By Jay Moore
Managing Editor
Mary McKeown has been in the real estate industry for twenty-three years. She is currently an agent with the Montgomery Team, a Keller Williams franchise located in Fishers that primarily services Indianapolis, Carmel, Noblesville, and Fishers. Mary’s specialty is real estate staging.
Staging is that art of decorating a home to catch the buyer’s eye. There are a number of television shows that demonstrate real life examples of the power of staging in a real estate transaction. From landscaping to interior decorating, there are a number of subtle embellishments that can drastically increase the “curb appeal” of your property both inside as well as outside. Subtle changes in landscaping, drapery, paint, and decorations can drastically alter the ambience of a room and quickly close a sale on a property that may have been on the market for some time with little interest or help move a house that the seller needs to close on in a hurry.
Although Mary had a background in Elementary Education, she started in real estate sales and loved it. Mary discovered her talent in this niche eight years ago during a period when she owned her own real estate agency in Illinois. She subsequently took design classes and found that she was very good at that aspect of the real estate market as well.
Mary’s target market primarily consists of home sellers. Her staging services are also valuable for home owners who need someone with design talent with a mind toward the resale value of the home. For example, a couple moving into the Fishers area who may only be in a house for a three to five year period and knows they will be putting their home on the market. Painting and landscaping choices made when they move in can make the sales process smoother on down the road. Someone trying to quickly “flip” a house would also need the services of a consultant on staging.
The most effective marketing techniques that Mary has found are magnets for her vehicle and highly effective networking groups. Websites like www.themontgomeryteam.com and the MIBOR website have also provided her with exposure to clients who prefer to use the internet to research real estate and realtors. Some of Mary’s best clients for her staging consultation services are actually other realtors. It’s a specialty for which not all realtors have a talent. Brochures that highlight before and after photos of her staging skills have also been effective in gaining new clients.
The current perception of the real estate market is that it is a buyers’ market during the economic recession, so sellers need to find advantages to get the value out of their home in the sales process. Mary indicates that professionalism and presentation skills are keys to selling homes, and she also feels that being honest with her clients about the market and realistic with their expectations are important to differentiate the Montgomery Team from their competition in this economic climate. One of the values expressed on the Keller Williams website is the idea of sharing resources and experience with other agents and having Mary on their team is an advantage for the Montgomery Team.
In the future, Mary expects to launch a website for Embellishments by Mary to promote her staging skills. Client referrals are an important source for her consulting services, and always being on time, providing great work, and demonstrating knowledge of her industry will keep generating more and more referrals. For more information, please contact Mary at info@themontgomeryteam.com or call 317-750-1229.
By Jay Moore
By Deanna Mitchell