Real Estate Blog - VACANTS - A Growing Market

Home : Blogs : Karen Otto, Home Stager, Plano, TX 469)964-0516 www.homestarstaging.com : North Texas Home Staging - Not Your PlanO Staging Blog!

VACANTS - A Growing Market

There have been lots of calls lately on vacant properties. It is a growing problem for agents and sellers, but not for stagers who are prepared and able to handle the vacant housing market. In case you've been asked by an agent or seller about vacants, I've come up with a list problems I see with vacant homes based on things I've read and personal observations and have listed them here below. Maybe there are additional things to add to this list, feel free to share. A vacant property is often a much harder one to sell but staging can make difference for the sale!

I'd love to hear what you think about the vacant home market

Problems I see with Vacant Homes

Only 10% of buyers can see beyond emptiness & envision their possessions in place
Buyers will make low ball offers
Houses /rooms appear smaller than truly are
Rooms feel colder in winter and hotter in summer
Buyers can't use their imaginations to see the home's potential
Overwhelmed by lack of vision
Can't see where their things will go
Think owner is desperate to get out because "must be paying two mortgages, utilities, landscape - Buyer believes they will get better deal (both homes I've bought have been vacant or partially-vacant, in fact furniture left in one was sold for $500 at garage sale & I got a better deal)
Not cared for, critters are occupying the place
"Soulless" no emotional attachment can be felt
Too boxy
Paint colors stand out if too drastic, look at it as work to do, wallpaper included
Is pool/yard being maintained?
Dirt, small details/defects stand out more; holes in walls, stains in carpet, grout in kit/bath more obvious, scuff marks on walls/doors
Why move into a vacant home for this price when I can get a "model" home new (lesser sq. maybe but new with what I want)
Details stand out more, maybe family rm/kitchen flow is an issue but with furniture already in place you can see how it works
Too many windows
Too many bare walls
Too many doors

Posted by Karen Otto, Home Stager, Plano, TX 469)964-0516 www.homestarstaging.com on 03/07/2007 06:01 PM

Comments (60)

vacants, problems with vacant homes, advice from stagers, home staging, home stager, dallas, plano, collin county, karen, otto, texas

Originally posted at: North Texas Home Staging - Not Your PlanO Staging Blog!: VACANTS - A Growing Market

60 Comments on VACANTS - A Growing Market

MAR

2007

Great Post Karen! WHAT a difference in the room. I can't wait to take the ASP course myself. Thanks for the info!

Staging a vacant home to show like a "model home" can really improve the curb appeal. How expensive is this for the seller in terms of up front dollars?

It is difficult for some buyers to see beyond the 4 walls -- However, even if the seller cannot afford the "model home" effect, some staging would be helpful. The worst case, is an empty home that is not clean - and still has a lot of clutter in the basement and on the premises.

In my experience, vacant homes are also like caves - any noise is magnified and echoed and bounced off the walls. There are no objects to block the soundwaves - i.e. no furniture, plants, plasma sets, etc, etc, etc...

As soon as you stage it, it sounds much less hollow and homely.

Thank you for this list. Giving an idea of the final result is always good. The same applies to minor repairs. Even when the owner is willing to pay for it, buyers can't see through it and imagine what it would be like when done.

Great post.

Mario

It takes time to emotionally connect with a house to see if it could feel like home. If the house is empty, people just peek in the doorway quickly and don't linger to look at "stuff".

Great pic and great job, Karen.

Sue Argue

Karen, I could not agree with you more. I have bookmarked this post and plan on printing it and giving it to all the agents in my office. Too bad you are not here in Idaho!

Great post Karen. It takes an eye and a bit of work but the difference is impressive.

We are tailoring our business to mostly vacants, but we still do occupied as well. The biggest problem we see with vacants are that people have nothing to look at except imperfect drywall (come on, who has perfect drywall?), worn floors, uneven molding and all the stuff that is REALLY ordinary wear & tear. Buyers make mountains out of molehills with this because its ALL they have to judge a house by. We just did a house with horrid hardwoods, and it sold in 9 days with 3 offers. The agent said that the staging really detracted from the floors (we didnt covet anyhting up) which otherwise would have been a huge pimple on the face of the house! Our Goal - Eliminating Vacant listngs, one house at a time - snort!

Your room example above demonstrates the power of staging. As a real estate Broker speciallizing in the sale of New Construction and Newly Rehabbed Homes I find that 99.95% of the homes that I sell are Vacant homes.

For the most part my Clients that I work with all create homes with color and flair. There is still room for staging to highlight the utility of the room.

The totally white room above definately needed your help and can help support a higher sales price.

Nice work

That is an awesome pic. And your points are quite accurate about the potential improvements from staging....

