It's an age-old problem with small houses: how do you make the spaces look larger and more functional so the spaces don't seem so SMALL??
This problem is even tougher in a condo where all the spaces are small. Cindy Montgomery in our Showhomes Minneapolis office emailed me these photos to explain how she divides up small spaces and uses small-footprint furniture to enlarge a room:
I believe that the more activites a buyer can see themselves doing in a space, large or small, the more attracive the home becomes. Great job, Cindy!
The NAR Expo in San Diego this year was a far cry from the boom years in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Both the number of attendees and the number of exhibitors are down from previous years and the harsh market conidtions have shocked most Realtors into a far more realistic view of our industry.
There was lots of hope for those still standing this year:
Sales of lower end homes are inching upward
The extension of the tax credit is fueling some growth
Home Staging is having a really positive impact on sales
We surveyed over 400 top producing Realtors at the show this year to get some insight into Realtor attitudes towards home staging. We'll be releasing our survey results in the upcoming weeks and here are some early insights:
Over 95% of Realtors prefer to show homes that are staged
The majority of Realtors say whole-house home staging (when every room is staged) knocks the time to sell in HALF
The Majority of Realtors say that homes staged sell for 15-20% higher than when vacant
The NAR Expo is an international show and there were lots of Canadian Realtors present. Canadian Realtors use home staging at a much higher frequency than American stagers. The feedback from Canadian visitors is that homes either don't sell without staging or if they do they sell for far less and take much longer. Interestingly enough, they see it as their professional duty to make sure they push owners to use Home Staging because if they don't the owner will have to steeply reduce the price and selling homes for higher prices is better business.
Sold in 10 Days! 2612 Robbins St. | Minneapolis, MN 55410
Showhomes Minneapolis has another success story!
Take a look at this charming cottage that had been on the market for a length time, vacant. Like many small spaces, the rooms looked too small to live in. Once the room is staged to look the way it needs to, the home sells. Take a look for yourslef:
This year's NAR Expo in San Diego is off to a great start and appears to be a much different show than previous years. The slow market and a heavy dose of reality has really humbled a lot of Realtors and Brokers we've talked to and although the show is much smaller than previous years, the isles are packed and people are looking for help in their markets.
This year, Showhomes is the only home staging company with a booth. Odd to us since home staging is proving out to be one of the most important tools a Realtor can use to help sell a home. This year, as in years past, our group is doing a home staging survey. After day 1, we can already see some startling data points from our survey results:
100% of the Realtors we've surveyed prefer to show staged homes and think they sell much faster. Even more interesting is that 100% believe buyers prefer to view staged homes. This is a far cry from the 2004 and 2005 boom years at NAR when many Realtors were skeptical of home staging.
The overwhelming majority of Realtors we've surveyed said that staged homes sell in less than HALF the time of vacant homes and that a fully staged home sells for a whopping 20% higher price than a vacant home.
The stories we hear - and almost every Realtor we've talked to has vacant listings - are that vacant home listings are just sitting and are truly difficult to sell. Unlike previous years where we've had to work hard to educate Realtors about the value of home staging and how much equity home owners stand to lose by keeping the home vacant, this year Realtors are all ears. Those that have vacant listings are unable to sell them and know they need help.
Good thing that we're posting some amazing sales results these days!
Innovative Home Staging is Key to Home Sales in Down Market
With a $569,000 Tampa home sitting on the market for a year and a half and no signs of a sale, Tracy Truitt was a disheartened Realtor looking for a new approach that would help her sell her listing.
Truitt, a Realtor with Century 21 Elite in Tampa, discovered Showhomes, a pioneer in the home staging industry, and its unique spin on traditional home staging: the nationally franchised company finds people to live in and help stage vacant homes so that they show better and sell faster. Given the declining real estate market, mansions and just about every other type of home are difficult to sell.
Showhomes staged Truitt’s home and it sold in eight days.
“I had an almost full price offer within a week of Showhomes’ staging, and a 25 percent higher offer than the two offers that had come in previously to the home being staged,” Truitt says.
Showhomes Tampa owner Linda Saavedra says Truitt’s experience isn’t a fluke.
Saavedra’s magnificently staged homes are selling in a fraction of the time most homes are taking to sell. So are homes all over the country staged with Showhomes’ one-of-a-kind system. A typical $850,000 home in Florida is taking well over a year to sell in today’s market and the average time it has taken Showhomes to sell these homes is a staggering 132 days.
“Recently we’ve had six major success stories with homes that have lingered on the market for over a year,” she says. “Three homes sold within 35 days and two others were contracted within seven days of staging. The home that sold in 8 days has been on the market for over two years and the sale price was 20 percent more than the offers they received when the home was vacant.”
