When I talk with agents about staging I get very similar feedback. Yes, they believe staging does work, yes they know it helps to sell a house faster, but..........How do I educate my seller? How do I find a good stager? What are the stats to prove staging works?
How can we, as stagers, expect the Realtors to sell staging when they don't fully comprehend it themselves? I believe it boils down to one thing, education.
I am a firm believer in education. When I sold real estate myself I knew nothing about staging. There was one company in town that I was aware of and from what I heard they got great results. Beyond that I was ignorant to it. There were no classes to take to educate myself on how to properly merchandise a home. I learned all about negotiating contracts, fair housing regulations, client representation and how to sell myself, but nothing about making the listing as appealing as possible to attract the buyers. Sure, I knew to tell my clients to remove personal photographs, de-clutter, and neutralize but not much more beyond that.
I feel that is where most agents in Nashville are. With so many questions about staging, not knowing what to ask or knowing how to find a good stager is the reason more homes are not staged in the Nashville area. Television shows such as Designed to Sell, The Stagersand Stager Invasion have done wonders to educate the public about staging and how it can help sell a house much quicker. Now granted, we are still talking about Hollywood. No, we can't replace the counter tops with granite, paint the entire house, and purchase brand new furniture all for under $2,000. It's a little unrealistic, but definitely much better than these shows not airing at all. The public more often than not knows more about staging than the real estate experts.
So, how do we turn this around? How can we make real estate agents even more valuable in their client's eye?
Education! When Melissa Marro,a staging industry leader, contacted me about bringing the CSP Elite Agent Program to Nashville I was thrilled! Now there is a class agents can take to answer all those questions they have. How the staging industry got started, how it has evolved, how to find a good stager, the value staging can bring to the sell of a property, how to educate their clients and the list goes on and on.
No, this class is not about the agent staging themselves like other programs teach. How do you think the agent looks in the eyes of their client when they see them schlepping furniture, suggesting paint colors, and accessorizing? Is that what top agents really do? No! They are out there finding the buyers for the property - they leave the appeal to the experts on their team - the stager.
Nashville will experience the first CSP Elite Agent Program on August 5, 2009 from 8-5pm. I'm so excited for these agents who take this class. Not only will they be miles ahead of the competition, but they will preserve their client's equity and add dollars to their personal bottom line. I was always taught it was better to teach a man to fish than to give him one. This class is definately teaching the man to fish.
For more information or to register for the August 5th class visit www.cspelite.com or call 1-866-574-0565.
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