Communicating The Importance of Home Staging to Sellers - A Realtor's Viewpoint

Dining Room Before

                                                                               Dining Room After

I subscribe to Google Alerts for home staging articles and recently came across this article from a realtor in Sarasota, Florida named Jaimie Carrion who works for the Michael Saunders Real Estate Company. I called Jaimie and asked his permission to reprint this article.  He told me that he was definitely sold on staging and would recommend it to any home seller thinking about placing a home on the market. He does an excellent job in describing the importance of decluttering and depersonalizing a home in order to sell it and how he hopes to communicate this to his future sellers.  Jaimie is a smart realtor - he gets it - staging really can sell your home faster and for top dollar. If you are from the Sarasota, Florida area and  are looking to sell your home, please contact him for a market analysis.

"The Key to Successful Home Staging: Communication

Posted Jun 17, 2010

I recently had two of my listings professionally staged. Although these listings had very different price points, the reactions I received from the sellers were very similar. They both felt that staging was unnecessary and that it would not help sell their homes. More importantly, they were both somewhat offended at the notion that the homes needed to be decluttered and that personal items needed to be removed. In both cases, the removal of personal items, marking years of family life and full of cherished memories was emotionally painful. I failed in one of my major responsibilities as a Realtor: Communication. I failed to anticipate how these sellers would feel and failed to communicate not only the process but the importance of staging.

In the future, I will take my time to communicate and explain the benefits of staging. I will explain that removal of mementos, curios and other personal items in no way diminishes their worth. The reason family pictures and treasured collections are removed is not because they are worthless and their time has come, it is so that that prospective buyers can visualize the home as their own. I will explain that by decluttering and depersonalizing we are not suggesting that what the sellers had adorning their home was tasteless or unnecessary. We are rather clearing the palette so that prospects can visualize their own accessories and tastes in the homes.

Moving from a home can be a very emotional experience, particularly if many years have been spent in that particular residence. In many cases it marks the end of an important part of someone's life. As a Realtor, I will be more sensitive to this process and will communicate with sellers that the staging process in no way diminishes the wonderful life and memories they have accumulated in their home."

James R. Carrion, Realtor
Michael Saunders Co.
1801 Main Street
Sarasota, Fl. 34236

cell - 941-928-8892
email - JaimeCarrion@michaelsaunders.com
http://www.sarasotaarearealestate.com/