Is paying for a home staging consultation on your 2011 list of ways to spice up your listing presentation? It should be if you want to set yourself apart from the other Realtors out there. Of course if you are the only game in town then you don't need too many tools in your tool kit. A posting on the MLS, a open house or two might just be enough to win over a potential FSBO.
However, competition is the norm--in fact in my area-the Mid-Hudson valley in New York, there are thousands of Realtors and many of them vying for the same listings. So what's an agent to do? Well, if you have a great smile and your charisma over-runneth, then I say go for it!!! If you have a third cousin-once removed working in Classified at the New York Times--throw that in too!!
But what if you are just a hard-working gal or guy offering a carbon copy (oops carbon copy shows my age but with age comes experience :)), an exact offering of what your competition is offering---THEN WHAT?? Are you going to break out in song to show your hidden talents? Or perhaps a tap dance on the granite countertop might show how energetic and creative you are?
I Think NOT!!
That's the beauty of home staging. Whether you have taken a staging class and stage your own listings, whether you hire an outside stager and have the client pay or whether you see that having a STAGED HOME is a win-win both for you and the seller and PAY FOR THE CONSULTATION--it doesn't matter. What matters is that you are giving your client excellent advice.
SOOO...the next and most important question is how to suggest home staging without offending the potential client? Well, if you are using staging to set yourself apart you MUST suggest it at the listing appointment and not wait until you have (or lose!!) the listing.
And this is how you do it--
"Mrs. Jones, have you heard about home staging, do you like wanting any of those shows on HGTV?" Whether the answer is yes ore no DO NOT say more than "it is more or less a method of preparing you house for the marketplace." Then say"As a Realtor I can give you some staging tips but some of my clients enjoy working with a professional stager."
NOW-IF--and that's a big IF--you want to pay for the consultation say so now. THEN say when we begin working together, I will give you the name or names of professional stagers I recommend. LEAVE IT AT THAT.If the sellers never heard of staging you can suggest a couple of websites including mine--HouseSetters. This way the clients can educate themselves BEFORE making any decisions.
What if the potential clients ask your opinion on say, whether they should re-paint the room? DO NOT GO THERE. It could be that the husband insisted on that color and for 10 years they have been feuding over it. I jokingly call this a TRAP. The way out of the trap is to say "in staging it is important that we take our time and do things right. A proper staging consultation could take hours so we would need to make time for it.
I hope that if you are thinking about including home staging in your marketing toolbox, that this article will give you encouragement. After all, if you are spending your money and time marketing a house, don't you want it to look its best in online photos and in person?
For additional information on Agent-Stager online classes call 845-331-7292 and visit HouseSetters.
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