Amazingly, I still see listing information provided on some Realtor sites (both big and small, national and local) accessed in a way that puzzles me. I mean I understand the "WHY" of it, I just don't understand the logic of it. So maybe you can help.

So I look to the realtor community to shed their insight on this perplexity. How does RESTRICTING access to a listing's information and photos on a realtor's web site help a property sell? Why, on some sites, is it still required that a potential buyer first provide private contact information before unlocking a listing's sales information and photos?

While, home staging is what I do, a Marketer is what I am. As a Marketer I have always said, "You gotta market it before you sell it!" Marketer "Me" finds it counter intuitive to lock out and discourage ANYONE from viewing a home's listing information and photos. I can see how once, when the web was a smaller less connected place, this approach may have made sense. But let's face it, time does march on, and as it does, the "what, why and how" of a Real Estate website must be evolve and embrace today's markets, trends & technologies.

In today's world of listing marketing, Realtor websites need to provide access to listing information that takes into consideration the following:

• Ours is a culture of immediate impatience. Like it or not, we want it now... on our time schedule.
  
  
• The levees have broken and the market is flooded. With so much inventory out there, it is easy for a buyer to click away from the listing and your site, as if saying saying, "No big deal, there's plenty more."
  
  
• That's just "old school" fool. Buyer's are not technological dolts. Every day shoppers freely access information on products and services they are interested in buying from sites in every industry... INCLUDING real estate.
  
  
• We are leery of what is beyond that "SUBMIT" button. Face it, buyers care less about THAT locked listing then they do about their privacy.
  
  
• There are no "tire-kickers" or "nosy neighbors" on the web! Well, there are... but who cares? Its the web.
  
  
• Buyers who take an on-line look will cost you nothing. Not looking could cost you a sale.

I am sure there are plenty more reason why it is a good idea to have open listing information on Realtor websites... but then again maybe not. Either way, I would be curious to get other's spin on this.

But as it stands for me right now, when you strip away all the mumbo jumbo it comes down to this... If you got a prospect (hot, warm or cool) at the door, ringing the bell, wanting to come in to look around, why would you stop them?

Me

When a home stager is hired one of our primary jobs responsibilities is to stage the property in a manner that best solves any problem or perceived issues buyers may have with it.

But what happens if the buyer disagrees with what was done by the hired stager?

CASE IN POINT: Recently I received an Email from A. M. in Chicago asking for advice over a dispute he was having with his stager regarding the worked she had preformed.

A. M. writes…

Hello Craig,

My name is A.M. and I am having a disagreement with a stager I hired.

I am trying to sell a 2-bedroom condo in Chicago and recently hired a professional to stage the empty condo.

The property is unique in that the living room is very long and narrow, which is why my realtor and I thought it was important to stage it to show its potential. This is the only living area of the property so it has to look like a living room.

We've since (the staging) had ten showings without an offer.

I had two friends over… both of them said is "this room looks like a hallway".

They also said that the way it's staged does not show the potential of the living room.

I called the stager… and she maintains that the room is properly staged and that I need to respect her professional opinion.She discounts these opinions because she says she's the professional.

Do you have any tips on how I could deal with my stager?

Thank you very much,

A.M.

In the interst of "full disclosure" I have created a quick video show that should give you a complete overview of all that was done and how Adam's $1,000 was used to stage his property. Link: $1,000 Staging. Done RIGHT or Done WRONG. (Or you can just view a smaller version of the show at the bottom of this page.)

So... now that you have a complete picture, I have a few final questions for you to consider.

1. Given the budget, A.M.’s instruction, and the style of the home, did the stager stage the home correctly?

2. Did the stager provide a good solution for the problematic living room?

3. If A.M. feels the solution provided does not solve the living rooms problem, what should he do?

4. What actions do you suggest the stager take to solve the problem?

Whether you are a seller, stager or realtor... I am curious to know what you think about those $1,000's.

Thanks,

Craig ("Me" back playing Actively in the Rain)

There is no denying that real estate marketplace is in a major depression. Nothing seems to drive home that grim point more then a quick drive through any neighborhood, for placed in the front yards of so many homes is a vast array of For Sale signs. But while a sign in a front yard drives home the point for what is happening with single family home sales, what is taking place in the condominium market is sometimes harder to see. Why? Well, often there are no for sale signs "up" for condos, so it is easy to overlook the fact that there are many condos for sale today too.

