Have written about belonging to ActiveRain before, the nationwide online community of Real Estate professionals, almost 197K strong.

As a Stager, it’s a great place to be-these are some of the smartest people in the business, and the more I understand what Realtors think about and why, the better I am at my job.

About every 3rd or 4th day a Realtor writes a featured post about getting a house ready for sale: how important it is, what it entails and why. INEVITABLY agents from all corners respond, YES! OF COURSE! IMPERATIVE!!

These responses make me crazy.

OK< I admit, my inital, gut level response is why the heck are none of these vocal, pro-staging agents located in my state, or even my time zone?? 

Then-frustration. It is the same (small-ish) pool of people. Saying the same thing.

The reality is there is a big disconnect most Realtors have between Staging as a good thing in principle, vs. Staging that actually puts money in their pocket. The few and the vocal are preaching to the choir, the rest view Staging as an intellectual pursuit.

Investing time energy and some funds in putting a house’s best foot forward is something that needs to be spoken of at the first meeting, directly and confidently. You get confident about something by doing it.

I find it absolutely stunning that new agents are indoctrinated on presentation scripts, but not this.  That experienced agents take less-than-desirable listings, thinking the buyer’s agent will work the magic.  Or brokers allow dated, out of focus, under-lit and otherwise odd/unhelpful to abysmal photos be shown on their listings.  .

I understand the plethora of challenges you all face, but if you, your seller, fellow agents or agents you supervise/mentor are not getting the results you want, might it not be time to change things up a bit?

Being pro-Staging does not mean you talk about it when it is easy and the sellers are amenable. It does not mean you talk about it in the third person, as in you’ve seen it done in other homes, or on all the HGTV shows.

Instead, you need to find a local professional Stager that you like, and start the conversation BEFORE the house goes on the market. BEFORE you meet your next listing call. BEFORE you start thinking about the next/newest techno-way to bump up your business. BEFORE you plan the next price reduction.

Invest the time NOW. To that end, I am declaring December to be Start the Conversation month.

To any now-enthused Owner-Broker, Mentor, or Office Manager reading this:  Call me.

If your office is within a 25 mile radius of White Plains,  I will come to your office for a 1/2 day during the month of December and run a workshop for your INTERESTED agents, for free. REALLY.