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Are Home Sellers Smarter than Real Estate Agents When It Comes to Home Staging?

We have all either seen or heard of that TV show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" where adults try to answer questions that a fifth grader could answer. You assume the adults would know the answers because...well they're adults and have had more years of life and learning under their belt. Well, often that's not the case...the fifth graders usually win.

I found myself this past week wondering if home sellers were smarter than real estate agents. I was contacted by two homeowners who were interested in staging their vacant investment properties. Both of the properties were in New York City, however one was for sale and the other was a very high-end rental.

Both homeowners realized that they needed to furnish and accessorize their properties in order to stand out from the other properties on the market for rent and for sale. In fact, one of the homeowners believed in staging so much, she had staged by herself another of her investment properties, which is for sale. But after realizing it was a lot of work and very tiring (welcome to my world!), she decided to hire a professional for her rental property.

This homeowner told me that her real estate agent didn't think it was necessary to furnish either apartment. The agent felt they would sell and rent without staging.

I did a quick check of the rental unit on www.streeteasy.com, and it showed competitive rentals in the same price range, location and type of building. One of the units had one bedroom more than the subject unit, AND there were pictures of furnished rooms for prospective renters to imagine themselves living in!

More than 80% of buyers and renters start their search online, so don't you think photos of furnished and decorated rooms would be more appealing than those that are not?

What if you were looking online and saw these photos?

What if you were online and saw THESE photos?

Bedroom After Living Room After

In the other case where I was contacted by the homeowner whose property was for sale, I spoke to the real estate agent myself, not knowing in advance her position on home staging. When I told her who I was and that I had been to the property in order to prepare a home staging proposal, she vehemently stated "No furniture!". She went on to state that she had sold other units in the townhouse complex and she was able to sell the units without them being furnished. She also told me what she was listing the property at and that she was going to probably accept offers that were 5% less.

So I told her that...

The cost of staging is almost ALWAYS less than the first price reduction and in this case it was (2%).

Then I told her WHY the unit should be furnished, and after every one of my statements, she said "I disagree!"

Empty rooms appear smaller than they really are
No emotional connection can be felt when buyers walk into an empty house
Most buyers can't picture where there furniture will go and if it will fit
Most buyers can't imagine themselves living there if there is nothing there
Small defects stand out because there's nothing else to look at

I could have given her other reasons, but I got tired of hearing "I disagree!".

What do you think? Are home sellers smarter than real estate agents when it comes to home staging and selling homes?

Posted by Donna Dazzo Home Stager in the Hamptons & New York on 11/10/2009 07:19 AM

Comments (25)

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25 Comments on Are Home Sellers Smarter than Real Estate Agents When It Comes to Home Staging?

NOV

We all know that furnished homes/condos, etc., will sell faster than empty rooms. Some people just think they are smarter than everyone else. :)

Excellent thoughts and your pictures illustrate your point. People naturally don't want to part with money unless they have to so many times they assume they know more then a professional.

Well furnished homes will sell faster than empty ones. But in this market, it can be hard to get sellers to part with their hard earned money without an absolute guarantee.

I agree with Stephanie. Staged homes definitely look better. The big concern for most is that this just be a waste of money if it doesn't sell or they still need to drop the price later.

If it's a furnished home and it's a few hundred buck to get a stager to come in and rearrange things that's one thing. But for an empty home with furniture rental for who knows how long, that seems to be a financial issue many are afraid to take the leap of faith on.

The majority of my business comes from homeowners. They usually contact me before they put their home on the market for sale. I have a few Realtors in my corner, but the majority do not seem interested in my services as of yet.

Great points, I wish everyone understood importance of staging before their house became old in the market, and they had to reduce the price and then do the staging. They should know to put their best foot forward from the beginning.

One of the ways we show confidence in our staging efforts, is to offer our clients a price reduction should the house stay on the market longer than 60 days. We drop the rental fee 10% at that point. We have not had a house go on to a fourth month, but if we did , we would drop another 10%. This sends a message to our clients that we strongly believe our staging will help sell the property.

Your pics show the very reason why staged homes gain more interest. With the majority of buyers looking online initially when they begin their search, it is only prudent to have those views contain pics of rooms that are beautifully presented.

Thanks for the post,

Mel

I find more sellers are contacting me directly as well, without the recommendation of their realtor. So yes, in some cases sellers are smarter than their realtor! Why wouldn't you use every tool available to get a house sold if you can afford to do so?

Nice post Donna, my business comes almost exclusively from homeowners. Agents call and ask for pricing usually and nothing more or set up appointments and cancel. I see their MLS photos so they aren't going anywhere good....hmmm.

