Real Estate Explained

The Power of Staging: Jennifer Cook on Transforming Homes and Maximizing ROI

• Nick Bush • Season 3 • Episode 67

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In this episode of Real Estate Explained, host Nick Bush sits down with Jennifer Cook, owner of Phoenix Staging & Design, to explore the transformative power of professional home staging. Jennifer shares how staging can create emotional connections for buyers, increase a home’s value, and significantly reduce time on the market. With expert insights from her thriving staging business, she breaks down the ROI of staging, offers practical tips for sellers, and provides agents with strategies to effectively incorporate staging into their listings.

Whether you're a seller preparing your home for market, an agent aiming to elevate your client experience, or someone curious about the art and business of home staging, this episode is packed with actionable advice and insider knowledge to help you achieve real estate success.

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Speaker 1:

it's live.

Speaker 2:

You're live right now yes we're literally recording the podcast and you didn't let me read the questions ahead of time.

Speaker 1:

No, I didn't let you read the quick. Do you want to read the questions?

Speaker 2:

really quick you can, because it's too late now we are potting right now, but you can't read the questions.

Speaker 1:

I'm in here with jen cook today.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back hello, how have you been?

Speaker 1:

I'm great. I'm great. How are you good are you uh? Is daylight savings time beating you, or are you beating it?

Speaker 2:

Um, that's a great question. I feel like time is. I'm just losing completely the time. Like you know, it's like almost December now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Even though we haven't had Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And then, once December hits, it's February.

Speaker 1:

So it's just you, just it doesn't even.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, by the time anything actually happens, so are you a when do you put your Christmas lights up?

Speaker 1:

By the time anything actually happens.

Speaker 2:

So are you a? When do you put your Christmas lights up? Probably about six years ago, oh no, oh no, I haven't done Christmas lights in a really long time.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we need you to take those down every day. No, no, no, they're not up. I'm just saying I haven't put them up in six years. Oh, you don't even put them up anymore.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I need to is five now. So I feel like I've got to start doing that whole like vibe of like Christmas spirit and energy. My son was, you know, a teenager. He didn't care. And then my daughter was young enough that she didn't really care. So I have a feeling that this year I'm going to have to like actually take time.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm going to make sure, like after Thanksgiving, like the day after I'm going, to be like yo Start texting me. It's time for texting me. Like the lights, I have to dig them out of the basement. That's, I think, my biggest thing. That's okay, just tell your husband to go down. You have a teenage son, right? He?

Speaker 2:

is. He is actually um at vcu, he's a freshman at vcu, he left me this august. That's dope and um. My husband and I are no longer together oh, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

We can take that off the pot if you like us too I mean it's part of life, yeah, where it's amicable okay, I did say that and I looked at your ring finger and I was like oh, maybe okay um, I I actually have to pick up my new.

Speaker 2:

I lost my ring how did you lose it?

Speaker 1:

literally dribbling a basketball outside of my front door being somewhere, and I haven't found it. I haven't worn it for like a year that's terrible but I'm picking a new one up tomorrow mine's in a box in my nightstand. Yeah, are you going to pawn it?

Speaker 2:

Probably not. No, probably not.

Speaker 1:

All right. Well, people don't know who you are yet, so introduce yourself. Who is Jen Cook?

Speaker 2:

I'm Jennifer Cook and I'm a licensed real estate agent in Virginia and I also own a staging and design business that services Northern Virginia, dc and a little bit of Maryland, and we actually acquired another location in Maryland this August, so we're servicing the western part of Maryland now and then a couple counties in West Virginia and a couple counties in Pennsylvania.

Speaker 1:

Congratulations on the acquisition. We got to add the claps in the pod for that. I didn't know that that's big.

Speaker 2:

We haven't really been launching it or, like I haven't really announced it too publicly yet, because you know any with any transition and you know you've got to figure things out and figure out the system and things like that. So I feel like we're finally getting a cadence going with both locations and the team and everything. So 2025 is going to be an exciting year.

Speaker 1:

So I remember you were like trying to grow your team like kind of aggressively, and I see the Facebook posts like looking for, like looking for this part, looking for that part. And so now, like you're like growing, like, are you, have you grown the team to be able to handle that, or you kind of do it all at the same time?

Speaker 2:

So the company I acquired had been in business for 12 years. Oh okay, so they have people already. So there's probably going to be a little bit more cross-training occurring to kind of grow it, because it's a sister location. They're not part of Phoenix, they're staged above, they're going to stay staged above and we're going to stay Phoenix.

Speaker 1:

So it's a sister-type relationship.

Speaker 2:

The brand's a sister type relationship. The brand's a little bit different too and we want to stay true to who we are, but there's probably going to be some cross training occurring and growth that way. But yeah, tons of growth.

Speaker 1:

Well, congrats. It's a big deal. West Virginia, I hear, is blowing up also.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was really cool. One of our VIP agents in Virginia. Like a week and a half, two weeks after I acquired it, she called me up and she's like Jen, I just got a listing in West Virginia, do you know a stager? And I was like actually what county? And it was one of the counties that we serviced. So, we were able to service her in West Virginia.

Speaker 1:

Which counties do you service? Just in case someone lists, I would have to look at the list. I haven't memorized everything yet.

Speaker 2:

Cause there's, it's, it's a pretty lengthy list.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, I'm trying to learn new bags coming in 2025.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's the plan.

