Real Estate Staging / Home Staging Blog

One of the delights of being on Active Rain is receiving emails like this...

"Hi craig, Im in the process of getting my staging business off the ground but so far no one seems interested! I live in a area that staging is very new. My business is the first of its kind within 100 miles! How do I convince homeowners about staging?

                   Help in Southern Indiana!"

So here is SOME of MY ADVICE that might help new stagers get going.

1. To get to the seller... look to the realtor. Make connections with a realtor first. THEY are your initial gateways.
2. Study study study about ... websites, books and classes (either on line or in person) are filled with tips, techniques, info, messaging and facts about staging. YOU HAVE TO BE AN EXPERT... not a wish washy kinda sorta person that THINKS they would be a good stager if they had a good "opportunity".  You gotta MAKE the opportunity.
3. THEN Consider your audience and craft YOUR marketing message accordingly. What you say to a realtor is WAY different then what you say to the seller. BUT the message STARTS with the knowledge you have gained.
4. Find a realtor you like, respect and trust. THEN offer your services for free, for the first 1or 2 jobs. Consider YOUR payment to be the real-time experience you get AND the pictures of your transformation. Tell the realtor to tell the seller that THEY will pay your fee. THAT way the realtor looks like a "winner" in the eyes of their client. This is NOT a lie, they are "paying"... as they brought you in and are paying you with their reputation being at stake.
5. When you stage it.... go above and beyond expectations of both the realtor AND the seller. Get them buzzing about you.
6. Fake it till you make it. Be professional and ALWAYS remember you are in the business of FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Everything you do, say and show must PROJECT that you have a command of that concept.
7. Observe and adapt what you say and what you do. Then move to the next and the next and the next.

It really is as EASY as this… and as HARD as this.

I know there are those realtors out there that have never heard of staging... even here on AR. So I blog on.. for YOU are the gateway for recommendation of our staging services.

If you are interested in considering using a stager... USE YOUR EYES and look at stagers here on AR as a cross section of what the Professional Staging Industry has to offer.

If you USE YOUR EYES you will see the level of quality and skill is "all over the place".  JUST because someone attaches the word professional to their name... does NOT make them so.

USE YOUR EYES... there are some AMAZING stagers associated to AR from all over the country. Some are trained by an organization, some are self trained - as most people who STARTED training organizations were when they started out.

USE YOUR EYES and see the good AR stagers and use them as a litmus test to which you compare the stager you are considering in your market. Go to thier websites... look at their galleries/portfolios. You WILL SEE fantastic work... and just plan garbage. LOOK at the website...is IT attractive? Folks, stagers are in the MERCHANDISING BUSINESS, they SHOULD be able to merchandise themselves.

So as of today there are 83 stagers signed up on Active Rain.  Which is "small potatoes"compared to the number of realtors here on AR. 

REALTORS need to know you are the gateway... USE YOUR EYES!

Well it seems like everyone and there brother/sister is becoming a stager. Which is a good and bad thing. 

GOOD... because it means the industry and the concept is growing.

BAD... because is seem like all a person needs to do is get a cute name, business card and an accredited/certified “staging fairy” can turn them into professional stager. Hocus Pocus!

Well tonite I JUST went to a staged home site where a “professional” proudly displayed their work. AND I KID YOU NOT... the BEFORE was BETTER THAN the AFTER! The BEFORE was BETTER!!!!!

NOT every home needs staging... AND JUST BECAUSE YOU MOVE STUFF AROUND DOES NOT MEAN IT IS STAGED!!!!!!

OK, I am a bit miffed! NO, in fact I am VERY miffed. WHY? Because this is NOT helping our industry grow.

Bad staging AND bad stagers makes the rest of us look like a bunch of charlatans trying to take people for a ride.

THE FACT that the "staging professional" did not even have an understanding of what constitutes good staging ticks me off. AND on top of it all this person has the audacity to boast that they are “accredited”.

BUYER BEWARE!

When we speak of staging, we talk of a lot of things. Like thinning, de-cluttering, organizing, rearranging, repairing, trimming, mowing, painting, etc… but Cleaning reigns over all.  The house on market should be cleaned as if Royalty was coming to visit… and remember royals wear gloves.

Buyers notice and comment on dirt. Not only does a dirty home show bad, it distracts the buyer’s attention off the house and on to the dirt… they start thinking about what they would have to first go through to get it clean if they would buy a dirty house.

The rooms that need MOST attention are bathrooms and kitchens. Every nook and cranny, from top to bottom needs to sparkle. Buyers will look at these spaces MORE with “white gloved” eyes than ANY OTHER. So, extra attention may need to be devoted to these areas.  

So remember when the Royal buyers come to visit… keep it clean.

OH, and when showing remember to put the lid down on the throne!

Me

Since I have been a member of Active Rain I have be in contact with so many people "intrigued" with staging and the possibility of staging.

I am honored to "field" the questions of stagers or wanna be stagers ( by "wanna be" I mean people intrigued in the opportunity staging offers). So many have asked for my advice about staging and marketing staging services, to which I ALWAYS answer...

STAGERS are in the business of AMAZING first impressions. EVERYTHING we do has to convey a understanding and knowledge of a good first impression.

But lately I have found stagers (even here in AR links) that display their web links that either:

1.) Do NOT work... and say they are under construction....or

2.) Have one or two sets of before & after Transformations, that really are not that impressive!

FOLKS... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember you are in the first impression biz... BE IT! LIVE IT! SHOW IT!

Be POWERFUL and make an impressive statement for the sake of your own business and the industry.

