Our speakers—staging pros Terrylynn Fisher and Christine Rae—provided attendees with dozens of staging tips and even provided ideas on how you can spice up those REOs. During the webinar, we ran out of time for questions but our speakers offered to answer your questions here.

Many real estate professionals and stagers have furniture they use from listing to listing. A lot of that furniture may be cheaper and is fine for many of their listings. But how about your high-end listings? Should you use the cheaper furniture in those listings or will that do more harm than good?

Christine Rae

CHRISTINE: Absolutely not, cheap looks cheap and sends a message of cheap. The whole essence of staging today is to target the buyer who is likely to purchase—they don’t want to see cheap anything. People buy aspirationally whether it’s a $100,000 or several million $$ property they want to fall in love with—feel special and attempts to skim/slough speaks volumes….not just about the house but also about you.

The biggest challenge we face as an industry is lack of complete understanding of the craft. Staging started as a clean and fluff sort of thing, but it is way more refined now…before it would be like painting walls with primer and not finishing the job.

Terrylynn Fisher

TERRYLYNN: I agree with Christine.  If you use cheap items what kind of buyers are you attracting?  The buyer who can qualify for a high-end home has high-end furnishings and won’t relate to cheap décor.  It will diminish the home you are “showcasing” and you aren’t really “showcasing” it.

For ANY property you need to be sure the furnishings you use match the décor and style of the property.  Like a Victorian or country farmhouse vs. modern or traditional.  The curb appeal we spoke of needs to be stellar, but the insides have to match as well so that when they walk through the door they get what they expected—only better.  Congruity is important.

Who traditionally pays for staging: Seller or the real estate agent?

CHRISTINE: Staging is a three step process—essentially its marketing. I believe the seller should pay—they stand to make the most ROI. However, many agents have invested $$ on consult—and assign it from their marketing budget. Some agents pay a set amount of $200, some invest $500 or $1,000—depends on the package they decide to do with the stager of choice and their ability.

TERRYLYNN: It depends. When we do our StagersListExpos all over the country we ask these questions.  In some areas, the real estate professional pays a portion or all, but we don’t encourage that.  Those are typically the sellers that will move the staging back when you’ve left because they have nothing invested in it.  They don’t understand it, even though the real estate professional who is paying for it does, so they don’t value it.

Some real estate agents pay for the consult and the home owner pays for the staging.  It’s all up to what you arrange with your staging partners.

A partnership can be formed with guidelines as to how you want it handled and it can vary to fit your budget, your client’s budget, etc.  BUT it’s their benefit and their return on investment, it is an expense of sale.

If you find a quality professional stager (CSP’s are trained to do this) they know how to “sell” staging to the home owner/seller.  If you don’t know any, just send an e-mail (terrylynn@stagerslist.com) or give me a call (925-876-0966), we can help. We have stagers all over the country in our database.

Should the home owner (seller) expect the real estate professional to help with staging?

CHRISTINE: No in my opinion—never. You don’t do house inspections, cleaning, mortgage finance so why should you do staging? I believe it totally sends the wrong message. You are experts in real estate, law and pricing, it puts your negotiating strength in jeopardy if yesterday you were schlepping furniture instead of marketing the property they will pay you to sell.

TERRYLYNN: Help, as in pay for it?  See my previous answer.  If you mean help, as in staging, well many agents think they know how to stage, but they don’t know anything about demographic staging, style or architecture, color mapping, or the principles behind the placement and balance in a room.  Staging is NOT decorating, so the purposes are different.

You can’t take a class and learn how to stage.  You either have it or you don’t.  The Realtor Elite program (www.StagingTraining.com) teaches you the what, when, and how to “sell” staging to your sellers and prepare them for the home stager to come in and have the conversation, do the consultation and staging.

The seller understands your area of expertise and the stager’s area of expertise.   A seller usually wouldn’t expect it, and you should explain that you are committed 100% to your area of expertise and expect the professionals you use to be 100 percent committed to their area of expertise.

After all of the duties you have as a real estate agent on their behalf, only about 10 percent of your time is left for staging. The staging professionals give 100 percent of their time to staging.  As the client, which would you rather pay for?

How would I, as an agent, address using a stager with my sellers without offending them?

CHRISTINE: Why would it offend them? Even if the house was amazing (and statistics show 75 percent of owners believe their décor is great!), if you change your own perception to think of staging as marketing—of doing everything in your power to get the property sold quickly and for the most $$ why would they be offended?

What is crucial is the correct communication skills. It’s why we developed the CSP Elite agent program—to educate on who, what, when, where, and the how of staging.

TERRYLYNN: Do you mean that they might be offended that you are implying their home is not perfect as is? Well that too is a script taught in the Realtor Elite class. The gist of it is that you explain what staging is and what it is not (decorating).