Speaker 1:

Um well, thanks for joining me again I wanted to bring you back because we'll have a great conversation, but also, you're a believer now.

Speaker 1:

I'm a believer now. Yes, yes, I'm a believer now. Um, because I was a big digital stager before I don't. I may have digitally staged a condo one time after you, but like now, I'm like, okay, staging is great. That listing in Woodbridge I mean, putting that whole thing together was like such a long process. My clients were like back and forth and taking, you know, a week and a half before they made the next decision that they had to make. And I walked into that property and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, it was so good. Like you're really good at your job, like genuinely.

Speaker 2:

My team is really good at their job, yeah. Well, phoenix the whole Phoenix squad.

Speaker 1:

They, like you guys, crushed it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Um and so now I don't digitally stage as much, but I'm a horrible staging initiator. I'm still like Trisha's, probably like bro you always hitting me up for this and it never follows through, because I'm just trying to get listings organized it is.

Speaker 2:

You're an agent, you're not a stager, so those conversations can be more challenging for you and they don't teach you how to have those conversations in real estate school, right, and that's why, with what we want to launch in 2025, it's been in beta for about about a year now we're trying to create listing extensions for all of our agents, because we understand that it's there's a not a disconnect, but it's a challenge for you guys, cause how can you sell something that you don't sell? I have no idea how to sell.

Speaker 1:

Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Um, and so I'm trying to figure out something that I can provide to you. So you would call me. Hey, jen, I've got a listing appointment, one, two, three banana street. I need the listing extension by next Thursday at four or whatever, right. And then we take that information, we pull it up in the MLS we we look at pictures, we look at the public record. We really have a clear understanding of what that property um looks like and has the features. And then we put together um similar to the proposals that we've sent to you. We put that together and it's built out where you have your two base packages and then all additional rooms and it's completely transparent pricing. And then we have the video and the stats and all of that. So you can use that tool to. You know, press play let your client listen to the video. Click on the link. Let your client read the stats themselves.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Look at the before and after photos on the link. Let your client read the stats themselves. Um, look at the before and after photos. I've started building out our case files, our excuse me case studies, um, of past projects that we've had. So you're showing your client right there Like you're not having to sell it. You're just like looking like dude. Look, do you want to make an extra 30 or not? Oh, that's great, I need that. Yeah, so, yeah, so that's 2025.

Speaker 2:

We want to roll that out. We've been working with a couple of our VIP agents, getting their feedback on what they like, what they don't like, and I'm really trying to just build this and it'll be a customized link to that particular property so you can just open it on your iPad or your laptop or whatever and then just walk through the document. It'll have your navigation. So, whatever kind of objection that they're coming at, I want to have it where you're like oh, okay, let's talk about it, and then you can click on that and I mean it'll be the same information over and over again and eventually you're you'll internalize it like a script and you know, but you'll have that supporting piece to show them the value, versus you trying to sell it.

Speaker 1:

Do you feel like that's a big part of the business, like you need that to happen to have more agents be able to?

Speaker 2:

sell staging yes, 100%.

Speaker 1:

Because you get business when we get business and sell you as part of it, right?

Speaker 2:

And I mean the whole point of me even having this staging company is because I want to be able to support the agents, because I think that there is a small disconnect between the staging industry and the real estate industry and we need each other to survive. And as a listing agent, it's a lot you know, and when you call me up and if there's something that I can provide to you of value to make your life easier, I know that you're going to, I'm going to become your go-to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right Cause, and then that's the relationship. The type of person that I am and so that's really what I'm trying to build this company out to be is somebody to a company that can support agents, not just be a vendor to the agent.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that makes sense. So, like, I'm sure that everyone who's you know sold a home or bought a home, um has like heard this term staging, right, um, but like, what is staging to you? Like, how do you say like, if I said what is staging, how would you explain that?

Speaker 2:

So staging, in layman's terms, is putting furniture in a house to prepare, to prepare it for the market Um, not really prepare it, but putting furniture in a house to make it look better for photos. That's not what we do, though I think that there are companies out there that are, you know, relatively inexpensive, that will put furniture in a house and you can go take a picture and put it on the market. But we really look at the property holistically, and we're looking at light fixtures, painting, flooring, the outside, is there any landscaping that's needed, and then we are bringing in the furniture. But we're also creating emotional moments, because you and I know that emotions drive offers yeah.

Speaker 2:

Not. Is that a West Elm couch right? Buyers don't care, they're not buying the couch, they're buying the house, and so we as a company really focus on bringing in those emotional moments that buyers are going to feel connected, and then that's when the offers are going to, they're going to come in.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I always say you have to sell the house twice, right, you have to sell it online and in the photos. Yes, and then you have to sell it in person and that's all emotional. And for me, selling a house to buyers, spending time in it when they wanted to list, walking through it a bunch of times, and then seeing you guys stage it and then walk in that time, it was a completely different experience. I was like, oh my gosh, they crushed Even downstairs in the basement the Scrabble board.

Speaker 2:

You got a good mix, though, because it was an occupied house which a lot of staging companies won't work with, but we are going to work. We try to work with every single client, every single property. So I think you did have a really good experience with that Woodbridge listing, because you had they were living upstairs, but then the downstairs is completely vacant.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but yeah we love our Scrabble boards. So, like, what do you feel like for a seller, for a seller who's like I'm in the listing appointment and I'm like you need to stage this house and they're, just like you know, want to sell what's the ROI? Why do that? Why is it important for sellers to stage?

