There is so much information on home staging, that home sellers are on overload. With advice coming from all kinds of sources and areas of the country. Yes, it is confusing, where do you start? If you watch tv, you may get the impression you can have your home staged for under $2000. Or another show may stage a home for around $20,000. Big difference! Another show has strangers coming to your house picking it apart, to the point that you're thinking, no way am I going to let someone do that to my home. You can read articles or books on the internet from people that may be experts or just people with an opinion. You can also read a book on "How to Cut Hair", but would you actually trust yourself to cut your hair or someone else's? I wouldn't! So, where do you start? Sure, you have questions who wouldn't.
Here are a few questions home sellers have when thinking about staging their homes.
1) How much does it cost? Reasonable question, as a matter of fact it's the #1 question. It's the big mystery. This is why. I wish I could say every home stager could give you a standard answer, but we can't. Every stager should be their own business entity, and provide different services. Some charge an hourly rate, by the square foot, per room, a percentage of the list price or a flat fee. As every property is different, we really need to see the home to assess it and give you a solid number. Some stagers can estimate it, but shouldn't be held to that number until the property is viewed. There are too many variables that go into it. Is is vacant? Do furniture and accessories need to be brought in? Or is it occupied, and you just need a redesign of existing furnishings? These are just a couple of examples.
2) Who pays for the staging? The 2nd most popular question. The home seller is ultimately responsible for staging services.
3) Why doesn't my Realtor pay for home staging, they are making the commission? Again, ultimately a homeowner is responsible for staging costs. Some, but not all real estate agents will pay for a Home Staging Consultation, as a value-added service, but the actual costs associated with staging (furniture rental, actual hands-on staging) is paid for by the home seller. It is not the responsiblity of a real estate agent to pay for home staging costs.
4) Can I pay at closing? This is up to the stager. Most, do not do this as we do not know if a property will be on the market for 1 day or 3 months. Again, we all do it a little differently, some ask for 1/2 upfront, and some charge a monthly fee.
5) What do you do? Again, each home stager is their own entity. Some offer redesigns only, some offer accessories only, and some offer furniture and accessories. Some don't have the inventory to do a vacant home so they will have to use a third party source, and some use their own inventory. Different services can be offered, such as paint color consultations, personal shopping, organizing, curb appeal, some recommendations on cost-effective cosmetic changes such as flooring, counters, lights, fixtures, etc. The ultimate goal is to help a seller get their home sold faster and in the most cost effective manner.
6) How long does it take? It depends on how much you want done and to what extent. It can take a few hours or a few days, or maybe longer if there are some cosmetic changes that need to be taken care of.
7) When should I have my home staged? As soon as you decide to sell. Call a professional home stager and get a Home Staging Consultation. Once necessary recommendations are completed from your stager's list, your house is ready to be listed. Don't make the mistake of putting up that "For Sale" sign in the front yard before your home is ready. The first 20 days a home is listed will be when it will get the most interest and traffic. Make sure your house is show ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
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.
Owner, Cindy Bryant has earned the RESA-PRO designation, holding stagers to the highest standards.
Please visit our portfolio of before and afters and website for more information. Check out our profile page too! We also have a location for the Houston Bay Area League City Home Staging. Please contact -Cindy Bryant for more information or call 281-748-2170.
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.
Great Q&A, Cindy! Staging is not one size fit all, each client and home has different needs and they have to be address accordingly.
Cindy - Wow, you've included a truckload of information here! I've learned to begin each answer with, "That depends."
Nicely and neatly explained Cindy! It seems so simple to us, but we have to remember that most people don't know what we do and how we work. You outlined it perfectly.
Cindy,
Thanks for so clearly and concisely spelling that all out. I hope it spreads all over the Internet!
I like this post, Cindy. Being new in the business, this is quite helpful. I had a meeting with a group of realtors the other day, and those questions were posed. And, the one about what are your fees came up.
I was just asked all of these questions at one of my consultations yesterday. Great post Cindy!
Cindy: An excellent post. You have been very thorough, and I'm sure it will not only help grow your business... but will help many other stagers and Realtors as well. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy ~ Great post answering some of the FAQ about staging. I think this will help homeowners understand what to expect.
Lots of great questions & answers very commonly asked by the home seller. From your answers, the many variables are apparent. Your answers also indicate that most stagers are able to accommodate many different scenarios to suit the buyer's needs.
Lots of great information...I think home owners are often too reluctant to even call a home stager and ask those exact questions. Now they should feel more comfortable when they pick up the phone.
Great post as it covers the most important questions that homeowners and Realtors have.
I would add... do I have to do all of the suggestions made?
Answer.... to get the most equity out of your property in the least amount of days on market the answer is to do as much as possible, hopefully all of the suggestions. Home stagers make the suggestions as that is what it will take to get the home into model home appearance to appeal to the widest range of potential buyers.
Do you have to ... no.
Is it in your best interest to ... yes!
Terrific blog!
Cindy, Wonderful questions and some very helpful answers because so many people are still unsure. Congratulations on your star, this post certainly deserved one.
Great stuff... We should get together and get you to come to my office in Pearland and talk to the realtors. We have 146 agents in my office
Aloha Cindy,
I enjoyed your most excellent post. I'm going to re-blog it if you don't mind.
