Stagers... are we red headed step children that get no respect?

Craig, Ellen may be right, we are cheap lmao.  But I like to think it's not at the risk of being 'penny wise and pound foolish.'  : 0 )

I get the feeling that eventually, Rodney won't have to be wearing that red wig; like anything else that is a newer concept, no matter what the profession, change is hard. AR folk are IMO a bit more used to change or more embracing of it, because we jumped into blogging after all - but somehow I think the value of staging will become more and more second nature to us agents and your posts have gone a long way to helping me see why that is true.  You rock.  

K, I had to come back and add this: we used a real stager for new urban town homes just being built. The model needed pizazz, not just furniture. She did a fabulous job, and we have her brochures located at strategic places around the model. She did a fab job of picking furniture that enhanced the urban steel bannisters, for example.  Everyone who comes in to see the property comments on at least one or two pieces - it's an invaluable service. I've already recommended her to others, including someone buying one of the townhomes! 

Craig,

Thanks for the GREAT BLOG.....and Ellen who????  ;)

You know, I need to make another comment here - I posted mine after reading Craig's blog and before reading all of the comments.

Actually my comment is a question.....What makes some of you assume that "Ellen" is a Stager? 

Some of us "newer stagers" on this site (that is only 5 months old I might add), may be voicing our frustrations, but to anyone reading this comment, who might be a realtor, I would like to say this:

Please do not misconstrue what we are saying - we are not directing any animosity or anger toward realtors or the real estate profession, we are just, collectively, trying to figure out how to introduce a new 'product' and show how useful and profitable it is to both realtors and sellers!

For the most part we are dialoging amongst ourselves - sometimes we might ask realtors for their opinions because they have the experience and knowledge and can give invaluable advice.  It is always good to hear from another perspective. Just look at how beautifully that worked on the "Stagers Attending Realtor's Open Houses" blog post!

I am a little disappointed with some of the negative energy that I'm picking up here tonight.  We are here to network and the Webster Dictionary defines Network as "a usually informally interconnected group or association of persons (as friends or professional colleagues)".

We can all learn from each other - even the "newest" of us have valuable insights to share.

Where is the 'love' guys?!  Let us not diminish some wonderful 'networking' advice from one of the best!

As a stager/merchandiser I like your advice ,Craig. to start building relationships with realtors.  Usually I'm just trying to sell my services, instead of educating them and letting them get to know me.

 They will be more likely to use me as a stager if they know me and trust me and see that I really do care about my business and theirs.

Thanks.

Craig, when are you doing your 'Return from the Road to Hong Kong' blog with pics????

Craig,  You say a lot of good here. Obviously, you wouldn't want to stage a house on the low end of the market.  I'll have to forward this to a couple of agents I know. It's amazing though how cheap some sellers can be. They can end up costing themselves a lot of money by not even doing the simple things like leaving the power on.

-Jeff

I have not hear of staging until I joined AR.  I personally think it a great marketin tool.  If I ever sell my home, I plan on looking into it.  I believe it will help sell it quicker. First imperssions are priceless. 

I am not a REALTOR, I do not think you guys are "cheap".  I know that most of you put quite a bit of time, effort, and money into you job.  Ignorance is bliss...."Ellen" must live in bliss.

Talk about being treated like a redheaded stepchild!!!  I know just how that feels.  You wait days for the King of AR Stagers to grace your blog with one of his much sought after comments....and he calls you by the wrong name!!! 

Great blog though....another keeper for my files!

Val-

You are so on the money (as usual). We are part of the marketing arsenal for Realtors and they are our biggest client. We're all on the same team.

Bryant-

Thank you for your thoughtful and thought-provoking posts. I sense that you are truly committed to quality and excellent client service. On that note, I have a few thoughts to share...

Having spent a few very tough years in resale real estate and a short while in new construction, I sympathize with your 'everybody's after the money I haven't even earned yet' sentiments. I had to start a mass mailing newsletter advertising other realtors' listings just to be able to afford to advertise my own (placed prominently in that mailing, of course:).

It had occurred to me, too, that it would be a great idea to take payment at closing. I mean, we do that with other contractors, right?! That plan is flawed, though, for a  couple of reasons, the most obvious being that we don't usually bringin those contractors until an agreement has been reached. You wouldn't need a stager at that time.

The second, less obvious reason is that, while most agents who stay around for very long have done so because they (as you mention above) have learned how to price appropriately or decline the listing, many have not -- successful agents know that an overpriced listing will suck the life out of a marketing budget and reflect very poorly on them later when a new agent takes over and, after a huge price reduction, sells the place inside of a week.

But I digress...the problem is that a great number of listings emerge on the market overpriced and, from your earlier posts it is clear that you know that, even with its gold-plated nails, and custom Zebra carpet with coordinating Monkey chandelier (I'm so derivative here; had to pay homage to Jessica's awesome blog), property will very rarely sell above the CMA range. More clearly put, even the best property, if priced incorrectly, will languish on the market. 

As I no longer hold an active real estate license, I am without access (at least in my area) to the complete information from the MLS to determine whether or not I believe the price is right. Of course I could look at the public tax records, but those sq ft prices are skewed by the fact that the tax office estimates square footage of the home based on a drive by in most areas; consequently it is very often in significant error.

I believe it was Craig who discussed that a stager's job is to merchandise the house so that it will bring the top end of its range of price. That said, not all stagers know how to assess the appropriatenes of the home's price even with full access to information. We must rely on the expertise of the Realtors we work with to price and accept listings as prudently as they govern their marketing budgets before our services can really pay off. Similarly, the Realtor must rely on our merchandising talent and focused approach to making the home appeal to the largest cross-section of the population possible.

So, to take payment at closing would require a leap of faith on the stager's part--faith that the Realtor priced, and will market the home appropriately and aggressively.

It's a circular and interdependent relationship that Realtors and stagers have. I would submit that we all owe it to ourselves to make every effort to educate and understand each others' industries for the common goals of supporting property values in our home areas and providing stellar client service with every sale.

-Brenna, (GRF stager)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craig,

I have done as you suggested and turned this comment into a blog here: http://activerain.com/blogs/greatrooms .

Thanks for the great advice!

Claudia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow Claudia - you made some wonderful points here - and in such an honest and thoughtful way!

Thank YOU for adding yet another dimension to the reason that Stagers and Realtors need to work together - and in a spirit of reciprocal trust.  We really are on the same team after all!

I agree with Ellen.  I dread having to hire a realtor when ready to sell my own property.  They are all warm and fuzzy at the signing, then I never hear from them again till a contract comes in.  In fact, I've never had a house sell because my realtor showed it.  As I've said in a previous comment, you'd think they would want to make the sale, do anything to make the sale, especially in today's market, but they don't check on their vacant listings, and if they do happen by, they dont bother to pick up accumulated trash in the yard, weeks of newspapers, pull weeds or just sweep.  I get the impression that anything physical is just way below them.  So why should we think they would consider a stager? My staging contract does not say I will do the yard work, but I feel its my reputation on the line when prospective buyers drive up to the house, so I do the work myself.  Here in my area we have several realtors who do their own staging.  I've seen their work.  Whateveeeeeeeeeer!

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Staging is a career still in it's infancy in many areas. It will take more time before it's embraced everywhere. I believe lots of sellers (and agents) look at it as an expense instead of an asset to get their homes sold faster for more money.