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!

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.

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. 

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). 

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.....

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!

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!