The following is an excerpt from an actual flyer sent out by an Austin REALTOR to every home owner in a large subdivision. This was emailed to me last week by a fellow ASP Stager in the Austin Area, whose daughter lives in this particular subdivision. I intentionally delayed my blogging on this topic so I did not jump all over this team and call them names. Here's what was said:
Did you know that one of the top 5 financial mistakes a seller can make it to hire a staging company? It’s true! According to a prominent real estate magazine supported by the National Association of Realtors, it is unnecessary to hire an expensive staging company to stage your home, unless it is an extremely unusual floor plan or is priced at over $2 million. Many of the homes in that range are so large, they need furniture professionally placed to show depth and arrangement possibilities to prospective buyers in sometimes massive family rooms and dens. See, we’re already saving you $money$! There’s no need to pay someone $500.00-$2,000.00 or more, to have them tell you to take the trash cans in and open the blinds. We’ll do that for you, for free.
First and foremost, if this publication is so reputable and supported by NAR, why is credit not given to it directly? There was no footnoting or any information provided about this publication. And doesn't this statement against Home Staging directly contradict NAR's previsous statments that in the current market Staging is more important than ever before? [Jed Smith, NAR from October 2008 statements]
Second: I take personal offense to his statement that hiring a Staging Company(me) is a waste of a home owner's money. I know: it's business, not personal. But as my business is personally my family's source of income, you bet your bottom it's personal! As a Stager, my approach is to fit my services with in the owner's needs and budget - there's not forcing furniture and acccent rentals on my clients. We provide suggestions and solutions - offering to do it for them, or leaving the owners to do it for themselves.
Third: Clearly, I am not charging enough for my services if some one else is charging $500 to tell home owners to hide the garbage can and open the blinds. Sorry, Clients: Prices are going up as I provide a much higher level of service than this. You can thank this Real Estate Team for the price increase as they let the cat out of the bag.
Let me ask you this, Mr. Austin REALTOR: What other services are you going to provide for free to increase your marektability? Why not become a home inspector and start doing the inspections for free? Or become a licensed mortgage broker so you can handle the financing? While you're at it, why don't you change the oil in their car, instead of wasting money on a mechanic? Are you going to be the seller's cleaning crew as well? And take out their trash? If so, I might hire you to sell our house - that'd be like 3 months of free house cleaning... And while yuo're at it... Mow my lawn...
Now that most of my Rant is complete, some closing thoughts:
As more home owners approach me before enlisting a REALTOR, I could advise them to save considerably more money than they would pay for Home Staging by going FSBO, or use one of the discount brokerages. Instead, I advise just the opposite: Interview more than one REALTOR. Ask lots of questions. Go with the one who puts the best foot forward, not the one who gives you the highest list price, or is a friend of your cousin's.
I could disparrage any REALTOR who does their own Home Staging as part of their marketing plan. But I wouldn't because many that I have seen know what they are doing. And those who don't will eventually pass the practice on to a Professional Home Stager - if they survive in the current market.
Lastly, if truth be told, this person does not worry me. According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, Austin had 11,535 listings in May of 2009. In a recent blog post by Donna Harris, A/R contributor, the Austin Board of REALTORS was approaching 9,000 members. [Note to Mr. REALTOR: see the proper way to provide data, listing sources and links to the data] So the odds are slim that I will ever even meet this person to give them a piece of my mind. In the meantime, I will continue to provide my services to the 8,999 other agents in the region who want to market and sell homes, and not waste their time worrying about where to place the sofa in the living room. And I will continue to advise Home Owners to engage a REALTOR despite the cost of using one. As long as it's not this team!
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