What Realtors Get Wrong About Home Staging Consultations

When you think about listing a property, scrambling to schedule a home staging consultation isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

Typically, you believe if a pre-listed property needs home staging, your first thought leaps straight to bringing in furniture, hanging wall art, placing decorative accessories around the house and making sure the property looks sparkling clean prior to showing. Nothing wrong with that. It’s a common myth among more realtors than you think.

As you keep reading, you’ll find out how a home staging consultation helps level the playing field in the real estate market for home sellers.

The biggest myth in real estate

Most real estate agents believe home staging only benefits a vacant property in need of furnishings. Unfortunately, that leaves thousands of listed properties at a disadvantage—mostly owners occupying the property during the sale.

If a home seller asked for a home staging consultation, would you know what it is exactly? Would you scratch your head and assume it means she wants estimates from a handful of home stagers to bring in furniture and decorative accessories?

When you reach out to a home staging professional to set up a consultation, do you believe it’s comparable to getting an estimate from a gardener or a house painter? 

The word “consultation” tends to mean something different for a variety of real estate agents. Usually, there’s one set of realtors believing home staging consultations act as a design/decorating session to help homeowners put a “pretty face” on the property. In some aspects that may be true. However, it’s part of a whole process that goes deeper into what buyers look for from curb appeal to the home’s interiors.

Then, there’s another set of realtors believing a home staging consultation entails a 15-minute tour through a furnished house. At the end, the homeowners get a proposal to arrange furniture and bring in additional home decor and artwork on another day and boom...the realtor gets an invoice total almost as large as a meeting with a high-powered attorney.

Realtor: Ah, fifteen minutes for that? Thanks, but no thanks.

Realtors strive for happy clients. So, you come up with a bright idea to save your client the hassle of working with a home staging professional. You suggest she declutter and clean the house. There. All done. (You dust off your jacket lapel.) You saved your client hundreds.

Wait a second. Back up. Back up.

Are you certain you helped your client save money? Are you sure your client doesn’t want a professional opinion from a trained and certified home staging professional? Are you positive you don’t need a service provider in your corner to establish your reputation as a real estate expert?

What’s right about home staging consultations

Today, most professional home stagers conduct in-person or virtual consultations for up to two hours.

Within 120 minutes, the home staging consultation guides the homeowner through aspects of marketing the house to sell at the best possible price. Homeowners learn what current buyers look for in fixtures, amenities, and home decor. The consultant also discusses areas where minor to major repairs may need to be completed in order to remove buyers’ concerns about the home’s asking price. In addition, a certified home staging consultant will point out options to save the homeowner time and money to get the most from the sale.

At the end of the consultation, the client receives tons of valuable recommendations worth thousands to her home and her bank statement. The homeseller will have enough information to work with if she decides to complete the updates and recommendations. She’ll save money with the investment in sweat equity. However, in some cases, home staging professionals offer services to help homeowners who need extra assistance with completing recommendations before property showings.

Finally, now that you know a home staging consultation serves as a beneficial way for homeowners to transition the property to look like anyone can live there, it’s another marketing tool to add to your strategy to attract more homebuyers and clients, too.