Speaker 2:

So I think that One of the things that real estate agents do wrong is they separate staging from everything else. Okay, right. So when you go into a listing appointment and you're looking at the property, you're like okay, I got to prepare this for the market, I've got to. You know the paint? They've got red paint on the wall.

Speaker 1:

The China red paint was the major hell yeah.

Speaker 2:

Or like the dishwasher is hanging off and it's not connected to the countertops or something Right, yeah. Or like the dishwasher is hanging off and it's not connected to the countertops, or something Right. And so the agent goes in and they talk about paint, they talk about flooring, they talk about all those things, and then, after all those things are done, then they're like oh hey, by the way, I think you should stage it.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think that happens, though Sorry to cut you off. Because, like in that situation excuse me, because we're not always selling vacant homes, right? No-transcript know so.

Speaker 2:

So like I'm trying to figure out how to, how to make them feel like it's important you know, yeah, um, so my process that I do with them is I'm going to pull up comps online and I'm going to go through the images, right, like I pre-plan it. I want them to see what I want them to see and I ask them clearly, like how do you compare your house to this one? What do you like? What do you see different? They're like, oh well, they've got like really pretty furniture and they've got pretty artwork or whatever the case may be, or I don't, I don't have lamps on my side tables or something.

Speaker 2:

I asked them to identify what they're missing. Um, and then I asked them you know, do you want your house to look the way that it is when we go on the market, or would you like your house to look like something like this? And you know, if they're kind of hesitant, I'm like, okay, remember, this one sold in three days, sold 5% over, asking whatever, and I just keep referencing what I want them to focus on. And then, when they stop and we walk around their house, they're like oh yeah, my house doesn't look anything like what sold quickly and for more money, and so I just keep going back to that. And then my favorite phrase is do you want to do it fast or do you want to do it right?

Speaker 1:

Oh, I'm going to steal that. That's good yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because I tell them I'm like, you know you have options, you can. You know we can list your house fast. We can get it on the market. I got a for sale sign in my trunk right now. I can put it up, you know, but you're going to leave money on the table. Or do you want to slow down that process? Do you want properly prepare your house for the market and really capitalize and maximize the hidden equity that you have?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, it's funny because there are people that are like you know, today's Wednesday I want to be on the market on Friday and I'm like chill, let me market your home, right. We got to get photos, we got to do a video, potentially like let's go come in soon in the MLS and uh, staging is definitely part of that and and I walk through homes all the time I'm like man, it should be staged, you know. Or I'm with my buyers and like so you saw my house that I was trying to sell.

Speaker 1:

That was totally unstaged and only digitally staged and I bought a stage, which is a good point so I should have known like that's where I think I wanted to stage that home, but I think we ran out of money on the renovation and then, like, looking back, I was like we didn't even do like the greatest renovation in here, so we just did the entire thing wrong, right, and I'm a real estate agent, so that shouldn't have even happened. Well it's because you didn't have me to tell your partner in that Right.

Speaker 1:

And uh, so, like, so, like for a buyer right, Like what, what do you? What happens with the buyer? Like, what do you think happens on the buyer side when the house is not staged?

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, and that's the other thing. When I started the company and I started hiring stagers, we would actually drive to houses and I would walk through the house. We still do this today. It's a training that we do. I would pretend as if I was the buyer and I would dance around the house or make comments about things like you got to make it fun.

Speaker 2:

Um and the. Eventually the stagers realized like it's not necessarily always about the couch, cause they were so focused on. Do the pillows match, the artwork and those things are important, but it's the experience that that buyer's going to have when they walk through that house. That's what we're looking for. And so when buyers walk through a house that's not staged, it's cold, it's sterile. Yeah, sometimes it has a weird echo in it. Mine did. Sometimes it has like weird smells or fragrances because the house isn't vacant. You know it's vacant and there's nothing there to kind of like absorb those smells. There's always that oh, is my bed going to fit in this room? Where would I put the TV at? You know there's so many questions sometimes when buyers walk through the house and you, we, you and I know that buyers are making that to do list in their head. They're making that list of what am I going to do here? Will this work? And the houses that buyers move forward with are the houses that they can walk out that door with no questions.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of people also kind of make the decision at the door. Right, because what I tell people is like look, it's outside of any sales training to tell you to be emotional about this home purchase.

Speaker 1:

Um, and we do have to check the boxes but, the reality of the situation is you're going to walk into a house and you're going to kind of know right away that's right, um, if it's the one or not. But if you walk in and you're like, oh, it feels good in here and then, and then there's nothing else in the house and you and, and it's like it's almost like exposed and vacant and bare. It doesn't allow the buyer to continue that emotional connection with the house but when it's staged, it adds a vibe, it continues the vibe.

Speaker 1:

So I've definitely seen the difference. Of a house that I'm just like, oh, this is still in the market because it's not staged, and clients ask me, like why do you think this is sitting? And I'm like, well, it's not staged, so it doesn't show. Well, you know. Um, I have always been curious, though, cause you mentioned TV in there why, why do stagers not stage so like the, the floor plan to where you will watch TV? Like what's that all about?

Speaker 2:

So it's all about the flow right.

