In 1985 when I began selling real estate, we never staged homes.  In 2008, when I left my thriving real estate practice behind in Toronto, we staged nearly every home we listed.  Over the past six years of coaching some of the most successful realtors in Canada (and a hand full of professional stagers), I’ve learned a lot about the business of staging homes from some of the very best!

Fact:  Good staging helps sell houses for more money.

Why then is it so difficult to get some sellers to agree to staging?  Is it that they don’t believe you?  Or could it be something else?  Selling Real Estate is not only about selling homes.  If it was, we wouldn’t get paid nearly as much as we do.

Selling Real Estate is about helping our clients navigate a process that is highly complex.  It involves emotions, personality types, family members, pets, nannies, multiple parties, multiple agents, strangers, sabotaged routines, security issues, privacy issues, fear, history, the future, money, legal issues, social issues….   the list is endless.

In most cases, the process matters as much as the money.  In some cases, the process matters more than the money. If the process of staging the property is too stressful for the client, and you push for staging, you’ll either loose the client or a difficult and conflicted relationship will ensue.

Help your client understand the process of selling their home.  They don’t know.  (Even if they think they do) Help them to understand what their choices are and what their choices mean. To do this well, you need patience and good communication skills: Ask powerful questions, listen intently and turn off your own internal dialogue. Once they understand the process and their choices, let them decide because they know a lot more about their lives than we do.