“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home My Successes & Failures Are Teaching Me

My Successes & Failures Are Teaching Me

Recently someone asked me about my business statistics. What they meant was, for every house I staged, what was the outcome? How long did it take for the homes to sell? And what was the offered price compared to the asking price? Did my staged homes sell faster and for more money?

Some of the statistics are good, some not so good. The best outcomes I have blogged about, of course. But the houses that (still) sit on the market after staging, I cannot hide. And I cannot blame someone else. But these "failures" have taught me a lot.

Mistake #1:

I failed to let the Realtor & seller know that their staging budget wasn't enough. When a Realtor asked me if I would work within a budget, I said yes. And I kept the staging to within the $700 budget as requested. But the home needed much more work, and I knew it. But I kept my promise of staying within the budget. I brought in accessories and staged the whole first floor. The upstairs still needs staging, badly, and it's hurting the outcome.

Mistake #2:

I failed to explain well enough that after home staging, you cannot raise the home's asking price tens of thousands because it shows better. I know I talked about it in front of the seller and the Realtor, but obviously I didn't explain it well enough. It's easy to assume people understand, but sometimes they don't. And when the price is fixed by the seller with no budging because "now it's beautiful and should sell", it sits on the market. I feel badly, the Realtor is upset, and the seller feels that we both let her down.

flowers Northern Ireland

My successes have reminded me that hard work pays off and that kindness is a universal language. I have also learned through my successes:

Lesson #1:

Be happy with success, and don't try to change it. Realtors are pleased with my work and happy with their outcome, but they are quiet about it. At first I wished they would blog about how fantastic home staging is, but now I'm very happy with quiet repeat business.

Lesson #2:

It's OK if I'm not all things to all people. I don't provide furniture rentals for vacant homes. Having a huge inventory of furniture is not for me. What I'm good at is Staged Photography and occupied home staging. My niche is a blast for me, and has a positive impact for my customers.

Do your successes and failures have a helpful message for you too?

Staged First Impressions, home staging in NH

Posted Friday Jul 06