A staging success story from RESA Member and Owner of Staged To Sell, Diane Hamel.
About two years ago, my friend Kari was looking for a realtor who was a young professional like her and a mortgage broker acquaintance suggested an agent named Crystal.
In the interim, I had met Crystal at a few networking events and from there we had coffee a handful of times. She’s a very successful and hard working realtor who is a part of the new generation of young agents who are serious about building a life long career however; being a surprise to me, she hadn’t yet used a professional stager.
Last week, a client of Crystal’s called my office to inquire about staging a vacant rental property that had been on the market for 60 days. The home was in a very popular area of fast moving properties but no one was biting.
Even though the agent was concerned about the costs involved, the seller was enthusiastic about our proposal and gave the go ahead with staging to be completed a day before the next scheduled Open House.
Staged to Sell brought in furniture and accessories to stage the living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen, entry, hallway, master bedroom, two baths and the laundry room. The next day, when Crystal arrived at the property for the Open House, I received the following text, “Looks great! Are you able to send me a copy of the pics you took (on Facebook)? …I feel foolish for not doing this sooner”. When I told her that I would love to work with her again, she replied, “Ditto”!
Two days later I randomly bumped into Crystal in a parking lot. She was pretty excited to let me know that the seller had an accepted offer.
Morals of this story
- Be polite, professional and persistent. When people are looking for the services you offer, they’ll remember you.
- Direct a significant part of your marketing efforts towards up and coming young real estate agents. They are open to new ideas and once you have proven the effectiveness of your services, they’ll become clients of yours for years to come.
- NEVER apologize for what you charge your clients. The initial cost of staging is in all likelihood less than their monthly carrying costs and typically cheaper than a price reduction. Besides, if they could do what you do, they would have already done it!
Story and images provided by Diane Hamel.
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