In some ways selling a condo is even more difficult then selling a single family home. First, it is not uncommon that in larger developments, one condo in a building is competing with another condo configured with the exact same floor plan, features and finishes. Plus, except for slight cosmetic changes to the exterior façades, it is also not unusual to find one building full of condos to be pretty much the same as another building full of condos in the same neighborhood.

Your sellers need to realize that with so many condos to choose from, they all start looking very much alike.  In the buyer's eye, without much distinguishing one condo from another, they all become just another Vanilla Box.

While through the years there are many versions of the Vanilla Box, the typical Vanilla Box of today has the front door near a central corridor, sliding patio doors to a balcony in the front, and a kitchen in the middle with stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and an island that separates the kitchen space from the open plan dining/living room area. Dreadfully, so many condos are pretty much the same...floor to floor, building to building, neighborhood to neighborhood.

Because so many condos are relatively the same, the chance for a sale can become quite competitive. Plus, if your seller is currently living in a Vanilla Box in a neighborhood that offers similarly priced NEWLY constructed Vanilla Boxes...  the  shiny new Box will most likely be more appealing to a buyer, than a scuffed, scratched, worn and torn used Box.

Good news is that the hope for a sale of a Vanilla Box is not a lost cause... for either your client who is trying to sell their unit, or for the builder trying to sell one or more units. Both types of sellers, for different reasons, can benefit from hiring an EXPERIENCED home stager.

Realtors will be glad to know that a Stager offers creative custom solutions that will help individual seller trying to sell their unit in a number of ways. First, they will point out the problem areas that make a used home look used, and then offer low cost suggestions that make the condo feel new again. Next, while it is a fact that a furnished property is easier to sell then vacant; your sellers need to understand that due to size constraints of the home (typically condos are more compact) furnishings in the condo needs to be re-set in a way that they actually helps the condo show and flow better when being toured by buyers... and a stager can help here too.

Staging is much more then decorating, and the more a realtor understands this the better it is for both the realtor and their sellers. In fact, good staging is a balance between adding the right amount of visual appeal, without having the interior décor distract the seller's eye from the property they are considering buying.

For the builder, a Stager can also be of great service. Who hasn't been a bit surprised to experience a builder's empty vanilla white unit after touring their lush and lovely model? For this reason large builders have for years had model properties for buyers to first tour. Today, the opportunity and benefit of having a model unit need not be a selling advantage reserved only for the larger builder. Smaller builders can hire a Stager who can provide low cost, yet beautifully designed staged-model solutions. PLUS, if the builder is selling multiple units in one building and the staged model unit does sell, the model can then be easily moved from one unit and re-set in the next. The added flexibility of a "rolling" model offers yet more flavor and appeal to the Vanilla Box.

So yes, without a doubt this is a tough market to sell in, especially when it comes to condo sales. But properties are selling. Fortunately, Realtors have a opportunity to truly help their clients, be they a builder or an owner, who are trying to sell a Vanilla Boxes. Realtors that work with stagers can change the flavor of their listings from FOR SALE to SOLD.

Flavor It Forward...
Me

PS: As I was writing this post the following comment came in from a seller whose house we staged just 32 days ago. "Good news we have an offer on our place and are currently working out all the details.  I really think the staging did the trick so I can't thank you enough!" -DG

Stagers hear this all the time... I encourage you to find an EXPERIENCED home stager in your area. Know how and when to use them and you and your sellers will win... I guarantee it.

Because the end result of a staged home can be a great visual impression, home staging is seen as an image industry. Image companies in the fields of advertising, interior design, and landscaping have for long known that to sell and grow their own businesses; they must present a good visual image of themselves. As image businesses they know and rely on their logos, business cards and websites to communicating their knowledge and creative skill to apply basic design principals in their respective fields.

If home stagers are going to sell to home owners the need and importance of investing money to beautify their homes, which is the product they are selling, then the stager needs to invest money in to do the same for what they sell... which is their staging services To be competitive, a home stager needs to invest in their business image. A stager's image, communicated through a business card, brochure, website and portfolio, must demonstrate knowledge of and skill to apply basic design principals. Doing anything less is hypocritical.

We all know that even though the market is "bad" homes are still selling. Of course you don't have to be a genius to know that they are not selling at the rate they used to... but they are selling.

So if you have clients trying to sell their properties yet asking the question, "Why isn't my home selling?," The answer. to what they think is a profound question, is actually quite simple... but a bit multifaceted. Let's face it; what they need to be taught is that the sale of a home in today's market really is just dependant on a few basic principals that must be mastered and advantageously applied.