Peace,
Cindy...
Thanks for the FAQ's. You have addressed the major concerns of most sellers that are considering staging. Well done!
Cindy, great post. I'd love to chat with you on the phone at some point and get a basic understanding of how YOU handle all of these issues so I can be more knowledgeable and set the expectations for my clients!
Tanya-You hit the nail on the head, there's no way it can be.
Patsy-That works too!
Peg-We have to keep educating. I just assume everyone knows, and I still get "What's Home Staging?"
Allegra-I hope so too, I want people to have a better understanding.
Dale-Thanks, price always gets brought up. I would ask too.
Cathy Lee-It may sound like we're being cagey, but we can't just pull a # from the sky.
Karen-Thank you, everyone is welcome to use it and spread it around.
Nice post. The payment depends on the economics of the deal. Because of the price range I am in, ALL OF MY LISTINGS ARE PROFESSIONALLY STAGED and paid by me....but I could not pay for staging for a $200k home. Rock on.......
Great idea for a post Cindy! It's true that no two Stagers work the same way. Thanks!
Cindy, These are great questions. I work very hard to get every single one of my properties staged before selling. It's that important!
Kathy-Thanks, I hope it does!
Michelle-True, we have to be flexible, at least I've found I do.
Vivian-I hope they do, I don't want them to have the wrong perception of us.
Michelle-True, they can do as much or as little as they want.
Carol-Thanks for stopping by!
Carol-Thanks, unsure they are, and usally with the wrong information
Danny-I can do that, that would be great. I'm in Pearland alot.
Kimo-Thanks, re-blog away my friend!
Richard-Thanks, I want the seller to understand we are all in it to help them sell their home fast, and for a profit.
Brian-Sure, feel free to call me anytime.
Tim-That's great that you see the value-added service. To bad your not in Houston!
Annie-Maybe they do, and I just beat to my own drum. lol!
Marian-That's great, so you & Tim need to start selling in Houston!
What a great set of Q&A's, Cindy, on home staging. This blog post will surely be beneficial for many! Great post.
Kathy
Stellar! I'm going to reblog this on my page on www.mioaklandcounty.com since I couldn't have said it better myself!
Cindy, thanks for outlining the rules of home staging and what it requires. I think a lot of home sellers have questions about it, and with so many companies doing different business strategies, I am happy to see you set the record straight!
Top seller questions and a few top Realtor questions! I just addressed these in a presentation a week ago, after I realized, sometimes people are a little shy to ask "straightforward". Great post!
Great educational material, we (the stagers) all know these points, it is educating the home selling public and in some cases new realtors. I belong to a Chamber of Commerce and when networking I quite often get the question of "what exactly does staging mean" or "what does a stager do" and often the remark "oh, you mean fluffing" I just laugh and set them straight. Hopefully, once they will know the true meaning of staging they will tell two people and they will tell two people so on and so on......
I am always having to explain the points that you so clearly dilineated Cindy!.. As much as we hear the word STAGING bandied about, I am still amazed at the confusion even many RE professionals have about what staging is and the variety of services that can be accomplished.. or NOT!
Last spring I got a call from a Realtor who was representing a new condo complex.. I met with her at the site and we walked through the two floor plans.. I made notes, took pix and I agreed to email her my staging proposal for the two model units.. After she reviewed my plan, she called and explained that she thought the larger unit needed more closet/storage space.. And could I BUILD in a new closet somewhere in the unit!,,The gist was that she wanted me to create more square footage!. She had seen some of the "staging" programs on TV that showed this sort of thing being done,, AND the whole place was painted AND decorated too for UNDER $2000 !!!!.. ( I did not get hired..)
Public perception is definitely influenced by the media.. This can be a good thing AND a bad thing.. Cindy's FAQ's should be committed to memory! .. I love the "hair cut" analogy !!
Kathy-Thanks, we still have to get the word out there!
Marianne-Great...spread it to everyone!
Sandy-Thanks, and you're right, everyone does do it a little different.
Cheryl-Exactly, great point!
Hendrik-Yes, some of the terms can be confusing.
Anne-True, and the more shows there are the more questions and sometimes confusion.
I think asking the realtor to pay for the staging out of their pocket .......when the house is listed......is crazy.
They put out so much money during the marketing of the home and it may not sell.
The sellers need to understand that it's their house and if they want to sell it they better get it ready.
You put together a great list. Good job
Great post! I have also been asked many of these questions and have answered them pretty much the same while adding my own information in it. I try to make sure they understand before going to the next question.
Virginia-True a really good realtor should put money in marketing the house.
John-Thanks, glad we're on the same page.
Great information! I am surprised that even with so much media attention, many homeowners are unsure of what staging entails.
I have been searching for a blog like your for a long time. Thanks for putting it out there. Looking forward to more.
Kathy-I think it's because all of the shows portray different ideas of staging vs. lite remodeling. Two different things.
Yoseni-I'm glad you found it. Hope you can use it!
Great post! It's important for stagers to communicate effectively to the home owners that every home is different and the price of staging will reflect what has to be done, what should be done, and what would be nice to be done to get the quick sale. It really does depend on a lot of factors. This will help me answer those types of questions. Thanks and keep posts like these coming!
Jill-Thanks, It really does dpend on may factors. People don't realize that.