An Unprecedented Offer….
Watch my new 4 part training video series being unveiled over the next few weeks. Here’s Video #1 – Absolutely Free!!!
Training Video #1: Taking your Home Staging Business to the Next Level
In this video you will discover:
The exact steps to creating Multiple Stream of Income
How to use the BAR Formula (for marketing results)
Easy process to find out your clients goals
Plus much more…
Watch Now! APSD Next Step Training Video #1
Congratulations to APSD Certified Master Trainer Kristy Morrison of Capital Home Staging and Design in Ottawa, Canada and her new team of APSD Certified Home Stagers: Alanna Tozer, Simone Goyette and Darlene Belleau.
We are so proud of you!!
Not Yet an APSD Certified Home Stager? Click here to start and receive your first session absolutely FREE!! FREE OFFER!!
Unless you have been living under a rock or perhaps have been on an extended vacation in some far flung part of the world where they make their own huts, and barter chickens, you should know all about the down turn in the real estate market.
And if you are like many people, this is not good timing because you may want or need to sell your property, but don’t even know if it is possible. Well, it is, but you have to be willing to do a few things “outside of the box…” or in this case, outside of what you are watching on your favorite Home Show.
There are 6 very specific strategies to selling homes in today’s market. These strategies work for every type of house, and every type of exit strategy.
1) Know your customer—In order to be able to deliver exactly the right property to the right person, you have to know who they are, what their family is about, and their preferences. We tend to market and present (Often known as “Staging”) a property for ourselves, appealing to our own tastes and sensibilities instead of that of our customer. When we learn who they really are and appeal directly to them, vs. ourselves, the property becomes unforgettable because it “spoke” to them.
2) Don’t over or under fix- In today’s market, the buyers have all the power so they can negotiate on every single term and they don’t have to be in a hurry because there are so many choices. If you under fix a property instead of making it “apples to apples” to the other properties for sale in the neighborhood, it becomes a wholesale property, not a retail property.
If you Over fix, you take a chance on intimidating the customer, making it uncomfortable for them and their family (too nice, too formal) and ultimately you will over spend for the neighborhood. Because your buyer has so much negotiation power, they can wait on you to get desperate and sell at their price, not yours, which of course forces you to lose your ROI (Return on Investment) completely.
3) Never Show an Empty Property (or one that is dirty or in the middle of a rehab) - Don’t show a property until it is ready to be shown. The buyer will try to convince you that they can imagine the transformation, but really they can’t and you will lose them as a potential buyer. It is better to show the property when it is 100% ready to be shown. People will wait on it if you do a marketing campaign to entice them to register for a private showing while you are making the property unforgettable (Just like “coming soon” in the movie industry). If you don’t wait, then the property will still be unforgettable but more for the 2×4’s with nails in them and dead flies in the bathtub…not what you are going for!
4) Brake Stopping Curb Appeal—Most people believe this means mowing the lawn and picking up the grass. That is part of it, along with trimmed hedges, flowers and a mailbox in good condition. However, that is just the foundation of Curb Appeal. To make it Brake Stopping Curb Appeal, you really need to layer in Pockets of Emotion™ to catch their eye as they roll to a stop. Give them something to really enjoy, share with their family, sneak in for a closer peak, and tickle their funny bone. No one takes the time to do this and yet, if they did, your buyer would come to a dead stop, every single time.
5) Do Personalize- It seems as though we have always been taught to de-personalize a property. I’ll admit, that used to be the case. But just as fashion changes, so do people, trends, and selling strategies. In weak or poor real estate markets, it is especially important to add personality to the home. If, as a society, we did not want to see something personal, would Reality TV be such a hit? Give your home a personality. Add bits and pieces of the family that made the house a home, like little league announcements, report cards and a photo or two. Show them a “story” about the parents, kids and pets—just make sure you really define your customer, so in essence they will be seeing themselves in the home.
6) Create Simple Appeal with Pockets of Emotion™- Everyone wants to fall in love with their new home, so give them a reason to do so. A Pocket of Emotion™ is something that is selectively placed within the scene of each room that creates extreme emotion, laughter, gives pause, causes remembrance and ultimately lets the buyer make a strong connection and fall in love with the home. In other words, you have just created an “Unforgettable” home for your buyer.
