I stumbled across a new concept in running a Professional Staging business. And apparently there are quite a few out there embracing this approach.

I have seen several professional stagers who will choose whether or not to stage a home for you based on their beliefs of how likely your home will sell. In other words, they want to keep their record of success rates high.

I suppose I am not sure how I feel about that. It seems that if you only offer professional staging services for homes that you know will sell anyways, then what value are you really offering the home owner? It sounds to me like these professional stagers are turning away the people who need their staging services the most!

ANYONE can have great success rates if they are only willing to stage a home that is already most likely to sell. If a homeowner requests my services to help them sell their home, and if they implement my professional strategies, their home will BECOME a "most likely to sell" listing.

I am successful when they (homeowners, realtors, etc.) are successful. And that is truly the whole idea behind professional staging!

 

Let Arkansas Staging Pros help you sell your home or commercial property!

Visit www.ArkansasStagingPros.com for more information...

 
Post is included in group: Arkansas Marketing Network

12 Comments on Discriminating business?

APR
08
2008

I could not agree with you more. We use our service as ASP's on every home we list because it is the hard to sell homes that need it the most! Great post!

Cathleen
10:30am • #1
348,054 Points 8 Featured Posts Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Angela,  my business is NOT about statistics, it is about helping people prepare their houses for sale.  Of course it's great to have "quickly sold" stats but I can't look only look at potential business that way.  There are homes that I cannot really help prepare, for a variety of reasons, and I will tell the agent and sellers that from the onset. 

I do have a problem however that realtors,that I've developed relationships with, will say "oh I don't want to give you this one because it will ruin your performance record".  It seems that they have already determined that some of their listings will probably not sell so they won't call me it.  I try to break them from that negative point of view but they know the property, price point and sellers better than me so it's their call.

 
10:35am • #2
2 Featured Posts
Angela, we take a bit of a different approach than what you talk about.  When Linda visits a home to evaluate and develop a quote to stage, there are occasions that condition or dating issues will be such that as a priority, Staging is nor the first thing on the list.  It is our opinion that staging should only be done if it increases the marketability of the property. So we believe to ask the home owner to spend money to stage, that will be over shadowed by existing condition issues is simply asking people to throw their money away.  Linda will simply say to them that before we consider staging, you need to address these issues.  At that point, staging will in fact increase the homes marketability and if the budget exists, then we can help them.  It really doesn't have anything to do with statistics.
10:45am • #3
1 Featured Post
Wow -- I had no idea that our industry would come to that!  This is common practice in other competitive fields such as sales and even in the medical profession with regard to surgery success rates.  Maybe they should just charge more for those homes but still take 'em as clients.  
11:05am • #4
147,500 Points 6 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Staged or not, pricing the home right is the biggest determinate of how quickly a home sells.  A properly staged home that is priced right will sell quickly, even in this market.  A "staged" home that is over-priced will sit there until it's priced right.

That said, sizzle does sell and if the home has sizzle, you might be able to get more for it....just don't expect miracles! 

 

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 
11:11am • #5
2 Featured Posts

Bob, I'm curious, what drives agents to take on homes that the seller demands listing prices that are out of line?  When priced inappropriately doesn't it just wind up being a waste of time and money for the agent?  Unless the price, condition and presentation are all in alignment then it simply does not work.  Of course I am thinking that even without staging, a home that is priced inapropriately will not sell either.  Simply trying to understand why this happens.... 

11:19am • #6
Gary, Bob, and Ginger: excellent approach! Home owners and Realtors rely on Professional Stagers to help them understand the issues that could arise in trying to sell. So our goal should be to suggest ALL problems that we see and help the homeowners make the most efficient changes with the greatest Return On Investment. Sometimes, that means hiring a contractor to fix something structural, rather then investing in staging. This is why it is so important to work closely with Realtors to determine what the best price point is and what improvements would yeild the greatest ROI within the established budget.
12:55pm • #7

I had no idea that was going on.  Maybe this is why my stats aren't as good as some of the ones I've seen out there.   I believe every home can benefit from being properly prepared, even if there's only a very small budget involved.  It is absolutely better than doing nothing at all. 

My goal is to help the homeowner sell a house, not increase my stats.  If we start to discriminate, then we are turning away the people that most need our help.  I for one never turn a job away, regardless of how bad it is.  If the homeowner is willing to work with me, big budget or not, they won't be disappointed in the results. 

Emma Vargas, Simply Staging
1:00pm • #8

Emma, I agree. It can be difficult to understand how there may be little ROI when all  you have invested is about $300 and some time to clean up and implement the stating strategies that your professional stager creates specifically for your home and your demographics and your market conditions. The results always contribute to the final sale of the home - whether in a shorter amount of time or even for a higher price.

Bob, I wanted to come back and comment on your post again. Finding the right price is absolutely essential to the sale of the home. Staged or not, the home is only worth so much. That's why, in my market, I hesitate to go on and on about raising the listing price due to staging services, but rather to help the home stand out from the other comparable homes so it sells before the others do. If 2 homes have the same comps and same listing price in the same great location, then the staged home will have more appeal and sell before/instead of the unstaged home. Not staging a home sells the competition!
2:57pm • #9
648,555 Points 15 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Angela, I didn't know home stagers had stats too.  I would think that in certain cases a house would not even be for sell and they just want some help decorating.  Is that a viable option?

 
3:22pm • #10

Barbara,

Of course decorating is an option for my business services, but there is a difference between staging a home to sell and "staging" a home for living. And if I were to decorate a home or help a home owner achieve a more organized and functional lifestyle, I should not include that person's home in my sales statistics. (If you are interested in my statistics I would be happy to define them for you. But a decorating service has little to do with staging to sell. In fact, that is the topic of my upcoming blog: Decorating vs Staging. So watch for its appearance!)

By the way, yes I have background and experience in Interior Design and Decorating and would love to offer those services to home owners in Searcy. Thanks for replying to my blog! I've had so much fun on AR with you! -Angela
4:22pm • #11
239,835 Points 7 Featured Posts Outside Blog

I think such business approach is a bit silly. None of us has a crystal ball to see into the future, to "predict" a house doesn't sell is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Great topic,

Cindy 
6:22pm • #12


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Angela Spearman

Searcy, AR

More about me…

Arkansas Staging Professionals

Address: 1501 Lois Place, Searcy, AR, 72143

Cell Phone: (501) 593-3613

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Let's talk about market conditions, trends, and the future of Searcy. What services are most helpful to real estate professionals? How do real estate professionals impact the Central Arkansas economy? I am excited to help each other realize just how much we influence the world around us!


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