Summary
Home staging expert, Debra Gould, shares a story about a real estate agent who was given proof that home staging works in an unexpected way.
Real estate agent proven wrong by home stager
Home stager Fabia McNair of Styling Spaces received a call from a homeowner last December who was listing his home and despite the fact that his real estate agent did not feel the home needed to be staged, he called in Styling Spaces to do the job.
Founder of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program, Debra Gould says, “After being a home stager for 7 years, I can assure you what happened to Fabia in this case is common. Savvy home sellers use their own common sense even if their Realtor® isn’t a believer in staging.”
When the agent came back and saw the transformation she was “wowed” and immediately hired Styling Spaces to stage four of her other listings.
One of those listings had been on the market on and off for a year before staging and it sold that same weekend. Two of the homes sold same day and one that had been overpriced for its market sold for $15,000 over market value.
That skeptical real estate agent became a big fan of Styling Spaces and spread the word around her office leading to lots more work for Fabia.
Gould says, “This story proves you cannot depend on real estate agents for your business. Obviously the homeowner in this case had been educated about the value of staging and look at the snowball effect that followed.”
Having two very young children at home to take care of, it was quite a risk for Fabia McNair to take when she decided to quit a good job in the residential development field to start up her own home staging business full time. But it’s a risk that continues to pay off for her and her family as her company continues to grow.
Having given up a steady job, Fabia was very motivated to make her business work and put to use everything she learned in the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program into practice. She has even been mentioned in her local newspaper after giving a staging seminar to local members of the community.
Fabia writes, “The Staging Diva Program, hands down, has given me the answers I need to run my business. My class notes still guide me when I am stuck. Debra Gould is very knowledgeable about this industry and is willing to teach it. When you have spent enough time with those other courses and you are ready to get to work call The Staging Diva.”
About Staging Diva
The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. She is the president of home staging firm SixElements.com and has trained over 4000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses.
Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US and Canada including: This Old House, HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women’s Day, Reader’s Digest and more.
That’s pretty amazing that the home in the over-priced area sold for $15K over market value. I’m not surprised the seller’s real estate agent failed to see the value. Most agents aren’t really interested in investing anything more than the time it takes to shoot and upload a few photos; I think that’s is sad, not to mention a disservice to their clients. These people get paid healthy commissions when the home sells. You’d think they ought to try a little harder to earn it.