Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

Real estate photography quality has never been more critical. I'm dismayed when I see real estate listing photos that look like they've been shot from a moving car, or when the photos show a home at its least flattering angle.

As a home seller you need to insist that your real estate agent use quality photos to market your property.

As a real estate agent, you need to consider whether you have the time, equipment, and/or talent to take the best shots.

Here's why: In the US 70% of home buyers search for properties online before calling a real estate agent to discuss properties they want to visit. In Canada, that number is as high as 90%. This means that quality photos are key when promoting a real estate listing.

For the exterior listing photo, rather than the usual daytime image, consider how much more interesting the home might look when shot at dusk with the interior lights on. This is a home I staged as seen in this photo by real estate photographer Dan Chan.

By shooting the house at dusk, it's possible to communicate more of an idea of the home's interior even from a single exterior photograph. This makes the real estate listing much more enticing to potential home buyers when seen on MLS. I invite you to share your comments and ideas here about real estate photography.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including eight of her own homes.

She is president of home staging firm Six Elements Inc. and has trained over 4000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses. Debra is the author of four home staging guides and offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.

There's nothing like being interviewed by a reporter who is stuck with his own non-selling house to make for an information-filled discussion about home staging. We covered practical ideas to help home sellers and real estate agents understand what home staging is and why it's important to help sell a home quickly. Many of my home staging tips could be used by home sellers on their own.

Here's what we covered during this radio morning show:

• what home staging is
  
• why home staging works (logic versus emotion when house hunting)
• why "less is more" in home staging
  
• curb appeal - how to get it and why it’s critical when selling a home
• garages
• whether it is important to stage all rooms in a home
• do home stagers disguise defects?
• importance of color when decorating a house to sell
• low cost kitchen makeover ideas
  
• tips on what homeowners can do on their own to decorate their homes to sell

You can listen here or download this 22 minute radio interview here:

Your feedback and additional ideas are always appreciated!

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program to teach others how to succeed in their home staging, real estate staging businesses. She is the author of several guides and is the founder of the Directory of Home Stagers which helps homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers to decorate homes to sell quickly and for more money.

Since home staging is a completely unregulated field without official qualifications, it's difficult to know who to hire and whether they are "qualified." This difficulty is compounded by the fact that it is possible for home stagers to acquire a ready-made home staging portfolio to present as their own work, since some training programs offer this.

When reviewing a home staging portfolio, ask questions about the photos to satisfy yourself that these are the stager's own work.

If the stager can't tell you anything about the home or client, why they made the changes they did, or where the house was, these are warning signs that you're looking at a fake portfolio. If it turns out the photos are from the stager's own home, that is fine as long as the before and after shots demonstrate their ability to decorate a house to sell.

There should be an obvious transformation between the before and after photos in a portfolio. If all the stager has done is turn on the lights and clean off the kitchen counters, this does not communicate an ability to actually stage a home.

Conduct a telephone interview with any Home Stager before deciding to hire them.

Here are some things you should be listening for during the interview:

• Do I feel comfortable speaking with this person?

• Does the stager seem to understand my needs? A good stager will listen well and respond appropriately. If there are obvious difficulties in both of you understanding each other, this will only get worse once you are actually working together.

• Does the Home Stager sound confident and interested in my project? If the stager is obviously insecure or sounds distracted or bored, do not expect this to improve once you are a paying client.

• Does the Home Stager come well-recommended or does the staging portfolio suggest that he or she knows what to do?

• Does the stager speak confidently and knowledgeably about real estate? Home staging is about decorating a house to sell on the real estate market, if they know nothing about real estate this is a problem.

• Is the stager clear when explaining how he or she works and what the fees are? If the stager is unable to explain this clearly this suggest a lack of experience and confidence.

• Do the fees make sense and suggest someone who is astute about money and your potential return on an investment in staging? If the rates are too cheap or worse, if they work for free, don't expect much value. Also do not be lured in by promises of a certain selling price for your home. This is not the stager's proper role.

• Is the Home Stager available when I need them?

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, is the author of Staging Diva® Ultimate Portfolio Guide: Winning Clients With The Perfect Home Staging Portfolio and creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. She has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. She is president of home staging firm Six Elements Inc. and has trained over 1000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses. Debra offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for more money.

I love doing radio but I've never been interviewed by three people at once before.

Katfish Morgan, Darryl Kornicky and Laura Stone grilled me about what to do when a house doesn't sell, whether stagers exist because agents aren't doing their job, what happens when stagers break things and more, on Live 88.5 Start Up Radio in Ottawa.

I have to say, the media are usually looking for a feel-good story when they interview me about staging, but this group was certainly trying to stir up some controversy.

You can download and listen to the 8 minute recording here.

I had no idea what they were going to ask me or how long I would be on, but I think I was pretty fast on my feet despite it being three to one. Let me know what you think.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®

President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra developed The Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program to teach others how to make money in their home staging, real estate enhancement businesses. She is the author of Staging Diva Ultimate Portfolio Guide: Winning Clients with the Perfect Home Staging Portfolio and Staging Diva Ultimate Color Guide: The Easy Way to Pick Colors for Home Staging Projects.