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HGTV? No, it was me: A Realtor Learns to Stage a Home

Admit it! Don't be ashamed -- you watch HGTV and all those home decorating shows: Design on a Dime, Designed to Sell, Secrets That Sell, Takeover My Makeover, Get It Sold, Curb Appeal, and more.

These shows are all the rage!

The facts are that a clean, uncluttered and well-presented home sells in less time and for more money.

In today's buyer market atmosphere in Northern Virginia and D.C., sellers need their homes to stand out from the crowd of inventory. When 32 homes are for sale in the same subdivision, sellers hoping to make sure that theirs is the next to go need to consider using the services of a professional stager to prepare their home for sale.

It's not as easy at it looks on those HGTV shows! And sellers generally have a hard time staging their home themselves because of their emotional attachment to the home and their possessions.

In order to sell a home, it needs to be de-personalized. Decorating is personalizing a home to the owner's tastes. Conversely, staging is de-personalizing the home, because

"The way you live in your home and the way we market and sell your house are two different things"

So says Barb Schwartz, founder and CEO of Stagedhomes.com. According to statistics from her company, staged homes sell for approximately 6.9% higher prices than non-staged homes and spend 50% less time on the market.

This week I earned the Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) for Realtors designation through Schwartz's program which involved a trip to a house in Oakton, Virginia to stage it for sale. My team of 5 staged the home office.

Here are some before and after pictures of the office.

BEFORE AFTER

And here's a photo of me and my staging team:

This course has sold me on staging!

While two days certainly does not make me a staging expert, I understand the value in this service and the hard work that professional stagers put into preparing homes for sale. I work with several professional stagers in the Washington D.C. area who can help stage Virginia and D.C. homes of any size and price range and make them ready for the potential buyers.

Feel free to contact me by phone at 703-626-0715 or e-mail at brian@brianblock.com to discuss listing your home for sale and having it professionally staged.

Here are some other photos of staged rooms at the house in Oakton, Virginia:

And remember, the investment in staging is always less than a price reduction. To learn more about why price reductions are not a good idea, please read my article: "We can always reduce the price later" -- Price Reductions are NOT A GOOD MARKETING PLAN for Northern Virginia Homes.

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If you plan to purchase or sell a home in the Northern Virginia or D.C. area,
you can visit my main Northern Virginia & D.C. real estate website at www.brianblock.com.

Posted by Brian Block -- Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate on 10/25/2007 06:57 PM

Comments (58)

staging, barb schwartz, price reductions, northern virginia staging, dc staging, northern virginia realtor, virginia real estate blog

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58 Comments on HGTV? No, it was me: A Realtor Learns to Stage a Home

OCT

2007

Brian - That looks like fun. Glad you got a chance to get some hands-on experience staging this home. I would like to take a staging class myself - staging certainly works!

Congratulations, Brian on your new found understanding. Looks like you and your team did a fine job. Ms. Schwarz would be proud! - Calie

The rooms look great. Congrats! I am taking Barb's class later this year. Can't wait!

That pictures really showed the difference! They sure put a lot of time, effort and expertise into their work Brian. Great job!

This was really well done! You did a great job of presenting this home and definitely show the benefits of staging. I took a Con Ed class at our state convention which Barb taught and she did a great job.

I flagged this for a feature.

You have motivated me to learn more about staging. Huge difference in this home on the before and after. I decorated our office and everybody tells me that I could always fall back on a career in interior decorating...maybe I can stage too? We shall see.

Awesome job on the house and post!

Very well done, Brian! I'm waiting for a class to come somewhere near me so I can join in the fun!

Looks like a very valuable class, particularly in a challenging market, (but not offered in Las Vegas until Feb 08). I admire that you still recognize the value of using a professional stager rather than adding this to the agent bag of tricks. The soundbite about price reductions vs. costs of staging is one of my favorites.

