Released on: July 2, 2008, 2:35 pm

Press Release Author: Debra Gould / Six Elements, Inc.

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Debra Gould (The Staging Diva®) appears on This Old House's
online magazine, sharing her staging secrets that maximize a home's selling price,
especially in a slow real estate market. The piece is a prelude to a feature article
which will appear in print this fall.

Press Release Body: (United States) July 2, 2008 - Today's slow real estate market
makes it difficult for a home to sell at all, let alone at a fair price to the
seller. Homeowners in parts of the US where the market is almost dead are certainly
not seeing bidding wars like they may have just a few years ago. Expert Home Stager,
Debra Gould (The Staging Diva®) was interviewed recently for a feature article in an
upcoming issue of This Old House magazine. She shared some of the secrets that have
helped her clients sell homes that had been sitting 'un-staged' on the market for
far too long and sometimes for tens of thousands of dollars more than their agents'
originally intended list price.

"Home staging is critical in a slow real estate market," says Gould who has trained
more than 800 home stagers through her home-study Home Staging Training Program.
"People don't take the time to think about it, but when things aren't moving, the
house in the neighborhood that shows like a model home is going to sell first."

The article on This Old House's website features several before and after photos and
pricing information; the original list price, in some cases the price the agent had
suggested before staging was complete, and the final sale price. Each set of photos
is accompanied by the tricks and methodology used by Gould when staging the rooms.
This information not only gives homeowners a clear visual on what home staging can
do for them, but the advice given could and should be put to use by anyone
considering listing their home in a slow real estate market.

"The goal of a good stager is to transform a family's home into a space that
prospective buyers can envision as their own. That can't happen when the rooms are
full of family photographs and clutter, or when they're vacant," remarks Gould. "In
many instances a home stager has to remind homeowners of the market they are in. If
my clients are empty nesters in a neighborhood springing up with young families, I
always suggest taking a guest room and staging it as a child's bedroom. It helps the
buyers see their lives there. That's key!"

For more tips from The Staging Diva, read the article at www.thisoldhouse.com or
check out her website, www.stagingdiva.com.

About Debra Gould - 'The Staging Diva'
The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould
has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own
homes. She is the president of home staging firm SixElements.com and has trained
over 800 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses through
www.StagingDiva.com.

Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US
and Canada including: HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City
TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women's Day, Reader's Digest and more.

Web Site: http://www.stagingdiva.com

Contact Details: Debra Gould, The Staging Diva
Six Elements Inc.
416-691-6615
debra@stagingdiva.com
http://www.stagingdiva.com