“Our approach is working when nothing else is,” says Thomas Scott, VP of operations at the Nashville-based corporate headquarters of Showhomes. “We are experiencing similar home sales results in southern California, the Midwest and Northeast. Despite the glut of inventory, there are buyers in the market and they are choosing to purchase homes we have staged.”
Tracy Truitt, the frustrated Realtor, can’t believe it took her so long to use Showhomes, “Showhomes’ results speak for themselves.”
For franchise opportunities and more information, please visit www.showhomes.com .
Jared Biby of Showhomes Jacksonville emailed me these photos of a stunning home they just staged with a live in home manager in Marsh Landing, the exclusive golf community in Ponte Vedra:
Wow - what a difference! Builder Biege is tough in today's market. Every home has similar, monochromatic colors and if buyers look at several homes, the rooms quickly run together. I love the pattern on the area rug - it really changes the feel of the room. Great job by Kaye Biby on staging this home!
Laura Johnson of Showhomes Naperville in the Western Suburbs of Chicago emailed me today about a great success story from a home in Elmhurst they recently staged:
'We have great news to share about one of our new construction homes!After
503 days on the market, the home sold within 32 days of Showhomes staging it!"
Here's some before and after of this really nice home:
Great job! This is one of two homes we staged for a builder who started the process before the market dropped. I love that we really get to help people in dire straits using home staging to help sell a home. This home, like most that we stage, is staged with a live-in Home Manager. Another beautiful home that avoided the short-sale and foreclosure option and sold for a great price!
On a field visit to Tampa where Showhomes has three locations, I was able to view this $1 million dollar in-fill new contruction home in South Tampa. This 3-story home has a lot to offer and looks amazing now that it is staged:
We've had a really successful run of home sales this year, far outstripping the local market conditions. In Florida and especially in Jacksonville and Tampa, we've sold over 40 homes with an average list price of $816,000. These homes have been on the market for an average of more than a year before we stage them (they are all vacant) and we've been able to turn them around in an average of 132 days.
Those are great numbers for the luxury market theses days - there are few buyers and far too many homes for sale. This segment of the market is not seeing the short-lived spikes the lower end segments are seeing becuase the FHA mortgages and first-time buyer credits don't apply.
Home Staging Company Employs Live In Caretakers to Protect Homeowners and Sell Homes
As foreclosures continue to spike and the number of vacant homes on the market for sale spirals higher, homeowners are increasingly vulnerable to companies that peddle questionable services or outright scams.
Thomas Scott, vice president of operations for Showhomes, the country`s largest home staging company, says conditions are ripe in the foreclosure and high-end housing market for exploitation, where such a high percentage of vacant homes are lingering on the market for a year, two years or more. He encourages consumers to be on the alert.
"These are really scary times for owners of vacant homes," Scott says. "Almost daily, we read in the paper about vandalism, theft, parties in vacant homes, expensive repairs and plummeting property values that come from leaving homes vacant and for sale. In some cases we`re seeing fly-by-night companies moving home squatters into vacant properties in the hopes of wrestling possession of the home from the owner. It`s unbelievable."
Vacant home damaged by vandals in Phoenix
"Letting a home sit empty is a recipe for disaster," Scott says. "Home sellers need reputable managed staging and live-in stagers more than ever these days."
"The prospect of selling a home for 20-30 percent below its real value, and in many cases waiting years for it to sell, is hard enough," Scott adds. "Now you have to worry about sneaky scam artists trying to take advantage of distressed homeowners."
Showhomes, which currently has 56 franchises in 23 states, is having dramatic success in today's tough real estate market with its innovative blend of impeccable home staging and method of employing qualified people as live-in caretakers to keep homes in show condition. It`s all above board - no squatting, taking possession or scamming involved.
And, it`s and remarkably effective.
Home staged by Showhomes with Live In Home Managers
In a recent case study, homes in Chicago staged by Showhomes with live-in home managers sold for 93 percent of the original list price when using home managers to stage. Comparable homes left vacant for sale sold for 75-85 percent of the original list price. Homes staged with home managers sold in 4-5 months and vacant homes took well over a year to sell, if they sold at all.
Showhomes - www.showhomes.com Thomas Scott, 615-483-4923 VP Operations tscott@showhomes.com
Every now and then we get asked at Showhomes to stage a home outside our comfort level. Anyone with expereince and enough inventory can make a pretty room and an amazing home look great. However, it takes someone with real skill to stage and sell a home with small spaces. Cindy Montgomery emailed me photos of this very challenging small cottage she staged and that sold in 10 days last week:
I can see why this home sold so fast! This home, although totally updated and in a great area of Minneapolis, has some really small spaces. Vacant, these spaces look really difficult to live in and staged they look very comfortable and usable. This is a great home for a single professional or starter home for a couple.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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