Professor Realtor... Can You Teach Me SOLD?

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

Not All Bananas in the Bunch are Ripe and Ready

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

First Impression-ist Masterpieces Now Hang in the Active Rain Gallery

• 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

  

I FINALLY Gots Me a Purdy Puddle... in the Rain

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.

Wall Steet Journal Blogger is Clueless about Home Staging

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

Ruffled Feathers makes for some Good Flapping in the Rain

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.

Is Your Ignorance Bliss or a Missed Opportunity?

I have been writing here on Active Rain for nearly 2 years now and have seen the presence of home stagers explode here. Even though we share much of ourselves to this great community, in general it AMAZES me how ignored, snubbed and misunderstood our message has been by the overall Realtor community here on AR... and, to be honest, out there in markets we serve. So many Realtors seem to have shut down ANY possibility to understand ANY opportunity staging offers. There has to be a message that will finally alter the perception the general Realtor community has of who we are and what we do.

I know that if I write "staging CAN help every single home that is for sale that NEEDS it" is a bold and audacious statement. But before you write me off as a staging kool-aid drinking crack pot, bear with me. I think that what many Realtors think staging is, actually is NOT all that it is.

-- If a home seller goes on-line and gets a list of "10 Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home for Selling" and does as it advises... THAT IS home staging.

-- If their Realtor then comes to look at the home and advises 10 more things to attend to, that better readies their home for market, and they do those things... THAT IS home staging.

-- If a Stager is hired and they come up with 10 MORE things for the seller to attend to and the seller or the Stager does them... THAT IS home staging.

Just as SELLING a house does NOT always require a Realtor, staging a house does NOT always require a Stager. However, Realtors and home-sellers who have worked with a good and reputable Stager have learned that we do see more issues that work against the homes sale and offer more creative ideas and solutions to ready/package/market a home for selling in ways they never considered.

FIRST and MOST OFTEN what a Stager does is advise, council and direct the seller as to what they can do to BEST to prepare their property for selling. A Stager can also coach the seller on how to quickly, easily and inexpensively accomplish and address that which can be done to help make the home more appealing. These consulting services are typically VERY inexpensive... in some markets less then $100.

Staging MUST consider the sellers budget. How much CAN the seller invest and what will be the return on that investment must be considered. Also keep in mind, staging costs is NOT only about what is paid to the Stager.  The monies spent for staging will also include what a seller invests to make a home more presentable that is not paid to a Stager.  Paint, flowers, light bulbs, the kid up the street who is paid to mow the lawn on a vacant property etc. are all part of what it costs to stage a home.

Staging is NOT ALWAYS about bringing in props. Stagers start by addressing the basic condition of the home and offering ideas and solutions to improve it. The final thing we do, if and when needed and the budget allows, is add the "bling" of props... if it is an equitable option.

There are basically 5 Levels of Service that Stagers can offer... but NOT all Stagers DO offer all 5: 

1. CONSULT: Focusing on the condition of a home, a Stager visits a Seller's property to instruct and direct Seller on what they must do to best ready and set their own property for market.
2. RE-ARRANGE: A Stager is hired to set a Seller's property and uses Seller's existing furniture, art, and accessories, to achieve the best sales impact possible.
3. ENHANCE: Stager is hired to set a Seller's property and uses the Seller's existing furniture, art, accessories, and brings in additional decorative props and/or furniture they own and loaned or rent to Seller.
4. VACANT: Total furnishing and setting a Seller's (personally owned) vacant property.
5. MODEL: Planning, designing, furnishing, and staging a builder / developer's vacant spec or model property.

Information is POWER... the more a Realtor knows of and understands what we do and when to use our services the better for them and their sellers.

The "ignorance the Realtor community has for home staging" is partially the Home Staging Industries fault. A common mantra a home Stager tells a seller is "what a buyer sees in a home is what they believe they will be buying". So if, when the buyer tours a home, they see a kitchen that is a skuzzy, fifthly mess this is what they believe they are buying... even if the seller has every intention of cleaning the kitchen prior to moving out. A buyer only knows what they see.

The Home Staging Industry also suffers from similar false perception. For the most part Realtors only know what they SEE of home staging.  Much is what is VISUALLY shown here on AR, Stager's websites and portfolios are beautifully set rooms within homes that are for sale. The pictures and images that Home Stagers show of their work is most often the most extravagant staging they have done. We show the "BEST" of our work in the hopes that Realtors will somehow magically understand that we do and offer is many other types and levels of service.  

What we SHOW is NOT ALL we do. But the other things we do are harder to show. How does a Stager show the fact that they are advising a seller to scrub the scum out of a shower stall, to hide away the kitty litter box from prominent display, to replace the 2 of 4 burnt out bulbs in a ceiling fan, knock down the spider webs gathered in corners, repair a window with a broken seal, clear out the fire trap of clutter that fills a furnace room, or remove art that might be considered controversial and distracting? 

