Stagers... are we red headed step children that get no respect?

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.

1.) Staging has become a leading-edge 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 sounds like a wise marketing move.

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 and EARN their respect will surely end the "little orphan Rodney syndrome" we all experience in this new industry.

Staging Realtors... how big are your guns?

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.

I'm on the merchandising Road to Hong Kong

Well actually I am IN Hong Kong! Sitting at a desk over looking the Hong Kong Harbor. AWESOME. There is a US Naval Ship anchored here too.

WOW... this all happened in less than a 24 hour period. When I woke up last Thursday I did not expect to be flying to Hong Kong on Saturday. But I did... and here I am.

I have been here about 2 hours and I have already seen a Century 21 Real Estate sign.

Why am I here? Well, I work with an electronics company in California doing product design. They asked I come and pick colors, textures and finishes for new product release.

So what does product design have to do with staging? Well actually it is pretty simple. Whether I am staging a house or designing a product... I am considering the market and selecting and fashioning the product so what will attract the largest buying demographic.

When you come to think about it… until now the concept of product merchandising has been applied to just about EVERYTHING we buy... except for houses. Kinda odd for sure, considering buying real estate is typically the LARGEST purchase we make.

I will share more of my tales from the road when I return.

"CHEERS" to new marketing opportunities for stagers!

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.

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... because of my blogging.

CHEERS TO BLOGGING... it is making a difference!

Staged Property does NOT sell... BUT WHY?

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

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!

Paint your HOME'S SALE into a corner... by not making repairs!

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 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.

The Power of Blogging about Staging

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

Well in order to make money your blog first be seen… and it looks like my rants & ravings about staging are being seen by others.

One of those “others” noticing and mentioning this blog is a cool site that until yesterday I never even heard of called Grow-A-Brain. In my opinion, now that I have seen it, Grow-A-Brain is on of the finest examples of how blogging by someone in the real estate industry can be done. As you read it… you are charmed, challenged, intrigued and taught.

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. 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 a weekend get-a-way tp Galena Illinois, 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.

HI GAIL!

Who wrote the book on Real Estate Staging?

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 and have read 4 of the 5 books listed here. 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.

ASP? HSE? What's-a-stager-SUPPOSED-to-be?

My answer is... EITHER. NEITHER. BOTH.

Cindy Lin, a new stager in the San Fransisco area commented on one of my previous blogs.

Cindy summed up her desire for training and her training experience well when she said, "granted the talent of staging is not teachable, but business models and skills are. i went through the asp course myself, and recently iris. what it gave me was support, business model, skills, knowledge about the industry and testing my waters as a stager. moreover, you learn tricks of the trades which may take many more trials of errors for me to personally go through."

So if you are interested in learning staging...There are a number of entities that now teach staging skills(To date I have found about 20 different training entities on the net).
There are 2 industry leaders who I communicate from time to time with and both offer Stager Training. Debra Gould (The Staging Diva) and Audra Slinkey (Home Staging Resource) . Is one better than the other... I really don't know.

I do know that I have checked out some of the work featured by their students who have LINKED their personal sites back to Debra's and Audra's main site and training-entity linking maps like Debra's and Audra's. SOME of their graduates work is AWESOME! While others, well... not so good. But this is NOT a reflection on Debra, Audra or any other trainer... this is where the INDIVIDUAL STAGER’S TALENT comes in.

BUT(notice it is a big "but" too) I will say this and I will say it until I am blue in the face... with so many entities now training staging... the ALPHABET SOUP OF CREDENTIALING means NOTHING. It does NOT designate skill... it JUST means the person sat in a class.

If Realtor or seller's KNEW to view these credentials as basically an acronym for the SCHOOL they attended I would be thrilled. But THAT is not what is happening... and that is NOT the message going out to the public. And it is the reason for much "bickering & bitchiness" that is happening within the staging industry.

ANYONE can go to school and study Accounting.... but the credentials of “CPA” that an account EARNS is acquired ONLY WHEN the accountant is tested and passes STANDARDS developed and maintained by an individual independent body.

