Ok, I admit it. When I wrote that follow up blog last night I was TIRED...really tired after a long day of work and a long week preparing for the seminar. Then my husband surprised me by coming home early (if you can call 9:30pm early!) and I was anxious to wrap up my blog and spend some time with him.
So unfortunately I left out some pretty important details about the Senior Staging Seminar I gave yesterday at the Culver City Senior Center. I hope you don't think I'm beating a dead horse here, but since so many Stagers seem interested in holding similar seminars in their areas, I thought you might be interested in how I structured my talk.
I originally got the idea for the seminar from another senior seminar I did with Michelle Minch and Karen Thornton last fall. We spoke to close to 100 seniors who had already put down deposits on apartments in a brand new senior community in the San Fernando Valley. Though, at the time, the property was a year or so away from being finished, the future residents were concerned about selling their homes in a down market. The consulting company that put on the event needed three Stagers to speak so that they wouldn't be seen as "pushing" one company as a preferred provider. Since we had never done a group presentation like this before, it took a bit of work to figure out how to break it down. In the end we structured our talk in this way and I kept the same structure for my seminar yesterday:
1) Introduction: My Credentials
I always like to begin any speech by introducing myself and my company and telling a little bit about my background and experience. I mention that I am an ASP, a board member of my local IAHSP chapter, a member of the West Los Angeles and Culver City Chambers of Commerce, and an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Assocation of Realtors (BHGLAAR). I go on to say that I have Staged homes for two television shows ("Million Dollar Listing" and "Property Ladder") and that I have been featured in articles on Home Staging in the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, Frontiers Magazine, and my personal favorite Costco Connection!
I feel this gives the audience confidence that I have some clue as to what I'm talking about!
I also just realized that it's the same thing I put in the blurb at the bottom of each of my blog entries!
2) What is Staging?
Regardless of whether I'm talking to seniors or seasoned real estate agents, I always give a brief description of Home Staging. In the case of the seniors, I felt this was an important way to start since many of them may not be familiar with the industry, or may have a skewed view of what we do from some of the television shows on HGTV. I explain that Staging is not just about making the home look pretty, but more about seeing the home through a buyer's eyes and playing up the positive features of that home while detracting from any potential negatives.
3) Why Staging is important
Here I give statistics as to the percentage of buyers that pre-shop online for homes. This helps the audience to understand that it's CRUCIAL that your MLS photos pre-sell your home before any potential buyers even set foot in the house.
4) Repairs & Updates
With older homes especially, there are often repairs and updates that need to be made before Staging can be effective. Some examples are removing wallpaper, painting walls and dark wood paneling, removing or replacing old carpet and heavy draperies. Though the audience may have heard all this before, seeing actual before and after pictures makes a dramatic impact! Be sure you have some great before & after examples of these types of updates and your talk will be much more effective.
5) Room-By-Room Examples
Next I went through each of the different types of rooms (and outdoor spaces) in a home and gave several examples of some of the challenges (clutter, oversized furniture, etc.), as well as low-cost solutions to address them. Once again, a picture is worth a thousand words!
During this part of the discussion, some of the attendees had specific questions they wanted to address. I took the time to answer any questions that arose. Some of the situations required an on-site consultation, but I was able to answer a few more straight forward ones on the spot.
6) How it Works
In closing, I covered how the process works when you hire a Home Stager, starting with the initial consultation and then moving on to actual hands-on Staging work. We discussed pricing and I offered a special discounted rate for those who attended the presentation. This is always a good idea when presenting to a group. It makes them feel their time was well-spent and rewards them for thier attendance.
Another option is to raffle off a gift card to a local coffee shop or restaurant. Though usually we collect business cards for a drawing in a realty office, most seniors won't have cards. Instead, can create small pieces of paper with a place for them to fill in their name, email or mailing address and phone number. Make sure to have a bowl and some pens to make the process go more smoothly.
7) Realtor Partner Presentation/Teaser
For the last 5 minutes of the seminar, I invited one of my Realtor partners Dana Ehrlich from Keller Williams Santa Monica up to speak. Dana is a marketing maven! Not only is she one of my best clients, but she and I have decided to team up this year to do a series of seminars geared toward home sellers. As I mentioned in yesterday's post these seminars will focus on seven different strategies for selling your home in a buyers' market, one of which (of course) will be Staging. She gave a brief discussion of the topics we plan to cover in our first of these seminars, to be held Saturday April 5th at the Keller Williams Santa Monica office. She also raved about me, which is always a plus! :)
As they left, several of the seniors came up to us and said that they didn't really know anything about Staging before this talk and that they were so glad they had come. One even compared Dana and I to Oprah and Nate the Architect! :)
One last note about giving seminars to seniors (or to any audience for that matter): Remember to speak slowly and loudly! I have a tendency to get very excited about my topic and to speak very quickly. Slowing down is always a challenge, but I found that since this was the second time I had spoken to an audience of seniors, the pace came more naturally.
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Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz
"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"
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Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.
Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.
Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times, Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine.
If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website. There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos, as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.
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