Fort Washington, PA

Don't Apologize for Offering Staging!

I have been so fortunate to hear from Realtors all around the country that they whole heartedly believe in the value of Staging. The sticking point is how to bring up that conversation. I have offered a few blogs about how to do just that, but at a certain point, we have to truly acknowledge that we are offering Staging because we want to help our clients. If we operate from that standpoint, we may have more success.

If you struggle, here are some ways that you can think about it to reframe it for yourself when a client has these objections:

Cost: Staging will actually save your client money. The Real Estate Staging Association has a Staging Calculator app that allows you to plug in mortgage, carrying costs + Staging fee for that property. It will then calculate cost to not stage + savings when the house is staged first. Great tool. Get it.

Why Do I Need It?: Again, Staging saves your client money. 94% of home buyers aged 25-44 start their search online. They will rule out houses immediately that don't have great listing photos. No showings, no offers. Your sellers need to hear that information. Have they looked online? Which houses are they interested in? Which ones are they not interested in? Why? Take pictures of their home + compare to the pictures that they liked.

Does It Make A Difference?: What do you think? If you don't believe that Staging makes a difference, your client won't. If you don't think it's a value, they won't. If you don't think it sells a house faster, they won't. On the contrary, if you believe that it works, they will appreciate you recommending it. Everyday, I am talking to Realtors who want to offer Staging as a new part of their service to clients. This can't be because the service isn't considered an important aspect of marketing a house.

Reach out to a Stager + learn about what they can do for you, what their rates are, how they operate so that you are informed before you enter the staging conversation. Partner with them. We all have the same goal--taking stress out of selling + helping people get the most money possible--but your knowledge about your local Stagers will help you have these conversations better.

The bottom line: Your client has a need to sell their house. You have a solution to help them sell smarter. Who would dispute that? As always, would love to know your thoughts!

Sellers: 7 Mistakes That Can Keep You From Selling Your House

Not many showings? Little interest in your property? Control what you can control + make sure that you aren't doing any of these:

Forgetting that your property is now a product: As soon as you decide to sell, your house is now a product. Divorce yourself from what you know + feel about your house and get in the mindset of buyers. They want to buy an immaculate, spacious, updated + well maintained home. If you can't say this about your house, roll up your sleeves + get working. If not, buyers will not even come and look at your house because....

You haven't prepared your property for real estate photos: 94% of home buyers aged 25-44 start their home search online. You can't afford to turn them off when they see your listing photos. Poor preparation + listing photos directly impact your pocketbook.

Short term financial thinking: Thinking that you are leaving this place, so you aren’t interested in investing in fixes/change means that you need to now calculate the cost of carrying the house while it remains unsold. Add up mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities, upkeep, assciation dues, etc. and project that out over 9 months (the average time it takes to sell an unstaged house). That is the true cost of not taking time and spendig a little money upfront to get your house ready.

Confusing the buyer: Are you keeping your dining room as a playroom/home office/etc? Again, if you are marketing a house on the internet, buyers are not likely to even come to see your property. Using the space in a non-traditional way tells a buyer that there is no room in that house for a dining room, playroom, office, etc. Confused buyers won't visit + won't put in offers.

Overwhelming the buyer: Less is more when you are going to sell. Too much furniture, clutter + knickknacks make a house feel small. + make your listing photos look horrendous. Online photos only amplify these issues. Take pictures of each room. How can you improve the space?

Giving TMI: Leaving out pet cages/bowls, too many personal items, collections, knickknacks,etc. can all be turn offs when viewed online + in person. Take some time to put these away before your photos + keep them away for all showings. Packing up collections + knickknacks gives you a jump start on your move.

Selling a vacant home: Not what you want to hear, but trying to sell a vacant home is not ideal. There is not visual cue to how furniture will fit in the space. or anything to emotionally connect a buyer to the space.

I know that it's a little tough love, but we are in a new era in real estate. Staging a house is becoming the norm, not the exception. Keep up with the Joneses + make your place look beautiful!

So Who Should Pay the Stager?

Based on all of the great feedback (thank you!) to my last blog post, Realtors Set Yourself Apart: Don't Offer Staging, Offer These 3 Things, it is clear that we are definitely still in new territory when it comes to real estate staging. The average seller doesn't truly understand the benefit the way that Realtors + Stagers do. They like their house the way it is. They are blind to the property's shortcomings. They think they can do it themselves (many can, but not all). We are obviously still in education mode + need to think out of the box a bit.

This also means that you have a huge opportunity! You have the chance to be extraordinary and do something different for your clients.

Provide a higher level of service.

Make their lives easier.

Give them a hand to hold.

