How To Stage A House with Adriana Torres

• 0:03 - 0:32
Welcome back everyone to another episode of the real Authority show. I'm your host Rick Harrison. And this week we're going to be speaking with Adriano Torres of stage in a maze a local staging company down here in Fort Myers, Florida and she's going to be sharing with us some tips for homeowners to decorate and or stage your home to sell. So that's coming right up after this Welcome to the Real authorities.

• 0:33 - 0:58
I'm your host Rick Harrison and every week with the help of thought leaders and authorities in just about every industry will explore The Human Experience to show you how to take your life to the next level and live with purpose whether it's mastering your body and mind Building Wealth and relationships or making overwhelming task symbol. There's something for everyone and you won't believe how close you already are to achieving that next level. It's just on the other side of the river for the show.

• 1:03 - 1:32
Joining us everyone for this weeks episode with Audrey. And as far as the stage and amazed we have a really great show planned for you where she's going to be sharing some awesome tips and advice on decorating your home as well as staging it to sell and we're going to cover some different topics as far as you know is home staging worth it. It really has become popular this last couple last couple of years. What else? You know, how does she pick her different themes and colors things like that? And then, you know some.

• 1:32 - 1:50
Using don'ts of home staging so I really hope you guys are going to have some some great information coming at you today and welcome to the show. Thanks for for stopping by and sharing some of your knowledge with us. Hi rig. Thank you for inviting me. This is very exciting.

• 1:52 - 2:17
Yeah, so, you know, we obviously I came by one of your showing one of your staging your homes and your staging a couple weeks ago and really got to see the process firsthand and also, you know took a look at your warehouse and you mentioned about where you came from and where you started with your business and how much you've grown and it was really awesome to see that whole process that day.

• 2:18 - 2:28
Thank you. I'm glad you got to join us and get to know a little bit more about what we do on a daily basis on how things work out. So awesome.

• 2:29 - 2:59
Yeah, so, you know, I'm hoping that we're going to have some really great advice and information for our audience today. And I know you're going to provide that I saw you got your work is amazing incredible. And I know you were mentioning before the show that that place that I came and looked at that day sold within two days for a full price offer with multiple offers. So that's amazing and it just goes to speak to you know, how well you did with it. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Alright.

• 2:59 - 3:29
Mission really is to help homeowners and Realtors and investors sell those properties in the quickest possible time for the most amount of from of money. So there's really some incredible value in home staging. So yeah, it's a tool. It's a marketing tool that these days is a non-negotiable almost marketing option just because those properties that show the best.

• 3:29 - 3:59
Most are the ones who are going to sell faster. So it's an investment for sure, right? Yeah, before we even get into all the questions I have for you today. Can you just give us a an overview of your company? I know I know your story already, but just so our viewers know where you started and kind of how you grew to where you are today. Absolutely. Well State enemy started nine and a half nine and a half years ago. I can't believe it's been that long. It started really out of Ash.

• 3:59 - 4:29
And from decorating and helping people. I used to be a TV addict not anymore so much because I'm just so busy, but that's really kind of what put in me the desire of going into home saving back. Then I had been out of work for a couple of years to stay with my my little girl on when I was time to get back into the workforce. I decided to try something on my own.

• 4:29 - 4:59
Own and I gave it a shot to saving and it's been an incredible ride. It was not an AP beginning. It was some we started back when the economy was still very down. So a lot of Realtors would say well, why do we need to say chances if they're selling in the condition? They're in short sales foreclosures destroyed or none destroyed so they didn't see the value in stating and on one of the market turned we were here for them. So I think it's you know, it's it's it's it's been an incredible.

• 4:59 - 5:29
Arnie from ups and downs. Definitely what TV shows show regarding staging is not really what goes behind the scenes like you experience and put it with your own eyes. There's a lot of sweat and planning and work involved to make sure that each house makes you know, the best possible that we come up with the best possible design. So nine and a half years later. Okay. We started in action.

• 5:29 - 5:58
My mom's garage during all the little accessories and pillows. We started renting some Furnishings. We stay that way for a while and then we decided it was time to start buying our own Furnishings just to give it that, you know better look to all of our designs and it has been the best business decision we've ever made to then our company has definitely grown and taken off and right now we're Team of.

• 5:59 - 6:15
People so we are very proud to say we're one of the beauty saving teams in Southwest Florida so we can get to your savings quickly. We have our own Furnishing. Sorry going to design so it's been an incredible, right?

• 6:16 - 6:46
Yeah. No, I know you guys have an awesome crew got to meet with them that day too and and just for our viewers. I do have a put together a montage video of that entire day that I will be showing at the end of the show so you can see where they started with the house and kind of where they where they started with the warehouse first and then go into the house where it's completely empty brand-new Remodel and by the end it was I think it only took four hours or so five hours and the place looked in.

