Some of you may remember my blog, Proof That Staging Sells.... An Exact Property Comparison. Well, I've been following this home for some time - since we contacted the agent when the home we staged went under contract. This week the home finally closed.... Here is a brief recap and then the final numbers...
House #1: 2328 Daniel Island Drive, Charleston
originally listed on 12/14/2006. original list price $349,000
expired & relisted on 03/16/2007 $345,000
House #2: 2338 Daniel Island Drive, Charleston
originally listed on 03/01/2007, original list price $345,000
on 03/16/2007 both homes were vacant, on the market at the exact same time at the exact same price...
We staged House #1 on 08/08/2007
House #1 CLOSED on 09/27/2007 for final sale price $320,000
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Now for the final numbers..... House #2 continued to sit on the market for an additional 4 months. It was vacant so the sellers were paying carrying costs. Based on the price of the home, HOA fees in this area, etc this is an estimated $12,000 - $15,000. The final sale price of the home was $299,000 - a whopping $21,000 LESS than our staged home.
As I stated in the previous blog, this home was staged for less than $2000. What was the cost of NOT STAGING? (drum roll please....) AN INCREDIBLE $35,000.
Wow..... I bet the homeowners for house #1 sure are happy they made the decision to stage with First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign, what about you?
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Proud sponsor of the 2008 Realtor of Distinction Luncheon at CTAR's Plugged In Conference. Join us at our booth and for our Staging Workshop at the conference!
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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.
Staging does work! Good job.
Melissa what an amazing comparison! This is the best metric for determining the value of staging verses not. Great job and thanks for posting this!
Bevin - I know... more than 10%! Can you believe it? To think the owners of House #2 didn't want to spend the money. Well, they spent it anyway, didn't they?
Marina - Thanks! The great thing about this particular comparison is that it is so difficult to argue that the statistics are too general. This is pretty darn specific!
Elaine - I know, so many cookie cutter neighborhoods, but it is still difficult to get the same exact floorplan, no upgrades, etc. This was identical - same time, same price, no upgrades, etc
Rosario - it's staging a beautiful thing? It's better than playing the stock market because it nearly always pays out!
Judy - I'm thrilled to have such perfect comparisons. It is just so hard to come by anything this perfectly exact. Black and white is right.....
Dane - How can anyone argue with this methodology? They pay for staging when the house is on the market, or they pay a significantly higher amount in the long run! All we needed to do was cut 14 days of carrying costs out for the staging to have paid for itself..... boy did we do that and more for these homeowners! I have been waiting for this house to close to see the final numbers... I was blown away myself!
Melissa - This is significant because it is a true side by side comparison. I'm flagging this for a feature.
Jackie
Melissa,
Penny wise and pound foolish. Whether your in raising, falling or flat market staging sells!
Melissa, I applaud you on you statistics gathering. Examples like these now become marketing statistics and will be very telling to your future clients.
Yvonne - There is so little opportunity for such an effective comparison that I had to keep an eye on this property! Of course I also kept trying to convince the owners to stage. The agent was all for it - the owners just couldn't see the benefits.... go figure!
Jackie - Thanks for the flag! I would be honored to let this show as an example for the industry.
Susan - Penny wise, pound foolish is exactly it!
Lisa - Thank you!
Gary - I actually never was a good statistic gatherer. I would pay attention to an individual statistic here or there, but at the end of last year - much in part to Craig's stats page & the request of someone else I had to begin compiling them. Needless to say this is a stat I'm thrilled to have! It has already been turned into a marketing piece which will be distributed to the agents locally. It is just hard to ignore these statistics.
Melissa,
I bet the second home owners are kicking themselves in the butt for not staging, although they probably wouldn't admit it!!!
Penny - You would think so, right? I know the agent is!
Kimberly - I know... we've already put it in print and ordered several thousand copies for a trade show being held by our local association of realtors.
Julia - Yes! Fortunately we have tons of exampes and numbers - of course none this comperably exact. Though we do have the other example we just posted of being the only property in a neighborhood to get a full price offer - we were also the only staged property.... again saving the client thousands of dollars. don't you love it when you can show it in black and white, not just generalities?
Cindy - yeah, me too.... I certainly would rather have it in my checkbook than wasted as in example #2.
Terrylynn - Of course you can use it! I have it in a publisher document if you would like me to email it to you I would be happy to.... just email me privately & I'll send it over.
35k Wow! How could any one argue with that! Great post and story. Bravo Girlfriend!!
