Home staging is a powerful part of the real estate industry. In fact, more than a decade ago, Forbes Magazine called home stagers the “dream weavers of the real estate world.”
I quite loved that label and quoted it in my very first website for Six Elements Inc., the home staging business I started in 2002, after profitably buying, decorating and selling 6 of my own homes.
Despite the fact that this is not a totally new industry, and it’s not hard to argue that savvy home sellers have been decorating their houses to sell faster and for more money for at least the past 25 years (I know I have!), there are still people who don’t properly understand the role of a home stager.
There are others who misrepresent that role for their own marketing reasons.
Before going into the truly bizarre claims made by San Francisco real estate broker Tara-Nicholle Nelson, I’d like you to consider her marketing motives!
Home Staging Controversy
One of the best ways to get lots of comments on a blog post (ie: attention) is to stir up controversy.
If you make crazy or misleading claims while doing it, people will flock to their own defense.
If you make wild statements masquerading as education, people who know better will comment in an effort to set the record straight.
They’ll also share your content with others and encourage them to visit and make comments too (as I did when I shared a link to the original post on my Staging Diva Facbook page).
In case you didn’t see the original post, the real estate broker was apparently trying to warn gullible home buyers not to fall for the 5 “hypnotic” techniques home stagers use. She was also clearly positioning herself (and by extension all buyer’s agents) as the home buyer’s savior in any real estate transaction.
Let’s face it, with so much real estate information on the Internet and an increasing number of buyers going the FSBO route, the real estate community has to keep reinforcing how essential their services are. They don’t want to follow the path of travel agents (another industry completely transformed by the Internet).
As a marketer I take my hat off to the broker. She did a great job of using two important and dare I say “hypnotic” triggers:
- Generating Controversy
- Creating a Common Enemy
As a home stager, I find her points totally offensive.
According to this real estate broker in her post “5 Hypnotic Home Staging Techniques and How to See Through Them”, home stagers employ these tactics to negatively manipulate buyers:
- Tiny furniture
- Camouflage and cover-ups
- Activity props you’ll never use
- Items used strictly for appearances
And my personal favorite:
- Neighborhood staging!
Yes home stagers, it seems we even have the power to get everyone on the street to collude with us to hide the fact that there are normally “cars on the lawn and screaming school kids” up and down the street!
Wow, sometimes I can’t even get my own client to repaint a bathroom, I must be doing something wrong!
I really enjoyed one of the hysterically sarcastic comments left on Facebook by home stager, Susan Pfeuffer-Powell in reaction to the claim that we use “tiny furniture”:
“I’ve been using my daughter’s American Girl doll furniture for years! Not only is it perfect in size to make those small rooms look huge, it also comes in dozen of period styles to fit the house style and target audience.”
There’s nothing wrong with a home stager’s goal being to have the home sell for as much as possible, as long as we’re not deliberately hiding real flaws.
After all, isn’t that the goal of the listing agent too?
In ANY transaction, real estate or otherwise, the seller wants to sell high and the buyer wants to buy low. It doesn’t mean unethical tactics need to be involved.
So while you may get all riled up reading the agent’s story, remember there is a marketing agenda at work. At least that’s how I see it, how about you?
Please share your thoughts below!
I’m going to be in the small majority here but I didn’t take much offense to the article. In fact, I got quite a chuckle out of it. The author shot herself in the foot with her bizarre and sometimes downright paranoid claims, and all she accomplished with publicizing her article was to call attention to the fact that she could greatly benefit from higher education in her chosen profession.
I especially got a chuckle of her claims that neighbors collude with home sellers to “neighborhood stage”. I’ve never heard tell of such a thing and the author comes off sounding paranoid to even suggest such an absurd idea. Why would the neighbors bother? What’s in it for them? Seriously.
My question would be, has this article drummed up business for her or has it served only to alienate her from potential customers due to her lack of knowledge of her own profession? My guess would be the latter.
You are spot on Kathi Howland! I think this author basically stood up in front of fellow agents, buyers and sellers and said, “Look at me! I’m not up to speed in my industry! Oh and by the way, choose me as your agent.” This author made a classic mistake in her attempt at self promotion… She attempted to build herself up by knocking someone else down. Such a classless move that backfires every time.
