This week two separate home sellers told me their Real Estate agents had told them to offer a Buyer's Agent incentive instead of getting their home staged.
Why would a home seller automatically give up a percentage of their profits to a Buyer's agent?
- Would it make the home more salable to the home buyer if the buyers agent received more money?
- Would the home be more attractive if the buyers agent received more money?
- Will the buyer's agent be able to talk a potential buyer into a home they didn't like the first time?
- Would the home suddenly be more appealing if the buyer's agent is making more money?
- How much more is it going to be $1000, $5000, $10,000?
- If the Real Estate agent is wanting you to offer incentives, why not offer Home Staging instead?
Food For Thought
Wouldn't you rather your house show well than take the chance of it sitting on the market another few months without selling? What will your options be then? You'll be out more mortgage payments, insurance, maintenance costs, and any fees associated with your home. Most people are paying for two homes now, the one they live in and a vacant one for sale somewhere else.
Home Staging is probably not going to cost you as much as the incentive will cost. It may cost a few hundred dollars or a few thousand, depending on what is done. Even if it's a few thousand, chances are it will sell much more rapidly staged than vacant. A redesign can cost a few hundred dollars. It's all about having that edge and selling your home faster and for more profit in a down market. Take a look at MLS photos do you find vacant homes appealing? Do you find homes that are not staged appealing? I doubt it. You probably don't even want to look at those houses and neither will potential buyer's.
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Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Home Staging & Redesign Specialist in Houston, Staging Your House To Sell By Professional Home Stagers! Our goal is to provide solutions to getting your home sold for top dollar in the most cost effective way!
Contact Cindy today for a Home Staging Consultation. Please visit our website for more information. We also have a location for the Houston Bay Area League City Home Staging.
Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.
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Redesign Etc. of Houston is a Full-Service real estate staging company. We stage vacant, occupied, builders specs, condos, townhomes, vacation rentals and commercial property. We offer furniture & accessory rentals at competitive rates. Insured & Incorporated with the State of TX.
Owner, Cindy Bryant has earned the RESA-PROTM designation, holding professional home stagers to the highest industry standards, ethics, integrity and proficiency in staging techniques while protecting Homeowners and Real Estate Agents.
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Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.
I'm with your thoughts on this one Cindy, put the money towards the Staging. Happy Easter to you.
Gary-It's good to hear that from a Realtor. Have a great Easter too!
I never thought that offering buyer's agents incentives made any sense.
This is getting back on my "high Horse" again about Fiduciary Responsibility.
It's the agents responsibility to do the best they can for the buyer or seller ( depending on who they represent)
There is no responsibility for the agent to make more money.
Can you see yourself sitting at the closing table, as a seller, and the buyer finds out that your "bribed him" into selling your home.
Stay out of court by staging your home and getting it sold.
Virginia-I personally don't think a buyer can be talked into buying a house they don't want. So why offer an incentive, it doesn't make sense to me.
Virginia, well it's not about coercing someone into buying. A buyer won't buy if it's not the right house for them. Ask any buyer that and they'll tell you. And buyer's agents will tell you. They can tell when someone loves a home and when they don't and doesn't matter what the incentives, if it's not right for them they don't bite.
Its a matter of numbers...we as listing agents are on a quest to get the most people through the property as possible AND sometimes incentives do that, it depends on the market and the competition. Would staging be effective use of that money, absolutely, but it's not quite as black and white as you think. And I would be offering the incentives after staging.
This seems like a very gray area and the word "bribe" came to mind immediately-not "incentive". Desperate times require desperate measures, and I suppose some sellers are desperate enough to try everything they can to get their house sold, as Terrylynn points out. But a house has to show well to sell so staging always seems to be the better investment.
Terrylynn-I agree, incentives after staging not before.
Pam-Some people are in somewhat of a panic, it's a big investment. But if the house doesn't show well, it's probably going to sit for a while. I agree staging is always a good investment.
Cindy, you make a great point, I had a house on a bussy canyon...this house shared a drive way with a nice house... the house had a poor layout.... we stagged it ....I know you will not be suprized:))) IT SOLD withing 2 weeks after staging, I had it on the market for 4 months prior. Staging is one of the best investments just like Advertisement both super valuable
Endre-Wow that is fast! Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you use home staging to market your listings.!
Cindy - Great post. I agree with Terrylynn - First do the staging then offer the incentives as the icing on the cake. As part of our staging packages we sometimes offer a Cruise Package for an acceptable contract during the first 30 days after staging. The home owners love it, the realtors love it, and everyone wins. Incentives will not sell a home that in not priced right and in great showing condition.
Hi Cindy, I agree with always stage first and add incentives after. When you watch a burger commercial they always show you the sizzle first and then offer the incentive. Same theory, different product but it works for what ever product you are promoting.
Thanks to Gary and Endre for commenting. Love it when the Realtors drop in and give real life examples of being on the market for months, then staging and selling in a couple of weeks. Thank you Endre.
A buyers incentive may only get you more showings.
Once you get them there you have to appeal to the buyer as they don't care whether or not their agent is going to make more money if they buy the house.
So by all means give the incentive for agents on the back end, BUT stage for your buyers. I don't see it as one or the other.
Wanda-A cruise package, wow, that's extremely nice!
Michelle-Absolutely, stage, sizzle and sell.
Tessa-Exactly, I had someone else tell me this week they were offering a buyer's incentive, and it hadn't worked, she was getting staging.
CINDY - I agree. At some level.... incentivizing the Buyer's Agent seems disingenuous... How does a prospective Buyer feel when he learns that his BUYER's AGENT is steering him toward a certain listing bc HIS AGENT would earn a higher commission than what's standard in the market?
The truth is that when you add creativity to a Realtor's practiced and proven model you will always have a much greater chance of achieving your highest possible results...which is what the Seller wants and deserves. Correct?
1.) Prepare your home so that it shows well.
2.) Price your home aggressively.
3.) Consider "Financial Home Staging"... Offer Financial incentives that help to expand your pool of potential Buyers and create a competitive edge. Similar to Home Staging...Financial Home Staging is a value-added service that stimulates curiosity and interest and infuses energy and excitement into the marketing of a property.
For example: When a Seller offers to pay discount points at closing to fund a 2-1 Temporary Buydown on a $300,000 Mortgage Amount, it costs the Seller $5,657...
and lowers the Buyer's payment by $311/month for the first year and $160.39/month for the second year.
If the Seller decided to just reduce his price by $5,657, it lowers a Buyer's monthly payment by $30.24/month.
We advocate that Motivated Sellers incentivize the Buyer. http://www.321advantage.com/