Top Producer
Talks About Home Staging
I
recently caught up with Carol
Poche, a member of the award winning Key
Finders Team of Keller Williams Red Stick Partners, and talked with
her about her views on home staging. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Together,
the team ended 2009 as top producers with over $16 million in closed business
and 79 happy clients. Other members of the award-winning team are Jeffrey
Welch, Ron Nicholsen, Stephanie Pierce and Carmen Widmeierare.
AH:
Considering changes in the real estate market, what does it mean to market
a move-in ready property?
CP:
Our philosophy as listing agents is “nothing in the way.”
When we go on a listing appointment, we go with the vision that we are
going to walk out with that listing. But, we are only going to take that
listing is the seller will heed our advice.
If
they are unwilling to make repairs, paint the walls or do things of that
nature, we are going to end up wasting our time and theirs.
We
call buyers today “Pottery Barn Buyers.” They want to move
in, unpack and go on with life. They don’t want to do any repairs.
You
have to be at the top of the curve in the search process. When a potential
buyer walks in we want them to say, “I don’t have to do anything
– I’ll buy it.”
AH:
Your website shows today that you have 48 listings. In this market with
everybody scrambling to get listings, what do you attribute yours to?
CP:
We have a positive approach to the market. We have been able to showcase
what we can do for them to enhance their properties.
So
many times you find everyone is looking on the internet. If an agent only
puts three photos on the Internet then they are doing a disservice to
their clients. We use all 20 photographs available. The buyer wants to
see as much of that house as they can before they walk in the door.
Buyers
start doing their home work for 3 years before they even get in the car
to look at houses. They shop on the Internet.
By
the time a buyer picks up the phone to call you they have done their shopping
and homework. It is our duty to market the property the best way we possibly
can. We are able to show our sellers how to position their property in
the market, price wise and condition wise.
Got
a question about home staging? Ask
Amie!
Ready
to have your property staged, call Amie at 1-337-654-8522
AH:
One of my next questions was about people beginning their search online
and the importance of photographs.
CP:
That is huge. I will typically take anywhere from 75 to 150 pictures of
a house. I then edit to get the proper angles and perspective to be able
to showcase the greatest features of the property. We also created a web
site for his property. Our goal is to get people in the door and then
those people need to be wowed.
Something
that we haven’t touched on but I feel is very important –
new construction. Typically these homes are beautiful but very bland.
They use the neutral colors, they don’t have any personalization
in them.
People
walk in to some of the smaller floor plans and don’t know what to
do with the rooms. They don’t know how they are going to place their
furniture to deal with a corner fireplace, for example.
I
am a Realtor, I am not an interior designer. So, it is much more advantageous
for me for the builder or developer to hire a stager so that when people
walk into that property they can envision how it is to live there.
I
think builders who are not staging their properties are missing a serious
bet.
AH:
HGTV has become a total leader in how we market our houses. They are saying
the number one mistake people make before putting their homes on the market
is not staging.
CP:
I absolutely agree. It is interesting, before they called it staging,
we as Realtors would go through and tell our sellers what they had to
do. Now, because of HGTV, people are so much more aware.
The
biggest problem that people still have is they don’t know what to
do. We get people who will say, “I am going to put my house on the
market in a year or so – can you come walk through it I know I have
some things to do but I don’t know which things I should do”.
AH:
In preparation for our interview, I looked at your website. You have eight
steps a seller should take before putting their house on the market, and
staging is number three.
CP:
One way you as a home stager are invaluable is that when you get into
a situation it takes the burden off of the Realtor and puts it on you
as a third-party.
You
may be with the sellers for two weeks – the Realtor may be with
them for six to eight months. Instead of getting them upset with us for
the duration of that period, they may get upset or have their feelings
hurt for a minute.
All
of a sudden, once the person walks into the house and sees the changes
your staging has made, it is phenomenal!
AH:
One of the things that I constantly preach is becoming a seller as opposed
to a dweller.
CP:
Very good terminology. Sellers need to know the way we live in our homes
is different from the way we sell our homes. Sellers need to walk through
their houses like a buyer.
AH:
How important is curb appeal?
CP:
The curb is critical. You have 30 to 60 seconds. Every agent has had a
buyer not want to go to see the inside of a home because the outside is
not up to par.
It
is so important to have the yard well manicured and well tended. If not,
potential buyers will believe the inside of the home is not well-tended
and maintained. In this way, curb appeal transfers to the inside of the
house.
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