The first lesson, teaching a seller that hiring the right listing AGENT, is the trickiest. Picking and working with a savvy and strategic Agent who is both skillful with a variety of marketing tactics and who is also adept in working through a myriad of sales issues, that can stop a sale once a buyer makes an offer, is crucial. A wise and learned Realtor, who has a proven track record and that demonstrates they have mastered both the marketing side and the sales side of real estate, will sell a property and is worth every penny they are paid.

The second lesson, sellers must pass the class on, is PRICE. Above all else they need to understand that asking price of a home today can not be dependant on what the price would/could have been in the "good old days". The price of a home must be appropriate for today's market... AND, because there are so many other homes in the market, it also needs to be aggressively competitive. Home buyers want and will spend the least to buy the most they can. Sellers, who hold out for more, will end up getting a detention... that is, MORE time on market.

The next lesson to cover is on CONDITION. The educated know that the better the condition a seller's home is in, the more attractive it is to buyers, who do not want to spend their money repairing and making simple updates once they take possession.  So while teachint sellers that hiring a home inspector, who focus more on structural and mechanical conditional issues, you may want to expand your seller's knowledge and share with them the advantage of working with a home stager. Stagers will help sellers address and tackle the numerous smaller maintenance details and repair concerns that influence potential buyer's perception of condition.

The fourth lesson is a multifacited lesson on PRESENTATION.  Presentation issues, which takes place both on-line and on-tour, is a class even some Realtors could sit in on... Better photos capture and tell a better sales story. Gone are the days when a Realtor could take poor quality digital snapshots and loaded them into an MLS system. Today's buyers, who lives are busy and hectic as a seller's, use the Internet to prescreen properties. In addition to having quality photos, sellers must learn the importance that their property must look great when being toured by a buyer. Master Realtors know that experienced home stager will guide and direct your sellers to set and present their homes so they can be easily toured and distinguished from your possessions in it.

The fifth and final factor is not so much a lesson, but more about participation. A seller must be and stay INVOLVED. Sellers need to know the importance that they raise their hands to fully share concerns, needs and objectives right from the start and continue until the property is sold. They must also realize that while candid honesty is key, it must also be two way street. Sellers, who stay informed, watch the market conditions, objectively listen to the feedback after showings and positively act on key information will find their home sold.

So that's it... those are my my basic lessons that influence the sale of a home in this buyer's market... which can be a tough class to pass. How sellers choose to work with and apply the knowledge gained in these lessons will ultimately result in a pass (sold) or fail grade in home selling.  It's our job to make sure they know.

Teach It Sold...
Me

So my home selling pets, would you like to pick a home stager to regularly work with, but are not sure which in the bunch to hire? Plus does it seem as if daily there are more and more staging bananas out there to pick from?

Well, you are right; it can be a tough to know which stager you should bring to your seller, especially since staging is still a relatively new service offered in most parts of the USA. You are also right if you noticed that there are many new bananas rapidly joining the staging bunch.

To make a wise and informed choice, that best serves you and your sellers, you need to understand that a "professional stager" may just be an average green Jane or Joe who just fell out of a training tree. Many stagers are newly transformed into "professionals" merely due to the fact that they sat through a one, two or three day foundation training course. That's it, in as little as one day... a newly credentialed staging banana is thrown into the bunch.

So be wise and discerning, staging credentials that hype "trained," "certified" or "accredited" can be a bit deceiving... especially considering onyone can be trained and graduated from some foundation staging training programs in as little as one day. This is not to say that there are plenty of well qualified stagers who have been trained through these courses. But remember, above everything, the ripeness of EXPERIENCE trumps all else... even "credentials."

Unfortunately, unlike Realtors in the real estate industy, Stagers in the home staging industry are an unregulated wild bunch. Because this so... your sellers are at risk, especially in this tough selling market! Picking a green stager could cost them some green and a sale. So while staging looks mighty tasty, to those of you who are looking for some hope and help, don't blindly accept the fact that a stager, with a horde of initials after their name, has the experience needed and fully yet knows what they are doing.

So how can you pick out a green novice stager from the ripe experienced stager? Well, it is not the difficult, if you keep in mind that home staging is an "image" industry.

Considering it is a stager's job is to create a good first visual impression of home seller's property, then a good stager needs to do the same for themselves. A good stager knows the importance of and how to present a good visual first impression of their company and their work.