• 6:46 - 7:16
Double it's amazing how much it changed but I had to have a clip of that for you guys. And I know you guys are out of Fort Myers, but what where else do you do staging like? What what is your Market? We serve any and be area between Punta Gorda. Actually we go sometimes to Sarasota all the way to Marco Island. So I would say 70% of our business is concentrated Within.

• 7:16 - 7:46
You keep call for Myers Naples. But we do have those locational clients that asked us to go all the way up to her soda or down to Marco's. So we're very flexible. Okay, awesome. What what just to start getting into the process a little bit. What is your process? Like like, I guess you know for a homeowner might be a obviously a little bit different than somebody who's running the business doing staging but what would be the basic steps?

• 7:46 - 8:16
Of the home staging process like do you start with the you know, the actual house to start with the neighborhood where it's located and compare it to other houses or you know, what is that process like so the process starts first of all with this baby estimate, so normally either the homeowner or the realtor will reach out to us. We have systems in place that allow us to turn around an estimate within a day or two.

• 8:16 - 8:46
Even without seeing the property which saves a lot of time on our clients appreciate that versus having to set up a time to meet at the property first for turn around an estimate. So that's something that our planks value a lot. So first is the estimate then we come to preview the house and that's a key process in the overall design process for say just because that is where we get some key information about.

• 8:46 - 9:16
Neighborhood definitely take a look at the house for e-collar story the finishing flooring cabinets the space in each room. We need to make sure that each room. We've assigned makes sense in terms not only make a beautiful room, but that it makes sense in terms of layout the scale of the Furnishings. So that that potential buyers will actually feel attracted to the home. So.

• 9:16 - 9:46
So that happens during our preview. Once the previous completed our design team start creating the design and and pulling the pieces from our inventory that will go into these home. And then once this is done will come stating day will load the truck will head out to the property and stall and then the houses is assigned to all this process can take about a week. We normally are able to quick.

• 9:46 - 10:16
To quickly get to the houses that we staged from from the time of client context of for the initial estimate to the time we stayed a house can be about five to seven days. That's that's actually pretty quick turnaround time though with considering, you know, trying to figure out exactly what's going to make that house pop and stand out to actually exactly yeah, and there's a lot of logistics involved in that. Sometimes we have to order Furnishings. We have to assemble the I mean you got.

• 10:16 - 10:46
Experience on the that it's a move every time we stayed a house is like moving. So yeah five to seven business days is what we try to go for in terms of turn around and that's also something that our client value, you know, the a lot right now with the with the whole staging process. I know a lot of our viewers are probably wondering, you know is staging worth the investment. And do you have any data or stories or you know?

• 10:46 - 11:16
Districts that can support the you know, the investment that homeowners would be making absolutely like I mentioned in the beginning of the show these days I think people are starting to realize that investment in staging is not anymore and expense It's actually an investment that's going to bring a high return return because you're going to sell quicker and for more money. So when you realize on when you start adding up how much money you.

• 11:16 - 11:46
It would save in for example HOA fees if it's in a community and maintenance expenses property taxes all these expenses that start adding up over a period of time. Let's say if you hold that property for eight months to a year versus selling it in two weeks. That's a lot of money that you're going to save. So definitely there is value in staging and we are thankful that clients are starting to realize. Yes. It's going to cost me some money out of.

• 11:46 - 11:53
Pocket but in the long term, I'm going to save a lot and actually make more because I'm going to sell for a higher price.

• 11:54 - 11:59
Yeah, I know it that's something a lot of homeowners never really think about is you know.

• 12:00 - 12:30
They even though they don't think they're spending anything extra because it's sitting on the market you are because you're paying for all that stuff the whole time, you know, it's sitting there and that stuff adds up very quickly, you know, you got a mortgage on it, you know, all those fees and you got the utilities you're still paying for all that stuff. That's a pretty quickly. Absolutely and another thing we tell our clients and our Realtors as well. If every time you make a price reduction you're looking at at least five to ten.

• 12:30 - 13:00
And the investment in Saving is going to be less than that. So why reducing the price when you can actually invest in staging and sell for a higher price, so it's almost like a no-brainer and we have multiple and multiple success stories. And I know you found us on Instagram. We try to keep our presence and social media and we try to share with our clients on followers are success stories because they are so valuable.

• 13:00 - 13:30
Many homes, I mean one that I can think of was listed for two years two years with different realtors in was about to expire and the realtor called me and she's desperate. I don't know what else to do. It's going to expire. I'm not going to get it again. It's been listed with me for a year prior to me with another realtor for another year. What do we do? Well, the house was very very plain. There was nothing wrong.

