Real Estate Staging / Home Staging Blog

When I posted my “Little Orphan Rodney” blog this morning I never thought it would create such a firestorm of comments.

I been so inspired by the spirit of kindness and generosity on Active Rain that I try hard to make my voice here be a voice of inclusion, a voice a sharing… with a dash of humor.  

Two simple little AR blogs in particular have touched me, inspired me and have COMPLETYLY changed the way I now approach my blog and my industry. They represent generosity in the purist of sense. Neither blogger needed to share their “secrets”. But they did. Those two blogs (from a while back now) were: Bonnie Cox’s 200-Step Marketing Plan and Derek & Mariana Wagner’s What We Do for Our Sellers.

Here in this big puddle I have learned so much on so many levels. Above ALL ELSE Active Rain is about sharing ideas, and helping colleagues overcome obstacles and achieve all they hope and dream. The staging industry has much to learn from realtors... especially realtors on AR. 

I share because I KNOW a competitively healthy and united staging industry will not only benefit the consumer but also those people who chose to make staging a career. I share to counter an industry that is more focused on discrediting each other, at times reducing itself into being a petty bickering bunch. I choose to follow what I believe is a better way. A way so wonderfully embodied here on Active Rain.

So you can only imagine what it was like for me to post my “helpful blog complete with goofy graphic”… only to see it “blow-up” with controversy. 

But I believe all things cross my path for a reason. And while I may not understand why at the time there is a LESSON OF GOOD to be learned.

First and foremost I read the comments and took from them the helpful ideas, thoughts and insights others kindly shared. I purposely write blogs with the hope that they DO inspire comments for all the stagers (and anyone else) to read and learn from.

But the one comment in my blog today that was construed as being negative I chose to keep posted. Why did I not delete it?  I think the dialogue around and about THAT comment was as valuable as the initial blog itself. The thorn held another lesson to be learned.

Spouting an divisive opinion is easy… crafting an inclusive message so that one "hears" is much harder. Striking out at those we disagree with is easy… reaching out to those we don’t understand is much harder.

So while we may not like it or understand it, God put thorns on flowers for a reason.  My advice is to enjoy the flowers, and be careful not allow the pricks get to you or turn into one yourself.

Me

Lately I have been getting a lot of email from stagers that are frustrated with the response they have been getting from the real estate community. Basically they are surprised that realtors are not flocking to them with open welcoming arms and lavishing them with clients. Compared to mortgage brokers or home inspectors we are "red headed step children that get no respect".

The best advice I can give you is to "persevere".

Staging is new and in many parts of the country untested. So it is up to us as a united industry to get the word out about staging and the benefits it provides. When you are marketing yourself to realtors keep in mind the following and remember ultimately you need to craft your message to them and their issues/needs/concerns/benifits.

1.) Staging has become a marketing tool for realtors that demonstrates they are savvy and leading edge.

2.) Staging fee is typically the seller’s expense, not the realtors! (Many realtors think the fee has to come out of their pocket.)

3.) Real estate staging is NOT just renting furniture… it is much more. It is up to you to explain the depth at which you go to prepare a house for market.

4.) The best time to stage is BEFORE a property is listed. Our work can move the listing price to the top end of the property’s possible price range thus covering our fees and making the seller MORE money.

5.) Let us discuss our services and fees directly with the home seller… this keeps the home seller from feeling as if additional fees are being tacked on by the realtor.

6.) INSTEAD of a price reduction… consider using us. Staging can be less costly and have more of an impact.

7.) Do not market yourself as a designer/ or decorator... rather market yourself as a "real estate/property merchandiser". Why? Because bringing in a "designer/decorator" may be construed as an insult to a seller's tastes. Hiring a property merchandiser is a wise marketing strategy.

In today's age, where it seems like it is all about hard core marketing, sometimes what is forgotten is that marketing ourselves and our services is ultimately about building authentic relationships. Finding ways to be of help to the realtor will surely end the "little orphan Rodney syndrome" we all experience in this new industry.

When should a realtor, who considers themselves to be a stager, bring in a professional real estate stager?  In my opinion it really comes down to 3 key elements: TIME, TALENT, & TREASURE.  A keen and rich knowledge of these basic 3 elements and a system for implementing and administering them is what truly makes a stager an effective resource.

I have found if stager does not have access to all 3, they undermine the true benifits of staging and what is available to the seller. (Please note, the key word here is “access” and does not mean EVERY property needs all 3 elements.)

So realtors, if you are thinking about becoming a “Staging Realtor” but are not sure you want to, I ask you to consider the following basic questions regarding these 3 key elements.   

TIME: How much time is preparing properties for market going to take you? Taking into account that staging can take a considerable of time to perform physical and/or project management tasks, is this the best use of your time?