For more information on Karen Schaefer and her Proven Real Estate Marketing and Home Staging Selling Strategies, go to www.APSDmembers.com/ezine
One of the things that keeps many of us from investing in today’s real estate world is the knowledge that we probably can’t get a loan. This is certainly what I used to think, even though I have good income, money in the bank, and a good credit score. But, in talking with a few other investors recently, I have come to realize that there are still options for investment loans.
My friend Mark recently purchased a rehabbed duplex in a transition neighborhood of Downtown Denver. He had been looking around and as luck (or the Universe) would have it, once he put his feelers out, this property came to him. We talked about the property, his excellent cash flow as well as the loan he was able to get. He was excited about a 4.5% interest rate on an investment property…and so was I!!! I asked him about his lender and it turns out that she works at a mortgage company specific to investors that I myself have used in the past. Now, they have reworked their loans so they are more accommodating in this marketplace.
Lesson number 1: Look for lending companies that are specific to investors. While you can do an internet search, I would also recommend that you go to your local Real Estate Investors Club as any good lender that deals with investment properties will be there!
I asked Mark what he had to do in order to get the loan and some of his answers were obvious. First he had to have good credit and a good track record, both of which he had. Then he had so show solid and consistent income, which even though he was an independent contractor, he was able to show steady income for the past several years.
Lesson number 2: Keep good records of your income, clients, contracts, future business and all payment records.
Finally Mark said ‘well, I also had to put down 25%.’ A-ha! I knew that it was all too good to be true up until that point. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that he could have put down less and still have gotten financed at a higher rate, so part of that was his personal choice. But when you put down more, you can actually have a lower rate long-term, achieve greater cash flow and of course, have a lower payment.
Lesson number 3: Save your cash to get a better loan!
It is not at all impossible to get loans today, but learn from the above lessons and it will be far less painful!
Each month I am inspired by Home Stagers across the globe. Not only are there some really amazing, talented and creative people out there, so many of them are compelled to help others in so many ways.
Of course when you help someone sell faster and in a shorter amount of time that is ‘giving’ in and of itself. You are giving your gift, your talent and your expertise to help someone sell faster and for more money. Sounds good to me.
Our world today of course comes with lots of distress, anxiety, and fear about selling real estate. Add ‘life’ into the mixture and things can get relatively crazy in a short amount of time.
Recently, I held an APSD Certified Home Stager Trainer/Stager Pro Training in Colorado Springs, CO. While we normally do 2-3 houses during this training, for APSD Trainers, I usually keep it to one house as the focus of this training is on systems, additional services, business and marketing.
AS always, I contacted my agent to see if she had a house she wanted me to stage and she had a few but none were right for the training itself. So, I put the word out and a good friend contacted me to tell me they had a home they could use help with. They were willing to employ multiple exit strategies and the home was vacant so I could have everyone work from a blank ‘pallet.’
It was a perfect home for our staging training as I really like to challenge everyone to flex their creativity muscles.
The Trainers worked so hard on this home, that needed so much love…and they put their hearts and souls into delivering the perfect property for the new home buyer.
As they were staging I told them the story of this home. This home belonged to some dear friends that no longer lived in the area. Like others, they had a few rough years and were just getting back on their feet and doing great things when tragedy struck. My friend, who had fought cancer twice in the past and won, was diagnosed again, this time, there will be no winner. He and his wife are devastated and so am I. You see, he is the reason I got started in Home Staging and this is the same home that I staged for them 5-6 years ago to prove myself and my services….all those years ago, when I was brand new, I came in did curb appeal and staging and the same night their calls increased by 45% and the home was under contract in just 7 days.
