At Home In Chandler

                       Illustration provided by Jim Frazier 

The James Frazier School of Magical Home Staging is now open to qualified individuals who are desirous of improving their communication skills and becoming the gurus of home staging (as if there were such a thing!).... 

First year students will receive classroom materials via correspondence.  Per the Head Master, himself, a questionnaire of 20 questions will be delivered to your door weekly.  Each week a messenger will retrieve your answers and grade them accordingly.

Your instructors include the Head Master himself and your existing clients.  Potential clients will also have the opportunity to ask you questions about your home staging service.  Such questions include:

1. What is home staging?
2. Can you name ten reasons why a home seller should stage their home?
3. How will a property benefit from your services?
4. How do you charge?
5. What's the difference between a bid and a consultation?
6. Where do you get your furniture?
7. How long have you been in business?
8. Are you licensed and insured?
9. What is your style?
10. How long does it take?
11. What sets you apart from other stagers?
12. Why should I hire you?
13. When can you get the work done?

When you are able to answer these questions poetically and proficiently, you will then graduate to a Second Year Student here at James Frazier School of Magical Home Staging.  During your second term, you will learn:

1. How to say "No" to the clients that you don't have time for (politely).
2. How to wave your wand and make everyone happy!
3. The difference between a light cleaning and staging.
4. How to give a thought-provoking 15 second speech about what it is you do.
5. How to define home staging is 5 words or less
6. How to pack a 3,000sq.ft. house into an SUV with two children and a dog already in it.

Third Year Students at the James Frazier School of Magical Home Staging will go out into the world of home sellers and Real Estate Professionals and complete the following list each week for one year:

• 5 Written Consultations
• 4 Vacant Home Bids
• 3 Real Estate Office Presentations
• 2 Vacant Home Stagings
• 1 More Trip to Starbucks on any given day

When you have completed the above tasks, you will have the following home staging experience in which you have earned "official bragging rights".

• 260 Written Consultations
• 208 Vacant Home Bids
• 156 Real Estate Office Presentations
• 104 Vacant Home Stagings
• 52 More Trips to Starbucks

Congratulations, you are now a 4th Year Student at the James Frazier School of Magical Home Staging.  It is during the weeks ahead that you will receive your "real" magic wand,  broom stick (for improved transportation) and a profit in your business dealings. You will now be responsible for training our first year students and expected to continue the same rigorous schedule as the 3rd year protege.

I know this sounds tongue-in-cheek, but if you really think about it - the time you've invested in your home staging business is like attending school.  Each year, success comes to us in different ways.  The first year, we learn to communicate with our clients and sell our services with confidence.  The second year, we reap the rewards of our efforts and get more into the art of home staging.  The third year is a hard year for home stagers because of expectations. This is the year that your name is known in the industry and referrals are calling.  There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to complete everything.  Isn't this what staging is all about? 

As Kathleen Garvey so eloquently stated, "Staging really is a power to be reckoned with and in many ways, it is MAGIC.  Magic from the creative minds of the clever professionals who understand the power of 'beauty'."

While stagers may not be magicians, what we do is magical and by doing so - we do make a measurable difference in the way houses are SOLD!