To Stage or not to Stage, that is the ?

[k6saunde]

Hey Everyone,

After you have done all the repairs on your properties and are ready to sell. Do you stage the home or not? I have heard for several sources that say a staged home will sell faster and for more money.

Is this true?

If so, what do you use to stage your homes?

Do you rent furniture from one of those rental places?

Do you buy it and store it between sales?

Do you hire professional stagers?

Along those lines, what incentives do you offer the potential buyers that other homes don't have?

My thought was to include a big flat panel TV with the purchase or a private champagne dinner for 2 for the new owners Including chef and waiter in their new home.

[brianb_cobbres]

Most people assume that staging means filling a house with furniture. While that can be true in most cases it is not necessary and can be expensive.

I did bring in a designer, a friend of my realtor, to help me pick a new exterior color and to give me some staging ideas. It cost me $250 and was well worth it in that he chose an exterior color that looks great but that I would never have chosen. Well worth the $250 because I can use that same scheme over and over again.

Back to staging. We walked through the house and he pointed out what areas he thought should be staged. It went a little something like this.

Family room - Large potted plant by fireplace. Books and bookends on mantel

Kitchen - Set up island with some glasses, plates ,and serving trays. Put plant on passthrough to dining room

Bathrooms - Shower curtains, towels all around. Other bathroom items on vanity

Finished basement - Set up bar area for a party. Decorate niches. We set up for movie night with popcorn bowls, classes, DVD cases, etc....

We stole some things from our house and got everything else from target. All in all spent around $300 intially but returned most of it when the house was sold.

My point, by simply using items to highlight some areas (plant by fireplace) and downplaying others (shower curtain) you can create a totally different look.

[dealmaker]

As far as I'm concerned that's just the latest trend! Although it's not very recent, I thought it hit it's heydey around '03 or so.

PRICE sells houses, not staging, not location, not fancy giveaways, it's PRICE (relative to location, condition etc), first, last and always.

Try selling a house that; you've staged with furniture and accessories that you've rented, and hired a stager, and everything else, for ABOVE MARKET price, and see how far it gets you. Remember, most houses still require a mortgage to get closed so you're not going to get more than "market". While it may sell quicker (and a quick sale is usually for more money), I doubt it will sell higher!

I've (often inadvertantly) gotten contracts on houses when they got shown under the following conditions;

1. In the midst of a HUGE garage sale, with boxes scattered, cabinets open, stuff strewn down the driveway and 4 guys picking up a hot tub and carrying through the side yard.

2. With the Sunday paper scattered around the house, beds unmade and the pooper scooper resting in the guest toilet. NOTE, we're not usually such slobs, but in the midst of a hectic morning we got a call that a friend had to head to a hospitalized family member and could we go over, feed and care for his dogs for the day and ride herd on his two teenagers in the event they didn't return home Sunday evening.

However, the past 15 or so sales that I've done I've gotten comps from 2 or 3 agents and then priced my property about 15% higher than their recommendations. I do it with one simple marketing techinque, I run the following advert in the local paper:

For Sale By Owner, 3/2 in running rat acres, new carpet and paint (or whatever amenities) owner will finance with $2,000 down (sometimes as high as $5K).

I've had as many as 100 phone calls per weekend, sometimes 10 SERIOUS lookers per day and have never taken more than THREE DAYS to get an FULL PRICE OFFER.

BTW, I don't stage! I make sure my curb appeal, ktichens and baths are SUPERB though!

dealmaker

[brianb_cobbres]

" owner will finance with $2,000 down (sometimes as high as $5K). "


Big difference with owner financing compared to random realtors bringing buyers through. Although I understand what you are saying there is a difference.