To start to weed out amateurs from the experienced, first look closely at the stager's portfolio, for examples of their work. Also, make sure that you ask the stager if they ACTUALLY staged the properties they show in their portfolio... believe it or not there are some foundation training programs that give green stagers a set of "starter" portfolio photos. Finally if you have any doubts, of course you can always ask the stager for testimonials from past clients and/or references.

So that's it, pretty easy actually. That is all you need to know and do to be a good home selling monkey and pick the ripest stager that will best help you and your sellers.

Ripening It Forward...

Monkey Me

• AND these Instructions are from Brad's blog outside of Active Rain. These are GREAT instructions too. How to Redesign Your Active Rain Blog!

Again, this is just a small sample of all the creativty taking place, if you have created your own masterpiece... please post a link to it in a comment below. I am sure others will love to see all the fresh new looks being shown in the Rain.

Finally, I have to say that these visual changes all call to mind the stager's mantra... "First impressions matter!" Funny thing is that what my fellow stagers and I have been saying now doesn't only apply to how a property looks when it is selling in the marketplace. First impressions now also matter when you are presenting/selling yourself in your blog. 

So go and tap into your inner Monet... and enjoy yourself as you create a Impressionistic Blog Masterpiece.

Me

  

The ONLY problem I have EVER had about Active Rain was it is UGLY. YUP UGLY and I have not been afraid to let the Rain Gods (Matt Heaton and Johnathon Washburn) know how I felt.

But there is a saying, "you only get to complain if you are willing to provide a solution." So not only did I register a complaint, I also tried my best to get them over to the "pretty side". I sent them mock-up ideas JUST to get this site LOOKING better.

But the AR guys could only move so fast on all the improvements they were providing us. I could no longer wait. To be honest, the reason I went OUTSIDE Active Rain to start my second blog (Home Staging; Rants & Ravings) is because I am in the "first Impression" business. Much like an advertising agency or an architectural firm or landscaper... I knew that HOW I looked in my blogging media was as important as what I had to say.

But I did not give up on Acitve Rain I knew that when they finally did work on the "pretty," they would do it right, as they have done with so much here. VICTORY! You guys did it.

Active Rain has given us all a FREE and very easy tool to make our blogs look great. Now it does have a few quirks and glitches that need to be addressed. But I did play with it this morning... and I just wanted to say that it only took me about 3 1/2 hours time to do what you see. You might say I now "staged" my blog.

Which leads me RIGHT into the real reason I am writing this post. For all of you who think your blogs can compete soley on what you have to say... then you really need NOT to alter ANY anything visual about your blog here. BUT if you want your "property" to stand out a little bit more, because let's face it... WHAT you have to say isn't the only think that is important when you are selling your message to your readers, then I am sure you will take the time to visually "package" your message.

I don't care if you are "staging" a blog or staging a property that is for sale... visual impressions matter! I hope you all have as much fun purdy-ing up your puddle in the Rain, as I did mine.

Thanks again to the AR guys!

ME

PS: For more information check out this post by Brad Carroll. ActiveRain gives the "Green Light" on Customizing - ActiveRainCustomizer.com  His company devevloped the tool that gives us this purdy ability.

Boy this is timely...  considering all I have been flapping about here in the Rain.

I just came across this article on the Wall Street Journal's website.

"The Allure of the Fruit Bowl: Home Staging ‘Twiddles' With a Buyer's Mind"

It reinforces the fact that Realtors don't understand what we do. They don't get that it is the "The PREP before the PRETTY." And the PREP is what PAYS OFF!

I encourage you to read this so you understand more clearly how Realtors and Home Sellers are misinformed and then misconstrue the message they share about home staging.

As an industry we have a long way to go... but they will get it.

Stage It Forward...

ME

PS; if you feel the need to comment don't do it here... do it there.

PSS: I was NOT going to let that article go with out commenting on it. Here is my rebuttal...

You have got to be FREAK-IN kidding me!!! Is this guy for real? He so does NOT know what a stager does. He is VERY myopic in his understanding. It is unfortunate that the Wall Street Journal published this... it dilutes the possibility that staging HONESTLY holds.

How scandalous! How conniving! How shady of the seller to put their home's best face forward to make their house be as appealing as possible. I guess the same could be said for anyone applying for a job who decides to wear their best blue suit, gets a haircut and shines their shoes in a shady attempt to lure a potential employer to hire them.

