Speaking Up about Home Staging

Well, I think I'll actually start this by telling you how it started, according to the agent and then I'll share with you why this appointment was just a little different than an ordinary agent meeting. 

A few months ago there was a little set of townhomes in a great neighborhood that simply weren't selling.  Desperate, the agent called us to see about staging them.... We negotiated for 2 months on a rate that I think was nearly not worth doing.  I viewed it as an opportunity since there were 9 units for sale and we have a history of selling the model unit then moving the furniture, etc to another unit and so on.  Today the agent told me that he wasn't really sold on staging but just didn't know what else to try & had seen our successes in our newsletters..... After staging he was impressed with how different the units looked. 

After all 9 units sold in less than 45 days he was doubly impressed!!

In October - several months later - I received a call from him asking us to quote a $1M+ home in Seabrook Island.  Today he tells me that still he wasn't sold on staging this high end home - sure, the condo had issues, but this was a stunner.... did it really need staging?  Well, we successfully negotiated a contract and less than 30 days later the home was in Pending status and closes next week.  (It had been on the market over 8 months prior.)  He said he was impressed (again) that this home looked so different after staging and actually asked the buyers if the staging had made a difference (you see they had seen it prior to staging and this was a second viewing).  The buyers said that it was the staging that sold them - they sat on the sofa and discussed the homes they saw and wrote the offer while sitting on our furniture in the home!!

Earlier this week I received a voicemail from the agent asking me to call him - we needed to talk real business....

(fast forward to our meeting today....)

Today I met with him (actually for the first time - all other deals were done via email).  I walked into his office, sat down and he started at the computer printing up MLS information.  Turning to me he tells me his side of the story of the last 2 deals we've had (Ok, our only 2 deals).... explaining that he is SOLD on staging and will never list another vacant home.  Then handed me 17 MLS sheets and told me that these all need to be staged.... to give us our best price and they will all be done.  Following up, he added that without staging he closes around 45 deals a year and will now stage all of them & with us on his team that he expects that number to increase.

Best yet, all 17 of these properties are bank owned and the staging has already been negotiated.  All future listings that come from this bank will be staged by First Impressions as well.... So, if you are wondering where I've been and why I may continue to be absent a bit longer.... you'll know why!!  (Of course you can always catch me on facebook - I do keep daily tabs of our progress and what's going on there.... )

Anyway - that's how my day went.... now I need to get back to writing up all the contracts for the bank....