placed into “ideabooks” under a label, so you can easily locate and share.  Ideabooks can be featured on the viewer’s profile page, e-mailed to clients, or embedded as a slide show on a website or a blog.

There is a “projects” folder which can appear on your individual profile page to show off your individual portfolio of work, uploading photos of properties recently sold, renovated, staged or anything that illustrates the user’s creativity.  Reviews by clients and peers can be testimonials to the user’s good work.  To move higher on the site’s directory of agents and contractors, you’ll need to amass several reviews, receive high ratings, and be active in discussions by posting on the site.

Another interesting feature is the ability to discuss issues as well. As a member of the site, you can pose and answer questions on everything from design dilemmas to ways of boosting a home’s value.  Many users are utilizing this discussion board as a means to demonstrate their individual expertise and personality.

The final feature is the “find your local pro” section.  If you need a contractor or a professional for any specific home project, there is a section of professionals to review.  This is a very interactive real estate website and it’s causing a real buzz1

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Beverly Taki is a Missouri-licensed real estate broker who has successfully represented clients for 25 years.  She is a broker salesperson at Keller Williams Realty St Louis. 10936 Manchester Road, St. Louis, MO   63122. Beverly has earned a certificate in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University, specializing in negotiation and mediation. Taki can be reached at beverlytaki@kw.com or 314.677.6366.  Her website is beverlytakistlouis.com. Her blog is http://www.realestatestlou.com