TALENT: Do you already know and are you willing to continue to learn all you need to know, about landscaping, cleaning, de-cluttering, room & furnishing arrangement, home repair & maintenance to best prepare these properties for sale?

TREASURE (Props): Considering staging is real estate  merchandising and that scale, proportion, color and style do make a difference… Do you have access to the RIGHT furnishings and decorative accessories that can be added to your properties that subtly blend in, yet enhance their overall appeal?

If as a realtor you are willing to fully and ongoingly commit to these basic elements of staging, as you commit to the basic growth and development of your realtor skills... I say GO FOR IT. But I think it is far to warn you...  to do staging RIGHT it often takes more then one thinks. It might be best at times to call in the BIG GUNS of a professional stager.

Because sometimes it’s not what you know… it’s what you don’t know that you don’t know, that can best help your client sell their house.

So if you have not figured it out yet... I have a BIG mouth.

I would rather share what I know and NEW THINGS I have learned about staging then hold it as a trade secret. WHY?  Because the staging industry is young and the faster we all share what we learn the better realtors are helped, seller's benifit and the quicker the enitire industry grows.

(For an AWESOME example of sharing to the industry, see fellow stager Cindy Lin's blog from earlier today)

Anyway, today I visited a Retirement Community to set up a time to come in (open my big mouth) and talk to "residents in waiting".  What I mean is that the Retirment Community has new residents who are wanting to move in and enjoy their golden years... if only they could sell their existing homes.

The Retirement Community wants me to come in and share my ideas, insights, thoughts and benifits of staging with these folks. The management is being both savvy and proactive... as they want to educate and help future residents sell their current homes. HOW cool and clever is that?

Considering the audience, this will take a bit of targeted message crafting for sure... but it is an opportunity I welcome.

Oh and where did the Retirement Community find me and my big mouth? Right here on AR... because of my blogging.

CHEERS TO ACTIVE RAIN... it is making a difference!

Here is a set of Before & After pictures of a TOTALLY VACANT property we staged back in mid June and un-staged today.

IT DID NOT SELL. WHY? Was it because staging really does not help?

SOME nay-sayers might (and will) jump to that conclusion. I happen to have experienced far too many POSTIVE results because of our work to agree with that deduction.

Could it be because of the slow/poor market? Yes, that is a strong possibility. Actually the owner WAS able to rent it in the end.

OR COULD IT BE IT WAS PRICED WAY TO HIGH?  YES, DEFINETLY in this case that WAS the reason!  How would I come to that conclusion? Well my first clue was the day we were unloading our deliver truck and a “curious” neighbor popped over to greet and meet what she hoped was the new neighbor.  When I told her we were the stagers she curtly replied… “Well, I hope it works… this house is WAY over priced.”

THEN the listing agent confided in one of our Services Specialists that he felt the property was OVERPRICED by whopping $40,000!

This is why when a potential client asks me “Does staging REALLY work?” I reply with confidence… “YES! If it is priced right. You HAVE to LISTEN to your Realtor and take their pricing advice!”

BOTTOM LINE: Staging will NOT work if the property is priced wrong!

While many stagers talk a lot about cleaning, depersonalizing, decluttering and rearranging a home, which ARE important aspects of what we do, there is another area a GOOD stager will focus attention on and find solutions for... home repairs.

Much like a buyer, the moment a real estate stager steps into a house they are looking for problems. We have trained our eyes to look for those items and areas in a house that need tending and mending. Why? Because quite often a seller no longer sees the issues we see... the owner/seller has become so accustomed to and accepting of the property the way it has been they no longer can see all that needs fixing.

Sellers need to understand that buyers are looking for reasons NOT to buy a house as much as they look for reasons to buy a house. 

Repairs mean money... and if the potential buyer can already SEE repairs on the surface it is only logical to wonder what repairs lurks below. If basic repairs, that seem so apparent to them as they walk thru a house are not being made, potential buyers wonder what MAJOR repair issues need tending to... which again means more money.

I love it when a seller says that they will leave a repair issue to the new buyer. "Oh good... I get to spend MY time and money fixing someone else’s mess!"

Yes there are those handy buyers (like my father) who always bought "diamonds-in-the-rough" and fix them up. But that is a smaller group... and in today's market the responsibility is on the seller to merchandise the house so it appeals to the LARGEST market as possible.

Home repairs are an area that a GOOD stager can either attend to themselves, or we have the resources and connections to contractors and repair people who can quickly assist a seller tend and mend the property so it looks its absolute best while it is in the market.

Much has been asked about the power of blogging here on Active Rain.  People want to know if it is "worth" it? They want to know if blogging generates business... will it make them more money?

Well in order to make money your blog first be seen… and it looks like my words are being seen by others. 