You then explain the differences between personalization and depersonalization and where each has its function. You also talk about the effect of staging and statistics and theories as to why and how it works.

By the time you’ve done that with that knowledge base, they believe you know what you are talking about and will generally allow the stager to come and talk to them about the particulars of their home.

It’s really not personal.  It’s not the seller’s home anymore, it’s a product that will be the buyer’s home.  Once they make that mental shift, they are generally more open to the conversation and eager to have the home stager come and see what they have to say.

Remember a consultation with a stager can be as little as $250 to $500, and if the sellers want to do all the work themselves, they can.  So they are really just committing to getting valuable information that will allow them to have a more marketable product for the buyer.  The result will be that the seller stands to gain more return on investment and they benefit from that.

Who wouldn’t have a conversation about earning more equity when selling?  It’s no obligation to talk to the home stager, most will do free bids.  But I recommend at least paying for the detailed report that they’ll leave, so you can take advantage of their expertise.

­How should you attach wall art to avoid holes?­

CHRISTINE: Use Wall respectors. You can buy them at www.stagerslist.com

TERRYLYNN: Christine is right, my two favorites are Wall respectors and Heavy duty wall hangers, both available at www.StagersLIST.com.

This is really important to me because I’ve had in the past (prior to using the heavy duty wall hangers) art fall off the wall when the nail or clips did not stay up in the wall.  One dinged hardwood floor and I found these and haven’t stopped using them since.  They have never failed me.

The heavy duty wall hangers are reuseable and very sturdy and you can install them without a tool.  I am always amazed when I do it myself and they come out of the wall fairly easily too. Check them out.

The wall respectors will even work on plaster, and it’s hard to find things that work on plaster.

What kind of special paint was used to paint the kitchen appliances­ in the example you showed during the webinar?

BEFORE

TERRYLYNN: A rustoleum product, or other brands that are specially made for high temperature applications.

AFTER

They come in spray cans and are not terribly expensive.  They work really well, but you don’t want to use a brillo pad on them or anything.

­

Can you provide more information on where to find the countertop resurface finish paint?­

TERRYLYNN: www.GianiGranite.com is the Web site and we’ll have that resource page on www.StagersToolbox.net.

­Is your team paying for the staging or are you doing the work yourself for your listing?­

TERRYLYNN: What do you mean is my team paying for the staging?  Do you mean the seller?  When I stage my own listings, I often hire a stager to do it as they handle talking to the seller about paying for the staging, the pet odors, wallpaper, replacing carpet, etc.  I don’t have the awkward conversations that can taint my future interactions with them, like when I have to negotiate a contract or repair.

A client once said to me “I had no idea you’d have time to stage my home, I thought you’d be on tour and taking care of the marketing”.  That was an eye opener for me.  I tell the client I give my full attention to their listing and they don’t want me out staging someone else’s home.

The stager’s I hire get paid to stage.  They don’t do it for free.  In addition, I have inventory because I’ve been involved in this for so long.  My stagers can use my inventory, but the beauty of it is that I don’t have to keep updating my inventory if they stage for me as they have the most current accessories and know where the furniture is that is relevant to the project.

The client’s don’t want to see the same items in every listing.  They want a different and current look and if you stage to demographics, you have to have more variety.  A good stager on your team handles all of that and you don’t have to pay for storage for a lot of outdated items.  Make sense?

­

­For the REO sales… do you include all the furniture in your staging?

CHRISTINE: A job is priced based on what is being done. Contactors do paint, repairs, flooring, etc. A stager would be paid for consultation (list of things to be done) PLUS accessory and furniture rental if it belongs to the stager and labor costs to do the work.

Staging is three steps: consultation (i.e., action plan of what needs to be done); get the work done (someone has to do it– home seller or contractors of the stager team); and showcasing—placing furniture, hanging art, arranging accessories, lighting, etc.

Are the banks letting real estate professionals stage the REO properties?

CHRISTINE: Banks who assign property to an agent want it sold.  If you are working directly with a bank I would say your work would be best directed to an investor, who takes care of the condition and showcasing with a stager. You would have to treat each property as individual situations.

As mentioned, stagers are being hired by asset management groups to bring furniture in and showcase.

And who pays the costs?

CHRISTINE: Stager is paid upfront by the bank.

BEFORE

Do you think Miracle Method should be disclosed to buyer?  Some chemicals like dripped finger nail polish remover dissolves the epoxy.

TERRYLYNN: I always recommend disclosing it in the TDS and providing the paperwork given about care of the shower, sink or whatever .

AFTER

I have used it in my own home and routine cleaning has never hurt the finish.  I have never personally known anyone to drop nail polish remover in the bath so don’t know about that.  I have also seen it done and 8 years later sold the property again and it looked great.  It holds it’s color very well too.

