Home Staging Professionals Set The Stage For Successful Home Sales

The Very Best Way for You to Get Started As a Home Staging Professional

You'll quickly learn the professional way to size up any room and how to transform it from downright dull to dazzling. I share with you the 32 essential changes for every room in a home to maximize buyer interest. Imagine how excited and grateful your clients will be when you apply your insider knowledge and it brings them the quick sale they hired you for.

Following are some advantages that home staging provides:

1. Faster turnaround. The property will show better and therefore it will sell faster.

2. Shorter presentation time. A well staged home doesn't take as long to show, since there is less clutter for buyers to look at and inquire about.

3. Higher sales price. Greater interest generates more offers, which leads to a higher final sales price.

4. Distinct marketing advantage. Real estate professionals will be more likely to show a home that has been staged.

5. Better inspections. Inspectors will view the home as being better cared for, therefore they will be less likely to nitpick and look for every minor flaw.

6. Higher appraisals. Professional appraisers will view the home as being more valuable if it shows better.

7. Quality sales aids. A better looking property will generate better looking fliers, brochures and website images.

8. More referrals. The professionals mentioned above will be more likely to spread the word about a properly staged home. Even buyers who decide on another property will be more likely to mention the staged home to their family, friends and other prospects.

9. Confidence. You will have greater pride in showing the property, which means you will exude more confidence and a positive attitude. This positivity leads to successful closings.

10. Repeat business and more sales. You will have more inquiries about your other properties which will lead to increased sellthroughs.

Take photographs prior to the staging process and enlarge them for easy annotation. Highlight the areas that need correcting. These photographs will provide a visual record of how things looked in the beginning, their progression, and the end result.

You should take pictures of the final result so that the homeowner knows how the property should be maintained throughout the selling process.

Unless something is grossly inadequate, recommendations regarding remodeling should be kept to a minimum.

The staging professional never belittles the client about the décor, their clutter, the odors, or any other negative aspects of the home. These things should be addressed with the assessment checklist.

In today's volatile real estate marketplace, the atmosphere is extremely competitive. As a real estate professional, you need every advantage available to crush the opposition. Home staging is your answer.

Home staging is also known as real estate staging, house fluffing, home primping, and merchandising, but regardless of the terminology the concept remains the same. Your goal is to organize the property so that it appeals to the widest range of people, and buyers can visualize themselves living in the space.

This course will teach you methods of eliminating clutter, arranging furniture, creating ambiance, and the other proven techniques used by successful home staging professionals. As you gain staging experience, you will develop your own style of making things work for you.

Whether you are a home staging professional, a real estate agent, or a home builder, the space should be uncluttered and airy to create a spacious feel. More space adds value in the mind of the buyer and it increases your bottom line.

As a real estate professional, you will come into contact with sellers who have all manner of clutter and disorganization in their home, and that's not because they are getting ready to move. Most people's homes are overloaded with things that they no longer deem useful but are unwilling to dispose of.

It might be a challenge to convince your clients that their home will sell faster if they eliminate their clutter, but once you enlighten them that the process will result in more offers and
a higher selling price, you should have their full cooperation.

The idea of making more money generally motivates people to see things as they are. This gained cooperation will make things much easier for you as you venture into selling the property.

The professional's goal is for the seller to do as much of the work as possible, and whatever tasks the homeowner does not complete should be hired out to professionals such as housepainters, cleaning teams, handymen, etc. The stager isn't there to do manual labor, the stager's presence is required to guide and counsel the seller on how the home should be prepared for the sale. This guidance will be given verbally, as well as in written form with your walkthrough assessment checklist.

Your location, the size of the property and how much of it needs to be staged will be a consideration in your pricing policy. And you can charge by the hour, the day, or charge a flat fee for the entire project. Whatever you decide to charge for your services, remember that you are adding value to the property and you should be compensated accordingly. Don't underprice yourself.

Once there has been an initial walkthrough and assessment made, an estimate is provided to the customer. If this is agreed upon a contract is drafted and signed. You should have contracts already prepared with a couple of fill-in-the-blank areas where you will write in the address, what the project entails, and dollar amount.

You can use carbon copies, prepare two copies, or you can take the original with you to make copies and provide a copy to your customer the next time you return. I've found it's easiest to simply prepare two originals, one for you and one for the customer. Always be sure to file the original in a safe place in case there are any issues which require legal action.

Once the contract has been signed, payment can be initiated. Take a receipt book with you so that you can provide your client with a written receipt whenever he makes a payment. Most staging professionals request a 50% deposit, with the remainder to be paid at completion. You can collect the full amount upfront if that's how you prefer to do business, it's up to you. I don't recommend not collecting anything upfront unless other arrangements have been discussed.

Some stagers work on a contingency basis. That means that no money is collected until the home is sold. Some sellers simply do not have the extra funds to hire a stager, but they want the service. Since most people are honorable, you may wish to consider working on the project and waiting until the home is sold to collect your payment. You should draw up a contract which specifies that if the seller changes his mind, that doesn't mean that he is not obligated to pay. Be sure to include fine print that states that their failure to pay will result in legal action.

Be sure to advise the client from the start that all additional expenditures must be paid for by the client. The client should make allowances for this.

How you advertise your business will depend upon your location, budget, and past business experience. If you've already established a business network, then it should be easy to spread the word about your new business.

Please note that staging also works for commercial spaces, so don't overlook this part of the staging market.

Some very effective advertising methods are listed below:

Printed materials such as fliers, brochures and business cards. You should keep these items with you at all times

Local magazines and publications such as Thrifty Nickel, real estate guides and the Sunday paper

Yellow pages

Valpak or coupon distribution (You can print some postcards that have a coupon and stamp in an expiration date - be sure to use an exp date otherwise people will contact you years from now)

Website advertising and banner exchanges

Network with real estate agents, builders, contractors, inspectors, appraisers, mortgage companies, or any other professional business person related to the industry

Offer to pay referral fees to service businesses

Visit open house and home shows and introduce yourself to agents

Furniture stores, upholstery shops and other home décor services

Search the classifieds for properties being sold by owner. Contact the owners about your services.

Mail welcome letters to new home owners (they may still have unsold properties)

Home owner workshops and seminars are a great way to drum up new business. The seminars can be about selling their home or any other topic that you are familiar with that could be tied into home staging

Issue periodic press releases

Place radio/television ads if it's within your budget

Word of mouth

Start A Foreclosure Clean Out Business And Get Paid By Mortgage Companies And Banks

Foreclosure cleanouts are also referred to as "trash outs." This is where you come in and clean out the items that were left behind when a property was foreclosed upon and the resident abandoned the property leaving many of their possessions behind. Items such as clothing, toys, furniture, dishes, appliances, home decor, etc. are frequently left because the resident has no place to move them to. The properties are also left in disarray with clutter, garbage and dirt. Sometimes animals are abandoned at the property. Banks and mortgage companies do not want to deal with this themselves and hire professionals to take care of these abandoned properties for them.