Inside the Head of a Stager

To get inside the head and business of a home stager, I interviewed Karen Otto, owner of Home Star Staging in Plano, Texas.  Karen is an Accredited Staging Professional, an active contributor to EnergizedSeller.com, and is very passionate about educating home sellers and those in the real estate industry about the benefits of staging a home to sell.  She has been a wealth of information to me and the Energized Seller community and, like all information on this site, I hope you find her comments valuable and insightful. 

Interview:

Dan: Why are you so passionate about not only improving homes to sell, but also educating those in the real estate industry on how to do it?

Karen: Home staging is something I whole heartedly believe in. I wouldn't be in this business if I didn't. I am not an easy customer either, not easily swayed. I've seen the results and successes and am passionate about educating others on the how-tos and benefits as well.

For many folks, a home is their largest investment and I think they deserve to get what it's worth when they sell it. I am a people person and am honored when a client invites me into their home. I am thrilled to be able to help them achieve their goals whether they've read my articles, attended a class or workshop that I've taught and hosted, hired me for a consultation or ultimately, used my full staging services.

I enjoy educating those who are willing to learn what's necessary to do it themselves. People are cost conscious, and rightly so. There are always going to be the do-it-yourselfers who have the time, desire and ability to prepare their home themselves and are able to achieve great results. There are others who won't or don't know how and that's where I come in. My philosophy is that I'd rather be a source for everyone, whether they hire me or not, than not one at all. Call it the pay it or "stage it" forward mentality.

I really have two clients; Realtors and home sellers. Realtors are some of my best customers because they understand the home staging concept and see the value it can bring to a home sale. The more success stories there are, the more others will see the need for home staging.  That translates into a growing home staging industry that will become a necessary service for all sellers.

I am passionate about educating the real estate community on the benefits of home staging and how to successfully market and sell a property. Home staging is the perfect combination of marketing and packaging a home for resale and I enjoy teaching others how to do it. One of my goals is to see home staging become a standard part of every real estate transaction. Without education, this can't happen.

Dan:  In your experience, what is the biggest mistake home sellers make when preparing to sell their home?

Karen:  A recipe for any sale involves three key ingredients: price, location and condition.  Price being number one.  And even though I‘m not a Realtor, I know that overpricing is selling suicide.  You can ask any Realtor and they will tell you that there is nothing you can do to your property that will help you sell it if it's overpriced to begin with, especially in today's market.

Now, since I'm a professional home stager, the ingredient that I focus on is condition.

The biggest problem I see is a seller who refuses to do anything to improve the condition of their property prior to selling. Some sellers take the attitude that it's a Realtor's job to sell their property regardless of condition.  Well, that just doesn't work. A seller, not their Realtor,  is responsible for the condition of their home.. I liken it to exercise and getting in shape, you can pay a trainer but you gotta do the work yourself in order to see good results. And if cost is a factor, I will tell them first that price reductions are often in the tens of thousands of dollars if the house is just sitting on the market month after month.  It translates into additional mortgage payments, utilities, maintenance and landscape costs and as a result, the seller is most certainly spending money that he thought he wouldn't have to. One of the biggest mistakes is to do absolutely nothing to improve the condition of your home.

Dan:  Why is staging a home so important?

Karen:  First, let me define home staging for you.  Home staging is anything you do to prepare your home to sell. It's not just about de cluttering and depersonalizing, although those things are important. Preparing your home prior to listing is very important. I liken selling a home to selling any product on a shelf; people want the best product at the best price and staging your home can help you achieve that.

Dan:  Do you think everyone should hire a stager?  Why or Why Not?  

Karen:  Of course my answer is a resounding yes! The services of a good home stager encompass more than just furniture placement and de cluttering a room. There are very cost effective alternatives many stagers offer for a budget conscious home seller. The best bang for your buck would be a consultation. Get a professional's recommendations on what you can do to best prepare your home prior to listing. Not only will it save you money, but it will save lost time in the potential languishing of a home on the market that went out not "buyer ready."  Home staging can be very labor and time intensive and it isn't necessarily cheap, but you will see an excellent return on your investment.  There are many ways to successfully get your house show ready, but I believe a home stager is your best ally for that.  

Dan:  In your opinion, what are the most important things a home owner can do to prepare their home to sell?

Karen:  The first thing I would suggest is to emotionally detach yourself from your home.  Home buying and selling is an emotional process.  Home is where the heart is and it's understandably hard to let go. However, when selling, you are taking your family, possessions and memories with you to create more elsewhere: in your new home. You must allow potential buyers to see themselves and their dreams in your house and to do this you have to be unbiased. This is key.

The next thing would be to look at your home through the eyes of the buyer both inside and out. Be brutally honest and either get a friend or professional stager to help you assess the home's assets and deficits.  Maximize square footage, counter space and storage, and highlight focal points and architectural details. Do cost effective updates if necessary, and make sure curb appeal is addressed.  Plant a few flowers out there and make buyers want to come inside.