I am thrilled to share what I have been working on ALL day.  Influenced by the kind and generous spirit of cooperation here on AR a realtor/friend of mine Annie Alexander, of Keller Williams, and  I came up with the idea of creating a building wide Realtor Open House Tour.

Knowing and believing that synergistic teamwork can create so much more... we developed what we call a "POWER TOUR".  We were able to get 11 of 14 agents that had listings in one building to work together to create ONE BIG Realtors OPEN HOUSE that will take place next Tuesday from 11AM to 2PM.

AND thanks to “The Lovely Wife’s”  playful creativity in "The Official Active Rain-Speak-Cheat-Sheet" my brain got cooking...  we are calling the event “TOURIFFIC!” You can see a sample of the ad created for the day below.

NOW if I could just create this same spirit of cooperation within the staging community… I would be thrilled.

Stage It Forward...

Me

Marketing typically crafts and packages "our messages" in perfected snippets we HOPE connect with our clients.

How often do we just wish that our clients REALLY knew us for who we were? 

We wished they "got" our love for what we do… our commitment to being HONEST… our wanting to be 100% fair to all parties involved. We wish they knew what I call our "Back-story"... the reality of who we are as people not just someone trying to sell something for the sake of a sale.

As I participate more and more on Active Rain, I see the back-story of others come to life. And at times I am moved to a point I NEVER expected.

Tonite I was moved to such a point… as I read Lisa Tharps blog about her sister Jeannie's battle with brain cancer.

While my heart aches for Jeannie, it is inspiring to know that Lisa knows AR is a safe place to share the back-story of her life.

Matt, Ben and Caleb... I know this was NEVER what you intended for this site. But thank you for creating a cyber community that feels safe to care and share.

 So today opens the new season of Oprah. I am sooooo in need of a fresh Oprah "fix".

I recently was shopping for props for our prop library at IKEA here in Chicago and there was a woman that looked so much like Oprah... I had to ask. She just smiled and said that people always tell her she looks like Oprah.  

Like Oprah, generosity beamed thru her reply.

It was in mid August and I need a good Oprah fix... it did hold me over.

WHY do I watch Oprah... because she puts herself out there.

Is Oprah right all the time? NO, not in my opinion! But, like a blog, she puts her opinions out there... she gives you the world via her eyes. While she has an strong opinion, she KNOWS she is not an authority she is a human. She stirs the pot to start dialogue.

I can not tell you the number of times I have been turned into a rain puddle just watching the show.

Oprah's show is RICH with information for how to be an authentic and responsible business person.

I want what she has... not the money, not the fame. But the voice that inspires others to move the world and makes it a better place.

Well this past week has been the busiest of my life. Hard, long and both physically and mentally exhausting. This is the one thing about staging I fear all the staging seminars are not teaching in their weekend workshops.

I woke a 3 AM 3 times this week to try to get on top of all that we are doing. I have lost count on the number of 16 hour days I put in this week.

For so long I wished to have a career like this... and now that I have it, I gotta admit I am not enjoying the dance as much as I thought. But I will NOT let one week get me down. 

For in spite of it all... I am still in LOVE with this STAGING thing.  Why, because it works. So for now if I need to spend hours upon hours trying to work in and then streamline and organize my company I will. The rewards for everyone (home seller, realtor and stager) are just to wonderful.

To all the realtors on AR that use a stager... I hope you realize what all that it takes to stage a house. It is so much more than fluffing a "nic-nak." Hug your stager. OH and if you don't have a stager... get with it. This stuff works.

To follow up on an earlier blog, I wanted to share with other stagers my thoughts on why creating and maintaining a Prop Library is a GOOD business decision.

While some stager's suggest that it is easy to find perfect "hidden treasures" in and around a home that could be used to stage the property, I find THAT is not always the case. In fact I find it not to be the case most of the time.

If the purpose and reason for staging is to help the seller BEST prepare and merchandise their home for its sale, then why would you NOT want to have a Prop Library? The access to our library gives us the ability and flexibility to provide an effective and COMPLETE staging solution for ALL clients... regardless of need.

Prop Libraries REALLY help the seller. They save the seller time as they do not have to go out to find a "prop" on their own. It saves them CONSIDERABLE money, for they need not buy items at FULL retail. And, let's face it, even if they have the time and money to go out and shop, some sellers lack good taste...remember scale, proportion, style and color DO matter.

Working with and having access to furniture rental companies furnishings is helpful.  But recognizing their own limitations a MAJOR furniture rental company here in Chicago looks to us to add the "bling" on top of what they can provide. (See previous blog)

To date our library currently has over 2,000 items including: Furniture for EVERY room, Framed Art, Accessories, Plants & Trees, Lamps, Baskets, Rugs, Draperies, Bath Linens, Books, Electronic Components, Linens and so much more.

The NEGATIVES about having a Prop Library are:

1. They are VERY VERY expensive to create, manage and maintain.
2. It takes time to source and stock... and time is money.
3. Managing what is going out and coming in is a logistical hassle (we are currently having a software application created to manage this for us)
4. Moving props in and out of a property as many times as we do creates wear and tear on the props, and sometimes damages beyond repair.
5. Warehousing is another financial issue.
6. Shipping to and from requires having or renting a truck/van.

So why do we do it? Because, it BEST serves our clients.

To date, our library valued at nearly $80,000 sends a STRONG message to our clients that WE believe in staging and a commitment and investment in a Prop Library will differentiate you from the competition.

Prop Libraries send the clear MARKETING MESSAGE... "you don't dabble in staging, you DO IT!"