Home Staging Q&A with CEO of StagedHomes.com
By: Drew Meyers, Business Development Specialist | December 21, 2006
When agents try to differentiate their listings from others or make the homes they represent really pop, home staging has gone from "nice-to-have" to a "must-have" strategy in the selling process. To help gain some insight into the industry, I thought I’d ask Barb Schwarz, who has pioneered the home staging concept. She is the founder and CEO of Staged Homes and also president and founder of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.
What are the primary benefits to staging a home?
There are two primary benefits, one is financial and the other is emotional.
From a financial perspective, we’re finding that ASP (Accredited Staging Professional) staged homes have a “days on market” range of about 65% less than a non-staged home and that the sale price is anywhere from 5% to 20% higher than a non-staged home. Simply stated, ASP staged homes sell faster for more money than those that aren’t staged.
From the emotional side, we see clients that are more relaxed and focused on the other important aspects of moving vs. being totally focused or frustrated on the sale of their existing property.
What goes into staging a home?
There are several steps to staging a home. I have an easy way to remember them by calling them the 7 C’s of Staging:
- Clean — Q-tip clean! You cannot have your house too clean!
- Clutter-Free — You are not selling your things — you are selling your house!
- Color — Make sure you use colors that sell the space.
- Compromise — Invest your money as a home seller where it will produce its greatest return.
- Creativity — Creativity in staging is all about using — and in some cases — rearranging the materials that are already in or around the home to create a totally new and welcoming “feel” within the house.
- Commitment — The home owner really has to be committed to staging the home completely and also staying on top of the staging as they live their daily lives.
- Communicate — Potential buyers experience the staged home as spacious, open, warm, clean, fresh, pleasant and inviting. That’s the message that staging conveys. Buyers not only see the house as a place they could live in, they see it as a place they want to live in.
What does it usually cost?
In comparison to the potential return on investment, ASP Home Staging is incredibly inexpensive. One of my favorite quotes is “As a simple rule of thumb, the investment in staging your home will always be less than the first price reduction on your home.”
The cost for a consult or staging plan for the do-it-yourselfer normally ranges from $350 to $550, depending on how much work is involved in putting the plan together.
When the home owner decides to have the stager provide the service, the fees can range from $1,000 (or sometimes less) to as high as $10,000. On average we see a range much more modest than that. We’re seeing a range of $1,000 to $5,000 with the average around $2,300, depending upon the area of the country that you live in.
What are the biggest misperceptions about home staging?
- Staging is lighting some candles and putting a pie in the oven
- I’ve watched some home fix-up TV shows and I can do this myself
- Staging is expensive
- Staging is about renting a lot of high-end furniture and filling the house with accessories
- Staging requires remodeling
- Staging is about covering up the weaknesses of a property for sale
- Staging is “fooling” the buyer into paying more money for the property than they should
Here’s the reality:
- First of all, never light candles during a showing; it’s a risk and a hazard to have open flames with a lot of people on the property that you or your agent can’t watch all at once. Secondly, you never know who is going to be viewing your property and many potential home buyers come from different ethnic backgrounds and have different tastes in food or aromas so putting a scent in the air is a risk of offending or turning off a potential buyer.
- ASP’s have training and are accredited. Secondly, they have experience as they will have staged more homes than an average consumer and they will know what works to sell homes and what doesn’t in a market. And lastly, they have a neutral perspective; it is very difficult for most people to treat their home as a product and to remove the emotional ties they have to the personal things in their own home.
- Staging is not expensive; in fact it’s probably that smartest investment a home owner can make to maximize the value of their property at the time of sale. Staging is not about spending money but about using what you have to make the most of your space.
- Staging does not require lots of expensive furniture; in fact good stagers will limit the amount of furniture to keep the space open.
Staging is NOT remodeling! Staging is using your things and your space in the most creative way possible without spending a lot of money. - Staging does NOT cover up weaknesses in a property, in fact if anything it shows what is there. The de-cluttering and removal of any visual obstructions will help potential buyers and home inspectors more accurately assess the property.
- Staging is about creating the most interest in the home by presenting it in its best possible light. This creates more offers on the home which can raise the sale price and may reduce the time on market. No one is “fooled” into anything since the home is clear, clean, open and easy to access.
Barb also sent us before and after photos of two rooms that have been staged (what a difference!):
Many thanks to Barb Schwarz for offering her time and expertise.