Dan:   In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle Realtors have when encouraging their clients to fix up their home to sell?

Karen:  In my opinion, one of the biggest obstacles Realtors face is the lack of motivation on the part of some sellers to get their home ready prior to listing. Some sellers take the stance that it's a Realtor's job to sell their home no matter what the condition. I go back to the 2^nd question and one of the biggest mistakes home sellers make in terms of condition, it's not doing the work necessary to prepare their house prior to the sale. A Realtor cannot control the condition of a seller's home. That is the seller's job. A Realtor can sell the product but won't necessarily package it. This is where a having a good professional home stager on a Realtor's team can be really beneficial.

Dan:  What suggestions would you have for a Realtor who is trying to get her/his client to improve their home to sell?

Karen:  1. Find and interview a professional home stager who would be willing to work on your team. It's important to find the right fit with your marketing package.

2. Educate yourself on the process of getting your clients on board with the importance of preparing their home for sale. Take a home staging class, read books, search the internet and talk to a home stager in your area.

3. This is a hard one, but... refuse to list a home that isn't ready for showings. Your reputation depends on results. If you know that the house isn't ready, why list it? It's OK to refuse to accept a client who doesn't fulfill your requirements. Your honesty and integrity counts. 

Dan:  What is the biggest obstacle home sellers have when trying to improve their home to sell?

Karen:  Not knowing what they should do in terms of updates, changes, painting, curb appeal and furniture placement, in order to yield the best return on investment, just to name a few.  Again, a consultation with a professional home stager would be very valuable in terms of getting the facts and the most bang for their buck.

Dan:  Here at Energized Seller we love using real life stories as a way to educate others.  What is your best staging success story?

Karen:  The best story is from one of my first experiences as a professional home stager and it didn't even involve actual hands-on "staging". I was working with another stager at the time and a Realtor who had just gotten a listing introduced us to a lady who was downsizing. Her home had been listed previously with another agent and had been on the market for six months and still she had not had any luck selling. The Realtor wanted us to give her some advice on how to prepare her home to sell.

Initially, a written home staging consultation was provided. The report listed all the recommendations necessary to prepare her home. She agreed she would remove most of her furniture and décor, do the work necessary to get it ready and then eventually stage the property with a combination of her furniture and some rental items. She got started right away; got storage, held a couple of garage sales, did some cost effective updates, removed wall paper, painted, and had dated carpet replaced. This part of the process took a few weeks but we kept the lines of communication open.

The Realtor decided to put the house on the MLS one evening before the actual staging contract had even been signed, although the prep work had just been completed. When the Realtor arrived the next morning to place his sign in the yard, another Realtor was already inside showing the property to prospective buyers. He decided to wait until they were finished to put the sign up. Well, before he even had a chance, the buyer's agent came out and had an offer ready. They wrote the contract on his car! And yes, those buyers closed on the house!

Although we did not get the full staging contract, I was thrilled that the seller achieved her goal and sold the house less than 24 hours after it was listed! That's what my job is all about, helping sellers sell quickly and for top dollar.

Dan:  What was your most challenging staging experience?

Karen:  The most challenging staging experience was for a client with an investment property that was vacant. There was remodeling and updating being done and the work was not finished on schedule. However, having already placed ads in the newspaper for two weekend open houses in less than 3 days, time was of the essence in getting the property ready. The day before staging, the rental furniture had to be delivered to the garage because the wood floors were literally still drying. How could we possibly stage the property the next day? There was still so much work to be done. I was very skeptical.

We arrived early the next morning and it still wasn't ready by any stretch of the imagination. Dust from the newly varnished wood floor was everywhere, carpets needed cleaning and many details still needed to be addressed. When staging a property, one of our policies is that we request that no one but our crew present while we are working. We move furniture, hang large artwork, re-configure rooms and it can be very difficult for an owner to watch, as well as hard for us to move freely. I had a heart to heart with the client and together we decided we would work through this unusual circumstance. We had to get this job done. Within an hour people started descending on the property; two cleaning crews, handymen, painters, landscapers and others came together with our team and made it happen.

I have to say it was the closest thing to what I think those "Extreme Makeover" TV shows go through. In the end, the house looked beautiful but I can honestly say that I never want to have to go through that again!

Dan:   What was your funniest staging experience?

Karen:  A referral came from a Realtor for a home staging consultation to a seller. Upon arriving at the home and immediately upon entering, my assistant and I were loudly greeted by all 3 of the family's large dogs. One of them, still a puppy, was exceptionally excited to see us and proceeded to pee all over the floor and then on my staging assistant's shoe. Needless to say, the first recommendation was to make sure all floors and carpets were cleaned (or replaced) and get rid of the dogs while showing. I can only imagine what a buyer's reaction would have been to this "warm"