Rather than suggest staging, perhaps you want to provide a Stager (and, honestly, I wouldn't call it a Stager--too many preconceived notions) as part of your service. Make it the norm + not about their particular house. You provide listing photos, brochures, open houses and video tours--all of which could be in vain if the house is in poor condition. In fact, these things are an expectation. Why not turn staging into an expectation. Your clients won't accept it if they think that you are singling them out. But, if this is just part of the exceptional service you provide to all of your clients...they feel smart for choosing you!

Can you imagine the word of mouth that you would receive by offering something above and beyond other Realtors? What that could mean to your overall business?

Ask Colleen McConnell of Advanced Realty South based in Tallahassee or Bryan Robertson of the Sereno Group of Los Altos in Los Altos, California or Jeremiah Taylor of Keller Williams Southern Arizona what it has meant to their businesses...

A New Approach For Recommending Home Staging

I have recently had many conversations with Realtors who tell me that they have a difficult time bringing up the topic of Home Staging with their clients. When they do, they find that clients can be resistant because it seems insulting to suggest that their property might need design help. It sounds like there may be a disconnect between the perception of what a Home Stager offers + what we actually do. It seems that we need to re-examine our approach...

When introducing the concept of Home Staging, clients are most likely thinking of the HGTV shows in which a critical Realtor or Designer walks through the home making fun of critiquing it. Would you want to think that someone is doing that at your property? I'm guessing not! Not only that, but many homeowners have gotten so comfortable with their surroundings that they may not even feel like they need to make design changes. They do not see the dirt on the 40-year-old carpets, peeling wallpaper, and outdated fixtures the way buyers will. Because redesign is not a compelling need for them, we are selling the wrong solution by recommending Home Staging.

Home Staging, as it is understood from television, serves the Realtor's need to market a better product. While a better looking property should be as important to the seller, we know that so many factors interfere with this. The home seller's compelling needs are completely different. They need someone to help them sell their home quickly and to begin the massive work of packing + organizing for a move. They think that you are the solution to selling their home faster (regardless of the condition it's in), not a Home Stager. So we are left with them having to take on the Herculean task of organizing + packing. Hmmm...is this a potential opportunity?

By just recommending a Home Stager to clients, we are talking about a feature and one that isn't perceived to meet their needs. We need to have the conversation around the benefits to clients as it relates to organizing, packing + selling quickly. A more effective conversation may be to discuss bringing in someone who will:

• give them a roadmap for getting packed
• help them sort, donate, or sell their items
• go room-by-room letting them know what they can actually pack now before the property is even listed
• make recommendations that will make their listing photos look incredible so that they get more showings
• help them drive in traffic from the Internet + dramatically increase their ability to sell quickly.

Now who wouldn't be interested in that? Try that approach the next time you want to recommend a Home Stager + let me know how it works!

8 Things that Make Fort Washington, PA Great

A transplanted New Englander, I have really come to love living in the Philadelphia Suburbs and especially in Fort Washington, PA. If you are considering moving to Philadelphia, here are 10 things that make Fort Washington, PA great:

1. Our Schools: Our schools are consistently among the best performers in the state. Our elementary school Fort Washington Elementary ranks 5th in the state and out brand new, state of the art high school, with a 99% graduation rate, consistently ranks in the top 100 of Pennsylvania's High Schools.

2. Convenience: Located right off of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Interstate 309, and minutes from Route 476 and the Schuylkill Expressway, Fort Washington is a 30 minute trip to Philadelphia, Philadelphia's International Airport, and shore and mountain points.

3. Beautiful Parks + Open Space: There are so many incredible parks filled with jogging trails, hiking trails and picnic spots that you don't have to go far to enjoy the great outdoors

4. Great Restaurants: While Fort Washington is a small community, it has several excellent restaurants in the area that provide super food, fun atmosphere and budget friendly menus.

5. Eclectic Mix of Neighborhoods: Fort Washington has a varied inventory of homes with everything from new construction to 100 year old plus homes. Most are set on beautiful, quiet, tree lined streets.

6. Your Kids Can Ride Their Bikes Here: With so many planned neighborhoods, there are opportunities for our kids to do what we did, ride their bikes and explore their world. Priceless!

7. Active Community: In every sense, Fort Washington is an active community. At any given time, you will easily find someone jogging, riding their bike or in the midst of a boot camp class at a local park. We also have been blessed by a new YMCA that offers incredible amenities for all ages and fitness levels.

8. Diversity: Our community is an eclectic mix of people from all races, religions and backgrounds which makes for all kinds of festivities to celebrate throughout the year.

8 Things that Make Fort Washington, PA Great!