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UPDATE ON: Why would I give away my staging services??? Well, here's the scoop....................

I have been marketing my services in my small town for almost two years now. I have given presentations (UGH!), given a "FREE" consultation (never used), driven all over town every Sunday to open houses, mass-marketed to every realtor in every realty in the city, and spent hundreds of dollars in advertising. And.....nothing. "We don't need to stage, these houses sell." "Oh, we stage ourselves" (with a couple plants, towels in the kitchen & bath). These are the comments I receive from our realtors. So I started marketing in a different area - and voila - several jobs. GREAT.

But, what about my town?

A couple weeks ago I chatted with a lady in my town who had her house on the market about 6 months - and no offers. I looked at it & realized why - red painted living room walls with hunter green carpet, a pink bedroom with, and a lilac master bedroom (still with the green carpet! not seen here). I let her know that she needed to paint it out neutral and bring in neutral carpet. She had been told that by her realtor, but loved the red - so hadn't done it. (picture below).

After she painted she had me over again - it was beautiful! I gave her a bid to stage, but it was too high for her, she had put so much money into the house already and her realtor said it was fine now that it was painted. I lowered my price to what she could afford and BEGGED her to let me stage it. She agreed. Since this house had to POP I bought more furnishings and extra things and spent twice what I charged her for the stage.

WHY??? Advertising!!! I want all the realtors in the area to come and see for themselves exactly what "staging" is all about! What a difference it will make! I believe in what I am doing. They had the open house Sunday and will have a broker's open on Tuesday. I am praying that this home sells - FAST! This would be the best advertisement.

Red Livingroom Neutra living room

living room after staging

SOLD................SOLD................SOLD..............SOLD............SOLD!!!!!

This house sold in FIVE WEEKS!!! After being on the market before staging for 6 months! The lady that bought it actually looked at the house the first week after staging - but had time constraints preventing her buying at that time. The owner is so grateful - and all the realtors that showed it were amazed at the transformation!

Now we wait to see if I get any jobs from this stage!

Posted by Concepts by CoCo, Coco Lemmon, Home Stager, Portland, OR on 08/06/2007 10:27 PM

Comments (42)

Post is included in group: Stage It Forward...
Post is included in group: Portland Oregon Real Estate

42 Comments on UPDATE ON: Why would I give away my staging services??? Well, here's the scoop....................

AUG

2007

Coco, the house looks great. Thank goodness you got the home owner to paint. I hope the house sells this week - what a coup that would be for you. Good Luck girl. Betty PS Love the dining room set.

Great job. Sometimes you've got to give a little to get a lot. Best of luck for a fast sale!

Do you know what color she painted? It photographs really well. THANKS!

Angel

Looks great! Good luck to you. I remember when I was looking for the "one" house that the realtors would see and "get it".

Good Luck...I hope this one changes things for the better for you!! Regards-Kathleen

Thank you for the great comments.

Angel - don't know the name of the color - but it's a taupe-y. I'll try to find out.

CoCo - the house looks simply fabulous. Great job - I see more business coming to you - hopefully, very soon. What goes around, comes around - and you did a good thing. All the best to you!

Coco,

Awesome job. The room looks terrific. I love the new color.

Congrats and best of luck to you.

Seeing is believing...and you're about to convert a lot of nay-sayers into believers with work like that! Great job!

Coco, The house looks wonderful!! Good luck on a quick sale and keep us posted on when it sells.

Nancy

The home looks great! I am sure that it will sell quickley now. You are doing the right thing by marketing through word of mouth. Now people can see for themselves how great your work is!

Coco - the house looks terrific. Your talent and conviction will pay off in a big way. The word will spread about you and the work will come to you.

Good luck! Don't be discouraged at all by your local realtors. There are plenty of fishes in the sea and by doing more jobs and showing your results, they will come around. If they don't, it's their loss! I actually started staging outside of my area then worked my way in. So I know your frustration. But don't give up! They will come as long as you consistently building your client base and book.

Cheers,

Cindy

Coco:

Yor staging looks fantastic. I have been in a similiar situation with my local realtors, but this makes me more determined than ever to show them. You have done a wonderful thing, and I'm sure your staging will sell this house very quickly. Just don't get discouraged.

Cheers

Sheryl Delorme

Well done, CoCo, the paint colour is beautiful. I hope it sells quickly for you. Keep us posted

Hi CoCo, It is funny, I think it is true that good things come to those who wait. I taught a class at the library, some one called a year later, taught at the community ed, someone called a year and a half later, I donated a gift certificate and the person redeemed it a year to the day later (it was going to expire) I had a newspaper article written about me and someone called 6 months later, they clipped the article, but weren't ready yet, they called when they were.

