You’re in a neighboring town running errands on a Saturday morning when you see an open house sign. You don’t have 
anyone with you today and you have nowhere else to be for an hour or two so you walk inside. The home is a FSBO and the hostess, the homeowner, looks very tired sitting next to her box of one dozen doughnuts.
The house is very sad. It’s dark and it’s vacant. All there is inside is the homeowner, a crucifix, a TV on the counter, a kitchen table and two chairs.
There are no buyers in the house and you decide you have nothing to lose so you introduce yourself to the woman and tell her you’re a home stager before asking how long the house has been on the market.
The woman says, “To tell you the truth, we’re at the end of our rope! We’ve been trying to sell for almost three years. We’ve dropped our price by more than $100,000 since then and we’ve even buried statues of St. Joseph in the yard but we still can’t even get an offer.”
How do you respond?
I’ll share my thoughts later but first, I’d like to hear what you would do in the same situation.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.
[tags] home staging, home stager, home stagers, home staging, home staging dilemma, St. Joseph statue, buried st joseph statue, staging diva[/tags]
I would empathize with the agent. Get a few more details about price, comps, location, etc. Walk through the property with her and point out the highlights, then discuss with the agent I specialize in home staging, and see if she would help me schedule a consultation with the homeowner.
I would suggest to the homeowner that perhaps I am the answer to her prayer and ask if she has heard about homestaging. While explaining the benefits of homestaging & giving her my card, I would empathize with her situation. I would also suggest to her that with a staged home she may be able to recoup some or all of her price reduction. I would then ask if she would like to schedule a consultation with me after her scheduled open house, so that there is a lower risk of interruption, and suggest a date and time for that meeting. If she was keen to do the consultation right then I would be open to that if I didn’t have anywhere to be for an hour or two.
I would ask her why she decided to sell her home without a realtor and if she has considered having her home professionally staged. Depending on her answer, which is probably that she hoped to net more money in the sale, I would tell her that I work for some wonderful realtors who have a great track record for getting homes sold quickly and profitably and who offer at least a staging consultation in their listing package. I would mention that homes sold through Realtors statistically sell for more money because of the expertise in marketing and negotiation a good Realtor brings to the table. I would also share a staging success story like the one where a homeowner (who actually did have a realtor), had his house on the market for 7 months- told me he could not GIVE it away. At the end of the listing period, he switched to a realtor who brought me in to stage the property and it sold in a week. Stories truly do communicate the power of effective staging. I would explain that staging alone, however, may not get a home sold because proper pricing and marketing are also critical. I would offer the cards of a couple reputable realtors and encourage her to at least sit down and get some advice.
I would ask the home owner if she had considered home staging? I would then tell her that I was a home stager, and that I would love to help her get her home sold, quickly and for top dollar, if she is interested, I would give her my card and have her schedule an appointment for a consultation.
Debra, the scenerio you paint is sad. Since the homeowner has opened up with some information I would try to engage her in conversation to try to find out if the house had ever been listed with an agent, if so, what were the results and why she (and her partner?) have now listed the house as a FSBO. The house is empty. Why? What are the present circumstances? I would walk through the house to see what could be done and what if anything is a major hindrance to selling the house. I would suggest the house be taken off the market and rather than drop the price $100,000 put some or all of that money into fixing up anything that needs attention plus tell her about staging and how (giving examples) that could get her home sold.
I would leave my card with her and let her know I am available to help her. I would also suggest that she relist her house with a realtor at the original listing price once the staging has been completed.
What a great find! It would be wonderful to walk into this type of situation and know that you could help! I agree with the above comments that talking with her further and finding out what her needs are, what they have already tried and what their expectations are. I would also talk to her about the benefits of home staging and let her know that I would be so happy to help her if she is open to that.
She could be a great source of referrals if she had me stage the home, it sold quickly and they got a better price. I really feel that we as home stagers can help people out of their predicaments. Whether they use a realtor or not, home staging is a way to showcase a house and let buyers connect emotionally.
Debbie Fiskum, TheHomeDecorGenie
I would gently remind her that in case she hadn’t heard, St. Joseph has been putting in some extreme overtime of late and that even the Good Lord “Helps those who help themselves!”
Of course I would admit to her that for “good measure,” I too buried a St. Joseph statute in my yard (I did!) but then I did everything else in MY POWER to help him help me! And the utmost help I could offer was by staging my own home!
I would then tell her how my staged home sold to the first buyer through and how there were 3 back up offers in waiting! I would add that there were no less than 30 other homes on the market in my neighborhood alone at that time. I would then suggest she consider helping St. Joseph help her by setting up a time that she and I could discuss in greater detail the power and effectiveness of home staging!
I would share with her my belief that, “In today’s real estate market, a home seller can’t take themselves or what they are trying to accomplish seriously until they have at least spoken to a home stager about how they can get their home sold faster and for the most money possible.”
I mean seriously folks!
Peggy, I love that
Burying St. Joseph statues ….. Well I’ve tried everything else, Feng Shui masters, hanging crystals, consulted with 3 top notch stagers from small, medium and large cities, spent over $40,000 in improvements, but in some areas home sales are slow — (dead?). The usual time frame for homes in the top 10% of the market in my area to sell is a minimum of 2 years otherwise the homes are rented or taken off the market. Will a shrine to St. Joseph in my front garden help ( or does he have to be under ground? I can substitute that for the Italian fountain. Even the enticement of including a 2 year old Mercedes didn’t do the trick — I know, it should have been a pick-up or Harley.
I totally agree with Peggy. The price reduction and staging fee would’ve been much lower than the price reduction. I would talk with the seller about staging and educate her on how she can improve her circumstances, by turning her home into a product. She can’t gain anything by feeling sorry for herself, but she gain $$$ by taking actions and seeking the help of a professional home stager and a sharp realtor. This is a good start.
Right price+home staging+ savvy marketing=success.
While burying a statue of St. Joseph certainly won’t hurt, it simply won’t help much either unless you become proactive yourself! What is an empty house saying? Nothing.
Burying a st. Jopseph statue can help if you belivie in it. Not because supernatural powers, but, because you feel that you get support from a old tradition. It might encourage you to do that extra phone call..