Staging pros Christine Rae and Terrylynn Fisher will be the featured speakers, focusing on low-cost techniques they use to transform homes. They’ll also touch on the popular question: What can I do to improve the look of my vacant REO and short-sale listings?

Join us for this exclusive presentation! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the Webinar: Melissa Dittmann Tracey, multimedia/Web producer for REALTOR® Magazine (mtracey@realtors.org)

The Internet is the first source for viewing a property for most buyers, even before talking to a real estate professional. That means curb appeal is important because they are “driving by” the listing, and you don’t know it.

Here are 10 things to consider when assessing the curb appeal of your listing:

1. Pressure wash siding, decks, and walkways.

2. Clean windows and gutters, and check downspouts.

3. Check the growth of trees and bushes–ensure they don’t block light from any window.

4. Kill any mold or mildew around the property.

5. Mow the lawn, eliminate weeds, and rake and dispose of leaves, especially if it’s a wooded lot.

6. Paint the front door. Color choice has a big impact–so you might want to get a professional’s advice.

7. Make the front entry sing “welcome”. The degree of what can be achieved depends on the size of entry and, of course, your budget. However, even minimal improvements will make a huge difference: Consider flowers, a new mailbox, hardware, lights, and house numbers.

8. Don’t forget the rear yard–buyers may attempt to see the back yard during a drive by, even from another street.

9. Outdoor lighting is a huge plus as 50 percent of viewings take place at night. Today we are fortunate to have access to inexpensive but tasteful low-voltage lighting. Consider placing lighting along the sidewalks, driveway, or attractive landscaping elements. Take extra care to ensure your front door and numbers are clearly visible from the street.

10. If the inside of the home is visible at night, be sure the interior lighting also enhances what is seen from the outside.

Remember: You never get a second chance to make a great first impression!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christine Rae is the co-author of “Home Staging for Dummies” (Wiley, 2008), found of Decorating Solutions Inc., and an internationally recognized expert and trainer in the home staging industry. She is the editor of Staging Standard, an industry trade magazine on staging, and co-author of the e-book “Home Staging Business Guide.” In 2005, she launched an international staging certification program, the Canadian Certified Staging Professionals, and Certified Staging Professionals in the United States and Australia.

Christine Rae

Being an entrepreneur, home owner, wife, grandmother, etc., I barely have time to watch TV these days and when I do, I seem to hit the news. My own philosophy about keeping a positive mindset is to avoid the news like the plague. On those odd times I have not listened to my own advice I heard a review of President Obama’s first 100 days in office; and lately his second 100 days.

Boy, everyone loves to gripe–expecting miracles without lifting a finger!

So why is being a real estate agent like the Obama administration?

It seems to me that as a real estate professional you have to run an election to get the listing and work your tail off in the first 100 days to get the word out. No one is helping, they are just watching.

By that I mean sellers are not always willing to pitch in and help; they prefer the wait and see, the “prove to me” theory that 2007 pricing will not come back. They are, of course, in denial about their present financial situation, they don’t expect to be inconvenienced during the time the house is on the market (i.e. they want to have lots of notice for visits, expect offers to be flooding in, don’t want a sign on the lawn like everyone else, and they “heard” open houses don’t work).

After the first 100 days, they review your performance find you sadly lacking and then issue edicts like “if you don’t pick up the pace we will have to list with someone else!” Their loyalty and confidence in you starts to dwindle.

When Obama was pitching for votes (as all politicians do) he promised a new tomorrow, promised to work hard and said something like, “if you just put your faith in me I will turn the tide”.  Much like you do.

As a professional stager and trainer I hear all the time that staging is thought of by real estate professionals as a “nice thing to do” and “in this economy people won’t do it”–those statements are so not true.

Do you know real estate professionals around the world are often viewed as the gatekeeper of property by stagers?

The most difficult job for a stager is to convince an agent that staging is a marketing tool–not decorating.

Not all agents truly understand the value or true impact of a great staged property. It’s not about how pretty a house looks-it’s about highlighting the features of the property, creating space and light where there wasn’t any, and virtually making the old house look and feel like new.  People buy the dream and they buy value.

Intellectually, people everywhere understand the economic situation; emotionally they want to believe it isn’t true.

When taking a listing today the truth has to be told, not a glazed over “it would be nice” version of what has to happen to prepare and market that property effectively in today’s market.

Buyers are looking for bargains and they chip away at the price if it’s less than pristine.  Investors buy low then do the repairs and necessary cosmetics to resell at a higher price–even in these conditions properties are selling, investors are flipping, and stagers are busy.

