Toronto Buyers Agent Suggests Stagers HIDE & TRICK - my response

Hello Dane, every once in a while we see articles like this.  I just chuckle and ignore them.  Writers are forced daily to find a new angle on an old story.  If they don't they are considered non-productive and the same thing happens to them as in any other business where your a non productive employee.  They go away.  Unfortunately, this person, just like many daily news journalists who are scrambling to be considered productive, is taking a 99.9% positive process and instead, talking about the .01% that is not so positive.  Unfortunately they have used their journalistic liberties to not discuss the fact that their story is only about the .01%.  I personally have never witnessed the Watergate grade cover-ups that these folks talk about.  Even where bad staging's have occurred, their are no cover-ups, just bad staging.  I personally do know that Linda has talked clients right out of hiring her to stage their home because they needed to spend their money first, to address condition issues before they ever considered staging.

Dane, I am still amazed/shocked that Realtors still have a negative connotation with the word "Staged."  Even though some agents know the benefit of staging, they still don't want the house to be known as a "Staged House."  They have said that it makes the house look fake - like the homeowners are hiding something.  Hopefully with blogs like yours, they will start to shift their thinking.

Dane, as I was reading the agent's article, I was trying to be impartial and read it as though I was a homeowner that was not very familiar with staging. When I got to the part about jazz music being played to trick buyers and that you should imagine the house with kids running around making noise etc. all I could do was laugh.  Any credibility that he or she was trying to establish to make their point, would have gone right out the window for me right there if I was that homeowner.  What a ridiculous comment for the agent to make - he or she blew it right there as far as trying to negate staging! 

Guess this guy gets to line up behind Jon Boyd (we can't forget him and his article) for his spanking LOL.

Sure go ahead and bring your buyers during dinner time with the smell of fish and broccoli hanging in the air. I'm sure the buyers will ask for a contract right then and there with the kids running around the house wiping boogers on the wall.

 

 

Great post Dane!  I was going to write something similar and show what the $45k difference does for the seller! I just finished a staging project where I worked with a homeowner and upgraded bathrooms, full home paint job and the kitchen with countertops, appliances etc....I'd post on this except my AR page/blog is not accepting any RES, html or photos!  Hmmm...trying to fix that with AR.

Anyway....you always raise great points for people to read!  I am in total agreement with you and will walk if the remodel would possibly be completed in a slip-shod fashion.  Many stagers do not have the expertise in this area...however, it is essential to become involved with the upgrades if the homeowner wants to achieve that higher price point.  Good job! Regards-Kathleen G

Very well written and oh so accurate!  There are good and bad stagers as with any profession.  There are those stagers who think that adding furniture and fancy floral or towel arrangements is staging, but they miss the core of the profession - highlighting the property & its assets!  We don't put rugs over stained carpets, we don't put photos over holes in the walls and we don't hide things from buyers or inspectors.  We make what is good look better and what is not necessarily desirable, less noticable - but not hidden.

We do alot of consultations, And you would not belive how many people say ''can't we just cover that up''?

We tell them We never and will never tell anyone to hide any flaws! And if someone does tell you to, they certainly are not professionals.

Home Stagers are not magician's, we don't use smoke and mirrors to trick folks to buy a home. We are however a voice of reason, explaining how to address these flaws and high light the homes positive aspects so the buyer sees they are getting a desirable product.

Good topic Dane,

BB

Dane,

It's too bad you had to link to the site and drive this author's hits up on their web site. But I do appreciate being able to read the original article.

"The best tipoff that a home stager has been at work is a beautifully decorated home with old windows. Why? Because a complete set of new windows is expensive — think $10,000 or so — and most stagers won’t bother to put them in." Is this person kidding? If there are no new windows in the houses I work in, it's usually because the owner cannot afford them. That then becomes a negotiating point with the buyer or the pricing reflects the condition of the windows. This quote suggests that stagers discourage house sellers from completing upgrades in houses they want to sell to try and rip off buyers, but at the end of the day it comes down to how much the seller is willing to invest in upgrades. 

As has been mentioned in other comments. stagers offer different levels of services. I'd love to have the expertise and the market where clients are able to invest in the houses they're trying to sell (Countertops? New appliances? We will occasionally get owners to paint if we're lucky.). In the two markets I serve, (Denver, Colorado and the Triangle Region of North Carolina) foreclosures are up, selling prices are down and sellers don't have a whole lot of room to invest the kind of money you're seeing spent on upgrades. 

