Mr. Seller why am I good enough to stage your home and give you advice, but not good enough to list it?
I am very sensitive and empathetic. I ‘feel things' about a situation that a seller might have BEFORE they tell me what is going on at a presentation. But here's a question for all future sellers out there in housing land - What do they expect of an agent and WHY?
I pride myself on being very thorough and presenting the market as it truly is - no sugarcoating for me! Languishing on the market with no action is just not my style - this Mr. Seller already had a 200 day market time with another agent from an out of the area brokerage.
But I'll continue with a couple of questions for Mr. Seller ~~
How do you think I get paid? I get paid because of knowledge and experience, both of which you have taken advantage of. Your other agent didn't even mention half your homes features on the MLS sheet. How about missing that first floor den? Did you remind him that you have a basement? But that's right; he was a ‘good guy'.
Why do you take my advice as far as the listing price of your home? Your ‘good guy' ex-agent thought you should start at xxx price even though he wasn't familiar with the suburban market. You've had $55,000 in price reductions! Yikes!
Why do you take my advice and expertise on staging your home and then list with another agent? This is the one that really irks me - the home is staged just like I asked in the MLS photos. Room by room - there are my thoughts and advice! Gosh it looks great! I'm glad I told you all that information so your current agent could take advantage of all that time! Thanks for that compliment!
I guess something must be wrong with me on how I perceive a sales position or situation. I think sales is one of the toughest professions you can indulge in but the benefits are many if you succeed. Yes, I want to succeed, just like the ‘good guy', but I want to SELL homes, not just list (well not in this case!) and stage them!
Why do people take extreme amounts of our time with questions, asking advice, planning every minutia 
and then feel no loyalty or connection to that person on which they have seemed to rely so heavily? Weren't we compadres here? Didn't you agree to list your home with me upon the premise of staging advice?
Didn't I send photos of my pewter kitchen cabinet knobs because you didn't know what to get at Lowe's? Yep, that was you!
I could have swore you wanted and needed my advice! Why would I spend hours with you and your wife talking about everything from towels to dirty appliances?
Maybe I should just become a professional stager? But wait, they expect to get paid for their advice and expertise, so that won't work!
Mr. Seller, I could have swore you wanted me to list and sell your home.
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Update 2/1/2009 This home has been on the market an additional 90+ days and has expired again. The sellers have reduced the listing priced another $25,000. I'm sure that staging the home to sell would not have cost anywhere near the $25K price reduction! This has been a hard lesson for the sellers of this home - all in total they have reduced the price $80,000. This is a classic example I feel that if they would just have taken some good solid staging advice this never would have happened to their pocketbook!
This is really just a small sampling of what is going on in the market today. I truly wish these sellers well!
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Lyn Sims (847)230-7324 at RE/MAX Suburban
I proudly serve and sell real estate in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in the communities of Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove Village, Roselle, Palatine, Medinah, Itasca, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact me immediately.
Mr. Seller, Why am I good enough to stage your home and give you advice, but not good enough to list it?©2008 Lyn Sims - RealEstateConsumerInfo.com All data and information provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. Lyn Sims makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from it's display or use.
© 2010 Lyn Sims
Alright Lyn...you need to quit talking to the same people I am.
I refuse to give any advice, until they sign on the dotted line. I have been burnt too many times before.!!!
Bill: Probably these people's relatives! LOL
Judy: Yes, that was the deal, agree to sign with me now. Well the rest is history I guess.
Lyn - now you know. One of the hardest things I have had to learn in this business is that my time is for sale and what seems so easy to me (like giving staging tips) is also a "billable" service. Your expertise can be bought by signing on the dotted line and not before. Sometimes in giving a little "taste test", we end up serving a full course meal and someone else ends up with the tip. Hard lesson to learn for sure.
I routinely respond to questions and I guess that's giving some of my services away for free. Over time my hope is to be recognized as the real estate resource in my area. I have not always gotten business because of this; however, I'll continue assisting people with their needs and business eventually does come my way. People make decisions for various reasons and I want to be the one they look for when they do decide to use a Realtor.
Alyce: Good analogy about the 'taste test' and my policy is usually that, sign and then we can begin the staging portion, etc. These people said 'yes'. They even 'assured me' that I was the realtor for them. I've been doing this awhile now and sometimes we still don't get it right. This seller just broke the camels back with me I guess.
Jon: You are correct that we want people to come to us for real estate advice, but my post was about when the seller goes over the line! I'm not advocating that we don't help people, it's just we cannot be the 'fountain of information' and not get paid for our expertise. What do you think?
Lyn, I hear you. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy when people say one thing and then do another. Hard to not take it personally especially when so much time and energy is spent and you'd swear you had a good rapport. Go figure. I guess it's just a little bump in the road but I agree, it is a real head scratcher sometimes. Sometimes people are just odd.
Thanks Alyce for the comment. This one baffles me, I was hoping after I wrote about it I would feel better but for some reason I don't. I am very loyal to all in a sales position and I just don't see how some people can just take and take informaton and then never wonder about how I work or how I get paid. Go figure, as you say it'll be a mystery.
Lyn-
It certainly appears that you have a lot of valuable expertise to share with your clients. It also appears that maybe your listing presentation or consultation should be reworked a little, so that you get them to commit to you before you spend so much time with them. You need to entice them with your expertise before you give your services for free. Once they sign the listing then you will give them a complimentary home staging service.
Best of luck.
Thanks Morgan for your advice, you are correct, I have to work on this more. They did assure me that the listing was mine, just needed time to do the work. Won't make that mistake again, live and learn as they say.
Lyn,
I'm a firm believer that we've done this to ourselves...and nothing will change until we do. As long as we provide services and advice (one of the BIGGEST values we have is in our market knowledge) for the price of a wink and a promise, we can't be surprised if that's the only compensation we get. We've done ourselves and our industry a huge disservice by offering up our 'checklists" of all the things we do to get their homes sold. Now, the consumer thinks they know the "what" that needs to be done, and all they need to do is to find out who will do it the cheapest.
it's time for a change!
Yes Judi it's time for a change! Where do I sign?
Lyn ~ As a professional stager, I've learned this same lesson too, the hard way. In the beginning I'd give realtors or their clients my "ideas" for staging their home .... and they'd often use my ideas but try to do it themselves. So now my prospective clients hear this: "if we decide to work together, included in my services is a list of items that you can take care of prior to my returning to do the staging." It's worked quite well and prevents me from regretting that I gave away too much info.
Thanks Maureen for stopping by. Good perspective from a stager that has also learned a valuable lesson about giving away too much information. I value your opinion.
Thanks Margie for adding a comment, unfortunately I deleted your comment because you put a link to your site.