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An Exact Property Comparision - The final numbers

By Melissa Marro

Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team

February 02, 2008 05:46 AM

Some of you may remember my blog, Proof That Staging Sells.... An Exact Property Comparison. Well, I've been following this home for some time - since we contacted the agent when the home we staged went under contract. This week the home finally closed.... Here is a brief recap and then the final numbers...

House #1: 2328 Daniel Island Drive, Charleston

originally listed on 12/14/2006. original list price $349,000

expired & relisted on 03/16/2007 $345,000

House #2: 2338 Daniel Island Drive, Charleston

originally listed on 03/01/2007, original list price $345,000

on 03/16/2007 both homes were vacant, on the market at the exact same time at the exact same price...

We staged House #1 on 08/08/2007

House #1 CLOSED on 09/27/2007 for final sale price $320,000

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Now for the final numbers..... House #2 continued to sit on the market for an additional 4 months. It was vacant so the sellers were paying carrying costs. Based on the price of the home, HOA fees in this area, etc this is an estimated $12,000 - $15,000. The final sale price of the home was $299,000 - a whopping $21,000 LESS than our staged home.

As I stated in the previous blog, this home was staged for less than $2000. What was the cost of NOT STAGING? (drum roll please....) AN INCREDIBLE $35,000.

Wow..... I bet the homeowners for house #1 sure are happy they made the decision to stage with First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign, what about you?

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Proud sponsor of the 2008 Realtor of Distinction Luncheon at CTAR's Plugged In Conference. Join us at our booth and for our Staging Workshop at the conference!

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Audrey Hoffman

VoteAudrey blog - Columbia, SC

VoteAudrey

Melissa,

Thanks for posting this!

Feb 03, 2008 02:22 PM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

Audrey - you are welcome!

Feb 04, 2008 12:55 AM

Janice Sutton

1st Stage Property Transformations - Murrieta, CA

Home Stager - Temecula Murrieta

35k Wow! How could any one argue with that! Great post and story. Bravo Girlfriend!!

Feb 04, 2008 02:05 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

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).

Feb 04, 2008 06:41 AM

Kimberley Hawley

Hawley Interiors & Staging - Caledon, ON

Hawley Interiors & Staging

I love hearing good news like that! Congrats!

Feb 04, 2008 10:48 AM

Karla Davis

Florida Home Staging & Redesign, Inc. - Orlando, FL

Orlando Home Staging Firm

Wow! Their certainly is no arguing with those numbers. A comparison like that is a true testiment to staging.

Feb 04, 2008 12:26 PM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

Kimberly & Karla - I hope that agents will see these stats and understand that not only is there a price tag on staging, but there is an even higher price tag on NOT staging!

Feb 04, 2008 01:09 PM

Kathleen Garvey

HomeSmart Cherry Creek - Denver - Denver, CO

Denver's Neighborhood Expert - Listings & Sales

Great example Melissa! I love statistics and it is rare to have this perfect example....which really highlighted the bottom line results of staging!! While it is no surprise to us, it will be impressive to the many realtors and homeowners who stand on the fence of whether staging is worth doing. Of course it is!!

I hope you paste this example everywhere you find....it helps every one of us! GREAT JOB! Regards-Kathleen G

Feb 04, 2008 11:07 PM

Charlene Storozuk

Dezigner Digz - Burlington, ON

Home Stager - Burlington Ontario

Melissa, what an incredible boost to prove the benefits of home staging. Excellent job! Has the Realtor of Distinction luncheon taken place yet? If not, good luck with that and your workshop - it sounds like a terrific opportunity.

Feb 05, 2008 12:20 AM

Karel Rogers

Real Estate Staging Unlimited - Reno, NV

Staging works! the longer you are in the business the more examples like this one you will have to refer your clients to. Enjoy the process...

Feb 05, 2008 12:38 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

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.

Feb 05, 2008 01:38 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

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.....

Feb 05, 2008 01:42 AM

Kathleen Garvey

HomeSmart Cherry Creek - Denver - Denver, CO

Denver's Neighborhood Expert - Listings & Sales

Ha, I was concerned the highlighting would throw you off....sometimes I do that without thinking...and realize that it can make a comment blend in with the replies. : )

I tell you, it is a challenge to guess where the sell price will land these days. Realtors are pressuring the sellers to take the lower bids....just to move the home in case nothing better comes along. Either way, staging helps the valuation and definitely influences the end sale price. Any homeowner or realtor out there should really be ready to explain with strong reason why every home out there on the market has not utilized professional Home Staging. It is a no-brainer....yet, a new concept for many.

Examples like yours are fun to share and impressive! Apples to apples are not the easiest to find......and you found it! Good luck at your meeting....no doubt you will make a few more realtors--- 'believers'!! Regards-Kathleen G

Feb 05, 2008 05:55 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

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!

Feb 05, 2008 08:09 AM

Brian Bloom

www.AllinOneStaging.com 1-630-292-2710 - Bartlett, IL

All in One Staging Inc. - Home Staging Consultant, Redesign Expert

Melissa,

Only one word comes to mind when reading this. AMAZING

The folks in your area are lucky to have one of the greats to turn to!

Keep it up.

Feb 05, 2008 08:10 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

You are too kind Brian! Thank you so much or the kind words.....

Feb 05, 2008 09:58 AM

Sharon Soons

Streamline U. - Beacon, NY

Home Staging - Hudson Valley NY

Bravo & ditto on all of the above - stats like this make staging's value crystal clear. Can I link to your site or somehow otherwise show this on my own site?

Feb 05, 2008 01:55 PM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

Sharon - absolutely, please use my website, www.stagingandredesign.com when linking back. BTW, I LOVE LOVE LOVE streamline file organizational tip #1! I seem to have this problem all the time, for some reason though it is more common with my printer and desk top .... lol!

Feb 05, 2008 02:04 PM

Lisa Rapose

ReDesign To Sell (TM) - Woodstock, CT

Melissa... Wow! This is fantastic! Congratulations...

Great job staying informed and knowledgable in your market... (This aspect of the staging business is one that I believe is not being fully explored by a great number of stagers)

This is a wonderful marketing tool for your business...a great way to show sellers and LAs the REAL (true) benefits of staging...

Again...nice work...

Feb 10, 2008 05:19 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

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!

Feb 10, 2008 12:24 PM