Speaker 2:

And, um, you don't want to walk into a room and walk directly into the back of a couch. Yeah, because that's going to make the room feel small. You know, and that's one of the exercises that we do as a company when we do our trainings is we want to teach the designers that we have on staff to walk through the house as if they're walking and they're trying to identify features that buyers would really love or features that we want to. Well, not features, but maybe things of that we don't want to hide but distract the buyers with, like, if there's maybe some I don't know damage on the wall or something over here, well, let's put the artwork over on this side, so that way their eyes go. This way you can still see the damage, but we're not going to highlight the damage.

Speaker 2:

Um, and so it's just, it's all about an experience. You want rooms to feel big, you want them to feel open, um, you want the buyers to be able to walk through the room, and if you're creating obstacles for them, that's going to make it feel closed in, it's going to make it feel choppy and that sort of thing. So that's why there's a lot of psychological aspect behind staging. That I don't think a lot of people realize that really great staging companies understand.

Speaker 1:

Isn't that interesting, though, because the way you would stage something is not necessarily the way you would live in it. But it's weird because you would think that the way you live in a house is the best way to stage it, also to show that off. I got the cough. It's crazy. I'm drinking water.

Speaker 2:

Is it my perfume? I feel like it's me. No, no.

Speaker 1:

I was actually a little sick last week and I'm not sick anymore, so I'm not contagious. But my wife was sick all last week and then I was staying away from her Like I slept on the couch a little bit and I thought I was clean. I thought I was clean and then on Monday the cold just like walked me down. And then all last week I was just like sick.

Speaker 2:

I was sick for like three weeks. That's miserable. Recently I was like in bed for a whole week. I couldn't get out of bed. It's like the worst sinus infection of my life.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I always get a sore throat when I get sick too, and then I have to go get the like go to the. I was just like I need some drugs.

Speaker 2:

So then I go to the.

Speaker 1:

I went to urgent care because I was just like, give me a. Z-pak or give me some amoxicillin, and they always want to do the strep test and I'm just let it happen. So you have in your presentation um, like numbers of, like ROI. Do you know those numbers off the top of your head?

Speaker 2:

I mean, on average, our days on market is about 10.2. Um, it's been a little bit harder with the market that we're in right now and because we've also started going into luxury market. So we're doing a lot of the spec homes in McLean which it's it's. It's a wild ride but very exciting. So our stats are starting to not look as great as they have been in the past.

Speaker 1:

So those houses sit on the market, exactly I mean when you're four or $5 million you're not going to sell in 30 days. Yeah, so so I?

Speaker 2:

They're not going to sell in 30 days. So I need to start to now track my numbers and break that up to divide the luxury market that we're staging in and then just like the resale market, that's really interesting stats too, you know, like in a luxury market, this is the impact of staging.

Speaker 1:

I feel, like everyone in the luxury market, would understand the power of staging. That's what I would assume, but maybe it's not like that, but I think you had some stats before.

Speaker 2:

It's like the typical ROI on staging is like 7%.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so 7% to 13% is what our. I spit that out all the time.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's about 7% to 13%, but it does depend on price range and location. Yeah, so up in the Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church Reston, those types of areas, the ROI sometimes are crazy what our clients are seeing Like they spend $4,600 and they sell for 153,000 over asking in four days. Right, when you get into like the lower counties or lower cities, like Springfield, Burke, Woodbridge, those you know, the numbers are a little bit lower where they're still flying off the market four days maybe 30, 40,000 over asking and that investment is probably about $3,000.

Speaker 1:

And is that? Is that like a price point thing, or what do you think the difference is between those two? Yeah, it's definitely a price point thing.

Speaker 2:

I think inside the Beltway, from what we see, houses that are properly prepared for the market are selling significantly more because they're being listed at one one or one two, and then the houses that are down in the Woodbridge area. You're looking at four or 500,000. So it's, it's statistically, it's about the same percentage, right, but like, number wise it's a lot more.

Speaker 1:

So we all know like kitchens and bathrooms, right?

Speaker 2:

Sell houses absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And I think floors are very important.

Speaker 2:

And.

Speaker 1:

I think paint is so important.

Speaker 2:

People miss on paint all the time it's a no brainer, and I love when a seller's like oh well, I don't want to pick a color that the buyer's not going to like, so I'll just let them paint. Yeah, no, the buyer doesn't want to paint.

Speaker 1:

They don't want your house and the buyer doesn't want to paint. Paint is such a big problem. It's expensive to paint, it can be very expensive to paint and it's a major project. Right, it's like, well, I'm going to paint and people just want to move their furniture in day one and then figure it out afterwards. That's right. And leaving that as a chore to a buyer because you know they are going to pay eventually, it's like that's not the right move. Like they don't want to do all of that. They just put, you know, 5% down on the house. Like now you're going to make them spend another $7,000 to get the ugly, you know China red off your walls Not to pick on. Like, let's pick on China red. Actually, when we moved in our house, we bought our house we had like yellow, like almost the color of the light.

Speaker 2:

So that yellow kind of tone, the antique-y yellow.

