Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the real estate and more show. I'm your host, Michael Hatfield. Every seller wants to know what's this staging thing? Is it worth it? Who pays for it and how much does it cost? Does it do any good? To answer some of these questions? We're very fortunate this morning to have tela of Telai design, an experienced and accomplished stager and designer on the show to provide us with some important answers. Glad to have you on the show, Tella.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Thank you, Michael. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Wouldn't have it any other way. We got the best of the best here I can see this morning.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: So the name of your company is telaidesign. Not just simply telestaging. What do you see as the difference between design and staging?
[00:00:49] Speaker B: So the difference between home staging and interior design is purpose. What's the end goal in interior design? We working to enhance a space for the client own enjoyment. In home staging, the goal is to create a space that will be appealing to the largest pool of potential buyer. So it's applied differently?
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Yes. And you've done.
I have to let the listeners know that you've worked for Michael Hatfield remax team numerous times and came through with a really great product. We've sold the homes quicker and we'll get more into that in a minute. How did you ever get started in this? I know at some point in your history you were a flight attendant for a major airline and now you're into this staging deal and doing a great job at it. How'd you ever become involved?
[00:01:43] Speaker B: So I actually always loved interior design and I was fascinated by this whole real estate market. But I never wanted to be an agent.
Fast forward. Like you said, I had different career, I had different jobs, came to the US. I had to reinvent myself in a way. And a real estate agent that helped us at the time suggested that since I have such a great sense of style, maybe I should pursue a career in home staging. So I went ahead, researched the field, had my certificate, started to work gradually and I still love it. Do it for over ten years. It's a great job.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Yeah. With you and your business, I imagine that a big portion of it is working with really great people. That is such a key thing to work with wonderful agents and clients as opposed to not. And that's where we find our joy, is working with buyers and sellers in the real estate market as agents and with you, I imagine it's the same thing. Do you still love it?
[00:02:48] Speaker B: I love it. I mean, I'm so lucky. I'm a people person, and I feel like every time I have a new project, I meet new people, new stories, because my job is transforming a home to something beautiful, and the client is so happy. I can only be so lucky to say that this is my job. I love it. I really do.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: You really do. I think you probably, if you haven't been involved in a buy or sell transaction, it would be hard to understand how hard it is to stage a home for the biggest pool of potential buyers. And that's the objective. It's like Tella said a little bit earlier, is that you have to focus on the objective. And the objective is to bring to the home and have people look at a certain space and they say, oh, yeah, I can see how that's going to look. Can I buy the stager's furniture?
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Absolutely. So, like we said, there is one objective. We have one goal, and I see myself as part of your team when we go in to sell a home. Right. The seller team, your team. We're all together. We have one goal.
My job is to transform a place in a way that it will be appealing to the widest cast of people, where if more people like it, more people will come and see the house. More people will enjoy to just sit there and connect to the space and hopefully put an offer and then sell the house quickly.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: And sell the house quickly, absolutely. So there's a lot of market research that goes into staging a home. It's not just we're going to put furniture there to where we think somebody will like it. There's a lot of market research of what's going on in the market at that moment. In fact, it does change a little over time what the primary pool of buyers may want a certain home today, roughly 30, 38% of it, is going to likely have a millennial buyer in the Bay Area. So now you tend to modify your staging to what's really popular with a millennial buyer. Is that not how you see it?
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. Although there is principle in staging where we know what works, we know what pull buyer in, but we also have to adjust, like you said, with the market where it goes.
Typically, if you have a younger couple buying an older people house, you want to aim to that audience. So there is some principle that will be globally or universally appealing to every buyer that might see it, which is the goal in the end of the day, you always want to be appealing to the biggest pool of buyers, but you have to adjust with time.
And people are very savvy. They watching a lot of design shows, they have expectation, and that's why everybody needs to stage, because people are savvy. They know what to expect when they come in to see a house. And also you want to inspire them with your staging and make them feel like at home with some beautiful light and bright staging material that will be appealing to everybody.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Well, I have to tell you, Nancy and I, we can see the inspiration in your eyes when we do these. And we're just really fortunate to have you as part of our team.