JASON: The class was great, especially the hands-on part yesterday in the home. We spent about 3 hours at the home. We unleashed 70 people on this house and the listing agent was thanking us like you wouldn't believe as we left!

Glad you have become an advocate of staging. Earning this designation will help you "sell" staging to your clients. You will both reap the rewards of a quicker and more profitable sale as a result.

I love it when RE agents finally gets it! I am glad that you had a great and learned so much!

I have thought about getting this designation too. I love the pictures! Good for you for taking yet another step to stand out from the crowd!

Welcome to the fold Brian... nice job but remember there were 70 people working on this home and when you get really busy selling your listings, call a stager to get the home ready for you it's a team effort!

CALIE: Thanks for your comments. I felt like we did pretty well for a first time go around. Since yesterday and seeing these pictures, my wife has been bugging me to do the same thing to my office at home!

MARIBETH: Thanks for your comments. I know that you'll enjoy the class too!

You were right to say that 2 days don't make you an expert - but you have a greater awareness and an appreciation for what professional stagers do on a regular basis.

Now go practice on your home office.

OCT

2007

SALLY: The pictures really show the remarkable difference that staging creates! I challenge any Realtor to take this course and not see the value in what professional stagers bring to the home sale process. Thanks for your comments.

LOLA: Thanks for your comments. I've known about staging for quite some time and have seen some professionally staged home, but when you actually have the hands-on experience and take the course, you are better able to communicate the value to your clients.

JESSICA: I would highly recommend learning more. You'd enjoy the class and staging will certainly help your listings stand out from the pack. Thanks for your comments and compliments on the post.

LISA: If the class does come near you, I would definitely recommend it. We actually had people travel from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and elsewhere to take the staging course in Northern Virginia!

JOHN: Thanks for your comments. While staging is a great service that I will highly recommend to my clients and to my listings presentation, it is not something that I can add to my personal arsenal, or "agent bag of tricks". My job is to market and sell the home. The stager's job is to make the home sparkle so that it can be more marketable. I don't have the time or energy to do both well. It's the power of teamwork. Take the class when it comes to Vegas.

LINDA: Thanks for your vote of confidence. It really is a no-brainer once you see the power of a staged home.

Congratulations, Brian - Agents have been doing this for years, but clearly we have a lot to learn. And that little piece of paper at the end of the course will add value that translates into a credible extra service. Good job!

Brian:

I've got to finish up my CRS core then I am going to enroll. I plan to start by the first of the year. This is something that I would have probably procrastinated on much longer if I hadn't read your post and saw the results! Again, thanks for sharing this. I am just amazed at the results.

I too did that course a few months ago down at Va Beach. Only, we had the hottest day of the year to stage the home. I found it very enlightening also, and I feel it is a great benefit to your clients. Congrats!

Looks awesome! I am supposed to be taking the class here in Myrtle Beach in November and can't wait! Congrats

Kazaam--- This is great. I am going to look into the class being offered in my area. Great news.

TARA: Thanks for your comments and best wishes in your staging business.

GINGER: Anything we can do to distinguish ourselves and our listings from the crowd is important. It was a great course and I'd highly recommend it. The hands-on experience was great.

KAREN: Thanks for your comments. Trust me, I would not try to do this myself. I mentioned in the post, that I would call upon a professional stager to be a member of my team.

KATHLEEN: Thanks for your comments. I may get some practice this weekend.

MARGARET: Thanks for your comment. Agents have been trying to stage for a long time, but there certainly is a difference between many agent's attempts and a full-blown staged home. There certainly is a lot of value in having a listing professionally staged.

JESSICA: Thanks for your comments and congratulations for working on your CRS designation -- the best one out there in my opinion. I think you'll love the staging class and going into the home to actually stage it with the rest of the class is a great experience. You do feel like you are on an HGTV show!

DALE: Sounds like you enjoyed the class too. Boy, it was hot enough yesterday just moving furniture around. And of course, with many more women than men in the class, us strong guys often get asked to help move the big pieces. I can't imagine doing this on the hottest day of the Summer!