Speaker 1:

And we had to paint right away and like we picked City Loft, so I know you like that color. I like that color a lot too, but then we repainted the walls a different color eventually, so like we had to spend money to just like neutralize the house.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

And then we were like okay, now let's personalize, like these rooms, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because at the end of the day, right Like our job when we're preparing a house for the market, it's our job to appeal to as many buyers as possible. And are there buyers out there that want to paint? Yes, but that's not as many as possible, like, that's not the majority. And if you're trying to sell your house fast for the most amount of money, you need to appeal to as many buyers as possible to get in that multiple offer situation. And that's like paint, paint and lighting. No more boob lights, please get rid of the boob lights.

Speaker 1:

Oh, you hate a boob light. I hate boob lights. Yeah, you hate the boob lights.

Speaker 2:

Oh, they're so 1980s, 1990s. Get rid of them. You can go on Amazon. On amazon they've got multi-pack of led low profile lights.

Speaker 1:

For like 60 bucks you get like six of them I think it's really hard to get rid of the boob lights. I think picking like a light fixture is like so hard I mean, you don't do it every day you can miss like bad on a light fixture yeah, like I don't have taste for that.

Speaker 2:

You know, like some things I'm like oh, I have taste for that, but like well, you have me, so you do have so yeah, I'm gonna be like hey, I just was working with uh agent last night at like nine o'clock at night picking out light fixtures for her listing coming up yeah yeah, they're gonna be shipped today to her.

Speaker 1:

So, like, what are the most important um rooms to stage? Because kitchen and bathroom sell houses. Right, but you don't. You stage those but like that's not the main focus, right, it's like living room, bedrooms, basement, what is important, what's not important. If I was a seller and I'm picking an a la carte menu, what's your suggestion?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a great question. So you can do a la carte, but you have to also be careful because, remember, it's not necessarily just about staging the room, it's about creating an experience for that buyer.

Speaker 2:

So we like to have our base package is the entryway one living space dining space, one bathroom and then the kitchen area, okay, and then from there the next level up would be adding the primary bedroom and either, if they have an en suite, doing that one, if not, then just a second bathroom somewhere in the house, and then everything from there I feel like is extra and it should be kind of determined on the price point of the house, right? So if your house is 500, six, 700,000, doing our, our heart of the homes package is significant, like that will be enough, right? But if you're talking your house is 8,000 square feet, you've got to do more, or it's just going to look funny because just one of the two of the rooms are staged, um, and so we can do offices, nurseries, gyms, movie rooms.

Speaker 1:

The nursery is always like the nicely like. I like to see a nice stage nursery.

Speaker 2:

It makes an impact. Some staging companies refuse to do them.

Speaker 1:

Why.

Speaker 2:

Because not everyone can have kids. I don't understand that I understand it. Yeah, but I think sometimes we're trying to appeal to the majority, though, right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I just feel like sometimes I mean, and I feel like this is a problem like in society overall, just in general, like we're trying to appeal to everyone, that's right, and so then it's just like it doesn't. It's like not the highest and best use, like if this room should be a nursery, right, like, just make it a nursery. And if the couple that comes in and they can't have kids, I'm sorry for that. Right, but like. Hopefully they're not offended. Right, but like, but like they also shouldn't be offended because a stager made a decision for like a product, like what?

Speaker 2:

else. This is my opinion. It's like if the rooms are awkward, right, that's like the only time that we're ever going to stage a nursery is if it's a really small bedroom exactly right and so we have to show and and it's never like, oh, it only should be a. I'll give the agent and the seller the option. We can do an office.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because the office is like the other. We can do an office right An office is really safe right now because people work from home.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly, oh my gosh. During COVID we were doing like two and three offices in a house.

Speaker 2:

It was. That was very interesting. I remember I had an agent who was like the house had like five bedrooms and he's like can I make two of them offices? Yeah, yeah, cause that's what you want, I'll do it. Um, but yeah, so if the room's really small, we should stage it it should always be staged. Or if you have a weird bump out or a weird window and you don't really, if you stand in the room and you're kind of like confused at where to put things, that room needs to be a staged room.

Speaker 1:

So so my wife and I we're like started to look at houses in Fredericksburg and we're not we, we, I have to use this year's tax return to be able to buy next year Um, and so we're not even like ready to like February, march.

Speaker 1:

But we walked into a house and it's like nice and open, but like the kitchen it's like you know, living room, island, kitchen cabinets, vibes, and so like fridge and cabinets, and then there's this little like the bump out. It goes like this and around, and then the dining room's over there and we're just like so it's like boom, boom, boom, like a wall and then a back wall, and then the dining room's over there and I'm just like what would we do with this space right here? And that's what I thought. I thought like bar cart or um, I'm glad you said that because I like to know that I, you know, I got a little staging juice. Then, no, um, bar cart. Or like coffee, yeah, I thought like mixed, uh, like a dual, like coffee station with like the wine fridge bar cart station, but my wife doesn't like bar carts.

Speaker 1:

She thinks it's like tag.

Speaker 2:

She thinks like this is some old school, like 1970s if you're, if you're not, if you go old school, it can be, but there are some really unique things out there nowadays that you can repurpose into something like that. That actually looks nice that's a nice piece of furniture and it's not like that little metal like carriage thing um. So I mean, just go online and like pinterest is your best friend oh, I have so many.

Speaker 2:

Pinterest is the best so, yeah, pinterest, sponsor us. Yeah, um, but yeah, I, I would do like some type of coffee bar, like we do that all the time when there's like a weird nook in the kitchen dining room area.