One of those “others” noticing and mentioning my "pretty" blog (which is pretty much a mirror blog of my AR posts) is a cool blog site that until yesterday I never even heard of called Grow-A-Brain.  Grow-A-Brain is a fine example of how realtor blogging can be done. As you read it… you are charmed, challenged, intrigued and taught. Mary McKnight would be proud.

AND did I mention it is written by a realtor… all I can say is if I was looking for real estate in Riverside California, I would definitely be giving Hanan Levin a call. "HE" comes thru his blog "Grow A Brain". THIS is the first lesson of my blog today.

The second lesson is much more personal and has a bigger payoff.

Upon my return from my weekend get-a-way, I found an email in my box from a person whose name I did not recognize. The email started out, “How weird is it, me finding your blog! I was on the "Grow A Brain" site and your blog was linked there! How are you? I see you are still in Chicago, I am in Northern California, Gilroy to be specific…” here after nearly 20 years and lives that have taken us to different parts of the country a friend of mine from my high school years found me… thanks to blogging. To say I was blown away… would be an understatement as I have tried to find this friend of mine numerous times, Goggling her name and finding nothing.

So, if you blog you may make money… and sometimes if you are lucky much much more.  THANKS AR!

HI GAIL!

To all you sending me emails wondering why I shut my mouth... THANK you for your concern. When you have a type A personality it is hard to allow yourself time to get away. But this weekend I did.

I followed Eileen Landau's fine example and traveled over to Galena Illinios for a long weekend. (Actually I had planned this way back in July.) Galena is a little jewel of a community in the furthest NW corner of Illinois.

I slept WAY more than I expected... waking up on Satruday, having breakfast and then hitting the pillow for 2 more hours of Zzzzzzzzzz's. Then of course I had a mid afternoon nap. And was in bed by 9:30PM. THAT was a treat.

But I am back now... and I know I have some reading to catch up on here on AR.

But the moral of this blog... if you are a Type A... give it a rest.

Who have you meet professionally that really impresses you and are glad you met?

Well here is my “touching” story…

For me it is Kim Ashely here in Chicago.  I had bumped into Kim a couple times at various real estate luncheons... and I basically steered clear of her. WHY? Well my company, Real Estaging, had a relationship with another furniture rental company that I felt a certain loyalty to, and Kim worked for the competing rental company.

So I was polite to Kim of Brook Furniture Rental, but didn't purse her as a resources. But Kim called me… and set up a meeting. And off I went…

So last Friday when Kim and I met we just "hit it off". WOW did we click. Time flew by, of course our conversation was filled with ideas, as we shared our thoughts and hopes on not only how to make our own businesses better, but how to make the entire STAGING INDUSTRY BETTER. Before I got back to my studio... she called  to invite me to be her guest to a real estate networking opportunity that Brook Furniture Rental was sponsoring yesterday! Of course I went… but that is a different funny story.

Knowing I could trust her... I even showed Kim my "scathing" promo on how we upstaged Brook on a previous job. SHE LOVED IT!  She looked beyond what it said and saw an opportunity for her company to do more business! (You talk about taking lemons and making lemonade!)

I can not say enough nice things about this person AND I AM PROUD ANNOUNCE THAT KIM ASHELY is a new member to the AR puddle.  There are a couple more blogs in me about Kim... so keep watching.

Kim, I am sincerely honored and glad to have met you... you have touched me. Welcome!

Well from the looks of if... 5 different people so far. So there is NOT a lot written about the subject as of yet.  I happen to own all but have only read 4 of the 5 books listed here so far.  And I gotta admit... not all staging books are the same.

I am actually surprised to say that the ONE BOOK I thought would and SHOULD be the best of the bunch... is a bit of a let down on a number of levels.

While this industry is still on the grow, so I am sure there will be more an more written about staging in years to come.

With that in mind, I will say that the one book that I thought was one of the best for people (both sellers & realtors) wanting to LEARN basic and practical staging tips was Lori Matzke's book.  Lori’s book was chock full of beautiful color example photos... and it is a lot easer to SHOW staging techniques than talk about it in just boring black and white text.

So here is the list of Staging Books I know of/have:

• Designed to Sell by HGTV
• Dress Your House for Success: 5 Fast, Easy Steps to Selling Your House, Apartment, or Condo for the Highest Possible Price! by Martha Webb and  Sarah Parsons Zackheim
• Home Staging: Creating Buyer-Friendly Rooms to Sell Your House by Lori Matzke
• Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money by Barb Schwarz
• Peggy's Corner: Stage Your Home for Profit by Peggy Selinger-Eaton & Gayla Moghannam

These books all can be found on Amazon… if your are interested in learning more I strongly suggest you check out them out before you buy. I will say you need NOT buy all.

If anyone knows of any other books... please let me know.