It is not an easy job, folks. I'm telling you, to do a full stage job. The home has to be cleaned ahead of time. It has to be ready, it has to be coordinated. And then once it has been staged, for the appropriate buyers to come in and just fall in love with it, then there's of course, photography and a lot of other moving parts that have to take place thereafter. So a lot of it that you see online is going to be the result of the efforts from your stager. So do not think at any point that a normal transaction of selling a home would not require a stager. So tell me about tele design and why you have such a great reputation.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: I think my good reputation is thanks to mostly, obviously, professionalism. I know what I'm doing, I know what works, and it's very important to do a great job. Second will be, I would think, for me is the customer service, customer relationship. I'm very personable. I try to keep it very personal with every client of mine. And third will be my flexibility and accommodation. I know for you as a realtor and the clients, it's a very challenging time. It's a very stressful time to go through a process of selling a home. So I want to be help to you as a real estate agent and the client who themselves might go through very stressful time in selling such a big asset of their own. So I want to be helpful and that's, I think, what helps me to be appreciated, I guess.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: Absolutely. Being appreciated is a big portion of what puts that smile on our face of doing great work for great people. Interesting people need to know that a real estate agent does not take any of the money that goes to a stager, but yet is put in the position of being in control of what goes on with that listing and the preparation of the home and subsequent sale and so forth. When we associate with somebody that is a stager of Tella's ability, we're putting a lot of trust in her because we get nothing for it. But yet, if Tela didn't do a great job, then we don't do a great job. And guess what? People look at where the problems and the bumpy, the bump actually happens. So when we say that we've used this young lady and her company and her firm, we truly know that we're going to get a really hardworking firm to help us on that. So now, one of the reasons that homeowners ask, they say, why do we stage a home? Why do we take the time to do this? Is there a return in it?
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, it has been statistically proven that home staging is a great marketing tool. It's been there for a while. It stays there for a while. And like I said, a stage home will look better in online pictures, which will draw more people to your listing, to your house, to wherever you're trying to sell. And then if you have more traffic and more foot traffic, and people will come and see it, you're probably going to end up selling for more and quicker. And that's the objective. In the end of the day, you want to have as many people coming to see the property. And if you put a home that is not staged or vacant and people come and see it, they have no way for them to connect to this place. And then even worse, if you have a home that is maybe full of furniture not put correctly, it's actually taken away from whatever good asset the home has, and it's going to get you the opposite of what you want, which is selling quicker for more money.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Here's a thought. All sellers believe that their furniture is the most desirable for every potential buyer. Not so, Nancy. And I've been in this real estate representation brokerage business for a long time, and I have to tell you, the first thing that happens when I sell my house is we're going to take all of the furniture out. We're going to clean it up for our experienced realtors. I wonder who that would be. And we would have the stager bring in what will best fit the marketplace, because that's where the return on the investment is. If you just invest, I think it's like 1.3% as a national average. You're going to get back 7.3% in return. Well, here in the San Francisco Bay area, that return is going to be so much greater, so much greater. And so I know the next question, somebody's going to say, well, how much is this going to cost me? Well, Mr. Seller, probably not enough.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: It's truly such a small portion of your overall return, whatever it is, to drop in the bucket when you sell it.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: We're going to take a short break. Be right back.
[00:11:33] Speaker C: Welcome to the real estate minute with remax expert Michael Hatfield. What does an agent do to get a home sold?
[00:11:39] Speaker D: Typically, an agent will prepare a comparative market analysis so he knows the home's value, then creates a marketing plan tailored just for your home. With these plans, he promotes the home globally and locally in social media, publications, open houses, all for the purpose of getting your home front and center with prospective buyers.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: As an agent, how do you get it sold?
[00:12:00] Speaker D: Michael we do each and every item in the plan, negotiate vigorously on the client's behalf, on inspection, repairs, staging, and importantly, the deal itself. We do everything we can to get the deal done and closed.
[00:12:14] Speaker C: Call 925-32-2775 now to schedule an appointment or complimentary home analysis. For excellence in real estate, call the Michael Hatfield remax team at 925-322-7775 or go to michaelhatfieldhomes.com.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: And now back to our show.
But what about buyers that come in immediately fall in love with your home in a seller market where time is of the essence, many of these homes today limited inventory.
They're selling in a very short period of time, in a matter of days. So you want them to fall in love that you don't want them to go away thinking about it. But that's really another reason I would think when they come in there and they see Tella's great works in there and they're going to just fall in love with that house and they're going to say, hey, realtor, go ahead and.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Make our offer on this both seller or buyer market. Staging is beneficial. If it's seller market, you want to have even more people be in love with your property, then you can have even more money for your house. If it's a buyer market, obviously you're going to be in a competitive market. You want to have some kind of edge. And it's always beneficial to staging in both cases.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Absolutely. I'm going to go on an aside for a second. In marketing these properties, one of the things to consider is what your realtor does as your listing agent to market your property. And so we just don't get the staging done, the pictures done, and they go here, they go there. But some realtors really stick it out. Know? I know for the Michael Hatfield remax team, we actually cut a commercial and we put it on the air, let all of the potential people hear about the home, and then if they're interested, then they'll also be able to pick it up on one of the big brokerage websites or our site as well. So that's why it's important that when your staging is done right, your photography is done right, and what your agent does to market out there is a huge thing.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Absolutely.
