When life gives you lemons...make lemonade!

An old cliche with alot of meaning and relevance in today's real estate market. As the world is still reeling from last week's huge stock market losses, alot of us are trying to determine how this is going to effect an already depressed real estate market and our livelihoods. We can throw in the towel and leave the business or we can work smarter and harder to develop the skills needed to survive and even prosper while providing a much needed service in this market.

As of the end of September there was a 20 month supply of homes on the market in the Roanoke Valley according to MLS statistics. These home sellers need us more than ever. They need the advice of an experienced stager to help them prepare their homes to compete well and stand out in today's highly competitive market and they need the representation of a skilled real estate professional to advise them on pricing, changing market conditions, and to develop a marketing plan for their homes.

As Home Stagers, now is the time to take a second look at our marketing materials and promotional peices...do they reflect our current market conditions? Do they point out how we can help home owners prepare their home to compete well in a competitive market? Do they show statistics that prove that staged home sell faster and for money? Do they show the advantages of home staging?

Below are just a few ways to promote your services to the people that need you the most...today's home sellers and REALTORS:

• Expired Listings- Partner with a dynamic real estate professional to offer your services to expired listings. In most markets expired listings show up on the MLS computer hot sheets daily. Team up with a REALTOR to implement a expired listing program that combines your staging experience and services with their real estate services. Home sellers are ready for a new approach to selling their homes.
  
  
• For Sale By Owners - Develop a prospecting program for For Sale By Owners. In this market, I am not sure why anyone would want to try to sell their home on their own, but there are still sellers out there that are going that route.
  
  
• Relocation Listings- Companies are still transferring employees and these sellers often have incentives to sell their homes quickly. Call on Relocation Directors and Listing Agents of these relo properties and show them the advantages of using a professional stager to stage their homes. Often these homes become vacant in just a few short weeks and will benefit from rental furniture. Transferring companies normally have something built in to cover painting, cleaning, and staging.
  
  
• Foreclosed Properties - This is a large segment of new listings in our market. Traditionally these listings were sold "as is" and "where is", but with the huge inventories of these properties being dumped on the market daily, try to develop a relationship with the REALTORS that list these properties and the banks that own them. The foreclosure market is a hard market to break into but could be the one with the biggest payoff. This is one that will require you to think outside of the box to develop.
  
• Developers and Builders - Develop a marketing plan directed at home builders and developers. Post card campaigns usually work best for this type of campaign, although you might want to start with an introduction letter, followed up by weekly postcards.
  
  
• Sponsor REALTOR Events and Give-Aways - Realtor Luncheons and Open Houses are a great way to meet and greet Realtors and talk about your services. There are still REALTORS that do not understand the services that we provide and the advantages that we provide to both them and their sellers.
  
  
• Visit Real Estate Offices and Drop Off Handouts That REALTORS Can Give To Their Sellers - REALTORS love free tools that help them grow their businesses and become more successful.
  
  
• Monthly Newsletters - If you do not do any of the others above, newsletters are a valuable source of business for us and the one thing that you should consider. Why not include all of the above to your monthly newsletter list?

Although the economy plays a huge part of the current state of the real estate market, life goes on and people will continue to buy and sell homes as long as there are job changes, weddings, divorces, births, and deaths. Don't give up. Today's home sellers and REALTORS need us more than ever.

Wanda Richards
Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions
www.showsgreat.biz

Wanda Richards is an award winning REALTOR with over 28 years experience in selling homes in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia. She specialized in representing sellers and is known for her innovative marketing skills. In 2003 she started Create4u Web Design to develop web sites for small businesses and real estate professionals in Southwest and Central Virginia. In 2007 Wanda formed Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions to provide staging services and online web marketing services. Wanda now works with over 300 REALTORS throughout Virginia and Northern North Carolina providing staging, furniture rental, web design, virtual tours, and online marketing campaigns.