Archive for the ‘The Staging Industry’ Category

What Staging Training Program is Best?

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

I get ask these questions all the time from people who want to enter staging fields and are contemplating which program is the best. Frankly, since I’ve been out of training classrooms for awhile so I don’t really know which one is better since every course probably has been modified throughout the years. Most importantly, if this is you, you should pick a training course that will fit into your career scheme and goals, unfortunately, that’s something someone you just met on internet cannot tell you.

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Good Morning Cindy,
My name is Miss C and I am a Real Estate paralegal and investor in Dallas, Texas. I am embarking on a new career in Home Staging (which I have been doing “unofficially” for awhile now) and found your wonderful website. Congratulations on that!  Most other sites that I visited were not nearly as professional, informative and easy to navigate.
I am considering the [blah blah designation] training and was curious if you (1) went through and would recommend the training and (2) if you find that this [blah blah designation] accreditation has been beneficial to your business?
It is a little expensive, so before I invest in the program, I would really appreciate any feedback that you could give me.
Thank you Cindy!  I really appreciate your time and consideration. Have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Miss C

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Hey Miss C

Congrats on your new career. I personally went through quite a few designations and they are all beneficial in their ways. I think you need to ask each programs what they are offering and how their students are doing in this economy. I personally have not been in the classrooms of these designation programs for a long time so I cannot say how different they are since the courses do change throughout the time.

I think the best answer would be talking to recent graduates as well as course trainers to get a better idea of how this program will fit into your lifestyle and your career goals.

I want to wish you best of luck.

Cheers,
Cindy

Diary of a Stager

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Although I have moved Staged4more into its current location (3,600 square feet commercial building: see blog Angel Singing Moment!) for awhile now (umm like 6 months?), the warehouse still looks like a hot mess. (‘Tis the woe of a solo-preneur!)

Even though a lot of racks are up, I am still in the process of building more shelves to accommodate weird-shaping inventories like florals, tabletop accessories, etc. It feels like we are under construction every day! (And we actually are… Right now we are adding faucets in the front part of warehouse for a mini kitchen!) The kitchen cabinets you see are actually old kitchen cabinets (more…)

Am I getting ripped off by my home stager?

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Whew it has been quite a 2 weeks! I must say, not been able to write and blog for the past 2 weeks have accumulated more guilt than a Catholic priest! Now we have a new president elect and my office finally has passed our fire inspection.

Anyway, back to normal staging channel…

I recently received an email from a gentleman who wanted to know if the staging price that his realtor quoted him was reasonable. He said, “I want to know if my realtor is overcharging me, he quoted me $BLAH for Blah square foot.” I also recently spent 20 minutes on the phone with a perspective client, who is a home owner. She is interviewing stagers and she asked if she can see what type of furniture the stager is going to use. The stager replied “Well, it’s going to be a surprise on the day of.” The perspective client told me she was shocked by the response since “as a customer, shouldn’t I know what I am paying for?

Frankly, as I wrote before in other blogs such as #1 Question You Need to Ask Your New Stager, How A Stager Can Potentially Kill Your Deal, 6 Tips On How To Hire A Stager, Did You Hire Mr. Joe the Plumber to Stager Your House, and many other, there really are no industry regulation as to how someone would charge. My friend who is a realtor has gotten quotes ranging from $2500 to $5500 for a 1,100 square feet condo in San Francisco. So, how do you know if you are paying for the right person and for the right price?

The answer is IN YOUR PROPOSAL. A good proposal should tell you at least these 3 things:

  1. Is payment term laid out clearly for you as a customer? Items such as payment methods (cash, check, credit cards, etc.), terms (how long does the payment last for), etc. should be clear. If not, they should be able to answer you without blinking.
  2. Is the proposal professional? After all, you are selling this house. It’s a business transaction, so should the people you hire to maximize your return.
  3. Do you understand what type of furniture or style your stager uses? Even if they can’t pinpoint the exact chair they are placing into your home, you should at least be able to see a similar sample of style of furniture you will get.

As of getting “ripped off,” this is where you should ask for portfolio and references. A good stager should have strong references, portfolio and success stories to back those up. Don’t judge just by pricing. Just because s/he came in at lowest bid, doesn’t mean s/he doesn’t do good work. Same goes for the highest bidder.

Additionally, do your homework. They invent Google for a reason, use it to your advantage. Other sites such as LinkedIn, Yelp.com, are good reference points as well.

At last, once you hire the stager, you should TRUST his/hers professional opinions. For an experienced stager, this is not his/hers first rodeo. There is no need to question he/hers design decision every step of the way and then turn around and say: “I don’t know, you are the designer. Shouldn’t we do it like this?” If you compared all the proposals, you decided he/she is best to stage your home because his/hers pricing is fair and the work looks great, then you shouldn’t have any more doubts, especially if you already did your homework and make sure he/she is reputable.

I always smile when people ask: “Are you going to do a good job? Make it beautiful?” Because, really, I spent all this time building up a business, I am just going to throw all that money and blood and tears and sweat away by staging your house horribly?

Having a stager should be easy and pain free. Don’t you think?

Don’t Be Fooled by the 2 big D words in Home Staging

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

I read this script today that teaches realtors how to teach their clients “on staging home to sell:”

“I’m going to give you the two biggest money-making words there are when it comes to showing your home: depersonalize and declutter. It’ll make you house look bigger and is the best thing you can do.”