God forbid you buy or sell a home that is clean, freshly painted, everything in working order. Minor repairs and touch up have been made. And it LOOKS good. There IS value to moving into a home that has all its issues attended to. Staging is NOT just the pretty setting of a space... it is also the PREP of a home. Painting and scrubbing and repairing!

I have seen MANY times a staged home sell faster... EVEN in this horrible market. Is there no value in selling a home FASTER? THAT is part of the appeal for the buyer. If a home LOOKS better it can demand more. If there is less to do when you move in (remember your TIME is money) and you need to not spend the dollar on the materials or contract labor to fix that which needs attending to then is that not worth more?

EVERYTHING in this Country... from the food we eat, to the clothes we buy, to the cars we drive are "packaged" and marketed.

If you want to look at staging from one person's pessimistic viewpoint, and stay in the dark ages of real estate with an old school mentality then go nowhere else. IF you want to be an informed consumer then I invite to read my blog at: http://www.thestagingblog.com/

Craig Schiller
Real Estaging
Chicago

When Active Rain "works" it does something quite wonderful. It grows, and expands, and teaches, and challenges. It creates dialogue in places and spaces where there was none.

I think sometimes we forget that we all here are a community. An ever growing community, but a community non the less. In the "good old days," when there were only a few thousand members, there was a daily banter of ideas bouncing back and forth. Those of you who were lucky to be here then know what I am talking about. Some of what was shared was of great "industry" value; some was just plain "trivial chirping".  But no matter what, there was a connected sharing taking place across the blogs and within the comments.

Today, with so many members now sharing so much of themselves, and with so many different types of content being able to be shared (i.e., listings and statistics) sometime it is hard to chirp an idea out through the loud quacking.

But every so often a bird's song is heard. So here is my tale to how Active Rain can give wings to a discussion.

It all started when I posted my blog Successful Selling in an Ugly Market Ain't Always Pretty!. In that blog I got one of those comments that just ruffles my feathers. It seems that when I write a post that shares the virtues of staging there always seems to be someone that takes a shot at me. It is as if they load their comment with common bird-shot and shoot off something like, "Yudda Yuddd Yudda Price Is King".  They never quite hit me, but they do ruffle my feathers. I hate that one!

OK... so now what? Well this time, ruffled feathers and all, I was going to pluck that common rebuttal clean. Which lead me to write my next post. Chipping Away at the "PRICE IS KING" Myth Too Many Realtors Rely On  In it I had you all pondering the potato chip, no not the Ruffles kind, as I laid my trap. (Wow talking about mixed metaphors, and double entendres that actually make sense. But I digress). In that trap I caught that old Blogging Bird Broker Bryant. (Wow... an automotopia too. My English teacher would be proud. But I digress.) He squawked in a comment in a way only he can.

Proud of my catch... I was going to make sure the whole world saw my trappings. So I posted this: Best Blog EVER Finally Hits Its Target... of ONE. Well, I may have caught Birdy Bryant, but he surly was not dead. He squawked out this post Does "Staging" a home in Poinciana FL make sense? and posted it over in the Stage It Forward... Hen House. Oh my God, if that didn't kill him it should have. Now ALL those chicks, and a few roosters, were cackling all over his post... plus a few of you from out here in the big Rain puddle were chipping in.

This trophy catch asked questions that challenged us yet also gave us Stagers insight and understanding as to how and what we need to do to share our staging message. But I wasn't gonna let Birdy Bryant get the last chirp in. PLUS there were now a few from his flock squawking in with more issues I thought could be discussed.  Maybe it was over kill, but I blasted him with a double barreled dozzie of a comment... that also went out into the Big Rain as yet another one of my posts entitled: Is Your Ignorance Bliss or a Missed Opportunity?.

Now that that post was out there... seeded with that enticing word "ignorance" I laid in the brush waiting. Low and behold I caught me a Hitzelberger. Now I never saw a Hitzelberger before, but boy could that bird sing. And sing he did with more to know and ponder in It's not just ignorance..  (Unfortunately, right now it is a "Member Only" post. So if you are not logged into the AR puddle... you won't be able to see it)

Well, by now you get the point and I am sure this hunting story will go on. I thank you for letting me tell my hunting tale. I do invite you to go hunting or start quacking out new ideas that grow and expand your way of thinking, because they always are in-season.... here in the Rain.

Quack it Forward...

Me

PS: I gotta admit I got my sites set on the wise, yet elusive, "Harely Bird" that sits in a forest over in Maryland.