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When You're a Home Stager, You Wear Many Hats ...

By Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Home Stager with Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR

January 06, 2011 02:32 PM

Whatever city we're based in, professional home stagersdo so much more than make our clients' homes look amazing and irresistible to potential buyers so that they sell faster ...

What other Hats do we wear? Here are just a few of them ....

portland home stagers home staging portland OR portland home staging real estate staging portland oregon home stagers beaverton oregon

NEIGHBORHOOD EXPERT: Home stagers need to be familiar with the neighborhoods in their cities, so that they know the types of architecture and styles of homes they'll be asked to submit staging proposals for. The best home stagers have the ability to stage many different types of homes, whether they're modern and contemporary, traditional, mid-century, Victorian, ranch, Craftsman, or whatever style is popular in their area.

DIPLOMAT: Sometimes, the client who hires the stager is the homeowner, and sometimes it's the listing agent. Occasionally the stager is caught between both parties, and it's important to be very diplomatic whoever you find yourself dealing with. Discretion is another excellent and important quality to have when working in people's homes (especially when they're still living there!)

HANDYMAN: Professional stagers are always fixing things that they come across when they're staging a home. We carry a variety of tools to repair household items, and usually we don't even charge our clients anything extra for this added service.

SECURITY EXPERT: Home stagers learn quickly to make sure that all windows and doors are secure and safe when they're working in a client's home. Our eyes and ears are always on alert to make sure that everyone -- and everything -- is safe inside the home.

ABILITY TO STAGE EQUALLY WELL IN SNOW OR 108* HEAT: Even when heat or air conditioning isn't in the best working order, home stagers will work under the worst conditions ... not because we want to, but because we want to get the job done for our clients!

STATISTICAL WIZARD: Home stagers are clever enough to track our home staging statistics for our clients so that they can see our average Days on Market of our staged properties. We love to share this helpful information with potential clients!

PEACEMAKER: Occasionally, nosy neighbors who don't like all the activity next door, or contractors working on the property exhibit short fuses for various reasons. Home stagers need the wisdom of Solomon to keep the peace!

MAGICIAN: As professional home stagers, we wear this hat every day! Clients are always telling us how "magic" our transformations are! (This is one of our favorite hats, by the way...)

SHOPPER EXTRAORDINAIRE: Home stagers know all of the best places to shop for furniture and home decor, and we're famous for running into our favorite haunts 15 minutes before closing and filling up carts faster than Olympic sprinters!

PHOTOGRAPHER: We offer our clients quality photos for the online listing -- which is critically important in getting buyers to visit the home in person.

~ HOME STAGERS, WHAT OTHER HATS DO YOU WEAR? Tell us your stories, please! ~

Sally Weatherley

Vancouver, BC
Kathy Burke

Danville, CA
Kathy Nielsen

Marietta, GA

Re-Blog

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Re-Blogged 1 time:

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Linda Esposito 01/10/2011 12:57 PM

Topic:

Location:: Oregon Multnomah County Portland

Groups:: Stage It Forward...; Real World Home Staging for Newbies; Home Staging; Stager's Coffee Clutch; Portland Metro Real Estate

Tags:: home staging portland or; room solutions home staging and redesign portland oregon; portland home stagers

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Rainer
163,364

Ryan Case

SCA Real Estate - Anaheim, CA

877-828-0710

Home staging is crucial, especially when markets begin to slow down like they are today.

Jan 07, 2011 12:39 PM

#24

Ambassador
4,473,285

Kathy Streib

Room Service Home Staging - Delray Beach, FL

Home Stager - Palm Beach County,FL -561-914-6224

Maureen- wow, can't believe I'm so late in coming to this. First, congrats on the Feature! I suppose one of the hats we wear is that of Court Jester, trying to help keep the heavy and daunting task of disrupting a household on a somewhat lighter note.

Jan 07, 2011 12:56 PM

#25

Rainer
106,583

Marianne Cherico

Interiors by Marianne Cherico - Foxboro, MA

Home Stager -Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Maureen-

Congrats on the feature,my friend! Yes, we do wear many hats. And the really great stagers,like you, do it all so well!!! Can't wait to see you in Vegas!

Marianne

Jan 07, 2011 03:19 PM

#26

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Linda ~ We love what we do, and we are indeed a very creative bunch, so we love those challenges and thinking on our feet. Thanks for joining the discussion!

Hi Nancy ~ It's not easy to diplomatically advise a seller on what they have to do to make their home market-ready -- but we deliver the news gently. I'm sure you often have that conversation with your sellers too!

Hi Patricia ~ Yes, the challenges are what keeps our staging jobs far from boring! I like the "Resource" hat as another important one we need to have handy.

Hi Chris ~ So true that sellers often only see their home with their eyes, and need gentle coaxing to understand how Buyers will see it. We do our best to help them disconnect emotionally so that they can move on.

Jan 07, 2011 05:04 PM

#27

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Lyn ~ We stagers are happy to wear as many hats as needed to help our clients, just like you Realtors!

Hi SCA ~ How smart of you to believe in the powerful benefits of home staging!

Hi Kathy ~ Court Jester is an important role since so many of our clients are under stress for various reasons when selling. Thanks for adding it!

Hi Marianne ~ And the likes of you too, my dear! Thanks for taking time to comment. Looking forward to seeing you soon.....

