Property Staging Consultants Blog

This will be uncomfortable for some in the industry, yet this blog is designed to ask questions and summize the answers in our own words and help each other understand..

My question to real estate professionals is why you feel uncomfortable selling the staging to your clients? It has been brought to our attention over and over again that real estate professionals say (remind you this has been brought to our attention), they don’t need a stager they can do it themselves”. So, why is there a need for Stagers? What is it they makes this ever GROWING industry survive? If Staging doesn’t work, then it would have no being.. It cannot simply be HGTV, or can it?  Come on, HGTV, does it really educate us, or does it entertain us? Now when I have been working hand in hand with a real estate professional and a Stager along with my client, it has in fact created a stronger motivated client, as well as a much more appreciated Agent.. So, I do work side by side with my Sellers as I too am a Stager.. Yet, to some, are we afraid to work together?

There was a client in Maryland that hired a stager, she came in for $2000.00 and gave a Consultation…. (okay now you can put your jaw back where you had it…) this is fact, thennnnn came back for the Staging (understand consult was not in any form of writing), then returned to do the staging, which was a minimum of one secondary bedroom, a vignette in living area, and 2 other rooms if I recollect correct, now hold on, and charged an additional $6000.00.. What, My jaw dropped and then we have to turn to compassion on this one, who on earth…!!!  So, tell me, what do we have justifying strength in the industry.

My belief is that we all must evolve and come together to bring the industry of Staging together with some form of guidelines..  Now, it is your turn.. Talk to me.. please..?

Welcome to the new Property Staging blog.  Look for more posts coming soon.

“People feel like you’re trying to move them out of the house before it’s even sold,” says Jackie Riggins, CEO, Property Staging Consultants. “All we’re asking them to do is pack up early. Yet, they don’t want to let go. The bottom line is that if they’re not willing to go through the process, they’re not that willing to sell the home. The sellers have to be totally motivated to do this.”

They might be a bit more inclined to do so, however, if there were an easier way. PODS (Portable on Demand Storage), whose containers are used to store part or all of a home’s belongings during a move or while the home is listed on the market. PODS & Property Staging Consultants work to create a Buy Ready home through staging and storing the items. The items are then housed off-site at a PODS Storage Center. PODS is now in 48 states. Belongings can be stored as long as the homeowner needs.

“I tell my clients to pretend that they’re camping for six weeks-keep in the house what you can’t live without,” advises Jackie Riggins. “Then, move your personal belongings out to the PODS container one room at a time. Take your time with it.

“Homeowners offer way too much ‘eye candy’-distractions,” adds Jackie Riggins. “Prospective buyers need to be able to see the floors, for example. They need the house to be totally free of personal belongings. I explain that they should pretend that they’re having a big garage sale-room to room. Finish one room at a time; mark the boxes then transfer them to the PODS container.”

The real key, says Riggins, is to move extra pieces of furniture out to container. “Big pieces-like an armoire & clutter, eat up square footage,” she explains. “So, if we can minimize those items, it looks like there’s more space.

What’s so helpful-especially when it comes to those larger pieces-is that PODS brings the container directly to your home, explains Jackie Riggins. “They bring it to you-and that’s huge,” she says. By setting up the container in the driveway, homeowners are given time to allow Property Staging Consultants to come in do the Consultation Report©, then come back to complete the Staging process.  Property Staging Consulants  packs up for you. This way it’s easier to get your house ready to show.  Once this is completed they must go through their items, and load everything in the POD.

Especially with the cost of fuel in today’s economy, Jackie Riggins says PODS makes more sense than ever. “When PODS and Property Staging Consultants work together who needs to rent a truck and do it yourself,” says Riggins.  We are both here for the homeowner and Property Staging Consultants have set the standards in home staging.

Jackie Riggins says there’s no better way to get a home sold faster and for more money than to de-clutter and hire a Property Staging Consultant to come make your home stand out amongst the competition.