Of course, knowing this, it touched the hearts of the trainers as well and they really staged with their whole hearts. At the very end, I even saw some of them picking up little bits of trash and clutter from the yard that often accompanies a vacant home. Then, Sara Garden, our APSD Certified Home Stager Trainer in Boulder, CO turned to me and said “you know Karen, with all of us, it would only take about 15 minutes to pull all the weeds, fix up the yard and make this place shine.” She did not realize it at the time, but I had tears in my eyes. Imagine telling someone during a training that you would be willing to get down on your hands and knees and pull weeds (before we go back to the Country Club to finish our training!) to help someone out.
Not only did the trainers do an amazing staging and really turned a ‘smelly cat’ into a ‘cash cow’ for the sellers, but the property had 2 offers within 4 days after sitting on the market nearly 4 months.
Needless to say, it was an enormous relief for the sellers, my friends, to have this off their plate and a great Kudos for our CT2 team of Certified Home Stager Trainers.
It is just another example of the great community of which we are all a part….and the good we can do for the individual and the world!
I am giving thanks for all of you!
Wanted to share a letter I received from Kristy Morrison, an APSD Certified Master Home Stager Trainer as this letter was written to her….
Hi Kristy
Hope you are doing well.
This event is definitely an event I will have to plan to attend once I am more established. I can’t wait to meet Karen (Schaefer of APSD) one day, she is, as you are, an inspiration to me!! Taking your course at Bell was just the beginning of what has propelled me to move more seriously in a new direction that I am so excited and passionate about.
Here’s a little update.
I’ve signed up as a business and have registered a domain name for my website (which I am working on like crazy)
The business is called WELCOME HOME staging and design.
I have just finished Session 1 and can’t wait to move on to Session 2. I am loving the way Karen is teaching the program. Her passion and excitement comes through so much.
My sister just moved here from Sudbury, so I am busy staging her house to live (getting some nice shots for the website) and I have been asked about staging a couple of rental properties…. 
Cheers,
Linda Warne
People work too hard at selling their services vs. selling themselves these days. It seems that none of us are having fun any longer and unless your client can have some kind of fun they don’t really want to participate. And, if you can’t get them to say ‘yes’ to your home staging services, pretty soon, it won’t be fun for you either. The problem? You don’t want to fully commit, but that is what it takes…full commitment.
Let me give you an example: Each year Chick filet; the chain that runs a funny tongue in cheek campaign with cows advertising for you to ‘eat more chicken’ has a cow appreciation day…if you show up dressed like a cow, with any cow theme, you get to eat for free. Last year 400,000 people dressed like cows. Their biz is up 12% and they don’t open on Sunday’s…They committed to something personally and professionally and it works.
So, the question is, what are you committing to? Now, lest we all jump to conclusions and assume I am suggesting you attach a cow theme to every home you stage, allow me clarify. Today the world needs to laugh. I need it, you need it and your client needs it. Additionally, it helps your business to stand apart from every other Home Stager that is saying exactly the same thing to the same potential client.
What can you say or do that is different? That will literally help you to stand out, be remembered and stay in the mind of your customers? This is reminiscent of what we do with Pockets of Emotion™ when we are staging, but for now, let’s stick with marketing.
You can do a variety of things:
1) Stick with a consistent them, like Chick Fila has done, all year round.
2) Change your marketing monthly to suit your specials and occasions but with an underlying consistent message.
3) Be consistent with anything.
If you choose to stick with a theme like Chick Fila has done, you need to first stop and think about who you are marketing to and what kind of theme would appeal to them. This is no different than prior to beginning to stage, you define the customer as we state in the first step of our home staging pyramid. Same thing applies.
When it comes to choosing a fun marketing theme, think about what works in your marketplace. When I was only doing real estate investing, I was marketing to a funky, hippie town that was a very desirable place to live but I really had to get into the mindset of my potential seller. So, I had an artist take my image and turn me into a characature of a hippie girl and I held a big peace sign that said “Karen Buys Houses” and the tag line was “Activate your Flower Power and Join me on a Sit-in about selling your home today!” Then, I did a follow up campaign with peach patches and Cheech and Chong air freshners. Yes, it was bold but the results were amazing. I ran the campaign for 2 years.
I did a similar campaign with a cowgirl theme and received the same outstanding results.
These were consistent campaigns, directly targeted at my buyer and they worked for as long as I ran them.
