Halloween Decorations or DISTRACTIONS?

Well it's that time of the year when the ghost, goblins, gouls come out of attics and basements and into homes. While for some the day is great fun... for other's Halloween carries a negative connotation.

Realtors, you might want to suggest to your seller's that this year they cut back or totally avoid decorating.

As a stager I advise our clients to use VERY little or NO decorations. WHY? For the simple reason... when selling a house the HOME is to be the "star of the show" not the stuff.

PRO OR CON Halloween... NOT decorating makes sense because:

* If a buyer LIKES Halloween you don't want them looking at all the wonderful cute decorating... you want them to see the house.

* If the buyer does NOT LIKE Halloween, you don't want them "spooked" by the decorations.

STAGING 101... When selling a house, make it appeal to the largest home buying demographic possible.

BUDDING STAGERS... here are 7 tips to OPEN DOORS to business.

One of the delights of being blogging 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.

To get to the seller... look to the realtor. Make connections with a realtor first. THEY are your initial gateways.

1. 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.


2. 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.


3. 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.


4. When you stage it.... go above and beyond expectations of both the realtor AND the seller. Get them buzzing about you.


5. 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.


6. 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.

USE YOUR EYES!

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

If you are interested in considering using a Real Estate Stager... USE YOUR EYES and look at stager’s websites and get a cross section of what the Professional Staging Industry has to offer.

Regardless of WHERE they were trained or WHO trained them, 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.

Some Real Estate Stagers are trained by an organization, some are self trained. (Keep in mind that most people who have STARTED training organizations were not professional trained when they started out>) So more importantly, USE YOUR EYES... you will find there are some AMAZING stagers all over North America.

Folks, stagers are in the MERCHANDISING BUSINESS, they SHOULD be able to merchandise themselves. Go to a stager’s website... look at their galleries/portfolios. You WILL SEE fantastic work... and just plan garbage. Again, I can not stress enough, LOOK at the website...is IT attractive? Organized? THAT should tell you much.

One place to get a good cross section is to look at the stager’s category on the ACTIVE RAIN website. Active Rain is an online social network for the ENTIRE Real Estate Industry. It is a great source of information about the industry.

USE YOUR EYES and see the good Active Rain stagers and use them as a litmus test to which you compare the stager you are considering in your market.

REALTORS you need to know you are the gateway to an amazing beneficial service... but first you must USE YOUR EYES!

Another FEISTY BLOG about "Professional" Staging!

Well is 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 a “staging fairy” can turn them into professional stager.

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!

(Previous pixs removed by request)

Your Royal Highness: The CLEAN of Staging

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.

In today’s age, with all the cleaning products and resources out there, there is no reason to show a dirty house.

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!

A Stager's Website

Since I have been blogging 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 latley I have found stagers that display their web links that either:
1.) Do NOT work... and say they are under consruction....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 a impressive statement for the sake of your own business and the industry.

An event INSPIRED by a blog community of friendly cooperation

I am thrilled to share what I have been worked on ALL day yesterday. I finshed this ad that brought together a message of unity and cooperation among realtors in one building.

Influenced by the kind and generous spirit of cooperation shared between realtors on Active Rain (an online real estate industry community) 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.

As they say, there are no orginal ideas and I know that this type of thing "has been done" before. However I am new to the world of Real Estate, so for me it is a new thing.

Getting 11 agents to work it out so that their schedules jive in a highly competitve Chicago condo market was a bit of work.

Anyway, we are calling the event “TOURIFFIC!” You can see a sample of the ad created for the day below.

Real Estaging is "staging" the day by coordinating the event. This is just one of the many ideas I have to make a stager be MORE of a resource to the realtor and the seller... I have a few other "things" I am going to do during the Power Tour to make it flow.

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