• 13:30 - 13:58
So the captain excellent condition had been recently painted new carpet. It was just very name and lacked of any any wow factor. We staged it. It's cold. I believe in two weeks under two weeks. I mean it was it was amazing. So the owner said why didn't I do this before I could have saved so much money, but you know, it happened so stories like that we hear all the time. So that's why there's so much value in seating.

• 13:59 - 14:28
Yeah, and yeah, and as you mentioned yeah, I did find them. I found stage in a maze on Instagram. I couldn't help but notice I you know, I was looking up different staging companies online and their Instagram really stands out. It's there. The pictures are incredible. They're professionally done. But the staging is just gorgeous and you have a chance to check out their Instagram definitely look at it. It's worth worth it look and that brings me into the kind of my next question was you know,.

• 14:29 - 14:53
With the home staging is it an all-or-nothing thing? Like do you have to get the whole house stage or can you do just one room? Or you know, how does that work? So normally we recommend our clients to Stage the high impact areas, which would be living dining breakfast area. If there is a separate family room any areas where.

• 14:54 - 15:16
The Hat the family would spend the most time in the house as well as the master bedroom. So those are the areas that in our opinion and from our experience work out best in terms of creating that emotional connection with potential buyers as well as keeping the seller on budget and term for feeding investment. So.

• 15:18 - 15:48
Those are the areas that we focus on however, there are some cases where there is a particular room that is of concern because it might be very large and buyers can see what to do in the room or it might be very small and rooms that are empty look actually smaller than when they're furnished. So those key, you know, those concern areas of concern we recommend staging that's in my case by case basis or sometimes.

• 15:48 - 16:17
For example, the property has a gorgeous Lanai area with a water view that's definitely worth how highlighting so that potential buyers would come out sit down have a look and really visualize themselves living there. So in those cases we recommend saving those areas and that's something that we will recommend once we preview the home if we see there is an area that definitely would benefit from saying we'll make that recommendation, but for the most part is going to be your.

• 16:18 - 16:47
High impact areas plus master bedroom. Okay. Now when it comes to staging those different rooms, how do you or even even the house itself? How do you choose your your color themes and your I guess your furniture Styles and all that stuff and I guess what kinds of colors and Furniture. Do you recommend a homeowner used to take us to make their home stand out how that is based.

• 16:48 - 17:17
Tan each homes, the sign style colors of finishing a lot of the homes that we see in this area have a very Mediterranean look which is hard to neutralize but very effective ones on one. It's done, right? So in that case, we can't really bring modern Furnishings. For example, it has to go along with the overall design and color theme.

• 17:18 - 17:47
Of that particular home on the other hand, for example, the newer construction homes or new build homes. They allow us to go in a more flexible direction. We can go coastal we can go modern we can go more transitional. So it's really going to depend on each how their finishes your colors their tile the neighborhood. We try to Target our designs to each specific.

• 17:48 - 18:16
Or Hood because that's going to to bring us a higher chance of selling it faster. For example, if it's a community where there's a lot of families, we will try to Define that house with with that particular buyer in mind. Whereas if it's a 65 plus Community. It's probably more on the traditional side. Their lifestyle is different. So that's going to be reflected on our savings.

• 18:17 - 18:47
Okay with the I guess with those kinds of suggestions, do you have some tips or some advice for homeowners to maybe do some staging on their own and a little bit more affordable way or you know, if they want to try it out and just decorate absolutely. So for those owners who live in their home and we'll be living in their home one day. The house is for sale first and foremost.

• 18:47 - 19:17
Something or recommendation is decluttering we get so used to living the way we live that sometimes we can no longer see our house with a different set of ice. So decluttering removing the excess Furnishings on the personal pictures dated Furnishings a lot of times, you know, I run into a lot of clients and say well that's my grandma favorite shared in the in the family room like.

• 19:18 - 19:47
Yes, but it might not be the time to show it while you're selling it. You can move it to a storage or you know, another plays so start decluttering and start taking out excess Furnishings. Remember that the way we staged to live and Stage to sell are two different things. So number one would be that the cluttering number two would be taken care of any maintenance.

• 19:47 - 20:16
Issues that might come up during an inspection. So why giving potential buyers a reason to to race and a concern when you can take care of those issues ahead of time so that would be anything with the you know, the electrical heating AC systems of the home paint. That's also something that's that's kind of lifted within the repair maintenance /.