MOST IMPORTANTLY... all this Alphabet Credentialing dilutes and convolutes what constitutes a TRULY good stager from another… REGARDLESS of where they received their training. It puts too much responsibility back on the Realtor or seller to figure out if one is truly better than the other. When in reality… they just might be equal.

THANK YOU CINDY for the inspiration for this blog!

NOTE: I do happen to personally know that Debra Gould agrees with my thoughts on the accrediting issue, therefore she trains stagers... she does NOT certify!

ANNOUNCING: My new book on Real Estate Staging

While there are a few books out there that talk about real estate staging. I still feel there is room for a more comprehensive discussion.

I have been working on my own staging book and am PROUD to début the cover.

For marketing purposes (so that I am better able to connect with my intended audience) I have written this book using my pen-name... Reala Stager.

But shhhhhhh.... that is a secret! My publisher does not want that information released to the general public.

Wadda ya think?

Not bad looking considering I designed it this morning in MS WORD!

If Switzerland was a color, what would it be?

Ok… so this is NOT a blog on behalf of the Swiss Visitor & Convention Bureau.

It is a blog with another basic staging tip about color of and in a house

Q: What is the RIGHT color to use in a home that is on the market… most notably for paint and carpet?

A: NEUTRAL COLORS trump all others. WHY? Because they are non-offensive and are... well neutral. And just because it is a neutral color does NOT equate to it being BORING.

If you have an owner that is reluctant to paint back to a neutral… You might want to make these points.

1. Most landlords who EVEN ALLOW a tenant to re-paint a rental then REQUIRES the rented property be painted BACK to a neutral (usually white) upon leaving… or forgo the security deposit. WHY do landlords do this? Well they KNOW the unit will be easier to rent AGAIN.

2. Spec homes are full of neutral elements. Wall colors, wall and floor tile, carpeting, and plumbing fixtures. WHY? Because builders and developers know they can SELL properties easier that incorporate these colors.

3. What are the color's used in most Spa's? Neautrals. Why? Because they have appeal and attraction... without offending.

I could go on… but those are three examples that might help you make your point.

Over Done vs. Done Right

Above are Before and After pictures of the livingroom of property we just completed Monday.

Which version of the same room do you think more people will relate to as "their new home"? This happens to be a property on the markete in an ultra HOT gentrifying area on Chicago's north side.

The room on the left has a unique style that will only appeal to a smaller niche population (OK I am really trying to be PC when I pick adjectives to discribe this space), while the room on the right looks put together and appealing with nothing screaming to be noticed.

MORE IMPORTANLY.... a feature of the home, it's beautiful woodwork, can now be seen and appreciated. Also, the living room area rug we used has all the same colors in it that are found in the entry area's slate flooring, thus creating "flow" right from the front door and on into the home.

What professional stagers do is create a more universally accepted look and appeal. Having a prop library allows a stager the flexbility and depth they need to complete a look with out being fussy or over designed.

NO SALE! for Good Morning America

If you didn't catch the conclusion of GMA's "Sell Your House In a Week Challenge"... well it was NOT a happy ending. Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran gave it her all to prepare and market the NJ house and get it sold in 1 week. And while they had 80 people tour with 3 serious buyers at yesterday's open house, they just could not seal the deal.

WHAT LEASONS DID BARBARA LEARN and want to share about selling in the current market?

#1 MOST IMPORTANT THING: "STAGING is not optional it is ESSENTIAL!"
#2 Price is King
#3 There are no "Hollywood Endings" in a buyer's market.

This does NOT mean the home will still not sell quickly. It just didn't sell in 1 week. Which would have made for GREAT TV.

But considering that one property had MORE exposure than any other in the market... this more than proves this is a buyer's market.

Sellers must do everything they can to make the house appealing... because if they don't, the buyer can and WILL easily just go to the next MORE appealing house and buy it.

Dual Sides of the Real Estate Transaction

It is often said that buying a home is the biggest PURCHASE one will ever make in their lives.

But there are 2 sides to every story.

Does it NOT stand to reason that putting one's home on the market would then be a person's biggest SALE in their life?

I think sometimes that is forgotten... and that is where stagers go to work.

Plain and Simple... Stager's help maxmize the BIGGEST SALE in one's life.