Speaking Up about Home Staging

Just plain good old advice!!  Thanks for sharing and saying it...

The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) just released its 2010 statistics. These statistics were gathered nation wide and showed the following amazing results:    

These statistics show that staging a home PRIOR to putting it on the market yields the greatest results. It saves you and your clients time, money and lots of stress! However, even staging a home after it has already been listed for sale, can still help the home sell faster.   These statistics are available to download for FREE on our local website: www.WeStageSC.comand the Real Estate Staging Association's website: www.RESA-USA.org.

As shown in the above national statistics, staging prior to putting the home on the market can save you lots of time. But exactly how much money does that equal?   The above study shows that 126 homes were listed on the market for approximately 9 months before deciding to stage.   It also shows that 284 homes (vacant & occupied) that were staged prior to being listed sold on average in 40.5 days, or approximately 7 months faster than the unstaged homes.   Here is an example of a formula to use to calculate the savings:  

Monthly Mortgage Payment             = $1800

Direct Expenses                             = $300

Total Monthly Carrying Costs          = $2100  

For the homeowners in our study whose homes were on the market for approximately 9 months their total expenses were ($2100 x 9) = $18,900.  

Had the homeowners staged their homes first, they could have saved 7 months on market and their savings could have been ($2100 x 7) = $14,700.

These numbers are all relative to individual mortgage and expenses. Use this simple formula to determine how much you will save by staging your home or listing before putting it on the market:

Mortgage + expenses (utilities etc.) = Monthly expenses

Monthly expenses X 9 months (avg. time un-staged) = Cost to list house un-staged

Savings: Expenses x 7 months (average time on market reduced) -staging fee =Savings if you stage your house first!

If you found this helpful and want to be able to show the significant savings that your client can actually earn, you can download our free brochures on our Real Estate Professionals Page.  Here are two that you may want to use.

• An Exact Property Comparison - this seller saved $35,000 by staging their $349,000 condo comparted to an identical property only a few houses down that was for sale at the same time and the same price!
• Proof that Staging Sells - the staged homes in this neighborhood saved an average of $42,250 in their $650K homes compared to comperable non-staged homes in the same neighborhood.

I recently had a client who purchased a beachfront condominimum in Folly Beach, SC.  This was to be her dream home - an eventual retirement purchase, but for the time being a seasonal rental unit.  She was clear that this needed to bring top dollar and be consistently rented out.  We met twice and both times she brought radically different magazine cut outs... because this was to be her second home and her dream retirement home, but still needed to make money - I needed to be sure to get this right but working at two different endpoints....

After spending about two months on this project (mostly because everything had to be OK'd before purchase - this was afterall her dream home) we have a beautiful finished product.  Better yet, we have a busy active rental.  Photos were taken the first weekend of March and as of last night 16 weeks had been rented out!

Here is a link to learn more about the rental, or to make reservations....

Here are photos of the completed project:

Just as home staging works when you are selling your home, consider hiring us to stage your rental unit.  You will have more weeks rented out and may even be able to increase your rental price per week! 

I've been in quite a few discussions over the past two weeks or so about how we determine our statistics, what are the best ways to present this to agents and so on.  Because I feel like I keep giving the same answers I thought it might be a good time to put it in blog format.  Personally I believe because we are working in the real estate industry it's important to embrace their language.  One it makes us sound more professional, two we are able to compare apples to apples. 

MLS - Multiple listing service.  This is where agents post listings.  A great source of information for agents on statistics beyond the actual buying/selling side of things....

Listed (Active) - the home is actively listed and on the market.  Ideally homes should be staged BEFORE going active to maximize the results.  RESA showed in their most recent Staging Statistics Guide that homes sell much faster if they are staged BEFORE they are listed.

Under Contract/Active Contingent - the home seller has accepted an offer from a buyer.  This is also referred to as having a ratified contract - meaning it has been signed and agreed upon by both parties.  Many stagers, including RESA use this time frame as the SOLD date.  Please note that it isn't actually the SOLD date, but it is the date the property went Active Contingent.  It is contingent upon factors that need to be cleared up before the house is officially SOLD.  These often include inspections, financing and other small changes. 

Pending - there has been a ratified contract and all contingencies have been removed.  Many homes never make it to pending status as they are often still contingent on financing until the final moment of closing.

Days On Market - I can't speak for all areas, but in our area specifically DOM is calculated from the day the home was listed until it went contingent.  This is how MLS calculates it, so it seems fair game for stages to use this time frame - which is why stagers often call it SOLD after it goes contingent.

Days Until Close - This is the time frame after the property has a ratified contract until it is officially SOLD or closed.  Typically as stagers we don't care too much about this number HOWEVER it is VERY IMPORTANT to note that sellers should not de-stage their property until just before closing as this is when the contract is still in danger of falling apart. 

Closed/SOLD - this is when the home is officially the buyers.  The seller (or their bank) has been paid and keys have been exchanged. 

List to close ratio - this is how much the home sold for versus how much it was listed for.  For instance, if the home was listed for $299K but sold for $285K it sold for a 95% LTC - we strive for 98% or better, but if it was listed a long time before we staged it then we find 95% acceptable. (Again this is where staging prior to listing is important!)

So now that you know the right terms, how should we be calculating our statistics?  I suppose that is entirely up to you, but here is how we do it (and RESA calculates them similarly). 

