Can you believe it is already January? Many of you have set New Year's Resolutions to increase listings, become a top producer or provide better customer service. We are here to help you with all of those goals! Let us show you how real estate staging can enhance your bottom line!
What Clients Are Saying....
"It looks incredible. I am especially pleased with your execution. Managing and performing on expectations is paramount in business and you hit both. Thank you."
Greer Arthur, AD Development
"Thanks to Bevin and her awesome staging and design ideas for helping us in this slower market. After having numerous showings on two higher priced homes and no offers, we decided to try Bevin's staging. Right after the staging, both properties went under contract and sold. Then, I sold my personal residence for market price with only 31 days on market after having Bevin consult me on the paint colors, furniture placement and decluttering. Bevin's staging and redesign services are awesome and are highly recommended! Thanks again Bevin!"
Return on Investment, the bottom line. This is what really matters when dealing with investments. Real Estate and Staging are no different. As a successful real estate agent or investor when considering marketing venues, ads and staging you must consider how this will effect the bottom line, or ROI.
Cost consideration - Staging is relatively inexpensive, usually less than 1/2% - 1% of the list price of the home. (Percentage usually decreases as the list price increases.) Currently in Charleston, the average staged home (vacant) is in the $600K - $2M range (excluding model homes). The average cost for this price point is only $2800 - $3800 for a three to four month rental of furniture, art, accessories, delivery, and stager's fees. Rooms included in this package are typically the living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen, master bedroom & bath. At this price point staging only needs to shave one month of time on market to have more than paid for itself. Statistics show that the average staged home sells in half the time as unstaged homes however!
What does this mean for you? Saving money on carrying costs and receiving higher offers (national studies show as much as 3-9% higher offers) mean a significant ROI for your sellers! This also means more money in your pocket in saved marketing expenses and higher commission (based on higher sales prices). Happy sellers also usually mean fewer withdrawn listings, additional future business and referrals. If you haven't already considered staging, maybe it is time....
Real Estate Staging VS Model Homes & Decorator Staging
For Years builders have been utilizing model homes to help buyers emotionally relate to their properties. Lower profit margins and the rise of the staging industry has builders looking at alternatives.
Real Estate Staging aka Home Staging is affordable for nearly any home seller now and offers a higher return on investment. Ease of installation means that it also only takes days or weeks to have the home ready for market versus months the old fashioned way. Sellers also do not need to figure out what to do with the inventory when the home or neighborhood is sold out. The professional stager will come take it all away, leaving a great blank palette for the buyers.
How does staging save money over traditional models or decorator staging? True Real Estate Staging is done using what is widely available. The inventory will match the look and overall feel of the home, but will be generic enough to appeal to maximum buyers. Gone are the needs of custom furniture and draperies, wallpaper and special faux finishes. The look is real, comfortable and mirrors the likely buyers of the property.
What should you look for in a professional stager? To best outfit your seller's property, they should have a wide variety of inventory. Ask for photos of past staging jobs, testimonials or referrals from other agents/clients and what their personal statistics are. Lastly, staging should not cost an arm & a leg - reasonable rates are typically in the 1/2-1% range and no higher than about $2000 - $7000 unless staging multiple bedrooms or non-standard rooms.
The Real Estate Staging Association announced on Sunday the winners for the 2007 RESA Awards. Our own Bevin Googer won for 2007 Rookie Stager of the Year! Please help me in congratulating her on this awesome achievement. We are so proud of her!
Thank you Charleston for being so supportive of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign! The phone calls, emails and congratulations on our RESA nominations were overwhelming! We love helping you grow your business and appreciate the way you help us grow ours. See you next month..... Sincerely,
Melissa Marro & Bevin Googer First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign
First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign is a nationally award winning company owned and operated in Summerville, SC a suburb of Charleston, SC. We provide high quality staging for both occupied and vacant homes in the greater surrounding areas and beyond! For more information please visit, www.WeStageSC.com. If you are interested in learning about making Home Staging your profession, please visit, www.StagingAndRedesign.com for more information.
3 Comments on Making the most of your Real Estate Investment - Staging WORKS! January Newsletter
JAN
14
2008
Great Staging information as usual Melissa! I often resort to your blogs for information on staging and to see the awesome transformations. Best of luck to you in 2008
Anthea - I'll let you in on a secret (lol)... I have a membership plan for stagers who are out of my area wherein they can get copies of my primary articles, target dates for newsletters, etc. They are able to directly cut and paste those articles into their own. The look above is one of the many templates with Constant Contact, only I used my own staging work instead of utilizing their graphics.
Juliet Johnson just joined this month and told me that she had a huge response... actually, this is what she said in another post... "Among a volley of warm feedback (and a referral, wahoo!), I received this message from Martha McDonnell, of Coldwell Banker in Summit, NJ. <<< Juliet, I enjoy reading your newsletters, thank you for sending it to me." She emailed me and told me of 4 immediate responses she had received from her newsletters and a referral.... ask her about it if you think it might help your business...
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.
Return on Investment, the bottom line. This is what really matters when dealing with investments. Real Estate and Staging are no different. As a successful real estate agent or investor when considering marketing venues, ads and staging you must consider how this will effect the bottom line, or ROI. 
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