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.
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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. She now operates as the CEO of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign as well as an instructor for Staging And Resign and regularly speaks at the StagerList Expos 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 843.822.2622 or email at marro.melissa@gmail.com
If you would like Marro's team to provide information on staging a property in the state of South Carolina, or the Greater Charleston Area, please visit www.WeStageSC.com, email marro.melissa@gmail.com or call 843.822.2622.
Hi Melissa. Good idea to define terms! Some of these are a little different in Canada. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but here, Under Contract and Pending are the same thing. We do not have as many legal bodies (escrow companies, for example) for a deal to go through to have the same protection.
Also, the official "Sold date" and DOM would be when the conditions have been removed (after the Pending stage), but possession (i.e. closing) hasn't yet taken place.
Melissa - thanks for the information! This was a great topic! - it is a good thing that stagers should be consistent - but also, too, realtors, consider it sold when it officially changes title and has been recorded by the county tax assessors office or on the closing date. Some will put a SOLD sign out once all the contingencies have been met and the appraisal has been done. But, in order to stay within their meanings, we just say "staged and under contract in X days" that way, the realtors understand, as well as the general public, how many days, weeks, or months it took to get a contract. My most recent staged property that sold - we advertised the month we staged it and the month it went under contract which was still a good ratio.
Great Post.
Consisency is key. It makes absolute sense to the speak the language of those we work with.
Just a quick tip: Adding a glossary of terms to your website will boost your SEO. Although not a home staging web site, here's an example of a site with a glossary of terms. As you can see it's not complicated. It helps visitors to the site, at the same time as boosting SEO.
Deena - I have heard, from some of my Canadian Staging friends, things are a bit different in Canada. Thanks for the clarification on some of your rules!
Lisa - I think staged and under contract in x days is just a good way to go. It makes it perfectly clear!
Donna - thanks for the tip!
Great post...it can get a little confusing at times if you don't fully understand the language! Thanks for clarifying.
Melissa,
You are always so good about educating us all. I always questioned the definition of "sold", so thank you for clarifying that!
Great tips... just one other reason for us as stagers to be aware that we are in real estate, therefor, we need to know these terms. In CA DOM is from listing date to pending... from a statistical point of view.
Excellent post, Melissa. As you state, it's important for home stagers to understand this verbiage. Thanks for sharing it.
Kathy
Melissa, Excellant information and post. We also use the same formula for calculating our stats.
Thanks for sharing, Leslie
GREAT topic and it really does pay to have everyone talking in the same terms!!
Thanks for the comments ladies!! So nice to know we are all on the same page!
Melissa,
Before staging I sold Real Estate for many years and I think that talking the Real Estate Agent's language gives us all more credability. Most of my business comes from Real Estate Agents. It is important that they know that we understand their world. Thanks for your post.
Marianne
We agree Melissa.. It has been said many times and is oh so true that we are part of the Real Estate industry... not the opposite. We have three basic stages (No pun intended) here in the Indianapolis market, ACTIVE, PENDING and SOLD. Actually there is a fourth, the nasty term EXPIRED!
Marianne - that's what its all about - CREDIBILITY!
Gary - ooohh... that is a NASTY word.
Melissa, thanks for the post and defining the terms..
Melissa, always a fountain of infomation. Your past life in real estate offices give you insights that are valuable to stagers everywhere. Thanks for sharing.
Printed and stapled to my stats folder! Thanks