How to Talk to Sellers About Staging

As an agent, you have a fiduciary duty to your clients. You also want to stand out as an agent in an extremely competitive market and staging can help you do that but talking to your client makes you nervous. I get it. It can be uncomfortable to tell someone that their home needs some work to be top notch material. That is why I am here to help.

First, help them see what staging is. It is much more than just decorating it to look pretty, decluttering and taking down some family pictures. Staging is an incredible science and marketing tool to present their home to an ideal buyer. When I stage a home, I take a look at the location and the style of the home and modify that to what the ideal buyer would want in the home. In addition to laying out the furniture to make pathways easy to walk through and all the "typical" staging tips.

Next, I would help them realize that staging isn't just another cost. It is an investment that they will hopefully get back sooner rather than later. Staged homes sell 88% faster and for 20% more than homes that are not staged or vacant. Even in a vacant home, I would still suggest to stage it because it helps the buyers imagine themselves in the home a lot easier. If you have gone through the Parade of Homes, they are much more entertaining to walk through and provide more of an experience because the homes are beautifully staged rather than walking through an empty home. Most home buyers have an opinion about the home after just 15 seconds of being in the home. Make those 15 seconds count!

Now, verbiage. Telling a homeowner that their home needs some help to sell for top dollar is delicate. You could say, "your home would appeal to more buyers if it were staged." Or "your home decor is unique to you and what you have created here is beautiful. In order to get top dollar for your home, I think it would be beneficial to neutralize your home decor through staging."

If you need help pitching to your clients to stage their home, I would love to help you. I have multiple packages that are affordable for different budgets and some brochures I would be happy to send your way to share with your clients. If cost is an issue for them, you could offer to pay for it yourself as a perk to being their agent. I know multiple agents who have done this and reaped the benefits in their commissions. Plus, tax write off ;)