Hmm, really?

De-personalize and de-clutter, although 2 important aspects in home staging, does NOT substitute home staging.

Actual MLS Photo: this is what I called

I have heard agents telling their clients all the time, and I even have sellers say to me all the time, Oh, I know I need to de-personalize and de-clutter. I learn that from HGTV. or All I need is to de-peronsalize and de-clutter, I don’t need anything else.” And that’s ALL they do.

And you know what happens when you just de-personalize and de-clutter? You are just showing an empty space and a shell of a home. BUT PEOPLE WANT TO BUY MORE THAN JUST 4 WALLS AND A ROOF.

We often forget what it felt like when we were buyers when we sell our homes. We forgot that we (more…)

Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

When Bill Cliton saw Monica Lewinsky, he thought “hmm, I can cross that line, because I am the President!” Obviously, an impeachment trial later and many months of public humiliation, he finally admitted: “Yes, I did have sexual relationship with Monica.”

Well, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Through my life, I have learned that I can’t be all things to all people. If I can be all those things to all people, I will be a very unhappy and tired person. It’s difficult to please everyone! If I followed my parents’ wishes, I would become a doctor and a lawyer and a financial banker, married to some guy, have 2 kids, 1 dog and live at their house. Scary thought, isn’t it??

Similarly, as professionals, we can’t be all things to our clients. As much as I would love to make more money, I can’t paint my clients’ walls, landscape their yards, or power-clean their houses, etc. Why? Sure I can, I can hire couple guys to do it. BUT, are the end results are going to be as good as the jobs done by professionals? By doing everything for clients to “save” them money, is this the best for MY client? No, I think not. My clients hire me to stage their houses well so the listings will sell, not to do all these other things. Ultimately it will be much cheaper and cost effective to have the job done well by professionals who are pros in their fields. That’s why I leave the painting to the painters. They know how to deal with different textures of the wall, and how different types of paint affect the overall effects. Well, I don’t. I just know what color looks good. Application of the color is a total different story. Similarly with landscaping or cleaning, I will never landscape or clean as well as professionals who do this EVERYDAY. I have a black thumb, I have even killed cactus.

As a professional, I intend on doing what’s best for my clients, not what I can do “okay” for my clients. That’s why I am skeptical when I see ads of cleaning companies or furniture companies start offering staging as part of their services.
I also hear this a lot from sellers & agents “I can totally stage the house myself, I watch HGTV.” I also get a lot of calls from agents: “Um, my clients staged their house and it looks terrible. What can you do?” Just because I watch food channel, it doesn’t mean I can do whip out a 8-course meal like Bobby Flay. The professionals who work on these TV shows have a lot of trainings and professional experiences, and that’s why they are good at what they do. True, staging is not rocket science, but there are still some finesse to it.

A fellow real estate blogger and a realtor Jessica Wynn Horton shared similar sentiments on her post at Bloodhound: (more…)

Interview with Cindy Lin: The Current Staging Landscape

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

I’m wondering what your day is like?
My day to day is very different. It’s like snowflakes, no 2 days are alike. On days when I am doing installations, my call time starts at 7am to pull inventory, or the night before to pack everything up. With bigger jobs I tend to rent a box truck, which means it’s extra hours to pick up and return vehicle. Typically I spend 5-8 hours on job site with 1-2 assistants. That does NOT include prep time and clean up time after we return to warehouse.

On days when I don’t have installations, I have things range from appointments to visit home owners for consultations, meeting with potential vendors, meeting realtors, networking events, to admin work like invoicing, billing, writing, researching, working on expanding my business, marketing, continue education, cleaning inventory, cataloging inventory, moving furniture, shopping for new inventory, working on current trends, reading, LOTS of things to do.

I typically work 6-7 days a week, ranging from 6-12 hours per day.

And how you feel the market is doing?
Market is market, there will be hot times and cold times, busy times and slow times. It’s cyclical, just like any business. Like ice cream truck does better in summer than winter, or coats are more popular in winter. We have ups and downs as well in real estate. The market timing depends on where you are in the country. In San Francisco bay area, the market (more…)

The Home Staging Cheat Sheet

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

I was browsing the internet today and found The Home Staging Cheat Sheet by US News & World Report that was an interview with one of my staging teacher, Barb Schwarz.

Barb listed out 6 points for sellers that can help them in a sluggish market:

  1. Get them inside (curb appeal)
  2. Pretend you are camping (clutter)
  3. Balance hard & soft surfaces
  4. Work in Ones or Threes
  5. Decide from the doorway
  6. Make your place Q-tip Clean

I want to especially highlight #1, 2, and 6. You only have ONE chance to make a great impression for your buyers, and Curb Appeal is very important. You want to give people a great impression that you have been taking care of your house. So if you see paint peeling off your exterior walls or unruly trees, it’s time to do something about it.

Do: Show a nicely maintained exterior. It gives people a great impression that you have been taking care of it and it’s nice to live in. (photo credit notnek)

Don’t: Show a haunted house (it’s only cool 1 day out of 365 days a year). A house that is ill-maintained on the outside gives people a bad feeling and impression when they first see the house. (photo credit mar52laine)

With #2, we are in the business of SELLING REAL ESTATE and that is your square (more…)