Speaking Up about Home Staging

With more homes to stage than money these days we are having to get creative!  Here is my latest project.  (I'm sorry I don't have photos, but you'll get the idea anyway, I promise!)

I purchased a book called A year in Art at the local mega book store.  It cost $12.99.  In it are 365 copies of world renowned art.  The pages are about 4" x 8", all landscape format.  The great thing is that in this book, none of the art pieces are on the back of another.  Here are some projects I've been working on tonight with this book...

*  Small desk/accessory style frames - you know the ones we always tell homeowner they should remove from their homes!  We tell them this because they are too personal, with their family photographs.  Well, imagine adding a miniature version of authentic artwork.  I found two particularly good ones in my book.  One was a wedding with the bride and groom being swept away by a very large bird.  The other was a particularly famous one of a little girl.  I trimmed the artwork down so that the frames, now showing what could be typical photos - a wedding and a child, can now be proudly shown, without the problem of being overly personal. 

*  I purchased 8 frames with matting on clearance for $7/ea at the local HomeGoods store.  I found art pieces that were similar in nature to each other - in this case asian inspired.  These I can use in leiu of more expensive framed art that you purchase elsewhere.  The great thing is that because the frames are all identical and the artwork is similar in nature I can also use these as a large grouping instead of a very expensive large piece!   

So, that's 10 whole pieces out of the 365 I have to work with..... I think this is definately a great inexpensive project!

Fernando was asking the question, Does your Staging Business come in waves ?  I have to say that certainly in the beginning it did for me.  I remembered and followed the lessons that I learned as the administrative manager of a real estate office.  There were successful agents, not successful agents and then those that rode the waves.  They would have a great listing or sale and then there would be this lull where they had to market themselves like crazy to get business.  Then there would be another great listing or sale (or even a series of them) then that slow time again where they had to market like crazy.

What made the difference between the successful agent and the wave rider?  The truth is that the successful agent worked their business every single day.  It didn't matter if they had a closing that day, if they brought in 3 listings the day before, or if they were going to spend the entire week with buyers.  Every single day they did something to reach out personally to potential clients.  Notice those words I underlined.  This means they didn't spend all their time in front of a computer emailing, checking email or blogging.  They were actively working their businesses. 

What defines actively working your business?  In some way specifically reaching your target audience.  You should be out there pounding the pavement.  You should have some time in your day set aside to prospect and market yourself... NO EXCUSES!  The busy agent doesn't decide that they are busy enough that today they don't need to market themselves.  On the contrary, they know that business next week, or next month depends directly on what they do today.  Let me also be clear here that passive marketing isn't going to cut it!  You can't just send emails, blog, put ads in newspapers, ads on TV, etc and expect to suddenly have a booming business! 

If you decide that you want to work a campaign - let's say you've gotten a list of properties that have been on the market over 90 days and want to target either the agent or the homeowner.  You could send a letter (which will end up in the trash most likely - it may or may not have ever been opened).  You could send an email (which probably was read and deleted).  OR you could call the agent/homeowner directly.  Do you feel uncomfortable just picking up the phone and doing that, probably.  You could soften the blow and send them an email with general information first AND THEN follow up with a phone call reminding them of the email.  That might help you feel more confident. 

This process doesn't take very long.  You may be surprised at how many phone calls you could make in 30 minutes if you strictly kept it to work.  I know most of you are uncomfortable with this.  This is the behavior of most top producing real estate agents.  They aren't all cold calls, many are referrals (which they asked for from agents they worked with) and many were from their COI (Center of Influence) lists.  When those ran cold, however, they begin the cold call for the rest of their set aside time. 

Because I could go on and on, but know you won't read blogs that are toooo lengthy... (I know I don't)... let me just sum this up for you.  If you want to be out of the ebb & flow, set aside a specific amount of time every day (usually the morning works best - before email or you will find an excuse not to do it).  Work that time every workday (whatever your weekly schedule is) without fail - even when you are already swamped with work and soon you will find that you will always have work waiting for you. 

