Because we’re in February,  both Spring Market and Oscar fever are upon us, so famous movie quotes that resonate with Real Estate are a natural.

Made famous by Gloria Swanson’s portrayal of actress  Norma Desmond-“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille”  became a punchline, an elbow and a  nudge to someone who was taking themselves too seriously, living in the past, breaking from reality, even sounding delusional.  That, in itself probably sounds waaay to familiar to agents who’ve seen plenty of that in recent years, but that’s a topic for another time….

The word “Staging”: you know it. You may love it, or you may cringe-but do you know where it came from? 

40 years ago, StagedHomes.com Founder and President Barb Schwarz  was a realtor in Washington State. She was trying to get a seller to do some things pre-listing that would put the listing in a better light. Alas, the seller did not see the need.

You know when you ask someone a question, and you get an answer you don’t like, so you ask the question again, in a different way, hoping for a different answer?  Well, Barb was on her 3rd, maybe 4th try here. Looking around, she focused on some of the seller’s  ‘stuff’-namely theater memorabilia. So she took a deep breath, and asked the seller-‘well, why don’t we just STAGE it?’

NOW the seller wanted to hear more.

What must have been inspired from above, Barb went on, totally on the fly:  “Your house is the star. I’m the director, the critics and the audience are other agents and buyers.” The seller was hooked, and the rest is history!

Good theater-like good Staging-engages, inspires and elevates.  It helps us see things in a different light, and we are ultimately better for it. If it’s time to get your Westchester County house sold, have a conversation with TRH first: together, we’ll get it ready for it’s close up!

NEXT:  ‘Cruising’ for the truth….