[Matt Gilmer]

I always stage. In a slow market you need to seperate your property from your competion. It doesnt mean you can sell for much higher, just faster. If you have two track homes that are in the same area, one is stagged one is not, I guarantee the staged homes sells 1st if the price points are close. I don't spend much, usually 100-300 depending on if the buyers write in the staging stuff with offer. Lavender by the front door is a great smell for buyers to pick up on when the walk in! Try to play on peoples emotions. If there is a small bedroom, I stick some toys in the corner or middle of the room, that way people associate it as a kids room not just an itty bitty room. Play with it because it can be fun. I will also place some things of value in the home on occasion, if my wife thinks it will look good in our house ;). This is how we get all of our new stuff for our house and write it off. We advertised a free HD Big screen with purchase, but didnt have to give it to them because they didn't have a down payment. I gently explained to the buyer that the T.V. was valued @ 2000K and their closing costs were 6K. They agreed that it was a good deal for them to take the 6K and for me to keep the T.V. Now it sits in my family room and will hopefully show me the Bears victory on Sunday :) Anyway, I am sold on stagging and will never not stage again, even on lease-options or owner finiance.

[Debbie]

Outwest,

Welcome to the Magic Bullets Fambly!

Your response got me curious when you made this statement:
"This is how we get all of our new stuff for our house and write it off."
It never occurred to me that way. Exactly in what way do you write it off? Tax-wise for business? As part of the closing cost? Please clarify...

BTW, please update your profile---it'll help us out big time!

Thanx.

[DSutter]

To stage or not to stage, that is the question...

Ok, I'm not Willy Shakespeare but it is a question that all sellers are asking more and more and as in all things it can go both ways.

If you stage, make sure that you don't over do it. Assuming you're not selling to another investor, you want them to imagine their belongings when they look at a room. If you are selling to another investor I can guarantee they don't give a tinker's damn about it being staged and it will not affect their offer in any way.

So, things like a few accessory pieces here and there are fine. Making a kitchen look like it is ready to receive guests when there is no table in the breakfast area is just dumb. And yes, I have seen it done by people who should know better.

It used to be you wanted smells like baking bread but there is a new product from Febreeze. It is called scent stories and it 'plays' a scent CD to fill a space with a series of complementary scents. I now use them in my rentals when showing them and the next time I have property to sell, I intend to use it then too.

[Dan Auito]

It always cracked me up to see, furniture that was intentionally very small in size. This is an old trick by builders (models) to make the place seem larger.

If one was to do it, I would put just the pieces that made it look like someone could use every room while also keeping it sterile with respect to personal tastes.

People are generally going to know it's staged so unless you have to I would vote against it!

[Jeffery (LCLA)]

I don't stage, but I do Support The SAINTS!! Who Dat?

[Matt Gilmer]

Outwest,

Welcome to the Magic Bullets Fambly!

Your response got me curious when you made this statement:
"This is how we get all of our new stuff for our house and write it off."
It never occurred to me that way. Exactly in what way do you write it off? Tax-wise for business? As part of the closing cost? Please clarify...

BTW, please update your profile---it'll help us out big time!

Thanx.

I simply write it off as a marketing expense on my list I give to my CPA on what it cost to sell my home, such as signs, newspaper ads, the gal in the bikini in front of the home with a bright neon arrow pointing to the house.:thumbsup: Thanks you for the warm welcome! I have been reading and learning tons here for some time. I will update my profile.

Matt..

[Aldo]

Deep into DSutter's reply, "Scent Stories" was mentioned and may have been missed by many readers. Being unfamiliar with it, I googled it and liked what I found. It's about $30 but, worth considering. Below is a random link from my search.

http://www.drugstore.com/search/search.asp?search=scentstories&aid=336064&aparam=scent_stories

Thanx for the tip.

[Debbie]

Deep into DSutter's reply, "Scent Stories" was mentioned and may have been missed by many readers. Being unfamiliar with it, I googled it and liked what I found. It's about $30 but, worth considering. Below is a random link from my search.

http://www.drugstore.com/search/search.asp?search=scentstories&aid=336064&aparam=scent_stories

Thanx for the tip.

Naw, I didn't miss it but she definitely reminded me about it!

Thanx to Dee's reminder, I added it to my grocery list!