United States of America (Press Release) May 24, 2008 -- The three-day event features dynamic keynote and closing speakers, educational workshops covering a wide range of topics geared to professional interior redesigners and stagers, networking with other professionals, as well as exhibitors featuring innovative products and services. Redesign and Staging were named the hottest new careers by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2007. IRIS is proud to professionally train over 75 Interior Redesigners and Real Estate Home Stagers each year. Intense three and five-day training encompasses both classroom and hands-on instruction. All IRIS trained professionals must pass a comprehensive exam in order to be certified. In addition to conference events, IRIS will announce "National Redesign Month".

Registration is currently underway for both sponsors and member participants. Deadline for exhibitor and sponsorship registration is June 8, 2008. To find out more about the conference events and registration requirements, logon to IRIS' website: http://weredesign.com, or contact Michelle Rider, PR Chair for IRIS at their Chicago headquarters 708-337-6855 or toll free at 866-388-5208. IRIS is the international authority on interior redesign and real estate staging. Formed in 1999 as a not-for-profit professional association, IRIS is dedicated to serving almost 1,000 members through education, networking, industry resources, and promoting public awareness of the redesign and staging industry. IRIS's mission is to develop, lead, improve and promote the redesign and staging industry.

This was a press release picked up by Free Press Release and can be viewed at http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200805/1211658844.html.  It was requested by the IRIS leadership that I post this on AR to share the excitement!

With our company having 41 actively staged vacant properties I've been asked a lot about how we do it.  I was having lunch with one of my clients last week - who is a top producer in the largest company here locally - and we were discussing this.  She has a friend who is in the RE business who is having a tough time making ends meet.  One of the commonalities we have found is that while we are asked all the time about what we do, rarely does anyone actually do it who asks!  This seems crazy to me. 

Why do you ask if you don't want to know?  Do you really think it is just karma, luck, or the Gods are just smiling on us that day?  No, it is hard work, a consistent attitude & worth ethic.

Years ago I used to own a craft business.  It was a great business!  I was in some of Hawaii's best tourist and craft boutiques.  I had my wares in the Governor's mansion, was nationally published and had a great following.  Before the economy really turned in Hawaii, I sold out at nearly every show.  Still, once in a while, I would overhear someone shopping say to a friend, "I can make that."  One of my friends actually had heard it so many times she made a sign that said, "Sure you CAN make it, but WILL you?"  Isn't this true of the work we do now?

How many times have you been to a great seminar, read a great inspirational book, stumbled across a really informative blog or heard a top producer in your business lay all their secrets on the table?  Now, if you are not working as much as you like let me ask you one quesiton.....  Are you doing what they told you to do?

Again, if you answered that you don't have as much business as you would like, I bet your answer is either, "No" or "Well, I'm doing some of it."  Maybe your answer is even, "Well, I am doing this, but I kind of changed it a bit to fit me better."  Uh huh... and is it working for you?

Over the past year I've told everyone in AR how I run my business, what my secrets are, what makes me successful and how I market my business - not with generalities, but down right specifics.  When I read Stage it forward, The Art of Marketing You, Real World for Newbies, and countless other communities, I see other stagers and agents giving sage advice.  So, now I ask.... if you want to be successful, if you want more business than you have right now....Why aren't you doing it?

My best friend, Sue, and I recently went away for 4 days to Gatlinburg, TN for some R&R.  We have really been working hard and needed some time to sharpen the sword and rest the mind.  I've been meaning to get some of my Deepak books read lately, but haven't had time.  In preparation for the trip I ordered some Deepak books on CD.  This way we could listen and absorb while we were spending the 6 hrs each way driving....

One of the things that he talked a lot about was being in the present.  Being in this exact moment.  Too often we spend a lot of energy thinking about the way we should have presented ourselves, what we should have said during that arguement or sales pitch, what we could have done.... blah blah blah. 

One of the analogies he gave was that of taking a photo..... We could be living in the moment, enjoying the quiet of a nature stream (which I enjoyed many of on that trip), watching our children laugh and play, etc.  When we break out the camera and snap that photo we have stepped out of the present and into the past.  We try to use that photograph to hold onto the past.  Sure, we want to have photos of our trip and our children's growing up years, but in those moments that we look at them we are in the past and not the future.  Even in the moment we are taking the photos we are not in the now... we are projecting ourselves into the potential future of looking at the past. 

