Grassy Creek in Mt. Pleasant is a great little neighborhood. The homes are well built and attractive. There is an active community association and plenty of amenities. In September, an agent for one of sellers in this community contacted us. The seller was moving, the home was now going to be vacant. It had already been on the market for 3 months.
We staged this $650,000 property on September 25, 2007. On January 7th, the home went Active Contingent. While this may not seem like a particularly quick sale, consider this.
On the date of contract, there were 11 active properties in Grassy Creek under $850,000
The average DOM for this neighborhood is 154 Days.
Ours is the ONLY property, under $850,000 to go under contract in this time frame!
So, what was the cost to the client? Less than $3000.
Most sellers are willing to offer thousands in allowances, broker bonuses and markdowns. Why not try staging?
Below shows the end product of this particular staging project.
UPDATE: to view the stats on how much money staging saved this client, visit this blog: Update on 'The Only One in this Neighborhood' blog.... Stats that show staging works!
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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
You did a wonderful job.!!!
you mean they spend $3000. for all that time staged? Is that counting the staging fee & rental since September/ 07 ?
Suzanne - Thank you!
Fernando - Yes, this is Charleston, SC and not CA, so the prices can be very different. We also own our furniture and provide 3 & 4 month contracts which include all related services. Only the primary rooms were staged (4 in total). You will also notice that we keep the furnishings and accessories light, focusing on the home itself, not our props. By concentrating on key rooms, owning our own furniture and knowing our average market time for contract we maximize the client's budget.
Our goal is to provide quality service at a reasonable rate allowing for almost any homeowner to take advantage of this money saving service!
Melissa, beautiful home. And the staging looks great too!
Roberta - Thanks!
You know the funny thing is that I got a call from someone this morning asking how many sqft etc this home is. They saw my original blog about it on the internet and fell in love with it on the RES. They were saddened to hear it was under contract.
Melissa-
Knowing your excellent design ability from following your posts & newsletters, I am even more impressed at the value you gave this client by providing only necessary furnishings to highlight the home's features. This is staging at its best-with results for the client!!
Kathy
Marci - I know what you mean... I think I could live in the bathroom - bubbles, glass of wine, soft music. Who needs to leave?
Kathleen - I've already started working with another agent in that neighborhood to help move that property. I'll keep you updated on those stats as well....
Cindy - come visit, we'll go home shopping... lol....
Terrylynn - it definately does! The great thing is agents here are finally getting it. Stats like these help prove it to them.
Kathleen - I certainly hope that I'm loved to bits! I have a good relationship with all the agents I work with. I actually was just asked to stage a model home by a builder. We have staged 6 of their properties since October.... 2 of their properties just got offers this weekend also - within 3 months of their staging contracts (one of them actually has had multiple contract that have fallen through because of the mortgage tightening). They were both on the market nearly a year before staging. They definately see the value!
Kathleen - I guess I make more money on volume of staging jobs than each individual jobs. I keep very busy, as does the rest of my team. We do on average 2-3 homes a week during off months and between us 5 - 8 or more homes a week during the summer. Our average home stays staged for only about 45 - 60 days. We only stage key rooms & as you can see we don't overload on accessories, only putting in enough to make the space feel warm and inviting. This ensures that we showcase the home, not our belongings.
One of the women on my team staged a home this week for an investor. He commented at the end of the staging job how impressed he was. Then proceeded to tell her that when he first saw the furniture coming in that he thought it was kind of boring. Once it was arranged & accessorized he couldn't believe how much he loved the overall look of the home. She smiled and asked him, 'Would you rather the buyers come through our staged properties and comment on how much they love the furniture, art & accessories, or how much they loved the home?' He smiled back and said, 'You really do know what you are doing, don't you?'
The answer, "YES! Yes, we do!"
UPDATE: to view the stats on how much money staging saved this client, visit this blog: Update on 'The Only One in this Neighborhood' blog.... Stats that show staging works!