An Agent’s Guide to Seller Staging Strategies

Breakthrough to Mastery An Agent’s Guide toSeller Staging Strategies Stand Out from the Competition

Main Ideas • Perspective on Staging • Convincing Your Sellers to Stage • Options for the Staging Consultation • Evaluate the House • Implementation • Staging an Empty House Pages 5-6

Perspective on Staging Benefits of Staging Staging is your ticket to getting your listings sold. In a shifting market, there is more competition than ever—your listings must stand out! • Staging is nonnegotiable in many parts of the country. • Agents like great-looking homes; they are easier to sell. • Buyers are looking for value. • Staging enhances your reputation as an agent. Pages 7-8

Perspectives on Staging (continued) • Staging at a Glance As you walk through the seller’s home for the first time, watch for: • Plants • Paint • Pictures • Fixtures • Furniture Page 9

Convincing Your Sellers to Stage First Things First: Get the Listing Staging can be a sensitive topic. Don’t risk losing customers over what they may perceive to be unnecessary, or worse, insulting recommendations. “Your ability to get people to stage the home is going to have a direct impact on whether the home sells, how quickly it sells, and at what price.” Dave Jenks Keller Williams Realty International Pages 10-11

Convincing Your Sellers to Stage (continued) Tips for Discussing Staging • Inform sellers that the return on invenstment will be higher with staging, and that you will only recommend changes that promise a return for their time, effort, and money. • Give real examples. • Gauge their reactions and adjust your presentation. Pages 11-12

Convincing Your Sellers to Stage (continued) Explain Staging • Talk about what staging is. • Give them printed information. • Supply a checklist for the process. Getting Your Home in Top Selling Condition from the KWU course CAMP 4:4:3 is an excellent resource. Pages 13-14

Convincing Your Sellers to Stage (continued) Take a Consultative Approach • Take pictures of cluttered and uncluttered rooms and ask your sellers which one they think buyers would like. • Point out how much money they will lose by not staging. • Learn new scripts and dialogues. Pages 15-17

Convincing Your Sellers to Stage (continued) Set Expectations • Be diplomatic. • See with buyer’s eyes. Pages 18-19

Options for the Staging Consultation Do It Yourself • Pros • You will spend more time with your sellers, enabling you to build your relationship. • There is no monetary expense. • You have control over the finished product. • Cons • You become the bad guy. • It may cost you more in time (which you could otherwise spend lead generating) than it would to pay for a consultation. • You may not have the skills or resources to stage different types of homes. Page 20

Options for the Staging Consultation (continued) Tips for Doing It Yourself • Study the principles of staging. For more information, contact www.stagedhomes.com, www.IAHSP.com, or www.qcdesignschool.com. • Prepare checklists. • Develop a network of professionals for jobs such as painting, carpet cleaning, and landscaping. Page 21

Options for the Staging Consultation (continued) Train Your Employees to Do It • Pros • You can train them to your standards and have control over the finished product. • Sellers appreciate a specialized consultant. • You don’t deliver the bad news. • Cons • Depending on their role on the team, it may cost you more in time than to pay a consultant. • They may not have the skills to stage different types of homes. Page 22

Options for the Staging Consultation (continued) Tips for Training Your Employees • Have them shadow you on both the listing presentation and the staging process for a number of months. • Supply them with your checklists and reading materials. • Explain all your procedures. • Hold them accountable for results—follow up on their work by asking your sellers to evaluate the service. Page 22

Options for the Staging Consultation (continued) Use Professionals • Pros • Professionals deliver top-notch quality. • You don’t deliver the bad news. • Homeowners react more quickly when a professional delivers the news than when an agent does. • They have their own props and storage facilities—no overhead costs for you. • Cons • You relinquish part of your perceived value in the eyes of your seller. • Covering their fees is an expense. • You have no direct control over the finished product. Page 23

Options for the Staging Consultation (continued) Tips for Hiring a Professional • Before choosing a stager, learn their reputation. • Visit a listing currently on the market that was staged by someone you are considering working with. • Go over your expectations and the standards you expect them to achieve and maintain. • Hire the stager for an hour of consultation after the listing agreement has been signed. • Provide the consultation as a free service to the seller; pay the stager a nominal fee. Pages 23-24

Evaluate the House Review the Property • Make the appointment to go through the home as soon as possible after the listing agreement has been signed. • Ideally, review the property when the sellers are not at home—the evaluation will go more quickly. Page 25

Evaluate the House (continued) Review the Property • Start by evaluating the curb appeal. • Inside the home, look at the layout and determine where extra furnishings can be distributed throughout the house. • Note rooms that are painted bright colors or have strong wallpaper that won’t have mass appeal. • Note clutter, imbalance, and light. • Check flooring for wear or bad color/pattern. • Check ceilings, baseboards, windows, and doors for cracks. Page 25