Melissa, Great post! I'm afraid that realtor #2 didn't spend the money and ultimately lost more and shows that this realtor is not working in the best interest of their client.
There are two choices: to save the client from dipping into their pockets or make them more money by suggesting home staging. Presented correctly, I think most homeowners would want to get more from the sale of their home and sell it faster, a difference to the realtor of $1050 - 3% of $35,000 as an example of extra commission lost.
It makes sense to home stage, sell faster and make more money, both for the realtor and homeowner AND develop a reputation for future clients as being a realtor who cares about their sellers bottom line!
Diane Concialdi DC Redesign
Janice - That's the plan... don't let them argue with you... lol! Show them benefits clearly defined & in black and white...
Diane - The realtor for house #2 actually spent a lot of time trying to convince this seller to stage. We talked nearly every week about getting this home staged, they just didn't want to bite. The home was a corporate owned property and the agents were selling at a significantly reduced commission rate (much of the listing rate was distributed to referral programs, etc). I would NOT have advocated the agent paying for this staging job. I have also worked on several other projects with this agent and feel they care deeply for their clients best interest & always do what is in their best interest (to the best of their abilities).
I do feel staging is important & will help grow the agent's business, BUT I do NOT think it is the agent's responsibility to pay for the staging job. This should fall upon the homeowner as they stand the most to gain (or in this case lose).
I love hearing good news like that! Congrats!
Great example Melissa! I love statistics and it is rare to have this perfect example....which really highlighted the bottom line results of staging!! While it is no surprise to us, it will be impressive to the many realtors and homeowners who stand on the fence of whether staging is worth doing. Of course it is!!
I hope you paste this example everywhere you find....it helps every one of us! GREAT JOB! Regards-Kathleen G
Charlene - the luncheon is on the 19th. We have sponsored the luncheon, have a booth at the agent tech show & a 40 minute breakout session for scheduling agents. We expect it to be a great day.
Karel - I have some great examples from past clients, but none as exact as this one.
whoops.. I saw the first part highlighted in the paragraph Kathleen & thought I was responding back to someone else..... totally missed that from you... I'm very soorrrrry!
Kathleen - We have already been using this example just because it was still sitting. When we found out that it had a contract we watched wondering what the number would be. Honestly we expected the number to be a bit higher - not full price (which was still below our final sale price) but somewhere above $300K. When the final closing number came in we were totally blown away. The money spent on carrying costs & price reducations on this home equates to a full 10% of the home price. That is quite the price tag.....
Ha, I was concerned the highlighting would throw you off....sometimes I do that without thinking...and realize that it can make a comment blend in with the replies. : )
I tell you, it is a challenge to guess where the sell price will land these days. Realtors are pressuring the sellers to take the lower bids....just to move the home in case nothing better comes along. Either way, staging helps the valuation and definitely influences the end sale price. Any homeowner or realtor out there should really be ready to explain with strong reason why every home out there on the market has not utilized professional Home Staging. It is a no-brainer....yet, a new concept for many.
Examples like yours are fun to share and impressive! Apples to apples are not the easiest to find......and you found it! Good luck at your meeting....no doubt you will make a few more realtors--- 'believers'!! Regards-Kathleen G
Kathleen - I'm just glad I caught it! I would have felt horrible!
Thankfully it is not the only 'solid evidence' I've received this year. In my post More Numbers to Share... The Value staging brings to the table - in written offers shows another shining example of how staging saved the client money by gaining them not one but 2 full price offers with still a third offer on the table! Setting that to the only other 2 homes to close in that neighborhood that took offers at $20K - $25K less than list price I think it is a shining example!
Oh yes, I have an appointment with another agent in that community next Friday to discuss staging their home - which will then be vacant. It's not on the market yet, but their listing agent (one of my good clients) knows what I bring to the table & can prove it in black and white numbers!
Melissa,
Only one word comes to mind when reading this. AMAZING
The folks in your area are lucky to have one of the greats to turn to!
Keep it up.
BB
Melissa... Wow! This is fantastic! Congratulations...
Great job staying informed and knowledgable in your market... (This aspect of the staging business is one that I believe is not being fully explored by a great number of stagers)
This is a wonderful marketing tool for your business...a great way to show sellers and LAs the REAL (true) benefits of staging...
Again...nice work...
Lisa - we have always known our stats were fabulous, but they are always subjective. This is pretty black and white, which is exactly what we need to show agents and sellers! Thanks for your kind words & encouragement!
Libby - This is why we've been watching this home. We knew they were so exact that it was such an opportunity to show real numbers.... we were even shocked at the end result!