Need Real Advice Please (agents, listing, fee, brokers)

[Delphi Stage & Decor]

Well im here to get as much info as possible to better assist me in the forming of what is to become the premiere stageing service...

Ok enough of the ego...lol...

Really, if anyone can mentor me in my endevors....
I am a 33 year old male that has come to grips with the fact that i have an eeye for decor...i am currently taking a Interior design course....wont advertise...... It has giving my alot of knowledge but mostly it gave me the cofidnce that this is my calling.......however... i now seek reasl life up to date info..ie,

stagers priceing...
mrketing to realestate agents/ builders
cash/investments needed\
am i required to have any lic. or permits in illinois?
etc...


Please help.......

[Silverfall]

why don't you go to Active Rain and look up some local stagers in your area or Illinois. There is tons of information on there.

Good luck!

[mainebrokerman]

id send a postcard to all the agents in your area (snail-mail) offer each of them, one free staging..why?
many stagers out there, and what better way to get exposure and network...the brokers will be recommending you personally, also, have a photo or video album, before and afters. (this could be done on the freebies)

[chet everett]

If you are in Plainfield IL you have to decide whether you are really "in touch" with the potential buyers near by or whether you might have more success in some place like Geneva or Chicago.

You do not need any license, nor do you need any real 'capital', though having access to a warehouse of furniture is nice, so if you are member of a ISID/ IDA that can be a nice plus. Money for your own promotion is always good to have too.

Staging is not something that every real estate agent sees the same way, with some willing to "outsource" the client contact to a pro that will do soup-to-nut like decluttering and cleaning and a whole house redo or colors and flooring while others want a narrow 'service' that makes every upper price listing look like a dream house that fits its intended target to a T...

You can experiment with pricing too, as some places it makes sense to charge a flat fee and never revisit, but other places it makes sense to do something on an hourly basis and come back for ongoing 'touch ups' before open houses or showing to more likely buyers. Like anything related to real estate right now, it is NOT easy to make a living by picking a number and sticking to it. If you can really add value for 10 hours at $40 dollars an hour or other places need $1000 worth of work you need to be able to size up the opportunity.

I think "giving it away" is a BAD strategy unless you do it for friends -- too many people tend to associate a 'freebie' as worth they spent on it!

A whole other strategy is to "team up" with the people that have businesses devoting to doing real high quality video/digital photos/websites to real estate agents. While spending is down on the elaborate "panorama| web sites there are TONS of just awful "instant camera" type images and they are prime targets for staging too.

Web sites that showcase PAST SUCCESS are a huge plus. If you can have banners like "sold in two weeks after being on market for 90 days pre staging" would get LOTS of believers!