Barry Owen of Pareto Realty coordinates events between Realtors and Vendors (for lack of a better word although I don’t like it) that he calls “Lunch and Learn”. Today’s L&L was at Koi Japanese Restaurant in Hermitage. First a little about Koi…

The place was amazing. It doesn’t look like much on the outside as it is housed in an old abandoned CVS or Walgreen’s pharmacy building. But it is a great reconditioning of the building and is charming once you get inside. But you really aren’t there for the charm. You are there for the largest Asian buffet I’ve ever seen. The buffet line winds around for about 100 yards–no exaggeration. The first part of the line has a Hibachi Grill where you pick out the fresh ingredients and then hand your custom plate of raw food to a chef and he grills it right in front of you. Amazing. Then there is a pretty standard line of Asian food replete with Gen Xcho’s chicken, other chicken entrees, fried rice, steamed veggies, eggrolls, etc…..

In the back of the restaurant in the last 20 yards of buffet line was a very impressive sushi bar lined up with constantly replenishing sushi that two sushi chefs were constantly whisking together.

The food was great. I have no idea how expensive it is because the tab was graciously picked up by Ron Stoneman of Houselens. His company was featured as well as a staging company known as Staging Dreams with owner Kathy Fix.

Kathy spoke first. I don’t know that I “learned” much because as a cutting edge realtor–I know that staging is very important. What I did learn is how she does her business and what she can offer. Sometimes sellers have reluctance to stage their house or they don’t see the importance of doing it. This is where Kathy comes in. Kathy offers a “walk and talk” in which she will go through the house and offer suggestions. That can be the extant of it with the seller now filled with scads of good ideas that they can then do them selves to enhance the marketability of their home. Or…

As Kathy does the walk and talk the sellers see that there is too much for them and decide to have her write is all down. Then she gives them a list of items to complete on their own and then they do it. She comes back at a later date to figure out if it actually looks right in practice as it did in theory. Adjustments are made from there.

Or she can customize a program whereby she does whatever the house needs to be positioned for optimum showing. She can do it all from painting, rearranging furniture, getting rid of clutter, adding pieces that maybe the seller does not have, and any and all things to help take the person’s “home” to a “house” that then can be sold as a “product”. I was impressed by her knowledge and her presentation. I feel confident that she actually can induce a seller to see the importance of staging their home.

The next presentation was by Ron Stoneman of Houselens. Houselens offers a full video walk through of listings for Realtors. Their goal is to help realtors showcase their listings in a creative, dynamic way that also helps the buyer’s out there better envision the house. They use stedicam technology to walk through and film the entire house and their goal is also to provide this service in a price point that is barely above what a still photographer charges. In addition they provide 30-50 still photos that the realtor can then use on the Multiple Listing Service. In addition, when a buyer clicks on the video tour of the home via the MLS they go to a separate customized site for the property where they can view the video but then also the additional stills since MLS only allows 20 pix at this time.

I have Ron’s team is scheduled video a loft that I personally own that is coming on the market next week. I’ll update you to let you know what I think.