MLS# (this is so the information is verifiable)

List Date:

Staged Date:

AC Date:

DOM:

and occassionally we will add how many DOM before staging vs after, or average DOM for neighborhood. We may even add what the list to close ratio was...

I hope this is helpful for new home stagers who see these numbers or terms all the time but don't know what they mean, or how they should report their information. 

What separates top performers from those just getting by?  Having staged over $120 million dollars in real estate since 2006, Melissa Marro knows how to get an agent's attention and keep business moving.  In this live webinar you will learn the marketing techniques that Melissa Marro & First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign uses to achieve their high volume success.

This session has been presented at several of the Stagers List Expos and here is what audience members had to say about it:                                                                                                                                            

"Hi Melissa.  I didn't get a chance to meet you at the expo in NJ last week but I wanted to send you a quick email and let you know how much I enjoyed hearing you speak. I agree wholeheartedly with your way of doing business and marketing. As a new stager and a start up small business owner I look up to successful entrepreneurs in our industry like yourself and Bevin. Again, thank you for sharing your story and motivating me to work harder. Best of luck "


Amanda Alligood ,
Sunflower Creations
267.402.7782
www.sunflowercreationsonline.com
'Creating A Sunny First Impression'

"I've had the distinct pleasure of hearing Melissa speak on two separate occasions. She is the consummate professional not only in how well she speaks to an audience, but also in terms of her expertise and preparedness. I can't wait to have another opportunity to attend another of Melissa's presentations in the future as I know she will never disappoint." 

Nancy Maurer
Whitehall Interiors
Sparta, NJ

When?  Wednesday March 10th at 7pm and Wednesday March 24th at 10am
Cost $35

Here are some of the topics that will be covered:  
 
*  Creating a process
*  Gathering information & what to do with it
*  Marketing techniques
*  How to make farming work for you
*  Affiliate Programs
*  Lunch & Learns

Finally - a program that teaches you exactly what steps you should be taking on a daily basis to increase your business....

CALL 888.STAGING to register for your class today!

Thanks Andrew for doing such amazing photographic work for us!

I love what Andrew did with my design work.... he certainly made sure it polished nicely!

Like good little business owners, we usually sit down and think out our business goals at the end of the year, or at the very beginning.  Unfortunately, like New Years Resolutions, many get so busy just 'trying to get by' that they forget what their goals are, they forget what direction they are suppoesd to be heading and we just 'keep plugging along' certain that eventually 'if we work hard enough' we will get there (wherever that is)....

I'm here to remind you that in order to actually get there (wherever that is) you really do need to keep your goals and business plan in front of you.... Here are some basic questions to help keep you on track...

I'll ask again, How is your business doing? 

I've only personally gotten a sneak peak at the amazing work of Andrew Mayon's handiwork from the condo that I designed in Folly Beach.  I wrote about the work and process in Waiting for Andrew Mayon to do his magic, now that I've done mine... Finishing in Folly Beach, SC.  Last night, on Facebook, Andrew shared the sneak peek of this unit and I want to share it with you!

This is what the unit looked like when I first saw it.  What my client wanted was a high end beach rental.  This 3 bdrm, 3 bath unit rents for $1500 a week (a real steal) and had a budget of $20,000.  Because the furniture was a tenants, that had to include everything in the unit.

Here is what the after photo looks like (thanks to the stunning photographic work of Andrew Mayon)

By the way, that's the ocean out those windows...

The last of the 'teasers' that Andrew has shared so far is the after photo for the master bedroom... Here is the before (after the tenant vacated)

It is an awkward narrow room.  Rental regulations require a certain amount of furniture (dressers, TV, seating, etc).  The homeowner and I agreed that this room needed a king bed to really work as a luxury unit.

Now I just can't wait for the rest of the photos!!!!  Don't worry, I will be sharing!

What separates top performers from those just getting by?  Having staged over $120 million dollars in real estate since 2006, Melissa Marro knows how to get an agent's attention and keep business moving.  In this live webinar you will learn the marketing techniques that Melissa Marro & First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign uses to achieve their high volume success.

This session has been presented at several of the Stagers List Expos and here is what audience members had to say about it:                                                                                                                                            

"Hi Melissa.  I didn't get a chance to meet you at the expo in NJ last week but I wanted to send you a quick email and let you know how much I enjoyed hearing you speak. I agree wholeheartedly with your way of doing business and marketing. As a new stager and a start up small business owner I look up to successful entrepreneurs in our industry like yourself and Bevin. Again, thank you for sharing your story and motivating me to work harder. Best of luck "


Amanda Alligood ,
Sunflower Creations
267.402.7782
www.sunflowercreationsonline.com
'Creating A Sunny First Impression'

"I've had the distinct pleasure of hearing Melissa speak on two separate occasions. She is the consummate professional not only in how well she speaks to an audience, but also in terms of her expertise and preparedness. I can't wait to have another opportunity to attend another of Melissa's presentations in the future as I know she will never disappoint." 

Nancy Maurer
Whitehall Interiors
Sparta, NJ

When?  Wednesday March 10th at 7pm and Wednesday March 24th at 10am
Cost $35

Here are some of the topics that will be covered:  
 
*  Creating a process
*  Gathering information & what to do with it
*  Marketing techniques
*  How to make farming work for you
*  Affiliate Programs
*  Lunch & Learns

Finally - a program that teaches you exactly what steps you should be taking on a daily basis to increase your business....

CALL 888.STAGING to register for your class today!