When we take the photo we are behind the camera, looking through the lenses (or view screen) instead of being in the moment and looking at the moment with our own eyes.  As an avid scrapbooker and photo taker, I can say that I have on many occassions been guilty of this.  (Including on this last trip.)  One song that has recently stuck in my head as I take the photos now - thank you Deepak & John Mayer - is 3x5.  I think that this song sums up the thoughts of what Deepak has to say about this....

I'm writing you to
catch you up on places I've been
And you have this letter
you probably got excited, but there's nothing else inside it
didn't have a camera by my side this time
hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words
TODAY skies are painted colors of a cowboy cliche'
And its strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky
are next to mountains anyway
Didn't have a camera by my side this time
Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
NO more 3x5's
I Guess you had to be there
I Guess you had to be with me
Today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to
lose my way but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
no more 3x5's
just no more 3x5's

Someone posted some time ago about a product they used to paint dated tile white.  Could someone either let me know what that product is and where to find it, or direct me to the blog/blogger who wrote about it!  I have a client who is wanting to do this after I mentioned it to them.  They went to Sherwin Williams today and they didn't know anything about it.... HELP!!

I'm exhausted!  As of tonight we officially have 40 vacant homes staged & 1 owner occupied with props.  We have 38 vacants and the 1 owner occupied w/ props listed on our Actively Staged Properties page.  Bevin recently completed #39 and today's completion makes #40.  Unfortunately with this kind of volume, the checkbook is about empty and almost everything in this home was purchased over the last week...

This is our second Simonini Homes project.  Mr. Simonini himself is supposed to walk through tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed that he is pleased.  So far everyone on site and in the office that has seen photos has been very comlimentary.

(Ok, because this is making me crazy... yes, I see the way the skirt is in the photo above.  The home is nearly an hour away and I just saw this when I downloaded the photos.  I will fix it, but not for a day or so & I wanted to share.)

Below is the RES we are using on our website.  (As soon as the webmaster uploads it for us!)  Enjoy!

You know you might be in for a challenge when the agent/homeowner calls you and directs you to which room is going to be the master bedroom.... In my head I begin to worry.  Uh oh, so if you have to tell the buyer, this is not a good thing.... Then it gets slightly worse.  The husband/agent thinks that maybe I, the professional, should tell them which room should be the master.  gggrreeeaaattt....

Ok, so we were able to solve the problem that buyers might have in this room ... the floating sofa.  No, it doesn't have to be right up next to the wall and you don't have to walk through the center of the room to get to the next space.  Oh, and nothing really is growing out of the fireplace..... I swear!

Check.... room in the middle of the house is now a dining room.... plenty of room here.... No big problems yet....

Ok, now it helps to have a table small enough to put chairs around it.  We've got one that will work.  36" works much better in this small space....

Ok, now I see the problem.  There is one bedroom off by itself & it has its own bath and walk in closet BUT it is really tiny.  There are two larger bedrooms on the other side of the home, but they share a bathroom down the hallway..... What would you do?  Unfortunately despite its size, this is the logical master suite. 

While this isn't the photo I would use for MLS - it is the one that shows the obvious flaw of the room.  Adding a bed definately helped to make the room feel larger.  Prior to staging buyers may actually have wondered if a bed would actually fit in this room.  Now they will know for sure.

The great thing is that buyers may want to use the larger room on the other side of the home as the master - unlikely, but possible.  If they do, they can more easily see the size of that room.  By staging this smaller room we've taken away one of the biggest potential obstacles.

Here is the photo I sent the agent for MLS

No, seriously, I thought we would never get this house finished!  We are pretty much out of inventory and had we not just unstaged another house on Thursday almost every single item in here would have been newly purchased.  (Talk about hurting the checkbook!)  Still it was for a good cause.  I get a pretty $1M home to add to my portfolio & get to work with a brand new client - Simonini Homes.  They are nationally known for producing a high caliber product.  If you notice the details in this home you can certainly see why!

Below is the real estate show I created for viewing on our website's active staged properties page...