Now I need to go post a comment on this article.

Best wishes,

Veronica Harbert

Denver, Colorado

and now serving the Triangle Region of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) 

www.selecthomestaging.com 

 

I've had recent clients that wanted me to hide some small flaws in their homes, and I told them I didn't do that.  It makes me wonder where they got the notion that thats what stagers do?

He's doing job justifying.  There are those "buyers" agents that feel they must demonize the listing agent in order to feel justified in earning their commission.  They don't believe in win win negotiation, they just want the buyer to be afraid that they can't make a proper decision without their devil's advocate hat.  Most buyer's agents do a very good job of informing their clients of the pitfalls they see, but clean windows and trickery...humpff...

Dane,

Makes you wonder what got him so bitter.  Sellers in today's market understand they need to show their house at it's best to EVERY potential buyer.  No one in their right mind is going to allow a potential buyer over during dinner with family chaos running rampant. Even better, how about you come to my house to preview it right after I change my baby's poopy diaper.  He's nuts.

And when did cleaning out closets so potential buyers can appreciate the actual size of the closets become a trick.  If anything, that's being as honest with a potential buyer as you can get.  What they see is actually what they get.  Hmmm...

If home staging is such a dishonest profession, then taking a buyer into a home builder's model home must sent him into convulsions.  Builder's have been creating beautiful, over the top, model homes since before 'staging' was born.  Indeed, that's really where staging began.  Those builders are not being dishonest in showing their homes greatest potential and neither are stagers. 

 

 

Hi Dane. A professional never hides things.  If some thing can not be repaired it then must be disclosed.  For example I just consulted and will be staging a house last week.  The client is going to list their price to  reflect the  flooring in the kitchen that needs to be replaced.  It will be disclosed to all potential buyers. I do believe and told them that it would be better to have the flooring done. At this time they are going to work with it but are going to follow through with everything else.

I recently read on a forum where an agent was talking to a homeowner, who had to move and leave their property empty and thus was inquiring about staging. The realtor told the homeowner that buyers really prefer homes that are empty and staging would not be worth the money (and they were only looking at $700 a month to stage their vacant home).  Huh?  Then why do all the statistics say that vacant homes take longer to sell and sell for less money?  There is definitely more education to do for homeowners and realtors.  You would think that it would be easy for realtors to see the benefit - sometimes you wonder what they are thinking.

This is a great post, and instead of re-writing what everyone has already said, hands down, excellent points I agree with--I'll just add one more thing----We need our industry regulated, so we can create one set of Code of Ethics we all follow !!! 

I was talking with a realtor this past weekend, and it seems down here in the states, Real Estate agents, appraisers and home inspectors are the only 3 groups that have, and run by, a code of ethics.  Anyone correct me if I'm wrong--I would like to know that fact as absolute before I go spouting that information out too much. 

Well done Dane, and I loved that you responded right on the blog.

OOoh - Amy - Good point about Model homes!

I wish wish wish I could get my sellers to stage.  Alas.  But noone seems to want to shell out the dough, no matter how much I show them they'd make afterwards.  Personally, I LOVE showing my buyers staged homes.  I know that they'll be able to see the potential easily versus me trying to explain the vision to them.  Yes, I'll note pitfalls, but it's a lot easier for me to "sell" when it looks good.  I *heart* stagers :)

Interesting blog from the Realtor who in fact gains from a stager making a home up to standard and putting more money in his(Realtor)pocket. Shakes head!

Dane,

Considering this blog post was yet another example of a copied and uncredited piece from the original author, I find it quite ironic.

The post probably should have better been titled "how to spot a Blogger's tricks"

Oh by the way, here's the original article...properly credited

<scroll beyond bullet #10 in the article>

http://www.stagedinstyle.ca/Canadian_Business.html

 

Dane, I nearly jumped out of my chair and cheered your response to that ridiculous article. My favourite quote, although yours was the most eloquent and poignant, was "By this author's logic, next time you're in a department store considering buying an item of clothing or contemplating buying a car, be sure to envision that shirt with a ketchup stain on it and the car with dirt splattered all over it because that will surely impact the price you're willing to pay". ZING!!!

Cheers, Emily~Celebrate Staging, Vancouver,BC