I have seen an upsetting trend lately in this real estate market. It seems that, still, after all the education on Home Staging, after all the positive results on Home Staging and after all the HOUSES THAT SOLD ONCE STAGED, some realtors are STILL NOT USING A HOME STAGER on their listings, WHY?? 

In the past week, I have received two phone calls from the sellers themselves, inquiring about my services. Each complained about the fact that their home has been on the market for the past 9 months with no offers. Another thing each seller complained about was the fact that from the time the listing agreement was signed they asked the realtor "Should we call in a Home Stager?", Not necessary was the response.

So why now are theses sellers calling me? Simple, the listing expired, the sellers are taking positive action, and now a NEW REALTOR has gotten their listing. I just finished staging one property and will be staging the second next week. The sellers cannot believe the transformation and are so excited that this motivated them to do other repairs around the house that will surely MAKE THIS LISTING SHINE!! 

Realtors, why are you still being so resistant? Think about this...a professional Home Stager MAKES YOUR LISTING LOOK GREAT!! You sell your house quicker, your sellers are happy and YOU GET PAID instead of giving your commission to another agent. 

In my professional opinion, here is what I see happening:

1. Many realtors today are taking a Home Staging course and thinking that they can "STAGE" their own listing. My question to you is WHY? Why the heck would you want to Stage your own listing, this is hard work. When done correctly I am talking about a major investment of time and energy. Staging is NOT AN EASY WAY TO MAKE LOTS OF MONEY. Even the homeowners say on the day of staging. WOW I did not realize how much went into this..

YES, I know that some realtors have their "certification", but I have also heard that they are not making a go of it. One weekend class DOES NOT MAKE YOU A HOME STAGER...YOU ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL HOME STAGER. LET US DO THE STAGING and WE WILL LET YOU SELL THE PROPERTY. How would you feel if STAGERS started getting their real estate licenses in order to "SELL" their staged listings. I am sorry to say this but it is IMPOSSIBLE TO DO BOTH CORRECTLY!!

I had a broker tell me that he sent some girls in his office for the Staging Course because things are slow and they have to do something, but he also admitted to me that they have had very little success. He asked if I could come in and "HELP THEM". Sure I will stage it and NOW they have a better property to MARKET.

What does Kentucky Fried Chicken say "We do one thing and we do it right" WE STAGE YOUR SELL!!  

2. Many realtors are now calling Furniture Rental Companies on their own and trying to get furniture put into the property....NOT!! I just had a situation where this happened and MY REP that I deal with at the furniture rental company was called in by the realtor. Upon entering the property, she immediately told the realtor, this house needs much more than furniture. The funny thing is she recommended my company. By the time my rep emailed me what had happened, I had already gotten the job, had the furniture picked out and the clients booked the staging.

REALTORS....plopping down furniture and placing a few accessories around DOES NOT SELL A HOUSE if the walls are painted PURPLE and GREEN STRIPES. Again professional Home Stagers sit with these companies and we "DESIGN" the space accordingly. The plan involves furniture that will suit the house as well as appeal to many buyers. We then proceed to add the "bling" that makes the property shine. BLING TAKES TIME TO SHOP FOR and COSTS LOTS OF MONEY IN INVENTORY.

3. Realtors, you do not have to pay for Staging, REALLY!! This is your clients INVESTMENT!!

4. You still may not know much about the Staging process. That's okay, call us and we will do all the work from setting up the consult with your clients to completing the staging of YOUR LISTING just in time for your Open House.

Let us be the "bad guys".  A professional Home Stager can evaluate your client's property and give them an honest, caring overview of what work needs to be addressed in order to sell this house. THEY LISTEN TO US FOR SOME REASON MORE THAN THEY DO YOU. I have heard this time and time again. The realtors I work with cannot believe it when I tell them the client has agreed to do this or that...but they do. 

I just picked up my furniture and accessories from a home I staged a month ago. This property was on the market for (1) year with no offers. The seller got upset and went with a new realtor. This new realtor called me (I blogged about this house), we staged the house and it SOLD at the FIRST OPEN HOUSE. Hmmmm, wonder what the other realtor is thinking?? MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE CALLED A HOME STAGER!!

Don't let that happen to you. Call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ @ 732-995-3425 and SELL YOUR LISTINGS