I seem to get most of my business from Realtors who understand that their listings show much better and are easier to market when their clients follow the recommendations we provide in the written consultation. In the illustration you gave however, maybe the homeowners are smarter than THAT Realtor!

There are some savvy Realtors who really, truly understand that their listings will look better -- and sell faster -- with good staging and good photos, but they're probably in the minority. Many homeowners are contacting stagers directly, and even before talking to Realtors. My consultation activity has increased dramatically this year.

You can kind of tell which version of this property comes across looking like one of the ugly step sisters in Cindarella.

It's a pity this story isn't just a fairytale.

I agree with Maureen. There are some sharp agents out there who very much understand the significance of presnetation when selling.

But unfortunately many seem not to have caught on.

I had exactly the same experience with a selling agent not so long ago, who, upon being introduced to me by the client, insisted that a particular property would be better left totally unfurnished. My client insisted on staging despite his obvious objections.

In the end that property sold after 38 days on the market for 99% of the asking price.

In the end he became a convert. A fairytale ending you might say.

NOV

I too agree with Maureen. More and more Realtors are catching on that Home Staging makes a difference. Especially when they see great results with fewer day on market.

I too have a lot more homeowners calling me up...inquiring about home staging. If they don't already have a Realtor that's when I quickly call on one of my Realtor's who believe in Home Staging.

Donna, you are simply describing an agent that is not and may never be your client. Our experience has taught us that for a variety of reasons that there are two groups of Real Estate professionals and home owners out there... Those that are or can become clients and those that simply are not. Our experience has also taught us to quickly identify which they are and move on if they are not our clients. Frankly there is just too much work to be done with those that are our clients to be wastingtime with those that are not. Like many of those that have commented here, we get many calls directly from home owners, but on occasion we get calls from agents that have felt the pressure to change their stance on staging simply because they are in turn getting pressure from their clients to provide them every possible oppertunity to better showcase thier property. As time passes agents will either get it, or they will feel the preasure to get it or they will become extinct.

Great post Donna and your pictures do say a thousand words.... there is just NO comparison. We now know that 94% of buyers ages 25 to 44 used the internet to search for homes in 2008 - Based on those pictures, which property does the Realtor think that 25-44 year old buyer is going to take the time to go and see????

Thank you everyone for your comments. It's good to know that I am not alone.

Unfortunately, I think the real estate agents may have gotten to these two clients. One of them said her agent has some possible renters and she wants to wait to see if it rents before she stages. The other one said she is implementing my suggestions on improving the home, such as painting and replacing the carpeting (she paid for a consultation), and she will wait to see how much she spends and if she has any money left to stage it with furniture. I'm not holding my breath.

I'll keep you all posted, but I find that the clients I've gotten in the past had already decided to stage before they call me. Warm prospects like these who say they will get back to me never proceed with staging.

I can't imagine anyone arguing with you after you show them your portofolio. If they do, they are being penny wise and pound foolish!

NOV

Your point about curb appeal being pretty much internet shopping is right on the money. Who is going to linger on phtos of rooms with nothing in them? I've noticed some staging-hesitant realtors but after they see the result in person they usually come around. Thanks for the post!

There is just comparison between a vacant house and a professionally staged home. I had to look twice in your before pictures to even know that they were different rooms. No appeal = no in person showing.

NOV

I have had similar experiences. I'd love to hear honest answers from more RE agents as to why they really don't recommend staging.

NOV

I don't know. Some agents I've come across aren't super supportive of staging or even basic home preparation. Are they just trying to get business by not making home owners feel like their home isn't good enough?? I would think it is in their best interest to have the property as marketable as possible!

NOV

Deena, interesting point about agents afraid to make the homeowner feel that their home isn't good enough. But it could also be the other way around. When I told this homeowner about my discussion with the agent who didn't think it was necessary to stage, the homeowner said perhaps the agent was insulted that she didn't think the agent's selling skills were good enough to get the place sold and that she had to resort to staging to get it sold.

Donna, great post. I had an investor contact me regarding staging his property. His agent told him he did not need to stage the property. After several months with no offers, the agent requested a price reduction. At this point the investor contacted me and we staged the property. The property sold a little over 60 days. The investor fired the realtor and keep the staging and received an offer. His statement was...." Even I could sell a house if the price was low enough. I though I would hire an expert so that I could get the best possible price." During the process, the agent never contacted me regarding staging. I supplied the new photos for the convenience of the investor. The investor was very thankful for the staging and promised to stage all of his properties.

There are some agents that support staging, choose those agents to add to your team.

NOV

Donna, good point! I never thought of it from the other angle . . . could be very true, too.

I love it . . . "resort to staging it"!

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