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Home Staging Myth Buster - "Staging doesn't make sense for properties below $100,000"

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Vizzitopia

Those who say, "home staging doesn't make sense for properties below $100,000" will have those homes languish on the market unsold, racking up costs and eroding profit.  You are better off spending a little money to illustrate the potential of a property UP FRONT so that it sells immediately and for top dollar!  Seriously. 

Those who say, "home staging doesn't make sense for properties below $100,000" fall into 2 camps:

Camp #1 -- People who don't understand what staging is

  • Staging is simply illustrating what a property can be used for - family life, bachelor pad, couple's nest - and more
  • Staging techniques can be applied using what a current occupant already has, and rearranging things for the best views, best photos for MLS, best flow for showing
  • Staging can mean bringing in rental furniture to show room size, demonstrate lifestyle and create a warm, fuzzy feeling of "ah, now this is home!"


Camp #2 - People who think we are in yesterday's real estate market

Oh, how I wish they were right!  But they're not.  Today, there are a ton of homes for sale, lots of foreclosures, lots of rehabbed REO homes, rehabs a plenty.  If you want yours to stand out, you have to make it be the "Best in Show'.  Best way to do that is through staging principles:

  • Mint condition
  • Colorful and fun
  • Certified Pre-owned, if you can get a home warranty for the appliances, etc.
  • Showing buyers how the space in each room works - what fits, what works, what just feels right.

Those who say, "home staging doesn't make sense for properties below $100,000" are being penny-wise, pound-foolish.  Let me ask you a question -

•1.     What are your monthly carrying costs?

•2.     How much will you lower your price if the property just sits there un-shown, and with no offers?

What if I told you that staging can cost as little as $300 if it's just working with what the homeowner has and up to $3,500 for a small home's-worth of rented furniture and accessories... for THREE MONTHS!!!  How much was your first price reduction again?

Those who say, "home staging doesn't make sense for properties below $100,000", gonna lose their shirt.

 ____

It doesn't have to get that far... Please contact any one of the excellent stagers here on Active Rain. Search by state, county adn then city to find the one that's closest to you. If you're in New Jersey, I hope you'll want to find me - Juliet Johnson at http://www.JulietJohnsonStaging.com - (973) 477-7000.

 

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Juliet Johnson serves Jacksonville, FL realtors, home sellers and small business with social media strategy, online visibility and product creation services, that include training if you want to do it yourself. 

"If your social media activity isn't a revenue generator for you, you're doing it wrong."

 

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Comments(10)

Vickie Nagy
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate - Palm Springs, CA
Vickie Jean the Palm Springs Condo Queen

I agree. Staging works for ALL properties, in all price ranges. Buyers in any price band want the best value and the home that showcases well.

Mar 26, 2008 02:32 AM
Lynn Franklin
Coldwell Banker Ponderosa - Paradise, CA
What do you suggest for vacant properrties?  New construction?
Mar 26, 2008 02:38 AM
Gary Barnett
Home Matters - Indianapolis, IN
Home Matters Property Stylist Group, Indianapolis
Excellent points Juliet, The point of the exercise of staging is to increase the marketability of a property, period.  The point does not change as the property price changes.  Any home, regardless of price can be made more marketable via staging.  In fact the mathematical part of my brain is says that just maybe the percent of increased value may be higher on a staged lower end home than it is on a staged higher end home, Just maybe....  In the end it all means the difference between a SOLD sign or a FIRE SALE sign.
Mar 26, 2008 02:43 AM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing

Vacant properties and new construction, Lynn, sell for 10% more if it has been furnished.  So I recommend propose staging the principle rooms.  That's where my number of $3,500 comes from - a small vacant home for 3 months.

Vickie - yup, it really cuts across every band - what shows best sells best.  You got it! Now go hire a stager, girl!

Gary -- the only stats we have for low-priced homes is from Thomas Scott, who told me

"There are lots of these properties on the market, too. From what we can tell from our sales data, typical show-homes sell for 20% over what we estimate they would have sold for vacant (we only do vacants). Lower end homes in the 150-200k range (about as low as we go) sell for about 10-15% higher price than if vacant." 

Now where Thomas gets his numbers from is as yet unclear..... Thomas?

Mar 26, 2008 07:57 AM
Barbara Cluck-Miksits
BCM Home Staging LLC - Ridgewood, NJ
Home Staging - New Jersey
Juliet- I find that the homes in the lower price ranges that I have staged fly right off the market. I mean that extra touch of staging really gets these properties sold fast. It is so easy and affordable to stage these homes, even the vacant ones. Great post.
Apr 14, 2008 02:46 PM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing

Obviously, I agree Barbara.  Do you have any statistics you can share here?

Apr 17, 2008 09:06 AM
Stephen C. Olczak
Mortgage Help - Fort Myers, FL

Juliet,

Staging sounds like a great idea, even for a modest home.  To that buyer $75k is a lot of money!  Why not get all homes sold quickly, easily, and maximize profit?

Steve Olczak Trust USA Mortgage Corp.

Apr 17, 2008 09:27 AM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing
Thank you, Stephen, you're quite right.  The savings can be quite substantial in terms of money - carrying costs PLUS the natural deterioration of an unsold home (especially if it's vacant) - and in terms of emotional wear and tear... to say nothing of TIME - our greatest enemy and uncontrollable factor.
Apr 17, 2008 10:12 AM
Alicia Barrington
THE ORIGINAL HOUSTON HOME STAGING - Katy, TX
Houston Home Staging Presents Alicia Barrington

We're having great success in staging investment properties priced between $90K and $150K.   Even with the difficulty in securing mortgages for buyers in these price points, we consider this market to be a foundation of our staging business.

Good post!

Happy Staging Y'all

Apr 17, 2008 12:41 PM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing

You are so smart to focus on that niche... especially in Houston!  EWI has Houston listed as one of the 7 top opportunities for real estate investors.  You should be deluged!!

Do you think there is a difference between staging homes for investors vs. home sellers who live in the home at the time of sale?

Apr 17, 2008 01:08 PM