Secondly, you can also run campaigns each month to suit a special, an event or a holiday. If you do this the one mistake people make is they forget about an underlying message that must always be consistent.
Even now, I run multiple Home Staging Training Campaigns throughout the year but always have a consistent message about ‘the business of home staging.’ With my own home staging company, I would run marketing campaigns every quarter to coincide with the specials I was offering and then I would always attach my tag line of “Anybody can make your house pretty, we make it sell!”
By doing so, my marketing would stand out, but each time a client or prospect would receive a piece of marketing they would see my tag line and know that it was from me.
Finally, as long as you are consistent with anything, it helps. It may not be chick fila but at least it will trigger memory response for your customer. This does not mean just putting out your logo will make any difference at all, it won’t. But, if you decide that you still want to market like everyone else by just using a few pretty photos and your logo and assume your client will immediately race for the phone…please, at least offer an amazing USP (Unique Selling Proposition) as I have done above.
Ultimately, the more fun and consistency you can offer your customer, the better off you and your business will be. I realize I will receive flack for this as many of you will interpret this as less than professional, or less than serious…but think about it. If you had 10 people with great results or a team with great results tell you what they could do for your home, would you take the boring, serious, traditional person, or the one that also had great results, but added a bit of humor, compelling marketing and a fresh perspective? I know the answer…but you are welcome to tell me your thoughts!
Another question that I get all the time is “How much do I charge?” With the APSD Certified Home Stager, Stager Pro and Property Scene Designer Courses, we always discuss this and supply sample pricing across the U.S. for various types of areas as well homes. Each of you may be different but with my services, they can start as low as $97 and go all the way up to $25,000 if I am also adding a marketing campaign to help sell the home. It depends upon the type of service, the home, the seller and how quickly they want to sell.
Generally speaking, if you wanted to base everything off of averages, the average home staging is normally about $1500. If you live in a more rural or conservative area, you might be charging more along the lines of $500 and if you are on a coast, you can go much higher such as $5000 to $10,000. Usually, the price is indicative of the staging. In California, you might charge $7500 and in Wisconsin you might charge $500 but you have to do a great deal more in California to make your client happy and to sell them home than you have to do in Wisconsin so the ROI can often be similar between the areas.
My rule of thumb on average home staging services (if there is such a thing as an ‘average home staging!’) is approximately:
Midwest: $497-$1497
East Coast and West Coast: $2497-$9997
High Profile, non coastal cities such as Denver and Dallas: $1497-$4997
These will vary greatly, but again, I am just giving you some averages. You can also expect to receive additional income from monthly furniture and furnishing rental, drop off fees, and any additional special services. I have 25 streams of income with my own Home Staging Business, so these are just a few, but you should be aware of them as you quote prices.
You can of course support your prices with you sales results, for instance, while it is difficult to track, APSD currently has an average DOM of between 21-27 between our national team. What is your DOM? You can and should also show your client how home staging does not cost them a dime, but rather saves them money by providing a cost savings chart on the difference between the weekly and monthly hold charges with and without home staging services. Make sure that you have visual aids when you do this as it looks much more professional and it is easier for your prospect to take in and process.
The nice part about using tools is it also supports your agent if they are in the difficult position of trying to ‘convince’ the client. Now you agent can simply introduce you as the expert, you can determine the needs of the client, what it will take to meet and exceed their needs and goals, back it up with solid results and if you do this, you will quickly find that no selling is required at all.
A friend of mine, a real estate guru from ages ago, used to say “If you still have to sell when you come to your close, you did something wrong in the presentation.” What he means is to show them what works and the results do the selling for you. Now, when you go to present your pricing you can do so with confidence.
***To receive Karen Schaefer’s APSD Certified Home Stager Session #1 Free CD along with the Session #1 workbook, Karen’s book on the ‘5 Steps to Selling a Property or Listing in 30 days or less’ and her favorite Pocket of Emotion, just go to www.APSDmembers.com or call 1-877-900-STAGE
Last week we talked about working on pricing for you clients prior to you staging a home so that it is priced effectively. I have included the last 2 paragraphs from last week’s article for the sake of continuity. Enjoy the article!
