I recently showed a house in a middle class area. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of a new business – Staging Open Houses. What a good deal. This idea is not new, but the lovely lady I posted added her own touch to it.

Mary’s main business is home decoration. She has a great affinity for houses, furniture, and decorations. She explained to me some of her strategies to find clients for her two affiliate businesses. She visits open houses and meets real estate agents. After explaining her business and handing out cards, she offers to tour the house and give the Agent some free tips to help make the environment more pleasant for the visitor.

Having experienced this walkthrough, I decided to look at other ways to accomplish this task without having to hire an independent consultant. I found out that you can rent furniture from rental companies and maybe it’s possible to make an arrangement with a local furniture store to borrow some furniture. This fix can help both the Agent who now shows a less than empty house and the Store, for free advertising. This is a great way to help your sales efforts while also helping you get noticed in the business community.

Real estate sales require time, connections, and serious dedication. An active Agent must look for ways to improve their sales while working on other things. I call this NET time. I try to use NET (No Extra Time) whenever I can get more than one task done both for real estate sales and being a good neighbor.