There is a litany of things unique to each home we address each time we are called in to stage. Unfortunately, all that can be done and is done does not hold the immediate visual impact the final dramatic images we display of rooms we set as Stagers. Thinking that showing the most dramatic transformations tells our story best is working against us... this is an area WE need to address as an industry.

Don't let the words "staging" or "Stager" trip you up. While these words are relatively new, what we advise has been given as advice in real estate sales for year. All that has really changed is that there is an INDUSTRY committed to understanding the intricacies of how a home can be best merchandised and marketed as a product so that it appeals to a buyer and entices them to buy.

More and more home sellers ARE getting what we do. They are beginning to call stagers in BEFORE they even have a Realtor. Stagers are going to be referral sources for you. So for this reason and ALL that I wrote here in this blog I encourage you to find a good stager in your area, and understand what they do and offer. I guarantee good Stagers hold more opportunity for you and your sellers then what many of you have first allowed yourselves to believe.

Me

Best Blog EVER Finally Hits Its Target... of ONE

Daily hundreds and hundreds of bloggers post here on Active Rain... all with the hopes that what we write connects to an audience. What makes blogging on AR uniquely different from other blog platforms is the fact that because it is a social network, posting here first reachs a tighter member audience made up of professional from all areas of the Real Estate industry.

Comments from our peers can give us the immediate "gratification" of knowing if what we said, what we wrote, worked or not.

Sometimes when we write something particularly well, the All Mighty & Mysterious Rain Gods will feature our posts and send it into the AR stratosphere with a little Gold Star. Then comments abound.

If you have spent anytime here on AR you most surly have read one of the most creative, prolific and interesting bloggers who has a whole galaxy of Gold Star Blogs... that blogger is Bryant Tutas. Broker Bryant has much to say, says it well and has gained the respect of many Realtors ALL over north America.

Broker Bryant and I "go way back" as we both started here on AR just about 2 years ago now. I with my "Rants & Ravings" on Home Staging and he with his "Ramblings" about Real Estate have written a lot and seen a lot happen here and in the real estate industry. Through the years I would post my blogs and Bryant would comment back and vice versa.

While I knew Bryant liked what I had to say, finding it interesting and informative, I also had a gut feeling some of my messages were not hitting DEAD ON with him. How do I know this? Well, call it intuition or call it paranoia, but somtimes I felt his comments communicated a certain degree of skepticism about this thing called "staging." I am NO stranger to this skepticism. It is a skepticism MANY Realtors have.

I have learned in life that just because you say something, or write something, does not mean the message you intended was received. As frustrating as that is, if people don't get your message then you might need to rework it until they do. The miscommunication might not not reside in their ears, but in your words.

So without his knowing, Bryant had become the litmus test for whether this particular message hit its target or not. Other stagers KNOW that when I write, about this particular topic, I write in the hopes that Broker Bryant would get the message. If he got, it I knew I would have a message I could use over and over.

Fast forward to this past Monday...

On Monday I posted, what I thought, was my best post ever! Yup EVER! I spent all day Sunday working on the graphic and then writing and rewriting what I had to say. I knew this post had a GREAT graphic, was WELL written and took the reader on the type of verbal journey I like to take them on... hitting them with the point I wanted to make right at the end. So confident in this post, I just KNEW the All Mighty & Mysterious Rain Gods would launch it for all to read (especially Bryant) with one of those coveted Gold Stars. Realtors (especially Bryant) would FINALLY "get" what I have been trying for them to "get" for 2 years now. Finally, all over north America, ever Realtor (especially Bryant) who had resisted or never considered using a home stager would be beating down the doors of their local stagers. The whole real estate market would turn around. Oil prices would drop! Peace would reign supreme... all from my post. I thought it was that good.

So I posted. Then I waited. I went back and checked. So sure of myself. "Did I get my Gold Star yet?" Hmmm.. not YET. So I waited...  I went back. ONLY to realize... NOTHING! ZILCH! ZIP! NADA! NINE! No Gold Star. "Sh_t, this one didn't do it either!"

But then something amazing happened...

There was a comment posted by an old blogging buddy. And while his March market report for Poinciana FL is not great, his comment reveled he got what I had been trying to say for so long. Better then a Gold Star... this post HAD hit my target of one.

So thank you BB, sometimes aiming for a small audience can inspire a big message.

ME

PS: I have to extend a personal appology to Broker Bryant. Sorry about your having to take a "hit to the eye."  While I am good at PhotoShot (oops I mean "SHOP") I am not THAT good.

PSS: Here is a link to my BEST POST EVER... after this "EVER!" Read it and be transformed! (LOL) Chipping Away at the "PRICE IS KING" Myth Too Many Realtors Rely On