I was given this idea to market my staging business which for the last year has been pretty much non exsistant due to lack of Realtors wanting to provide their clients with Staging.
So the idea goes like this: Contact a title company to see if they would like to partner with me in offering to local Realtors and their clients and Staging Consultation at the low cost of $50 per cleint in a group setting. The presentation or consultation would take place at the title agency, refeshments would be provided and the Realtors could bring one client with them along with photos of their home.
There would be limited seating to provide adequate time for all parties involved.
I would then present a brief presentation about staging and show before/after shots and then open it up to questions and provide suggestions according to what I see in their photos. Now, I am all about going all out with suggestions. The homeowner can decide what fits their budget.
This allows for low cost staging advice, educating the agents and sellers on the value of staging and most importantly open the door to more staging with those clients and their agents.
What do you think of this idea and do you have any suggestions to make it better?
A Professional Interior Design and Home Staging Company. Serving Sierra Vista, Benson and surrounding areas in Vail and Tucson.
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Dee,
This sounds very simillar to seminars we offer to our network of realtors and other real estate professionals. If it weren't for the fact that you are in AZ and I am in FL, I would offer to partner up in a heartbeat! The same goes for anyone in my market though!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring others to work together!
Dee, excellent idea. As a financial Professional, I often hold seminar like events where I bring in 2 - experts in a particular field, and we share "all' the associated costs, which can get costly. When I was in the mortgage industry, we did similiar type meetings with title companies, appraisers and home inspectors. Good luck with this idea.
I'm not so sure you will get the $50 dollars per head that you want, but I guess you could try...
I like the idea of getting clients in front of a stager. I would rather, though, have the meeting be complimentary with you offering your different levels of service. (price of advice, partial staging, full staging, etc.) If you showed before and after photos, presented stats on homes sold after staging compared to non staged, value of letting you stage with your furniture vs use the home owner's furniture, etc, I would have the amunition I need to "push" the idea of staging. Just my opinion in a struggling market.
Interesting idea. I would have to give more thought. But possibly making it a presentation at no cost might bring in more clients. Thus increasing your chances of getting clients. My 2 cents :)
I've just been preparing for a class sponsored by the local downtown association, and I will be speaking at a furniture store three times tomorrow. I think it may be hard for people to get specific enough ideas to think that it worth $50. The homeowners do not have the vision -- you do. And it's really only when you are in their home that you can really evaluate what their home needs. Perhaps if they brought photos for your review also, you could give some specific information. I think it's a great idea -- let us know how it goes!
MY 2¢; Give it a try and see how many show up. Might work better for you if you give the presentation to just Realtors, to do it for free, have a free lunch and give a $50 gift certificate to them for the first home staging of one of their clients. You see, Realtors always show up for a free lunch, LOL... Good Luck
Thank you all for your comments. This is just an idea that I am working on and it helps to get feed back to make it work well for all parties involved the first time. So keep them coming. I want to make it clear that the cost if $50 per couple: ie: Realtor with a client.
Melissa I would like to know if the stagers actually give advice to clients during this time or just a staging presentation to them and if it worked well and if they continue to do these workshops?
Micheal I would assume you think $50 is too much. I think I will be giving them as much advice as I can without being in the home and it could potentially save them thousands by not having to reduce their price. My hope is after the workshop that both the Realtors and homeowners see me and my services as even more valuable than the $50 the homeowner spent.
Julie I will be giving a brief presentation to them about staging, my services and statistics of staged homes. And yes, after giving them a little taste of what I can do by my simple suggestion thought photos then with the Realtors encouragment I could do so much more with hands on staging and advice in their home.
Margaret Hope all went well today. I agree they do not have the vision and it would have to be done to the best of my abilities to get my point across. Maybe be able to write on them in red ink. I have seen another stager who does this, but I can not remember his name. He writes on the photos in red ink what needs to be done and where. I thought I mentioned them bring their own photos of their home. otherwise they definitely would be lost.
Mary I have met with about 90% of the agents in my town. They know what staging is and because of my information some of them our doing lite staging themselves now. The biggest problem they say is the money. Both with doing minor repairs and then my fee for a day of staging. They say their clients do not have it and the ones that do have nice enough homes to sell as they are. Well we all know how we feel about that statement.... My hope is things will get busy for them again and the phone will start ringing...Hey me!
Dee: I agree with the comments above. You will get more participation if you make the event free for Real Estate Agents. Get the title company to provide lunch. Offer a free consultation as a prize drawing. The agents put their business cards into a bowl and you draw one name. That way you get the business cards of all who attend to add to your mailing list and they get to see your portfolio, see how you present yourself, and learn whatever you have to teach them.
An alternative would be to tell them to bring photos of one of their listings and the drawing would be for a free photo consultation that you give in front of the group.
Michelle I have done all that before. I gave three free 1/2 day of stagings away and not one person took me up on my offer... Do I have bad breath or what? I do not understand the agents in this area at all. It almost makes my blood boil!
If marketing to REAs is not working for you, then market directly to consumers - home sellers. Hold an event at the local library, give a lecture about home staging, do the same drawing concept. I bet the consumers will take you up on your offer. Many of our staging projects come direct from the homeowner who found me on Google or one of my staged homes. Sometimes I never meet the REA, but they usually become converts after seeing what I can do.
Make sure you send a press release to the local newspapers so you get some press coverage.
I agree with Michelle aboutfocusing on classes on preparing your home to sell and if they would be well advertised, they could be well attended. People are looking for answers and hope on how to ge their homes sold! Partner with the local paint store who has remodeling tips and tricks to share, a real estate office with a large conference room who would appreciate the business, a lender who wants to talk about current loan programs. Classes drawing attention to the fact that there is hope in selling your home if you are prepared and informed should be inspiration to those that are discouraged!
Michelle That is an excellent idea. It has been difficult to advertise to the homeowners directly because the majority of homeowners have P.O. Boxes, but putting it in the local paper and flyers around town might just be a good way to go. Thanks
Margaret Thanks that is another place to place my advertising for the workshop, at the local home improvement store. All we have is an ACE and I am in there all the time.
Dee,
I have never partnered up with a Home Stager... Mostly mortgage professionals, short sale loss mitigators, and other support services... Sorry.
Perhaps the Ace store would like to do a home improvement day and have seminars in their store!