What I Wish Realtors and Stagers Knew About Staging

I WISH SHE KNEW.

I must have thought this hundreds of times as I went through my middle school and high school years.

You see, my parents were teachers at the middle school in the school district where I grew up.  They were both super popular with their students and fellow teachers and you would think, that as their kid, this would be awesome.

In so many ways, it was.

We felt super comfortable in our surroundings.  Kids wouldn't mess with us.  Teachers had been to our house for parties and knew us well (they also knew we held precious info about some of their private life shenanigans too!).

But, it also placed a lot of expectations on us.  We were a reflection of them.

Fortunately, we were raised well and were “good kids”.  But, when I got to the middle school where my parents taught, my mom and I clashed.  A lot.

She knew the “bad kids”.

She knew how they dressed.  (Timberlands with laces untied and jean jackets–woot, early 80's!)

She knew what they did after school.  (They hung out at “The Plaza”…smoking)

And she was not going to have me even remotely associated with that.

We clashed because sometimes, this good kid and her good kid friends also wanted to wear jean jackets and hang out at the plaza (not smoking, for the record : ).

And so many times, I thought to myself that I just wished she knew what a good kid I was even when she wasn't there.  But, it was as if she felt like she couldn't expect me to still be a good kid and to make solid decisions while wearing a (fabulous) Jordache jean jacket.  She couldn't envision it. So I'm sure you're wondering…

What does any of this have to do with staging?

Because more than anything, when it comes to staging, I want you to know this. 

Clients don't resist staging.

They resist not knowing what to expect.

Staging is still super new and many of our prospective clients don't fully understand what it is and what kind of marketing power it has. 

Most think that it is going to be expensive and aren't even sure that it works.  Many think that a house that is neat does not need staging so don't even consider it.  Many think that staging a property that is small or has a lower list price isn't worth it.   Many are thinking about the money they are spending on staging but not the money that it will return to them almost immediately.

We need to spend time future pacing our clients and letting them know how to future pace potential buyers.

Future pacing is the concept of helping people envision what the future looks like ahead of time (and man, I wish middle school Lori knew this!).  This is why car salespeople want you to test drive a car.  They want you to feel what it is like to be in that car.  It is a compelling selling tool because we enable our clients to experience the positive results they want to happen before they arrive there.

I touch upon how buyers are future paced by social media and why staging is even more important because of it in my e-book “Sell Your House in 72 Hours” which you can download for FREE (woot!) here.

So real quick, here are three easy ways that you can future pace your clients:

Use This Magic Phrase

“Imagine this….”  This is a magical phrase that you should definitely use in your explanation of staging in your copy and in your presentations.  You can use this phrase to help your client envision:

• what a fast sale would look like
• how a Staging Evaluation can simplify their lives–by helping them know what is most important to do and what doesn't need to be done
• what it looks like if they don't choose to stage.
• how potential buyers might feel seeing lots of updates needing to be done on their house.

Home Staging Case Studies

Stories are powerful.  Use them!  Share the situation before staging and what staging did to turn the situation around (I would even share how much money was invested in staging if you can).  I love to share the story of my clients who had a house built and designed in 1982 but trying to sell it in 2011 just wasn't working for them.  It had been on the market from almost three years when they hired me.  It was not practical to update anything in the house because it was one big slippery slope.  So, we updated pillows, accessories and art.  Boom–2 weeks after listing they accepted one of the three offers they received.  In these examples, staging was strategic, didn't involve a lot of money on big projects and put money back in their pocket immediately.

Before and Better Photos

A picture is usually worth a thousand words but in this case can be worth thousands of dollars.  Show (and tell) the difference staging makes.  Especially if the house was neat, but not staged like this one.

So go forth and future pace–you will transform lives and your bank account will be overflowing with abundance when you do!

xo,

Lori