AMY: Thanks for your comment. Enjoy the class and post the pictures so we all can see the before and after!

REBECCA: Thanks for your comment. I hope you can find the class being offered soon.

BRIAN: I have been interested in taking this course for a while, but just haven't been able to squeeze it in yet. Thanks for sharing your experience with this. I'm going to take the course as soon as I can.

Great job Brian. It is nice to see a REA that understands the importance of staging. It looks like you all had fun!

House came out great Brian ! Congrats to your team :)

OCT

2007

Hey Brian,

How does it feel to come over to the light? You guys did bang up job! I think that a class like this should be mandatory for all Realtors.

Brian,

Awesome, congratulations - great "Befores and Afters!" I too teach an introduction to staging for Realtors here in Chicago for a local a Realtor association, and it is truly amazing when Realtors "see the light." I do have one bit of advice to give you though - I know there are many methods of teaching the art of home staging, but I do have one pet peeve that I see time, after time, and wanted to add my two cents about the matter:

Faux Greenery (Trees and Potted) should always be depicted in room arrangement as if they were actually REAL. Potted Trees can not function, nor be maintained behind a bed, in a dark corner of a room, or in a space that has no natural light - They should always be in the area of a room that they can "Grow." IE. Near a window. That's the whole point of them, they should look alive, and not a prop.

ADAM: Thanks for your comments. As we discussed on the phone, I really thought this course was great and the two day investment and small price of the course is definitely worth the time and effort. Have a great weekend.

JANICE: We did have a lot of fun. It was a bit exhausting since with only about 5 or 6 guys in the class, we did end up doing most of the heavy lifting.

FERNANDO: Thanks for your comments. The listing agent seemed so pleased. She had the house staged for free by offering it up to the class and it will certainly sell now for more money and in a shorter time.

SUSAN: Thanks for your comments. I hope they don't make this class mandatory for all Realtors. I want to stand out from the pack.

JULEA: Thanks for your comment and your tip. It is much appreciated and you make a good point about the greenery. I like greenery in a home, but too much and in the wrong places is overkill and looks too much like a prop instead of an actual functional tree or plant.

Congrats, Brian! Welcome to our world!!!

You should try to make the monthly IAHSP meetings in our area (Chantilly) and get to know the local Stagers, ask questions and listen to some good speakers.

You are so lucky that you had some "muscle" in the class. When I took the course over three years ago it was all women. We did fine, though. Even today as I Stage it's just me and a couple of female assistants. It's amazing how strong you get when you have to. : )

Brian-That is impressive! What a difference your home staging made to each room. You are a walking, talking book of knowledge. Oh and yes a dancing one too. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to seek a class like this. I want to be most valuable to my clients and this is just one more piece of the puzzle to add.

Just a side question: What do you do if you have a home for sale which is priced right, staged right and is in the mix of 36 others in the same price range? How do you make that stand out?

HEATHER: Thanks for letting me know about the IAHSP meetings. If I have a chance, I'll try to attend a meeting in the near future. Thanks for your comments

JULIE: Thanks for your wonderful comment -- I really appreciate it. On your question, I think that a virtual tour and advertising the home as a staged home and playing up that factor can really help your listing stand out.

Thank you Brian. I will certainly give that a try. I'm praying for my client we can get this sold.

OCT

2007

Congratulations and I am glad you have joined the ranks. It is the BEST marketing tool out there!

Have fun!!

JULIE: Thanks for checking back. I hope that you can get your listing sold as well.

NORA: Thanks for your comments. I am glad to have joined the ranks too!

NOV

2007

Great job! Staging is a great service that makes a huge difference...

Congratulations on joining the staged homes family. All the best.

TROY: Thanks for your comments. I agree 100% and am glad that I took the class.

AKANKE: Thanks for your comment. I'm happy to be a part of the family.

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