'You're a Stager?! I wish I could get my Sellers to call you.  They need some help, but they won't listen to me."

   

This is a fairly common problem I hear when speaking with Realtors at the monthly RAPB Lunch on the House that I attend.  How do you get a Seller to understand that Buyers WILL be looking at the garage and that they need to be able to walk into it?

                

 

1. Take digital photos of the exterior and interior of the house.  Be sure to take the one a Buyer will see when they first view each room.  Then have your Seller upload them to a computer and see the images as they will appear to others.  

      All of us get very comfortable in our own surroundings.  However when the "For Sale" sign goes up; we have to take off the homeowners glasses and put on our "Chief Marketing Officer" hat.

 

2.  Take your Sellers to see some of the other homes on the market in their area.  Be sure you arrange to tour some that have been "staged" so your Seller will get the picture.  

    I did this recently with a client whose yard needed much TLC.  We took a short walk up the block and I gently pointed out to him the houses with trimmed bushes, nice green lawns,  and colorful flowers.  We then turned to look back at his own and he could easily see the difference.   

 

3.  Suggest to your Seller that they bribe their best friend, neighbor or relative with dinner or fresh baked cookies to give their honest opinion of how their house shows.   

 

With many of our Sellers it is our job to help usher them into the way homes are sold today.  To educate them as to the best way to market their homes.

"Buyers only know what they see, not the way it's going to be"  Barb Schwarz/ www.StagedHomes.com