Jan 07, 2011 05:13 PM

#28

Rainer
332,782

Irene Kennedy Realtor® in Northwestern NJ

Weichert - Lopatcong, NJ

Maureen,

How many hatboxes can you possibly carry in your car to each home you stage? Hope you drive a tractor trailer to handle all you clearly need!

Jan 07, 2011 11:56 PM

#29

Rainmaker
54,576

Pam Faulkner

Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA

Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Maureen, I agree with everyone-clever post that is so true. I would add psychiatrist because there are some really crazy situations that come up when staging. Miracle worker would be another because people believe that we have more than 24 hours in a day to be able to pull off the impossible.

Jan 08, 2011 02:42 AM

#30

Rainer
108,207

Heather Cook

Rooms in Bloom Staging & Design Inc. - Kitchener, ON

Quality Home Staging

Maureen - great post! I think one of the top hats we wear is that of 'Problem Solver' wherein we need to find uses for existing furnishings or re-purpose them in a way no one else thought of.

I also can really relate to the hat of 'psychiatrist' or 'good listener' as so many of our clients share their full life stories with us. We have made some great friends through this business!

Jan 08, 2011 02:49 AM

#31

Rainmaker
360,425

Ginger Foust

Certified Staging Professional - Oakhurst, CA

Home Stager Oakhurst CA, Dream Interior Redesign & Staging

Wonderful post Maureen. Another hat that I didn't see mentioned yet is "teacher". We educate everyone about what we do AND why. Realtors and Sellers have more respect for stagers that can explain the "why" we moved that piece or placed that piece in its location. Educate, educate, educate.

Jan 08, 2011 03:10 AM

#32

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Irene ~ Love the tractor-trailer visual image!! Thanks for joining in.

Hi Pam ~ Psychiatrist is a hat we often wear. I can think back to many times where clients told me their life issues when I was in their homes, and often even long after the job was completed! Working in someone's home can be intensely personal, and that's why we have to such good listeners and diplomats.

Hi Heather ~ Problem Solver is another important role we fill, thanks for adding it. And it's true that we make good friends doing this type of work too -- people trust us with their belongings and can see that our goal is to truly help them improve their lives by moving on.

Hi Ginger ~ Glad you mentioned Teacher too! It is all about education, isn't it? After all, the better that people understand the concepts involved in why home staging reduces market time, the sooner we can help them.

Leave it to a seasoned teacher to remember this important hat!! :-)

Jan 08, 2011 06:36 AM

#33

Rainmaker
192,353

Janice Sutton

1st Stage Property Transformations - Murrieta, CA

Home Stager - Temecula Murrieta

Great post! Therapist and New Friend comes to mind when I think of all the hats Home Stager's wear! CEO, Accountant, Salesperson and Mover are a few others that I never really thought I would be doing when I started my Home Staging business 5 years ago! Now I am thinking I may be underpaid...LOL ;)

Jan 08, 2011 08:41 AM

#34

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Janice ~ We've all been Therapists at one time or another during our staging projects, that's for sure. I think that many home stagers, with their caring and friendly attitude, are thought of as Friends too.

As far as being underpaid for all that we do ... join the club!! :-)

Jan 08, 2011 01:00 PM

#35

Rainer
253,909

Anna Dovger

Add Value Home Staging LLC, 281-704-6607 - The Woodlands, TX

Home Staging -The Woodlands, TX

Maureen, congrats on feature. I enjoy your post and all the comments. I would add 'inspectors'. We are not home inspectors but can tell what in the house wouldn't pass that inspection.

Jan 09, 2011 07:35 AM

#36

Rainmaker
181,995

Karen Dembsky

Peachtree Home Staging LLC, Home Staging in Atlanta, GA - Peachtree City, GA

Atlanta Home Staging

Maureen -- you are such a clever one! I got to thinking about all the shoes we need to match and coordinate with the many hats! But it seems to boil down to a solid, good fitting athletic shoe regardless of the task hat.

Jan 11, 2011 01:38 AM

#37

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Anna ~ that's a good point....many times stagers can see something that could be easily repaired. Much better to take care of it before listing!

Hi Karen ~ Shoes to go to with our hats LOL! It's true we need shoes that can keep up with us!!

Jan 11, 2011 01:19 PM

#38

Rainer
213,242

Barbara Heil-Sonneck

Design2Sell - Atlanta, GA

Home Staging Atlanta

Hi Maureen, great idea, enjoyed reading this blog and it is telling the truth of our glamorous and hands on business.

Jan 16, 2011 03:56 AM

#39

Rainmaker
597,393

Jim Hale

ACTIONAGENTS.NET - Eugene, OR

Eugene Oregon's Best Home Search Website

A magician's hat seems the most appropriate head gear for a home stager.

For you, a red one would be most apropos.

Jan 16, 2011 08:16 PM

#40

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Barbara ~ "glamorous" is the perception many people have .. but it's mostly just tons of hard work.

Hi Jim ~ I'll take the red hat, thanks!

Jan 17, 2011 11:23 PM

#41

Rainer
36,995

Bonnie Allen

Classic Designs Home Staging - Knoxville, TN

Maureen, I might add that we also need to be a cheerleader as well as an encourager for those clients who are reluctant to change!

Feb 11, 2011 09:35 PM

#42

Rainmaker
823,778

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Bonnie -- it's true that we need to encourage and "cheer on" those clients who may not at first understand the benefits that home staging can provide them ... good points!

Feb 21, 2011 05:22 PM

#43

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