[Debbie]

I simply write it off as a marketing expense on my list I give to my CPA on what it cost to sell my home, such as signs, newspaper ads, the gal in the bikini in front of the home with a bright neon arrow pointing to the house.:thumbsup: Thanks you for the warm welcome! I have been reading and learning tons here for some time. I will update my profile.

Matt..

Marketing expense? Hmmmm.....I wonder if that would work for selling my personal home? :whistling


BTW---Cute kid!

[ZNICK]

You need to catch all their senses...

Sight: Kitchens and baths, kitchens and baths. I have 3 big tupperware containers that each have my staging stuff and it's mostly towels, shower curtains, throw rugs, glasses, soap dishes, pot holders and gloves, and things like that. I always also put out a welcome mat and a rug by the doors in case it's wet out and I don't want spots all over the place, and some long carpet runners for the hallways if they're laminated.

Also, make sure to open all of the curtains and blinds, as well as turn on ALL of the lights. I even sometimes put 100 watt bulbs everywhere to make it as bright as I possibly can. :SM123:

Smell:There's already been some good ideas for smell. Fabreeze if it is stuffy or been closed up a while... or open all of the windows and air it out. I also like candles. :hb2: Even unlit they smell nice. Don't overdo it in case someone's allergic. Keep in mind too, that if you're "looking" at a house to buy and they've done a bunch of smell things they may be covering something up as well!

Sound: If it's a nice day and the house is in a quiet area, open the place up and let the sounds in... birds, a nice breeze, kids playing outside make it feel warm and friendly. I also suggest a radio in the master bedroom playing some soft music... it's suggestive. :SM072:

Touch: No, not THAT! :icon_buss In the summer make sure it's nice and cool inside, and in the winter make it nice and warm. People want to know all is working and feel comfortable.

Z

[ThreeRiversREI]

You need to catch all their senses...

You left out Taste or don't you put out a tray of fresh backed cookies (adds to the homey smells) during the Open House?

[Debbie]

Znick,

Oh great! You've just stirred romantic feelings/mood in this tired mommy. Excuse me. Gotta wake Jeff. :SM029:

[brianb_cobbres]

You left out Taste or don't you put out a tray of fresh backed cookies (adds to the homey smells) during the Open House?

They can just lick the wallpaper......

[ThreeRiversREI]

They can just lick the wallpaper......

I think somebody's been chewing on the 1970's trim paint....

[brianb_cobbres]

It was a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference but whats a little lead between friends.


Make the headaches stop, please.

[ThreeRiversREI]

It was a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference but whats a little lead between friends.

The snozzle berries taste like snozzle berries!

[Peach State Property Buyers]

Well, my husband's cousin disagrees re. staging. He sells real estate in Ocala. He feels that if it's an end buyer that he's looking for, staging will sell it 10x faster. He says that he's seen it time and time, again.

[ZNICK]

Znick,

Oh great! You've just stirred romantic feelings/mood in this tired mommy. Excuse me. Gotta wake Jeff. :SM029:

He can thank me any time. :thumbsup:

Z

[dwford]

I did not stage my flip, but did make sure all lights were on with candles burning in the bathrooms.

I did stage my residence, spotlessly clean every showing, every light on, with same scent Febreeze Noticables in 3 different locations. Every realtor and buyer loved the house - still took 3 months (and dropping the price $28k) to sell because of my smallish yard.

I don't know if you have to bring in furniture for every room , but the house has to be well presented whatever you decide. Surprisingly, many sellers don't get this.

[JR_FL]

There is a book on Property Staging. I bought it from www.stagedhomes.com Its a pretty good read.

[Peach State Property Buyers]

Want to compare a before and after staging home? Check out the link below. Watch it as a slide show. It will go before/after, before/after, etc.

http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgiaInteriorSolutions/BowdenBeforeAfterAlbum

[Debbie]

Makes a woooooooooorld of difference!

GREAT JOB!!!

[Peach State Property Buyers]

Thanks, Debbie! I really like it myself. I especially like what she did with the two living rooms. We'll be using her, again.