Excellent info! I enjoyed this post, and many of the others you’ve been putting out lately.
Thanks Dahlia, I appreciate that feedback! It’s always a bit daunting to sit down to a blank screen twice a week and come up with a topic idea and a post. So feedback and comments from readers is SO important! It helps me know if I’m on the right track with what you want to read, and often the comments give me ideas for new topics or follow up posts on a particular theme.
I didn’t bother to comment when I read this Trulia article either, because I could see how many stagers had already jumped in to defend what we do. I didn’t think 100 stagers angrily commenting was gong to accomplish anything, except to give her more attention. I agree the author sounds quite paranoid about some of our supposed tricks for disguising the flaws in houses and even neighborhoods. I agree with you her use of the word “hypnotic” is expert marketing to attract a lot of attention and reaction, but completely ridiculous!
Thanks Amy!
I thought it was just as interesting to read the comments from home sellers. Refuting many of their faulty assumptions would make a fab string of blog posts for any stager, we don’t have to respond solely by commenting on Trulia 🙂
I had similar thoughts as well when I saw and commented on this article last week. I applaud the author for the controversy, which makes fun reading and interaction. And, I agree that it was a wonderful opportunity for home stagers to defend our industry.
I was a bit surprised at how defensive the remarks were from home stagers. I was not offended, because of the major hole in the author’s logic. Here’s why:
“…As a home stager, I laughed just a little when I saw the headline [5 Hypnotic Home Staging Techniques – and How to See Through Them]. If people could look past staging, then couldn’t they just as easily look past clutter? And if they can look past clutter, why do we need to stage? 😉
…A staged home should come across as warm, inviting and spacious. I know I have NOT done my job, if it just looks staged.”
So I encourage folks to read the article, the comments and add their own. I also think these types of articles help our industry – by giving this topic a lot of attention. And, in the end, the argument that this article makes is majorly flawed and should give us all a good laugh.
Susan, I totally agree that we have not done our job well when a home looks “staged.”
I always love the assumptions that how a house looks doesn’t matter to how quickly it sells or for how much!
Our entire consumer culture is based on appearances over functionality. The average person would not be so deep in debt if they were living within their means and not trying to keep up with “The Joneses.” People would not be sitting in monster homes with upside down mortgages if they shopped with “logic” and not “emotion!”
Hi Debra,
Will you post the link to this blog? I’m interested in reading it, particularly about staging the neighborhood. It’s something I have thought about for years but the logistics and ROI in time never seemed worth it. Apparently she has uncovered something that could benefit all of us. ( I can barely type this from laughing) I’d like to see a CNSS designation established-Certified Neighborhood Staging Specialist so that home sellers can find qualified stagers in this specialized field.
Thanks for this post. It made my day!
Hi Pam, sorry the link in the story used to go straight to her article. Perhaps they took it down?
I hope you’re kidding about a new home staging credential. There are so many phony designations already, this is a completely unregulated field with no official credentials. I’ve written about this many times over the years. Here’s one example: https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/the-debate-over-home-staging-credentials-continues/
Thanks for commenting!
Hi Debra,
Yes, I was kidding, that why I mentioned that I could barely type my comment because I was laughing so hard. 😉 It was quite a strange post but the strangest was the notion that the neighborhood might be staged and would go back to being unpleasant once the house was sold. I think many of us have had the experience of staging a very nice house that is next to or very close to a house that is a nightmare but can do nothing about that. Stage a neighborhood? If only!
Hi Debria,
I found a new link to the post:
http://static.businessinsider.com/5-hypnotic-home-staging-techniques–and-how-to-see-through-them-2013-5
Thanks so much Pam, I will update my post!
I absolutely agree with the above and with Debra’s assessment that this is self-promotion, but I would like to add that its self-promotion at its worst. I did a little research on this author, and in August, 2015 she published another Trulia article that promoted staging, whether hiring a professional stager or DIY staging – so she’s being a bit hypocritical here. I wonder if she had a bad experience with a stager and is using her blog as a bully pulpit?
Thanks for commenting Monica and for the research. Much appreciated!