As a stager, we obviously encounter a lot of different agent and we can see how everybody approach and how much work do they put in. So, like you said, the hut team is such a hard worker team. They really do more than you expect. And just above and ah, thank you.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: And incidentally, the last home that tella staged for us, it sold in two days. And you think, well, why realtors make money in two days? Well, it's because we start a month and a half, usually before the time to put it on the market, and we build and we have marketing plans that are amazing for each particular client. And anyway, the last one she did sold in two days.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Like you said, in the end, you see the end product on the market. Ready, beautiful. But there's so much work behind and before, like you mentioned. So even before I come to see the property, the house, your team will be there and advise your client.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: One of the big deals is that buyers will tend to bid higher in a multiple offer situation. If the home is staged correctly and they have the reports to look at, they know the condition of the underlying structure and systems, they're going to tend to bid a little bit higher for that property. So that's just part of the element, one of the elements that we look at as, I don't know, the team that puts it all together and relies on people like teleesign.
If a stager has great design skills, and staging transforms rooms to show off architectural features. What do you look for when you first view a home? To set it up for staging.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. So I'll come to a house. The first thing I'm looking for is like, what's the focal point? What's the great assets that the house have so I can even enhance even more? So that will be something that the buyer will see it right away.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: Yeah. One of the crazy truths of the real estate industry is that furniture arrangements and color palettes do make a huge difference, sometimes a lot of difference. And a seller shouldn't have to guess what those would be to match the pool of buyers that your real estate agents are bringing to you. So that's why it's important, much like an experienced realtor, that you have an experienced designer. And that's what I say is we put a lot of confidence and a lot of trust in dealing with our team members, in preparing a home ready for market, wouldn't you say? I mean, you don't guess on home pallets, you know.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Oh, no, I know. And we know what's proven to be successful. We know that unlike, like I mentioned before, interior design, you go and you ask your clients, what's your preference? You take into consideration his personality, taste, style.
In home staging, we shy away from it. We actually want to be more subdued and more neutral in our choices.
And we know that bright and light and larger spaces, or the appeal of a space being large, that's what we know that it sells. So we definitely know what are the design application that we need to put in order to pull more buyers.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Absolutely. That's why you're a professional in what you do. When I walk into a home, I envision what a buyer, the largest percentage of potential buyer will be looking for, and we'll see, and then we bring in the experts to make it better. When I walk through a home that we're going to take a listing for, I have some background in building homes and I look at certain things, and I pretty much know, before we call in the inspectors to look at the home, look at the pest potential and look at the roof and such, I pretty much know what it's going to be in order to make the home absolutely desirable for a potential buyer. The same is with you, with your staging. Do you have a great story that you would share regarding staging a home?
[00:18:55] Speaker B: Yes. Although it's something that happens very often, jokingly, where a client will say, oh, my God, I don't want to sell my house now because it looks so great. But I had an incident one time that a buyer truly took it very, like he was very serious about, you know what, maybe I don't want to sell it now. And eventually he did. But he was, like, posing like he really wanted to not sell the home because he said, why would I live it now? It looks great. So, yeah, we do sell a dream home. Staging is a dream of at least the concept of a dream, where it's a stage place, it's not necessarily always practical, but it looks great. It feels great. People connected to the space, and I've done my job, I guess maybe too good.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: That would be the same seller that thought that his furniture was the best ever and that would sell to every other buyer that walks through the door.
[00:19:54] Speaker B: And I keep telling people, even, like you said, even if my home is going to be on the market, there's going to be some editing to do because nobody lives. Like, it's okay that you have this oversized sectional that maybe doesn't really scale, right, but you love it and it's great. But if we want to sell a home, you want it to look great and awesome in photos.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I was going to ask you the question, what it costs to stage a home. And then I thought, you know what? I'm going to answer that the first thing a client should do is have a trusted real estate agent, a team, if you will, to represent them. The experience is going to connect that team with a stager. And my advice is to go with what they tell you. And sometimes it requires, or most times, oftentimes requires that the stager come out, take a look at the home, and then provide what they can actually stage the home for and still continue to be in business. So I'm going to answer that question. What does it cost to stage a home? Listen, hire your real estate team that you trust. Let them deal with the professionals, because we all know we're on the boots on the ground all of the time. We know what the market is doing. We know who the great stagers are, the people we can count on, the people we can trust. We know that. So I'm not going to ask you that question. So how. Maybe you can answer this one, though. A normal staging contract, it's not really that long, is it? Because you got to put all the furniture in there. Usually it's what, 30 days to 90 days, depending on what the market is doing. And you adjust in your work accordingly to the market requirements, wouldn't you say?
