Style on Stage

By Roger Grody

Staging homes, a practice once reserved for luxury real estate, has become a proven strategy for enhancing sale performance at all price points. The National Association of Realtors® reports that staged homes sell for prices at least 6-percent higher, and spend nearly 75 percent less time on the market. While those are compelling data points for sales agents, Keller Williams Realty’s innovative Style to Design program also provides advantages to buyers that extend long past closing.

Style to Design is one of three new Keller Williams communities — KW Wealth and KW Relocation being the other two — that were introduced last year to complement existing programs. “As we push onward past COVID-driven market conditions, we’ve found agents want a greater sense of connection, empowerment and impact,” explains KW chief operating officer Sajag Patel. “Developed in partnership with our agents, communities are how we’re leaning in to best serve them in support of their business growth,” he says.

Heather Caine, an experienced, entrepreneurial luxury agent — she is the owner/ broker of Caine Luxury Team in Naples, Florida — was named community leader for the Style to Design program. With 20 years of staging and design, Caine reports, “I started my career in the construction industry, designing for contractors, and began flipping houses in my twenties when I became an agent.”

Products on an interactive design board showcase luxury living room options.

Long before Style to Design was launched nationally by Keller Williams Realty in August 2022, Caine had built a robust staging and design business to complement her real estate practice. She says of the unique skill set she has developed over the years, “I have a passion for getting sellers the most money for their properties, but also for helping buyers envision the full potential of their new homes.”

“Staging and designing were services I layered on top of my own real estate business to create an unbeatable value proposition,” explains Caine. Now with the Style to Design platform available to KW agents nationally, she is empowering them to do the same, even if they have absolutely no design experience. “I’m in a position to teach other agents how to maximize these services, and even start their own staging and design businesses,” says Caine.

In a typical sales scenario, the staging company — which may, in fact, lack serious design experience — installs its products, some being threadbare or several trends out-ofdate, and retrieves them after closing. Agents who build their own staging and designing businesses, explains Caine, can potentially sell the staged furnishings with the real estate, creating an additional revenue stream that can be particularly valuable in challenging economies.

“In a shifting market, staging and design are the only tangible assets that enhance a return on investment,” relays Caine of a philosophy articulated by Keller Williams Realty executive chairman Gary Keller. She adds, “As an agent, if you can provide these resources to the seller or buyer, you can increase the value of the home, as well as your value as an agent.”

The Style to Design platform is remarkably user-friendly, packaged into a seamless pointand-click technology that can transform even the most inexperienced agent into a fledgling interior designer. The program offers hundreds of design boards that can be applied to rooms throughout the house, and when an agent clicks on a particular item (e.g., waterfall-edge nightstands from eco-friendly West Elm), a description appears with photos, product specifications and options.

Caine and her in-house designers have already sourced thousands of products, incorporating them into alluring design themes for participating agents and consumers. “With the click of a button you can have a fully-designed home, proven to be on-trend, that will increase your return on investment,” says Caine. She reports her design team launches 13 new designs every week, reflecting up-to-the-minute style that consistently entices buyers and adds value to properties.

Also provided are renovation boards identifying specific products — elements such as countertops, backsplashes, flooring, and plumbing fixtures — that can eliminate countless hours of research and negotiations. “If a client is remodeling in preparation of putting the home on the market, these materials can be sent directly to a general contractor,” explains Caine. It is an equally valuable resource for buyers who want to make improvements before moving in, or plan to renovate the property for a quick flip. With so many applications, the versatile program certainly earns its tagline: “Style to Sell, Design to Stay.”

Style to Design’s level of detail is impressive, with some design boards dedicated to luxury table settings, even seasonal tablescapes with Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah themes. “I’ve been creating design boards for my clients for many years, and now, with an entire design team, I can share these tools with other KW agents, even those with zero design experience,” says Caine. Emphasizing these tools enhance a real estate professional’s competitive position, she suggests, “When an agent shows a prospective client she has access to these resources, she’s going to get the listing.”

Style to Design also interfaces with KW Concierge, a comprehensive suite of services developed to fully prepare one’s home for market. The staging and design efforts coordinated by Caine’s team can be complemented by KW Concierge services involving landscaping, decluttering and cleaning. Furthermore, there are customizable, technologysavvy marketing materials available through Style to Design, which not only drive consumers to participating real estate agents, but assist investors in identifying the resources essential to maximizing their profits.

Trish Leto and her husband purchased a single-family residence in Naples, a $2.6 million property listed by Caine Luxury Team. Leto, a retired nurse from New York, reports the staging of the home made it particularly attractive when house-hunting remotely, so after closing she engaged those very stagers, Style to Design professionals, to assist her in replicating that look.

“I know from experience that when you design yourself, you can make mistakes — expensive mistakes,” says Leto, who adds, “And because the house was so unique, we couldn’t just bring in our cherry furniture from New York.”

Working with Caine’s design team and using interactive Style to Design product boards, Leto was able to get the polished Florida aesthetics she desired. “Buying a home is never easy, and this eliminated a lot of stress,” says Leto.

“As agents, the most important thing we can do for consumers is to add value, and with these design resources it allows us to be a onestop shop for our clients,” states Caine. Style to Design is proving to be one of the most effective tools to create value on both sides of a real estate transaction.