As far a Realtors go? Now they call me.

My best advice is to keep up your good name, keep getting testimonials - ask for referrals, and keep track of your stats - the proof is in the pudding!

CoCo,

Hang in there! You have a valuable service to offer. Be sure to continue contacting the realtor offices, too. Staging is just now getting more visibility here in our area and if you drop off your cards & brochures IN PERSON rather than mailing them, you'll probably find it worth your while. Continue doing everything you're doing and don't give up!

Coco, good luck! You definitely made a huge difference with the place.

I've got my fingers crossed for you!

Great idea! I needed to get the ball rolling in my small town area as well and I did a partial staging for free! I tried to do a great job knowing that it would be seem by all the local realtors. It did work as I got connected to a new realtor who has used my services several time over. It was worth the "freebee".

Way to go!

AUG

2007

Coco,

I can totally relate to your frustration. I too have lived it with in my own town and local Realtors. Have you even sent a press release to your local news paper? Do you have a community chamber? I joined my towns chamber and the small local newspaper writes a feature story and give new members free advertisement for a month...something to think about.....gook luck!

Marketing is tough. Stagers are sales people. You can tell who is a serious business owner, and who stages because they think it will be "fun." I commend you for your effort. You mean business!

A lot of us have that experience with our local Realtors - my new market plan will be directed more at homeowners & FSBO.

Your staged home looks so much better!

Coco, good for you, the room looks so much better with the new paint color. Glad you perservered!

Best wishes for a speedy sale!

Looks amazing and hopefully it will sell fast and hopefully it will be good advertising for you like you hope for. Good luck.

Coco,,

My first project was a freebie for a friend of mine. The house sold in 5 weeks. Since then I have been very busy with referrals.

Advertising is a great way to look at it.

Stacy

Thank you all for your support and all your excellent recommendations. I will follow up on a lot of them.

AUG

2007

CoCo - what a lovely transformation. Has the property sold yet?

Cheryl-Anne - it had 2 offers, but not sure yet if one is accepted. I hope so - would be great advertising for staging!

Coco - way to go! Keep us informed.

AUG

2007

I have done the same thing and believe me it is worth it. Not only it is advertising your services but let's face it, how much money do you spend on most advertising and marketing campaigns. This is an investment into your business, you get the inventory back and will reuse again. GOOD JOB

Phyllis Pafumi

Coco - I loved reading this post as I am just getting started in doing something similar. The owner of the house bought it and has put $230,000. in updates so it has a sale price of $735,000. The agent is having a luncheon for 40-50 brokers on Sept. 11 and I have a budget of $3000 to stage a vacant kitchen, den with breakfast nook, dining room and master bedroom! So - like you,I started thinking differently about it and decided that if I just come out even on the $$ - it will still be well worth it for my work to be seen by that many realtors at one time.

It is my first vacant so I am very nervous but am enlisting the help of my sister who is very good with decorating, etc. The house is beautiful but it is lots of hard work and long hours to research renting and buying things, isn't it? Yikes. - I hope yours sells FAST and mine too. Then maybe our business will finally be "up and running". Best of luck.

Pam Ives - Homestagingofwilmington.com

SEP

2007

Coco - I'd hire you in a blink if you were local. You have a wonderful attitude and have a lot to offer to AR. Keep on blogging!

TOM - thank you for your vote of confidence! Wish you we located here! LOL

SEP

2007

Coco, It looks really nice. It is definitely hard starting out when you are in an area where staging is still a new concept. It's part of any business to spend money on advertising to get your name and your work out there. Have you done any realtor representations yet? Try calling and speaking directly with the Broker-In-Charge. I hope this home sells really fast for you! Just keep at it and eventually your phone will start ringing off the hook.

Coco - You do what you have to do! You go girl! I hope it sells fast!

SEP

2007

Tanya, Nora & Susan, Janice: thank you all for you votes of confidence. I think it's sold! I will add to this blog when I'm sure! YEAH!

This is an encouragement to me as I am almost meeting with resistance to staging from sellers. Realtors seem interested, but can't "give away" a consultation! This gives me new hope!

Connie King

www.ckstaging.com

SEP

2007

Connie - it takes awhile to get your name out there - keep plugging away - it'll happen.

OCT

2007

Good marketing investment, Coco! Staging looks great! Thanks for sharing.

Great work - and a wonderful way to market yourself!

Coco,

I am so proud of you for not giving up. Sometimes the wheels don't turn as fast as we would like them to. Keep going...persistance pays off. This will open some doors for you!

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