Evaluate the House (continued) Make Your Recommendations • Email the recommendations to the seller within twenty-four hours. • To help ease the process, you can also supply: • A calendar to show each stage and deadline • A list of your subcontractors Page 26

Evaluate the House (continued) Make Your Recommendations • Hold your sellers accountable. • You can formalize this arrangement in the listing agreement. In the section titled “Special Provisions,” leave the date blank and write this phrase: “This listing will go on the market and in the MLS on the date the agent determines the house is ready.” Page 26

Declutter • Clean • Maintain and Repair • Create an Atmosphere • Entryway • Living Room • Kitchen • Master Bedroom Implementation Overall Considerations Page 27

Implementation (continued) Overall Considerations “One of the key skills of a successful real estate agent is mastering the basics of how homes should be presented and staged properly.” Gary Keller Page 27

Implementation(continued) Overall Considerations Simple Staging Consultation versus Extensive Services Simple Remove clutter Clean Paint Rearrange furniture to create space and flow Extensive Remove clutter Clean Paint Rearrange furniture to create space and flow Significant home repair New flooring and window treatments Upgraded kitchen features Rent furniture and plants + Page 28

Implementation (continued) Overall Considerations Pets Keep food areas and litter boxes fastidiously clean. For open houses and showing appointments, put the dog in doggy day care, and leave the cat outside or crated indoors. Children Small children need to select their three favorite toys and put the others in storage. Teens need to remove all personal photos and take down their posters. Page 29

Implementation (continued) Overall Considerations Make a Good First Impression • Paint or replace the front door, and make sure the doorbell works. • Clean and polish all door hardware, or replace altogether (door knob, kick plate, house numbers). • Buy a new welcome mat, and put potted plants next to door. • Repair cracks on paving and on stairs. • Clean windows and keep entry swept and clean. Page 30

Implementation (continued) Decluttering and Cleaning • Decluttering and cleaning are the two most important steps in staging. • Keep on track through the use of checklists, available in this guide. Page 31

Implementation (continued) “Decluttering” • Our clutter is part of our lives, but it works against sellers when they are trying to sell their house. • Potential buyers react well to open spaces. Tip! There is a hidden benefit to decluttering. Your sellers will be halfway done with their packing by the time they have finished! Pages 31-33

Implementation (continued) Cleaning • From the baseboards to the ceiling fans, everything must glow, shine, and be squeaky clean. • Buyers will notice, even if only subconsciously, that the house smells and feels fresh. Tip! Recommend that your sellers consider hiring a professional to do a deep, thorough cleaning. Then, all they have to do is a lighter cleaning for the showings. Pages 34-36

Implementation (continued) Maintenance • Often, cleaning and decluttering will make the need for maintenance and repairs more obvious. • Depending on the severity of the work that needs to be done, your sellers may want to call in subcontractors. Pages 37-38

Implementation (continued) Create an Atmosphere • Set the mood by using music, lighting, fresh smells, and props. Tip! Think function and form. If the light is good in a particular corner, place a chair with a throw cover and an open book that will suggest how relaxing the room is. Pages 39-40

Implementation (continued) Keep Up Appearances! • Give them a checklist to follow so they will be able to quickly and easily maintain the staged look. Page 41

Staging an Empty House Why Stage an Empty House? Don’t Leave Rooms Empty When Selling a House • Empty houses lead buyers to question why the house is vacant. • Size is difficult to visualize when a room is empty. • Without furnishings, buyers will get bogged down in negative details. Pages 42-43

Staging an Empty House (continued) How to Stage an Empty House • Refer to your checklists and follow the same procedures as you would for an occupied home. Merely omit the jobs that have anything to do with furnishings and belongings. • Rent furniture and add pictures, silk flowers and cushions to create a warm, lived-in look. • Arrange for light maintenance. Pages 44-46

The Bottom Line Staging is not about trying to put lipstick on a pig! • You don’t want your sellers to disguise problems or mask flaws; you just want them to show their home in its best possible light—clean, decluttered, and repair-free. • Buyers should only see what is right with the house, not get focused on what is wrong. “Price gets you in the game. Staging gets you the offer.” Tony DiCello Keller Williams Realty International Page 46

Scripts • A picture is worth a thousand words. • Can’t we sell the house “as is?” • We’re moving out, why should we spend any more money on this house? Pages 47-49

My Action Plan • Don’t put away this guide without developing a plan to put what you have learned into action! • Refer to the Action Plan on pages 50-51of the guide to assess your strengths and areas for improvement. • Write down steps you will take to improve your skills—complete it, share it, and commit to it! Pages 50-51

Take the other courses in the Breakthrough to Mastery Guide series! • Gaining Mind over Market • Upshifting Your Lead Generation • Seller Pricing Strategies • Lead Capture and Conversion • Internet Lead Capture and Conversion • Creating Urgency to Buy • Bulletproofing Transactions • Expense Management • Effective People Leverage • Short Sales, Foreclosures, and REOs • Financing Solutions

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An Agent’s Guide to Seller Staging Strategies