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Real Estate Industry, Zillow
Comments
10 Comments so far
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cindy@staged4more on December 25, 2006 10:11 am
This is a wonderful interview. Barb is right on. The public often have a lot of misconceptions of what is staging and how they can substitue it with just cleaning the home or putting the dirty socks away. There are a lot more factors that go into staging a house. It’s becoming a marketable product! And it’s such a complicated process. Staging should not be taken lightly. Just putting on some music, baking a pie, does not justify as staging, which is to really assist buyers to mentally move in the home.
Also, I cannot stress enough how important it is to hire an accredited staging professional. There are too many home study courses out there where trained stagers have not seen an actual staging process nor experienced one. I have written a blog post on that before. You can read about how you can hire a stager here at http://stagingtipsandmore.blog.com/how+do+you+hire+a+stager/
Cheers,
Cindy
I heart staging & all things staging!
I stage to sell in San Francisco Bay Area.
http://stagingtipsandmore.blog.com
http://www.staged4more.com
Mary McDonald on March 21, 2007 5:41 pm
Selling ones home is often an emotional experience. Marketing your home to strangers and opening it up to criticism can feel invasive. Realtors appreciated all that you already have to do to prepare for a sale - those little things really add up. It is cleansing to take the morning off to run errands or pamper yourself while we stagers edit your home for the market. Using what you own (and sometimes adding some pieces from our inventory) a visual that appeals to the widest audience of buyers is created. The result is a faster sale - when your home sells in the first few weeks it typically sells for closer to its asking price. In the meantime many sellers find that they enjoy their homes even more after a staging!
Mary McDonald on March 21, 2007 5:43 pm
Something else to keep in mind is that a buyer will spin through pictures of homes before deciding which ones to visit. While a room may look presentable in real life, on the internet a few small items look busy and cluttered. If the eye has no place to rest in the photo, it will “click” past it and move on and likely never visit the home. A professionally trained ASP Realtor will shoot photos at pleasing angles that are presented on all internet sites with the listing. Homes that are properly photographed will get more showings…and that’s what you want!
kathryn on March 26, 2007 8:29 am
I agree.
I think you’ve also highlighted some of the main differences between home staging and interior design. A home stager should always be very conscious of the budget and keep spending to a minimum, after all, these people are moving house!
kathryn
http://www.homereporter.co.uk
Akanke Cadden on April 29, 2007 2:56 pm
In todays market, Home Staging is an essential part of a home selling strategy.
All too often, home sellers attempt to redecorate a home for sale, inadvertantly distracting from their homes selling points.
Home Staging is not decorating.
Home Staging is marketing, and employs professional Home Staging concepts to make your home stand out from the compedtition.
Regards,
Akanke
http://www.OpenDoorStaging.com
Gabriele, Arranged Places on May 16, 2007 6:33 am
Thank you for clarifying what Home Staging really is, an excellent marketing tool to sell a house. It works on many levels generating interest online, at showings and for the homeowners still living in the house. With so many competing influences for a buyer’s attention staging a property makes it stand out in a very positive, refreshing way.
Deelyn Neilson on May 16, 2007 2:46 pm
In today’s real estate market, Staging a home cannot be emphasized enough. Buyers are now in the position to expect a “move-in” ready home. To accomplish that, a home seller should stage their home to sell so that a potential buyer can mentally move right in. A home seller should “undecorate” their home with their “collections” to allow the buyer to look past stuff and see the home. Barb’s saying of “Buyers only know what they see not how it is going to be” is so true. Another favorite that I often borrow from Barb is “Clutter eats equity”. This is the most motivational quote that I tell my sellers so that they can truly understand the importance of staging. STAGING DOES WORK!!!
Marco on September 12, 2007 9:54 am
Very interesting post we got here. i really enjoyed reading this one… More power! =)
Martha Prudence on June 8, 2008 2:53 pm
Above all the home must be priced right to sell. In todays market buyers are savvy they know pricing and what they want for their money. Because the housing market throughout the U.S is crazy homeowners have to be competative, staging will make their home stand out from the rest. But they have to be aggressive and put work into showing off the hight lights of the house.
Sellers think they can do it, Stage their home. When in reality they are not objective, they don’t see what an accrediated Stager has been trained to see. Indirectly the seller wants the public to see all there “Stuff”, the buyers only walk away because there’s too much stuff and the Stager has to remove all the stuff to show the house in the best possible way.
I’ve gotten several different e-mails from companies to take their on-line computer home study staging couses, My saying is “go with the best the pioneer of staging, StagedHomes.com. When you get accrediated with StagedHome.com you know your Stager has had all the on hands classes and continued education in staging.
az staging on September 10, 2008 9:27 pm
im a home stager and thank you for this blog. Just to add up, highlight your home’s strengths, downplay its weaknesses and appeal to the greatest possible pool of prospective buyers.