What is home owner occupied staging?
Realtor Edition
What is home owner occupied staging and more importantly, how can it affect your marketability, profitability, reputation and listings?
Do you agree that even in a hot market, there are properties sitting on the market longer because they have not been well prepared? And, are selling for less than their counterparts because their seller and realtor thought “good” was “good enough“?
If you agree with these points, you’ve come to the right place!
Fact is, not preparing a house for sale IS leaving money on the table!
When you show up at your best people feel more inclined to offer their best
My apologies to Tom, but I think you get my point.
Not every staging company offers owner occupied home staging services. It‘s a lot easier to just walk into a vacant property with a clean slate than a home which is owner occupied with possible time or budget constraints, not to mention the psychology that can come to play.
Reasons why homeowners may be reluctant to properly prepare their home prior to listing
- Perhaps the seller doesn’t really want to move but has to due to unfortunate reasons
- It is possible at the seller doesn’t understand why they should prepare their home at all.
- Maybe one or all parties haven’t fully emotionally detached from the home.
What are the benefits of hiring a staging company to support you with an owner occupied listing?
✓ Your stager can handle the tough emotional conversations with the homeowner giving you the time needed to build a positive and trusting relationship with your new client
✓ You are able to take back your time to work on marketing yourself and signing on new listings while the home stager works with the homeowner to prepare the home
✓ Offering staging services as part of your sign on package will make you stand out from other realtors who do not
✓ It shows your home sellers that you care about their listing and that you want them to consider every available resource to position the home to attract the highest and best offers possible
✓ If the homeowner declines working with a home stager on your recommendation, it won’t be your fault if the home does not sell fast or for as much as hoped
✓ There is a power in numbers. When a certified staging professional echoes what you have already told them, the homeowner is much more inclined to take action
✓ Partnering up with a certified staging professional means a marketing partnership – updating your marketing materials to show pride in the additional value you bring to receiving referrals from your stager where possible
✓ You will become known for having a beautiful listing portfolio
50% of our leads come from home owners/sellers inquiring about home staging services because their realtor could not provide any information
So How Does it Work?
It all starts with a walk through of the property with the homeowner to go over everything from:
IN-HOME WALK-THROUGH
• Addressing the psychology behind staging the home and why it is necessary
• Curb appeal
• Paint colors
• Neutralizing and decluttering the space
• Addressing buyer perceptions
• Optimizing space
• Removing distractions
•Furniture arrangement or rehoming of certain furniture as needed
• Defining spaces clearly
• Every homeowner receives a check-list of important to dos before and during the listing period
We make every effort to explain the ‘whys’ behind our recommendations. We find that if the homeowner understands why we are recommending a change, they are more inclined to take action.
MAKE-OVER SERVICES
If your homeowner would like additional support readying the home, we are happy to help. At the end of our appointment, homeowners are often eager to see progress quickly and we are often asked to stay on to roll up our sleeves right after the consultation and help get the house ready!
FURNITURE AND DECOR RENTAL
Our promise to you and the homeowner is that the goal is always to work with what the homeowner has. Only if budget and timeframe allows and it is deemed necessary will we return with additional furniture and / or décor to make the home feel especially inviting to potential home buyers.
SHOPPING SERVICES
Great for homeowners who would like to take the furniture and décor with them to their new home.
PHOTO FINISH SERVICE
This service will allow us to come back just ahead of photos being taken to ensure that everything is tucked in and ready for optimal listing photos! This appointment usually takes about 20 minutes.
Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words!
This home had a great foundation but lacked in warmth and personality so we brought some furniture and décor in to spruce it up.
Just days after listing this condo, an identical unit next door which had not been staged went up for sale. Both units sold within days of each other with our property selling $11,000 more than the unstaged listing.
What a difference brightening this kitchen up had! This house received multiple offers over ask within a day of going live!
Homeowners can write off home staging expenses. That is because it is an investment into the property – not an expense!