Speaker 1:

We'll do a lot of like using that um as an example of what to do yeah with the space I um I think that uh like, so like I'm a very mid, I'm a very modern person. Like you know, bachelor pad you saw my kitchen um, like no handles, like I really like that vibe, um, so I like the modern look. My wife is very like mid-century modern. That's like her vibe and I think that those styles marry each other. Yeah Right, those kind of mix together, right. But you're a stager and I walk into houses and sometimes I'm like I think this is the wrong furniture for this house, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then I also notice stagers who have their own kind of style. You know, are you a stager that you have your own? Well, first, what is your favorite style, right? And then, are you a stager that kind of stages, everything from that like vantage point, or are you like in a house? Yeah, this is what this house needs.

Speaker 2:

So I.

Speaker 1:

Because you have to build inventory.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my vibe is more like Scandinavian.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Um, I like the like whitewashed oak hardwood floors white, bright, airy, soft but that is not popular in this area, so we don't have anything like that. But I'm getting ready to like revamp my entire house. I'm very excited. But I think there are companies out there that they have their brand, they have their look and that's great and they have their clientele, that they great and they have, you know, their clientele, that they that they work with and they're very niche.

Speaker 2:

Um, what I'm trying to build and what I am building is something that can service everyone. Um and so, because you and I know, not every house is the same, not every budget is the same, not every client is the same, I try to keep an inventory. That's more of a transitional style where the main pieces the couch, the sofas, the tables, things like that can be used in multiple different areas of style and then we can bring in accent pieces that kind of lean it more ways than the other, because I mean, unless the house is super, super, like contemporary or something like that, we want to appeal to as many buyers as possible and not everybody likes that style.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I don't want to just carry one style stock of furniture in my company. I want to make sure that we can kind of have this transitional type of inventory where we can service every style, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

And I know you have like a super, like a huge warehouse.

Speaker 2:

That was not huge, but you have a lot of stuff in there, though it's packed.

Speaker 1:

I remember you explained it to me one time. I need you to explain it again, so like we can clip it out and you can let people know how real you are about this, how serious you are about this. What does that warehouse look like?

Speaker 2:

Oh, my gosh, Okay, so it's 1,800 square feet in Woodbridge, 21-foot ceilings, we've got an office that's probably like 9x9 office and that's where we pack our vignettes, because that's the only area that has an AC unit. I put an AC wall unit in there, yeah, um, and so we'll like design in that room and pack our bins. Now when you walk out of that area, you have our bay with their couches. We store our couches vertically, okay, on dollies so we can roll them around and get them out of our way when we're trying to move around.

Speaker 2:

Smart, so that's like our like. The bay area is like our, our dolly couch area. And then when you go into the back of the warehouse, because it's like shotgun style, um, to the right of it is like a little bump out, because it's like office bump out area and then bathroom and then another bump out, bump in. I guess you would say Um, and so the first little cove is where our accessories are, and so we have Husky shelves lined around and we have these little like carts that the designers go shopping and they pull their accessories, they put on their cart and then they go back in the office.

Speaker 1:

Designers go shopping.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they go shopping in the warehouse um, and so sometimes they'll design in the warehouse, but for the most part, if it's super hot they'll go back in the office and then then you have the bathroom and then you have in the back is where arts and rug section is, and in the arts and rug section I had somebody come in and built platforms. Where it's there's a platform of a bunch of big art and then a smaller platform that's where our smaller art and then another platform that's where all of our lamps are pre bend right.

Speaker 2:

So they're all tagged and bend and categorized for our software and then up top is kind of like the, where things go to die.

Speaker 1:

And like.

Speaker 2:

Like if something needs to be fixed, we put it up there, cause we're going to fix it eventually or something, or if it's maybe not on trend now, but I know that it's a recurring trend and it'll come back. I don't want to get rid of it. We'll just like kind of store it in like our junk area. And then the rugs we have like this I don't even know what to call it it's like wall, like this walled out thing, where you like put the rug in and so they stand up, yeah, um. And then above that we have our mattresses. We're trying to phase out the blow-up mattresses, um, and get more like actual mattresses so we have twin mattresses that I inherited.

Speaker 2:

Um, I bought a bunch of stuff from airbnb from airbnb and so we have a bunch of twin mattresses that we use. But we've also started we network with other staging companies across the nation and they have this like foldable mattress and things. So we're starting to phase out the blow up mattress is very proud of. I'm very excited for that. Um, so we keep all that stuff up there above the rugs On the far side of the warehouse. We have bought built platforms also, so you have like a like a row of platforms and then aisle and then a row of platforms that way and that's where all of our chairs and tables and dressers, console tables, things like that. And then up top it's there's a pretty big like not it's not a mezzanine, but it's close to that. And then up top it's there's a pretty big like not it's not a mezzanine, but it's close to that.

Speaker 1:

She's a mezzanine in the warehouse, guys.

Speaker 2:

No, it's close to that. It's not really a mezzanine per the fire marshal.

Speaker 1:

It's not a mezzanine not a mezzanine in the warehouse guys.

Speaker 2:

And so we have one of those like rolling ladders that you climb up and you can walk around and we stack things up on top of there and then on the very back wall is our pillow wall and that was fun, trying to figure out how to store all of our pillows. We got like the cheap, like $40 shelving units from Walmart and stack them and like zip tie them to the wall, cause the wall it used to be a auto shop or something and they had like drilled a bunch of holes in like the back of the wall. It used to be a um auto shop or something and they had like drilled a bunch of holes in like the back of the wall.

