You've seen our blogs and our success stories and still we see many homes on the market, right here in Charleston, in desperate need of staging. After talking to past clients we've realized that often times this is because many agents just don't have enough information.
Cost & Who Pays? Agents seem to have concerns about this because they are afraid that if they hire a stager then we'll suggest that they should pay for us. Well this simply isn't true! While most of our agent clients do pay for our consultations as part of their marketing budget, the staging itself should be paid by the homeowner.
Consultations are typically paid for by the agents because they help sellers understand the need for staging and what exactly will be needed to get their home show-ready. The costs are low and typically help the agent save on marketing costs. The typical cost for a First Impressions occupied consultation is $150 for homes under 2500 sqft and $225 for 2500 sqft and over. With our new 58 page Room Ready Handbooks, your clients will know exactly what to do before we leave their homes!
At First Impressions we believe that actual staging jobs should be paid for by the seller, whether the home is vacant or occupied. When the seller pays for the staging, they typically become more invested in the process - helping keep the property in better condition, understanding the need for proper pricing, etc. We are here to do as much of the work, or as little of the work as the client wants. Understanding budget, time and skill sets will help us create the maximum advantage for your clients in this buyer's market.
Don't worry agents, we already know how hard you work and that you too have expenses that cut into your commissions. We aren't going to ask for another piece of that pie!
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Melissa Marro, a published artist, now turned staging advocate and national speaker speaks her mind about real estate and the home staging industry. In her 'no holds barred' approach, audience members find real answers to the industries pitfalls and learn how to overcome them with tried and true information and guidance. With marketing as her passion, she turned a small home based business into one of the nation's largest home staging and training facilities. Selling her successful home staging company in January 2012, Marro is now a full time speaker and instructor for Staging And Resign and Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)'s trade events.
For more information on having Marro speak at one of your real estate functions, please contact her at 843.619.1593 or email at marro.melissa@gmail.com
Melissa- when I was in Northern Va, I actually met one Realtor who shared your opinion. He paid up to $250 towards a consultation for his clients. He viewed this as part of his marketing costs. I just wish I could get our Realtors here in South Florida to have that vision. Good post!
Hey Melissa, I've never used a stager before so who pays is a question I've wondered about. It makes sense for the Realtor to pay for the consultation but the seller to pay the staging cost.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Anne Rains
Melissa: I, too have had agents seem apprehensive and sometimes seem to have an assumption that they will have to pay for the staging itself. You are absolutely right, the seller is the one that should pay for this extra service and the payoffs are huge for them; a faster sale and many times, more $$$$.
You are always ahead of the curve and sooo good with information management. I love the notion of the 58 page Room Ready Manual!
It is quite customary for our realtors to offer the consultation as part of their listing package. Then the rest is on the homeowner. Seems to work very nicely for everyone. Especially at the end, when there's only a few $000s to close the gap and both sides start looking to the realtors to chip in. This way the selling realtor can claim, quite legitimately, that they've already chipped in with the staging consult in the first place.
This is one of the biggest things we educate Realtors on because so many of them are apprehensive about the cost of staging. The more they understand we aren't putting them on the hook for the cost of staging a home, the better. The consultation - that's a different story and their choice as to whether they want to offer that to their clients - but the cost to stage a home should fall to the home owners.