Before you go to the property, do your homework. Take a look at the listing online if it is available. Next, go to Realtor.org and Zillow.com to check out comparable listings and sales. Make sure the properties are as comparable as possible.
While Zillow has not had a good reputation in the past for accuracy, today, they have really come up to par and are now an excellent resource to use. Print out the information you find. A few flyers in the local neighborhood are also helpful, especially if you have collected them (assuming you work in a regular area and can maintain a file of flyers) and not the asking price on the flyer, the selling price and the DOM which you can often find from the local listing agent, the MLS listing or on your local assessors site. There are many ways, find the one that works best for you.
Now put together this information and if the agent called you in, call them and discuss your concern over the price. In no way should you question the agent’s authority, they may have listed it at that price because of the insistence with the client. But a discussion is in order so the agent knows you are on top of things and that you are trying to do everything you can to ensure the property sells in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money. It might mean that you discussion leads to a marketing event or clever incentives to justify the price in which case, the agent and seller will be grateful.
If the seller is your client and they are overpriced, you again, gently might want to let them know that if they are willing to wait, it is no problem but if in fact they want to sell quickly in a declining market, it might be best to price competitively and let the staging take it ‘over the top’ by comparison to the other homes for sale. When handled with professionalism, they will appreciate your feedback, especially if you can show them the proof of what you can do with homes priced effectively.
Now should the seller want to maintain their price point, it is no problem. Do the very best job you can possibly do, if you are APSD Certified you will also be able to offer a Marketing Service to help boost their traffic and make sure that you have your payment structure in place for the items to be in the home for some time.
***To receive Karen Schaefer’s APSD Certified Home Stager Session #1 Free CD along with the Session #1 workbook, Karen’s book on the ‘5 Steps to Selling a Property or Listing in 30 days or less’ and her favorite Pocket of Emotion, just go to www.APSDmembers.com or call 1-877-900-STAGE
I get so many questions each month from our APSD Certified Home Stagers, Stager Pro’s, Property Scene Designers and of course, most come from the APSD Certified Trainers because they are moving at a very fast pace and need answers quickly! Here, I want to cover some of the most common questions, so I can give you all a little ‘help’ this month.
One of the questions that I recently answered was how to deal with homes that are priced too high for the market. I think I answered this question for home stagers on the East Coast, West Coast and in Canada this month! It is a great question because it means you are acting with integrity. Is staging going to still help sell this home in a short amount of time if it is overpriced by $50,000?
Good and effective staging always helps but if there are 10 other homes in the area for sale as well and the homes are all ‘apples to apples’ and they are priced correctly, chances are, nothing is going to help until there is a price reduction.
In a buyer’s market, staging will help to sell faster and for more money, just like in a seller’s market, but your pricing still has to be somewhat realistic because today’s buyer has so many choices.
So what happens when you get called in to do a staging and you know that it is overpriced, that the staging is going to sit there and you can’t do anything about it?
Today, you have to be better than just another Certified Home Stager. That is why all the APSD Certified Home Staging Professionals also learn marketing and business…it is not enough to just be a good stager anymore.
Before you go to the property, do your homework. Take a look at the listing online if it is available. Next, go to Realtor.org and Zillow.com to check out comparable listings and sales. Make sure the properties are as comparable as possible.
While Zillow has not had a good reputation in the past for accuracy, today, they have really come up to par and are now an excellent resource to use. Print out the information you find. A few flyers in the local neighborhood are also helpful, especially if you have collected them (assuming you work in a regular area and can maintain a file of flyers) and not the asking price on the flyer, the selling price and the DOM which you can often find from the local listing agent, the MLS listing or on your local assessors site. There are many ways, find the one that works best for you…*
***Continued next week!
***To receive Karen Schaefer’s APSD Certified Home Stager Session #1 Free CD along with the Session #1 workbook, Karen’s book on the ‘5 Steps to Selling a Property or Listing in 30 days or less’ and her favorite Pocket of Emotion, just go to www.APSDmembers.com or call 1-877-900-STAGE