Speaker 2:

So we've like zip tied to like hold the shelves up there, and so I mean it's probably like the pillow wall probably goes about 18 feet in the air and so you have to have a ladder to even get to the top pillows, um, and then we have our, our um, kids section um, which is like a bunch of toys and stuff in bins that's on rolling racks so we can move it around when we need to. And then we have, like, our bedding um is on racks, on rollers, so we move that around. So it's, it's a tight space we have. I don't know the numbers right now. I think we have like four or five spec homes out and I had to buy probably 75% of the furniture to fill the house.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

So I'm very nervous on when they start coming back where we're going to put all this stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

In Maryland they have a 3000 square foot warehouse so they have more room up there, yeah, to move around. So I would love our leases up in May in Virginia and I would love to be able to get into like a 3,500 square foot warehouse. That would be amazing.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's a good problem to have, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I uh, I wanted you to do that right, because you've explained it to me before, but I think it's it's grown bigger since, like I think you have more stuff since the last time you explained it to me and I just think that it's important for people to like understand, like this is what you do, like you're legit, like you have a real staging company, like you're really passionate about this Like you explain the store. You're like in this section we have the mattresses and then we have the mattresses and then we have the kids sections.

Speaker 1:

Right, like you. Like this is not, and we don't disparage anybody, right? But this is not. Like I have a public storage yes, and like I pop in there to like grab stuff I started there.

Speaker 2:

No, you you know, I started from my garage and then I went from the garage to one storage unit, to three storage units, to five storage units, to seven storage units, and then I was like why the hell? The seven storage units is kind of dope though, because, like, everything was very I'm a little OCD, so everything was very organized. The warehouse it's a little, it's just too small, but yeah. So, um, but at seven units I was like why am I like we need? We didn't have electrical outlets. You know like I'm like we're growing, we need to get an actual warehouse. It was a logistical nightmare to get things in and out of the storage unit and now we just back the truck up to the door. It's super easy.

Speaker 1:

Um, and you know but yeah, I mean it's growth, dennis, and I thought about um shout out to Dennis. He's here as my camera guy. You know he's been with me in 10 years.

Speaker 2:

We doing it bro.

Speaker 1:

I have to talk to Dennis like this because he told me if I go away from the camera he can't hear me. But Dennis and I thought about like getting a storage unit and making that the podcast studio.

Speaker 2:

You wouldn't be able to plug anything up.

Speaker 1:

And you just said that, which is why I was like yeah.

Speaker 2:

That was my biggest thing because, like, we couldn't really see things. So I bought these, like these little tiny lights that we could like hook on the, because our storage unit had like chicken wire for the ceiling, and so that we could like hook on the, because our storage unit had like chicken wire for the ceiling, and so we'd like hook our lights up to be able to see. But then, like, as we've grown and you know, we've gotten like power tools and vacuums, because we also, like, we've just started doing like what we're calling the red carpet treatment. So when we enter a house, we roll out red carpets that we can actually carry our stuff in and put it down without having to remove our shoes. But we want to be very respectful if there's new floors or if it was just cleaned or whatever the case may be. Um, so we've started getting like vacuums and Swiffer mops, and so when we leave the house.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, a hundred percent. So when we leave the house, we're going to clean up on our way out the door, and so, as I started wanting to implement these extra, these extra services to really, you know, make sure that we're delivering a really great product, I'm like how do we charge anything? So then it was like I take it home, I charge it, then I forget it at home and then I have to bring it back. And I was like this is just too much. Let's get a warehouse.

Speaker 2:

So, I want to own one. One day I'll own one you will.

Speaker 1:

You're crushing, you're buying like markets basically right now. So it's only a matter of time. So I'm gonna get you out of here on trends, right and dennis, throw out some trends, like if you have some trends, because I have a few, but I'm gonna run out, and then if you have any trends, you throw them out too. Um, and feel free to give an explanation on any of these, any of these things, um, I feel like I'm on the hot seat right now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, A little bit a little bit.

Speaker 1:

So uh, shoes in the house or no shoes in the house.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, no shoes in the house.

Speaker 1:

Why.

Speaker 2:

You walk around outside walking on God knows what, and then you walk into your house with the shoes on, like take the shoes off at the door. Okay, um, not just when you're like showing houses or seeing houses, but also in your house with the shoes on, like take the shoes off at the door, okay, um, not just when you're like showing houses or seeing houses, but also in your house big light or little light person what do you mean?

Speaker 1:

are you a lamp person or you put the big light on in the house?

Speaker 2:

both both yeah, I think it depends on the time of day and what you're doing. You should always have lamps always have lamps always have lamps in your house, okay color drenching or no color drenching?

Speaker 1:

I don't know do you know what color drenching is?

Speaker 2:

like, like with the paint doing like the whole room. So I okay, so I'm doing this.

Speaker 2:

This project in fairfax she wants to paint like her entire office, like a four screen, like ceiling floor, trim windows, everything I know it looks great on like pinterest yeah, right like it looks good on pinterest, but like we don't live the way pinterest looks, yeah, and I think it can be beautiful when done right, but I don't think the average person can do it right okay, so it's like I want to say yes, but like, realistically, it's hard to pull off.