[00:21:43] Speaker B: Absolutely what you said? It's correct. Between 30 to 90 days. Depends on market. Depends on location. Depends.
Different aspect of the market at the time. But the contract is simple. You have your days that you can have your furniture in.
You have what going to be staged, what will it be including, and obviously pick up once the home is sold. So it's very simple.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: And it's a lot of work, though.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: People think it's such a fancy job. It's absolutely not. Maybe when I come to meet the clan, initially, I look very professional and looks good. But on the day of the job, we all like a day worker. I have my boots in the ground. We work. Nothing fancy about it, but I love it and we all love it. It's a great job to have. It's not really a job, but it is a hard work.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: It's an endeavor.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: It's an endeavor. And like I said, it's very important because every time I have a job, I'm part of a team and it feels better to be part of a team. So you, me, together, we have a goal and we want to make it. And I really take pride in that.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: Part of your team, your experienced real estate team that works together to make things happen for you. The valued client.
And I can see this with television. People ask us, why don't you have 20, 30, 50 agents working under you? I think what I'd rather do is provide a high level of quality product for our sellers and our buyers. And I can see that in you, and that's why you are a trusted.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Member of our team. Absolutely. I'm with you on that. I think it's the personal touch along with my personal relationship with you and Nancy. And it's so important for me that I want to be available all the time and keep this relationship. And to do that, you either give up quantity or quality.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah, we work together in a seller's market. We touched on this a little bit earlier. One might assume incorrectly, it is less important for a seller to expend money to stage a home. I don't agree with that. Do you? And why?
[00:24:08] Speaker B: No, it's always beneficial. It's always a good idea to stage, even in a seller market, because if you have even better looking home, you're going to have more people that want to buy it. So it's always a good thing. You don't want to be there and looking less than desirable compared to a different one who do that?
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Is it stage because people do compare. They definitely do.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: They do. They always do. And they want to be inspired. Like I said, it's easier to connect to a place when they come and they see a beautiful space. It's easier for them to envision themselves live there.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: And it's not the case in the Bay Area right now. But what about in a buyer's market? It's even more important to stage and nobody wants to spend the money because they're looking for a little more time of being on the market before the home is sold. Likely in a buyer's market. But it's so important to do this.
I can't say it enough. What are your thoughts?
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Absolutely, I'm with you on that. In a buyer market, the competition is even fiercer and you want to have the extra edge.
And we always say you only have one chance to make the great first impression and you're going out there. It's a product on the market. You want it to look as best as it can. So do it. You'll have the edge. You'll have more people looking at your property.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: What do you love most about your work?
[00:25:34] Speaker B: Other than the design aspect of it? Which I get to fulfill a dream that I have. But it's also the fact that I work in a field that I get to see and meet and different stories, different people, different teams. It's a great job. It's absolute great field to be in, I'm sure even for you, because in a way we have the same. I can see that you are a warm and loving person and it's such a great thing to have.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Thank you so very much.
I would have to agree. Great work. Tella of Tella I design, design and staging it's time now for a short break. But first, Tella, thank you for being on the show today.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Time for a short break. You've been listening to real estate and more. I'm your host, Michael Hatfield, talking about interesting people, topics of the day, and of course, real estate. You can listen to archived real estate and more shows by going to michaelhatfieldhomes.com Slash radio. That's michaelhatfieldhomes.com Slash Radio.
[00:26:45] Speaker E: The views and opinions expressed are based on current economic and market conditions and are subject to change. Information on the show provided for illustrator purposes only and does not constitute professional or legal advice. Information from sources deemed reliable, but accuracy and completeness not guaranteed. Michael Hatfield and the Michael Hatfield remax team have no liability for information discussed on the show. Consult with qualified professionals prior to taking action.
[00:27:15] Speaker F: We at the Michael Hatfield remax team enjoy representing our valued clients. If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling and wishes to schedule a complimentary appointment with the Michael Hatfield remax team, call us at 925-32-2775 that's 925-32-2775 or go to our website, michaelhatfieldhomes.com.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: I'm Michael hatfield. Thank you for listening today. Join us next Saturday for the next real estate and more when we again sharpen our focus on house the market.
[00:27:49] Speaker F: Join us next Saturday and have a wonderful week. Best wishes and blessings to you.
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