Flexibility is Required.... when Working with Seniors

Well it finally happened… I had my opportunity to talk about home staging to the group of seniors selling their homes. Everyone was surprised to see that the auditorium PACKED with an overflow audience... in fact there were those that had to be turned away. To be honest was surprised as I honestly did NOT expect so many people to attend.

Anyway, anxiety and upset was thick in the room. You could feel that the folks attending were searching for any answers that would help them sell their properties. I glad I prepared my story and "staging" case. The practice of staging a house to help ready it for a faster sale is still for new concept for most. And... It has been my experience that the SENIOR market is a little less accepting of new ideas. THAT, coupled with the facts that they have strong emotional ties to the homes they are selling, make seniors a tough "sell" for a stager.

So to get those attending to appreciate the benefits of staging, I knew I had to FIRST get them to understand that their homes can no longer be THEIR "homes". I had to get them to understand the basic HOUSE vs. HOME theory. To do this I started my talk from a place THEY understood and moved them to a place they may never have thought about. You might say I flexed their minds. I began the workshop talking about common everyday phrases like:

* House sweet House.
* Be it ever so humble, there's no place like house.
* House is were the heart is.
* Welcome house.

A few hearty chuckles later, I followed this up with a discussion about how “love” created the emotional bond they had with THEIR house… ultimately making it THIER home. The audience began to see what I was saying.

So then to make a statement "YEARS AGO, you bought a HOUSE and turned it into your HOME" and then flip it and say "TODAY, to sell your HOME you must return it to being a HOUSE" was a concept they could get AND be open to.

With new distinction of House and Home… I then went on to share with them into my 7 Basic Principles of Staging and 7 Tips I associate with each principal. The 7 Tips are:

1. Buyers infer a clean house has been kept in good repair.
2. Buyers are looking to buy a house that fits THEIR needs, lifestyle and personality... don't distract them with yours.
3. Store it, Sell it, or Trash it.
4. Bring a home inspector in PRIOR to listing, and fix problems before a buyer's inspector finds them.
5. Neutralize it... think beige thoughts.
6. Remove beautiful distractions.
7. The front doorway MUST be clean and welcoming.

Now it was easy for the crowd to accept my closing statement: "Staging creates a blanker canvas for a buyer to start painting the picture of their own lives and make your HOUSE their HOME."

So while it took some flexing and bending... in 25 minutes I got this group of seniors to wrap their minds around the new concept of staging and how it CAN help them sell their HOUSES.

I share this with other stagers so that you can, "stage it forward..."
Craig (Me)

PS: This seminar went so well, I've been invited back in January 2007 for another mind bender.