5 Ways That Home Staging Makes Realtors Money

Realtor staged, but unable to sell property

Dear Realtor,

Are your online listing photos magazine worthy?  Are they creating a stir with home buyers?  You may have hired a professional photographer to take the shots but if you or the homeowners have ‘staged’ the property yourselves, then would you consider it to be a professional looking job?  Chances are, and you may not even realize it, but… no.  A professional home stager will make the space look magazine worthy because she/he has that critical eye and knows what/how to adjust for the camera lens.  Home staging involves updating the artwork, décor items, and possible repositioning, removal, or replacement of furniture.  Today’s buyer isn’t interested in purchasing ‘Grandma’s house’ and that look will not bring traffic through the front door.  Question: How many adult children do you know who will take hand-me-down items from the family?  Answer: Very few.  Why?: Because it’s just not their style.

Online photos alone, as professional as they may be, will not attract today’s buyer.  This is the misguided premise of many a real estate agent… ‘I’ll just send my photographer over, and Bob’s your uncle’.  Uh… no.  If you want your listings to sell fast you will include, at the very least, a home staging consultation as part of your service.  You may even want to go further than that and pay for part, or all of the staging.  This will justify your commission upon the sale of the home.

Partnering with a home stager will:

1.  Create a reputation as serious about getting top dollar for your clients
2.  Show that you are the expert in today’s housing market
3.  Bring you more clients when they see your staged listings
4.  Produce quicker sales, allowing you to move to your next listing that much sooner
5.  Increase your overall profit margin!

And who wouldn’t want all of the above to reflect on them?

Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging is looking to partner with this type of real estate agent.  Could it be you?

Groovy Chick styled property… SOLD!

If…
– you have a future listing or one that currently isn’t selling in the Durham Region or in the (eastern) Greater Toronto Area,
– you don’t have or haven’t used a home stager before,
– you’re losing clients to realtors who do offer home staging,
…then please give us a call at 905-683-9136.

We would like to help you be a standout realtor!

Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging
Our homes are… Designed to sell, decorated to stay!

Advertisement

Will IT Sell?

While browsing through Realtor.ca, I come across this image.  What the???  There are no interior or exterior pictures.  Is this real estate agent serious about selling this… home… telephone pole… whatever it is?  What were the circumstances?  Was it posted by mistake, or as a joke?  I can’t imagine marketing my home to sell with something like this… can you?

A good real estate agent will want to cast the largest net in order to catch the most fish!  How they do that is with awesome pictures on MLS.  Showing an exterior picture with ‘Coming Soon’ on it will work for a little bit, but the actual listing pictures had better WOW the buyers.  People like pretty things and will move on to the next listing if they don’t feel emotionally drawn to a house through the online photos.  The best way to do that is to hire a professional photographer and, of course, a professional home stager!  Every good REA must include a home staging consultation with the sellers.  The more serious and successful agents will actually pay for all or part of the staging.

My analysis is this:
If the REA is the fisherman, trying to catch the most fish in a very big pond, then the online photos are the lure.  Fish will only go to what attracts them.  Hence, buyers will only want to visit homes that appeal to them visually… and we all know that you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

Anyway, I don’t know what eventually happened with the above property.  Did it sell?  Who knows?  Did anyone care to visit it?  I doubt it.  Why even show that kind of shot if a house isn’t ready for the market?  Am I right?

If you are a homeowner and want to sell your house, are perhaps shopping for another house, ask yourself: “Would I want my home to be represented as in the above photo?” or “Would I be interested in purchasing the property in the photo above?” Or would you want something like the photo below to represent your property or to want to see it in person?

If you are a real estate agent in the eastern GTA and would like to work with a proven home stager, please contact: Groovy Chick Redesign and Home Staging.
Our homes are designed to sell, decorated to stay!

For more info, please visit our website: https://www.groovychickdesign.com/

Vignette of coffee table to sofa view

 

3 Reasons Why Realtors Should Include a Home Staging Consultation

Will pink door and trim sell a house?

Repainted garage door and trim.

Hello Mr./Ms. Realtor.  Welcome to my blog!

Have you been worrying about losing clients or wondering why, after all these years, your listings are taking much longer to sell?  It may be that your tried and true methods no longer work in today’s market… and I have the fix for you!  It’s called the ‘homeowner consultation’ which involves the seller, a home staging expert, and could include you as well.  A consultation usually lasts two hours, involves room-by-room critiquing, and leaves the homeowner with a clear understanding of what things need doing, what things could be done, and what things are not that critical, in getting the home ready for the market.

The consultation will open the homeowner’s eyes, to view their own home as potential buyers would.  When you are too close to your ‘stuff’, are comfortable with the way things are, you are forgetting that the buyer is seeing your place for the very first time and doesn’t know or care how you live in it.  What they care about is how they will be occupying the space.  The homeowner’s personal style is a distraction to the buyer and people today are very visual, meaning that they need to see how things could be… not the way they are.

A home stager has the know-how for what look sells and what look doesn’t.  A home stager is the realtor’s best friend.  How much financial involvement the real estate agent commits to is strictly up to them.  It could be just the consultation, part of the staging, or all of the staging.  The realtor who pays for it all is deemed to be knowledgable, confident, and serious about getting top dollar for their listing.  Not only that, but the realtor will come across as knowing what the market is demanding by bringing in a home staging expert.

And the 3 reasons why all realtors should include a home staging consultation are:

1. A higher selling price for the homeowner
2. A larger commission for the realtor
3. A much quicker sale

Remember… the quicker the sale, the faster the REA can move on to his/her next listing.  It’s a win-win for all involved!

Are you a real estate agent based in (or have an upcoming listing in) the eastern part of Toronto or GTA?  Have you wondered about using home staging as a marketing tool?  Drop us a line, send us an email, let’s meet and discuss.

Here are some links to help:
https://www.groovychickdesign.com/contact which includes home staging statistics
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroovyChickRedesignHomeStaging
Connect with me on: https://www.alignable.com/ajax-on/groovy-chick-redesign-and-home-staging or https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-menard-9a9b5935/

F.Y.I.  The above house sat on the spring market for weeks with little or no interest.  Any idea why?  Answer: Most people just couldn’t get past the strong pink colour in the first photo.  After a consultation, new paint colours, some styling, and updated photos, it SOLD!

Talk soon,
Catherine Menard