Staging MUST HAVES for Agents
Let’s be honest, the odds are pretty high that your local market is saturated with real estate agents. People love the idea of working for themselves and having a flexible schedule. Not to mention, all of the new reality shows that romanticize the profession all together! & If you’re a full time agent… odds are you probably just laughed when you read the words “flexible schedule” lol. It takes a LOT to be an amazing, full service agent - working at odd hours, always on your phone & constantly trying to find the best possible way to market your properties for your sellers. It’s non - stop! Am I right?
If you are a full service agent that’s always looking for new ways to serve your clients better, you’ve come to the right place!
In a sea of real estate licenses, only a few reaaaally have what it takes to provide that top notch service that people are looking for. & if you’re trying to stand out within that group of agents, staging your LIVED IN listings is going to do exactly that! Did 1 million questions just pop into your head about how on earth you would go about that? That’s because it’s fairly uncommon and most agents don’t think to or don’t think it’s even an option to stage their listings that still have their sellers living in them. Let me tell you - IT’S AN OPTION. In fact, I have built my entire business around listings just like this!
So, if you want to set yourself apart from other agents, look no further than staging your listings that your sellers are LIVING in.
There’s a few ways I help real estate agents get to this point where they are staging their lived in listings:
“How can a staging consultation help me to stand out in my listing presentation?”
Do you ever have listings that you know they need to de-clutter and make some changes but you don’t want to hurt their feelings and potentially your relationship with them? Do you ever look at a home and know it could be presented better but just aren’t sure how to confidently get there? Are you aware that your listings photos ARE a reflection of you and your marketing? What if you could say during your listing presentation, “When you choose me as your realtor, you get a full staging report from a professional home stager showing you exactly what to do to ensure you get top dollar. There’s NO guesswork on what to do to get market ready when you work with me!”. A staging consultation can solve ALL of these problems and much much more!
When you book a staging consultation AND have your own staging inventory, you just solved two major pain points for your sellers.
Problem 1: Your seller doesn’t really know what to do to get market ready. It’s insanely hard to see your home in a different light when you’ve lived in it awhile!
Solution: A staging consultation! Give them a report from a professional home stager telling them exactly what they need to do before picture day. I offer these virtually & can help you no matter where you are!
Problem 2: The seller has done everything on the staging report but could use a few extra items to really take their home to the next level.
Solution: You carry a small inventory of accessories that can be used in your listings!
As a home stager, do I offer accessory rental packages? Yes. As a home stager, do I believe agents could really set themselves apart by also carrying a staging inventory? YES X 1000.
So, lets talk about what you should have in your staging inventory that would help your sellers the most!
Disclosure: The links within this post are called affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and the family behind it!
Large Flower Pots for the Front Door
You always want to draw the eye to the front door! One of the best ways to do this is to add a large pot with flowers up by the front door. Emphasis on LARGE, ya’ll. Small pots and plants will get “lost” in the grand scheme of things and turn into visual clutter in your photos. Try to find a pot that is at least 16” in height. Below are some examples. You can also sometimes find these in the outdoor section at Walmart & some grocery stores!
Wayfair.com
2. Large Art
Properly sized art is something a LOT of houses lack - which is an opportunity for you to really save the day! The number one offender I see - THE FIREPLACE. Knowing how to properly decorate a fireplace is a skill a lot of people struggle with and on top of that, decorating the fireplace so it photographs well is a whole other beast. If you were to have an inventory with large art that you can lean on their fireplace for a better photo, you will make ALL the difference. Here are just a few examples:
3. Lots & Lots of Plants!
Aim to have greenery in every room - plants bring lots of life! Just make sure you are finding faux plants that have good reviews and are of a good size. Here are a few examples:
From Left to Right:
Amazon: Artificial Bird of Paradise Plant 6 Ft Tall Fake Banana Leaf Plant
Amazon: Briful Small Fake Plant 13" Artificial Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant Faux
Amazon: Briful Fake Snake Plant 16" Faux Potted Plant Artificial Snake Plant
Amazon: Artificial Fiddle Leaf Tree, 6ft Faux Plant Fake Ficus Lyrata Silk Trees with White Planter
4. Pillows - All Different Sizes!
Find a brand of pillow inserts + pillow cases that you like and buy them in multiple different sizes! 24X24, 20X20, 18X18, 12X20 - with multiple of each size. Pillows can elevate the look in the master bedroom, lighten up a dark couch and help tie in a color scheme for a cohesive look. In short, they have a big impact! In fact, I wrote an entire article on How to Stage Your Master Bedroom that will give you a lot of extra info on using pillows in a bedroom setting. Here is my favorite brand on Amazon that has LOTS of various sizes, colors and styles:
Favorite brand on Amazon: Miulee
5. Lamps - The Real MVP
Find lamps that are at least 23” in height so they photograph well! You will need these for bedrooms, end tables & console tables. Always have at least a set of 2 in which ever style you select!
6. Accessories That Sell
Cutting boards for the kitchen, baskets to consolidate the color of toys or office items, books for bookshelves, simple table top decor - all things that will help to sell your listing! The most important thing to remember is that each piece needs to either be larger than about the size of a basketball on it’s own or be able to be easily paired up with other pieces so that together they are that size. Here are some examples:
From Left to Right, Top to Bottom
Having access to these items and being able to give your sellers a clear path forward will be a very obvious advantage of working with you! People love to have their problems solved and they love to feel like they are getting a top notch service - so lets give the people what they want!
Do I have you convinced to start getting staging consultations and a small accessory inventory yet!?
I hope so! It will truly set you apart from the crowd and allow you to provide an elevated service to your clients!
If you are looking for some more ideas on inventory, check out my Amazon Storefront!
Ready to get a staging consultation for your lived'-in listing?
Book through my Etsy Shop or fill out this form with your project details & any questions and I will get back to you ASAP.