• 20:18 - 20:46
Section of missing the home. So making sure that your pain is neutral that if you have any colors that are your particular preference, but not necessarily the markets preference. Let's neutralize those ahead of time because that could be a to walk away and it's something simple that some people can do it on your own on their own or hire somebody.

• 20:47 - 21:17
Faith is not expensive compared to the benefits that it brings. Another tip would be making sure that the layout of the room is a it's appropriate and in that case that's when some homeowners sometimes run into a little bit of a challenge because they don't have that design. I so that's when the the opinion of a home saving expert is very valuable because creating the right flow.

• 21:17 - 21:47
To each room is crucial to make sure that the house looks looks great. So I think those sorts of you know, some some tips to get started at least into getting a property ready and then they can also think about adding some nice pillows on couches or maybe neutralizing bedding. We find that white bedding Works wondered so.

• 21:47 - 22:17
So it's not expensive and it totally transforms the way a bedroom can look so those are just quick little tips that homeowners comes up. We Implement on their own. Okay. Now when you say neutralize I know that can kind of be confusing for some people sometimes what what kinds of colors are you talking about? When you say neutralizing does it have to be your Gray's and like beiges and stuff or can you can you add a little color like a turquoise or light blue?

• 22:18 - 22:47
You can definitely use those on your accent. I would not recommend doing big Accents in terms of color of the walls. So the reason is that it's a very particular those fun colors are very persons taste and the core. So if we if we had a really bold color on a wall that might be a little bit of yeah, I'm not sure for some buyers, but.

• 22:47 - 23:16
We add some accents with pillows or some accessories or art art is an excellent way of adding color to a room. You have to be sometimes careful with the kind of art that you pick it has to be neutral in terms of not sending a specific message or for buyers that might take it as an offense or might misunderstand it but art is a great way of adding a pop of color and.

• 23:17 - 23:47
When I talk about neutralizing is trying to create a design that will appeal to the most number of buyers when they walk into that home. So when we have for example a theme that was very popular several years ago was the Tommy Bahama very popular here in Florida these days that look is not in anymore and it's very heavy and it's hard.

• 23:47 - 24:12
A neutral life. So so there are ways that we can we can do to neutralize her to tone it down a little bit. But sometimes it requires swapping some Furnishings not all of it, but replacing for example dining room chairs or artwork for sure. That's a big way of neutralizing. Okay. So I guess my my Tommy Bahama living room is out of date then.

• 24:17 - 24:46
All right. Well, I think that's the majority of my questions at least, you know for this for this episode. Maybe we can get into depth in another episode. But do you have anything else that you'd like to add? No, I think we've covered quite a good amount of information and I think the videos that you took are really going to be helpful in you know, and letting people see what the process of saving is. I'm really what we go through on a daily basis. So feel free to reach out to.

• 24:47 - 25:16
To us. If you have any questions, if you need any design help if your house is not selling that's probably the number one reason why we get phone calls is my house is not selling and I'm not sure why so yeah, give us a call. All right, and I'm putting the put the your website at the bottom of the screen for people to see but for those who are just listening, it's www dot stage and amazed.com. They have some really great.

• 25:17 - 25:46
Sources, I know they're in the middle of redoing the website right now, but there still are some really great resources specially in the blog section. You can get some more information definitely check out their Instagram page. It's worth looking at for sure. It's just a gorgeous page plenty of beautiful pictures and examples of see what they do. And then I do have a couple resources that I'm going to add to the description on YouTube and.

• 25:47 - 26:17
For those listening you can go to my website my podcast section, which is 765 list team.com / podcast and you'll get some resources for staging one of their not my resources ressa. I know audrina's familiar with them. They have a Consumer's Guide to home staging so that'll give you some help if you need it. And then Pinterest I know Pinterest is something a lot of people.

• 26:17 - 26:46
Use to just get some inspiration some ideas. So that's something you can check out as well. But I'm going to play a clip for you guys and I hope you guys will join me next week for my next show, but I will play a clip for you guys of the day that I spent with Adriana out of her her staging of a brand new remodeled home that was flipped and sold within two days full price multiple offers. And as you look at the video, you can definitely see why so that's coming up but.

• 26:47 - 27:11
Adriano I want to thank you again for sharing your wisdom with us and our viewers and appreciate your time. I know you're a busy woman. So I think absolutely thank you Rick. It was a pleasure and thank you for spending time with us that day. It was absolutely worth it and we look forward to working with you and helping anybody who needs a state in hand. Absolutely.

• 27:12 - 27:27
All right, and I'll include your information in the description as well, obviously, so anybody who's looking for more information or wants to reach out you can reach out right to Stage an amazing red, right outside Rihanna. All right. Thank you. Alright, thank you. You're welcome.