Speaker 1:

Agreed Engineer hardwood floors or on the main level, or a luxury vinyl plank on the main level.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm scared to answer this one. Um, I think it depends right, Because I have engineer hardwood floors on my house, on my main level. I have lvp in my basement. Um, I'm so mad that they discontinued the floor so I can't run it. I wanted to do the bedrooms with the same flooring but they discontinued it, and so I'm probably just going to do carpet, because I cannot do mix match flooring yeah um, that's my biggest thing.

Speaker 2:

Like, if you're going to do laminate, like you can get a really good laminate these days, like not the cheapy plastic stuff, like you need to spend five, six dollars per square foot on a good laminate. Don't go get something that's a dollar or three dollars like that it's garbage. But there are flooring out there. I just did a project in reston. We did laminate floors and I'm pretty sure you would be like, oh damn damn, these are really great floors but they were expensive. But hardwood floors can be damaged, right.

Speaker 1:

So LVP or engineer hardwood floors on the main level.

Speaker 2:

I think it depends on the person. You got to give us one. You got to give us one we respect you.

Speaker 1:

We respect everyone In my house engineer hardwood floors.

Speaker 2:

If somebody has got dogs and pets and kids and life, I think lvp is is fine as long as you go with a high luxury, high-end product are white cabinets over or they're still here? See, now you're hurting, you're like this is so hard because, professionally, white cabinets sell houses, because it's easy, they're bright, they're clear, they're clean. They appeal to a lot of buyers. I hate white cabinets.

Speaker 2:

Okay, my my cabinets are like my, my cabinets in my house are like a sea foam green cabinet and they're beautiful. And every time I walk into my kitchen with my granite countertops I just Love it, right yeah. No white cabinets, but when you're selling houses, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, House, what Home? Outside clothes on the bed or no. Outside clothes on the bed no outside clothes on the bed.

Speaker 2:

I say that to my daughter all the time. She's like mommy, can I get in your bed? I'm like you need to go put on some other clothes or some other jammies. She's like no, you can't get in my bed. You have to wash the whole day off of you before you get in your bed.

Speaker 1:

This is why we're cool, because you answered all those questions pretty much right. Except I'm an in-the-house shoes person. I respect people, like I grew up in annandale right, I grew up in annandale, so I have a lot of friends culturally who was like you're not about to wear shoes in my house and I respect it. But every time I go in someone's house and they don't let me wear their shoes, I'm a little upset, um, and I'm just like, bro, let me keep my because my shoes are part of my fit and so now when I take my shoes off, I'm less swaggy than I was when I left the house. You know, I understand and agree with all the reasons why you should take your shoes off.

Speaker 2:

You could just wear like bring an extra pair that are clean and put those on when you get into the house.

Speaker 1:

I think that. I think that you know, you should just provide me with some booties so I can take my shoes off.

Speaker 2:

You would be okay. I would do that. I love when I'm at an open house and they put the booties on and then they walk outside and they walk back in. Oh my gosh. And then they walk outside and they walk back in.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I'm like you defeated the purpose, yeah.

Speaker 2:

My thing is you don't sweep and mop your own house, do you?

Speaker 1:

We hire a cleaner. I sweep like day to day, but we hire a cleaner.

Speaker 2:

I can't hire cleaners because they don't.

Speaker 1:

Clean well enough.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and so my thing is my family comes over for dinners. I like to host, I love hosting and some of my family members do not remove their shoes, even though I've asked them multiple times for multiple years, and then when they leave I can see the dirt, the leaves and everything all over my floor and then I've got to clean again. So it's more of like a cleanliness, not really like a cultural thing.

Speaker 2:

It's just like and then I have my daughter, like she likes to drop food on the floor and pick it up and eat it, right? So it's like, please don't walk around your house, my house, with your shoes on, because you're tracking in outside, in. So Okay. More like a cleanliness thing.

Speaker 1:

I feel it. I feel it All right. Well, let's get you out of here. Where can the people find you? How can they contact you? How can they, you know, get the information on staging that you provide? Any last words also, you know you want to drive.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean just slow down the process of getting your house ready for the market and properly prepare it for the market and don't do paint flooring and then later on talk about staging like talk about it all together at one time, Like that is part of market preparation. And as far as getting a hold of us, I have to look at my phone because we have a new phone number and I have not memorized it. My phone because we have a new phone number and I have not memorized it yet.

Speaker 1:

We have an 800 number. Isn't that wild? That's big time, guys getting an 800 number.

Speaker 2:

By the way, while she's looking for that, I want you to know she judged us for this when we came in, as I expected her to do.

Speaker 1:

What is this, though? They had it in here. We're just using the accessories, what's available to us, you know?

Speaker 2:

It's like one of those things. No, nothing like that. I didn't say that.

Speaker 1:

That was creative. She's just like what's going on here, you know.

Speaker 2:

It's not? Yeah, it's fine, I'm going to send you a list. I've got some ideas. I'll send you a list. So, since looking for Maryland, west Virginia or Pennsylvania, you press 1., and then DC and Virginia, you press 2. So that number is 877-898-0703. Cool, and you can find us on social media Stage with Phoenix and then Staged Above.

Speaker 1:

This is Jennifer Cook. We out Thanks. Thanks for joining us.

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Nick Bush

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