Recently an acquaintance worked on a house that was listed at $1.2 million. The owners listened to the stager’s advice and took the time to complete the recommendations.  Once it was ready, an agent open house was organized; 150 agents came through.

Within two days there were several offers on the table and it sold for $200,000 over the list price–in today’s economy–because it was “move in ready”. The marketing cost to the agent was $350 for the consultation. Imagine that!

I spoke to a stager two weeks ago whose business is thriving in an area hard hit by foreclosures; she works with agents who believe there is a future in real estate-it’s just a different one than they used to have.

Banks need agents to help to sell those REO properties–and agents need stagers. Are you going to be one of the people who show the rest of the people how it’s done? Or are you going to wait, see and complain about the market?

The economy needs YOU, your work, ethics, and drive to improve the situation for your buyers and sellers. That includes staging for every seller–even REO’s.

Since time began, there have been smarter people than I who said “build it, they will come”.   Well today there are some smart lenders out there who have used staging as their secret weapon. The result is their REO listings sell in days! They closed at higher yields for their investors too.

Don’t the banks owe it to their shareholders to maximize their yield too? Just asking?

Education is key. In the words of Paul Harvey: “In times like these it’s important to remember, there have always been times like these”.

While you may not be able to remember such a time, know that people have survived worse and if you think of this as a world “rightsizing,” getting back to values and a better place–you come to realize the answer for you is to get moving and sell those REO listings.

Help get the economy moving!

You can hear Christine Rae speaking at the California Association of REALTORS® Expo Oct. 6-7 in San Jose, Calif., on “Staging a Vacant REO Property: 20 Things for Under $200.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christine Rae is the co-author of “Home Staging for Dummies” (Wiley, 2008), found of Decorating Solutions Inc., and an internationally recognized expert and trainer in the home staging industry. She is the editor of Staging Standard, an industry trade magazine on staging, and co-author of the e-book “Home Staging Business Guide.” In 2005, she launched an international staging certification program–the Canadian Certified Staging Professionals and Certified Staging Professionals in the USA and Australia.

If you are one of the millions of YouTube watchers of the Susan Boyle video in “Britain Got Talent” show you will have witnessed the PERFECT metaphor for staging there ever was.

Treat yourself; watch it—even if you have seen it, go there again and experience the euphoria, then come back to this blog.

People will always pre-judge appearance. Apparently its human nature, so no matter how cute the house, how sweet the deal, people will write it off as a lost leader from the outset unless it projects at least the perception of success.

In real estate, business, the movies and singing you have to LOOK good first to generate value and interest then you have to back it up with sound believable facts.

BEFORE / Photo Courtesy: Christine Rae

FACT: 91 percent of people look at houses on the Internet first before contacting a real estate professional or house seller.

FACT: 91.3 percent of people surveyed by RISMedia said they believe staging to be a powerful tool when selling a property.

FACT: Buyers are busy, smart and circumspect; we know the majority base a decision to review property on location and price points; then after reviewing photos decide if the listing goes on their short list of 10.

AFTER / Photo Courtesy: Christine Rae

FACT: More than 75 percent of those 91 percent will drive by the property BEFORE contacting an agent to view and half of them will do it after dark.

FACT: Drive by starts on the Internet.

FACT: Putting a property on the market without FULLY staging is a disservice to the owner and puts equity return in jeopardy. We are not talking partial or surface staging; we are talking a property that has been edited, cleaned, repaired, upgraded and then functionally showcased targeting the buyer most likely to purchase.

Function, flow, color and lighting are only some of the areas that often need to be corrected. For instance, color: if you know at least 40 percent of all the paint sold in the world is sold as a result of buying the wrong color first—you can better understand it’s not the color that matters, it’s the undertone and the reaction to color that matters. Somehow the staging industry got off to a bad start from people thinking a cleared off counter and clean bathroom was enough—maybe it was back then.

NOT today.

Here is another thing I bet you didn’t know… the staging industry started during a recessive time.  Remember the 18 percent – 21 percent mortgage rate period? Well that’s when buyers said, “Enough, I am not trading my dirty carpet for your dirty carpet” and an industry was born.

To quote Malcom Gladwell “it was the Tipping Point.”

Don’t undervalue the impact of first impressions if what you know of staging is limited, find out more, if what you know about staging is old knowledge find out more. Find out how to make your listings SING!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christine Rae is the co-author of “Home Staging for Dummies” (Wiley, 2008), found of Decorating Solutions Inc., and an internationally recognized expert and trainer in the home staging industry. She is the editor of Staging Standard, an industry trade magazine on staging, and co-author of the e-book “Home Staging Business Guide.” In 2005, she launched an international staging certification program–the Canadian Certified Staging Professionals and Certified Staging Professionals in the USA and Australia.