Staging makes the difference. I'm a true believer in filling up the empty space with something is better than the empty space itself. The improvement will make it easier to help the buyer visualize the value of owning the home.

I haven't come across any vacant houses lately. If anything, there are a lot of folks who would be well served by hiring a stager or just taking time to clear the clutter.

Karen, nice example and a greast post about the issues surrounding vacant properties.

Karen,

Thanks for the post. Great feature on the best use of staging in vacant properties. I'm sold!

MAR

2007

I love it when my buyers go in a vacant home, they can a real feel of what they are buying and use their imagination on where to place things, you will also get a great feeling on what you have to do about paint and carpet, do you need to replace or clean, what has to be painted ect.

Great list. Another problem I see is when the kitchen, living room and dining room are in one big room with no walls to separate the spaces. This is overwhelming for buyers to envision how to use and furnish the room. When the space is Staged, we define the rooms with proper furniture placement and show them how great it can be.

Here's something I use when presenting to the sellers:

As you'll see, I believe you've got each of these covered.

The Benefits of Staging a Vacancy:

Leaves a "memorable" impression with buyers
Staging creates a warm and inviting home
Gives the prospective buyers with ideas on how to use the space
Attracts prospective buyers on the internet (According to the National Association of Realtors, 78% of all buyers begin their search using the internet)
Allows prospective buyers to envision living in the home
Vacancies have a tendency to sit on the market 2 to 3 times longer than an occupied home.
Staging can help sell the home more quickly and for top dollar.

Don't forget mail fraud and vandalism. here in the twin cities the vacant homes are becoming a social problem in nieghborhoods that have been hit hard by mortgage fraud and foreclosures.

We encourage sellers to have vacant homes staged, for all the reasons above, but it's difficult to convince them to buy furnishings, decor, etc. when they will have no use for the "used" furniture afterwards.

Nice post Karen. Vacant homes have risen in my area twofold. Hope you have a great 2007..

Great post. There are ALOT of vacant homes here. I've never seen so much empty space before.

"Caves, mail fraud and vandalism" those are ones I didn't even think about thanks! I like the "benefits" list as well - puts a positive spin on it for your seller. I am in the 10% minority who likes a vacant property, but then again, I love to envision the potential - I'm a stager - but 90% of your buyers can't see the potential and are overwhelmed by a lack of vision. So unless your housing market is white hot - do you really want to chance that 9 out of 10 showings will not produce a buyer?

I know that some stagers have their own inventory of furniture - we use a furniture rental company, I don't want to be in the business of that nature - it becomes a separate agreement with the owner but we will tell them what is needed - and we s t r e t c h that furniture budget! We're not selling furniture here, but the space.

We do keep small furn. and accessories and have options for clients in town who may want to bring things back from their own homes (strongly recommend you go there and look at their stuff first! It may not be "worthy" if you get my drift) So as for sellers having to buy anything that hasn't been the case for us. The cost will vary depending on your area but we ALWAYS tell our clients that "THE INVESTMENT IN STAGING WILL ALWAYS BE LESS THAN YOUR FIRST PRICE REDUCTION!"

Great Post, Karen!!

It has made me think alot since I have my own house on the market that is now empty (brought a new one) and it does have an empty feel to it.

Karen, would you consider as a starting budget to have a empty home staged. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks again for the post.

We are seeing more and more vacant Foreclosures in our market. It will only get worse as the sub prime borrowers lose their homes.

I agree a home needs furniture to show the true size of the rooms. Not everyone is good at 'eye balling" things and people visually like to see how the furniture looks in the house.

Patricia Aulson/REALTOR/SEACOAST NH & ME

Just a follow up- I'm not ignoring questions about cost of vacant home stagings just prefer to do it one on one and it may vary greatly based on where you live - I'd say generally 1% of the list price of the house is a good starting figure but that can be flexible because the size of the house will really determine how much furniture/accessories you'll need, whether or not you'll rent or buy or the client wants to bring some of their own - it can be rather cost effective with different options stagers may present. Also, as a stager I feel there should at least be something in each room of the house because we're selling every room - so when a stager says so - listen please (realtors)! I like to say, "stage only the rooms you want to sell".

I'd suggest calling or email a stager in your area - check out the www.localism.com part of Active Rain for home stagers in your area and give them a call! You may be surprised how much they'll be willing to work with you but don't expect them to give it all away for free - we are trained professionals and our reputations are built on our good work. Thanks for all the comments - I appreciate each one!

Una Cosa Mas - one more thing... If 1% seems like a lot consider the 5 - 10% reduction in price the seller or your client will be taking after 30 days or less in some markets.... wouldn't they rather invest a little and get a higher return? That's where we need our AGENTS to convey that to their client .

Here in Raleigh, 1% of the list price would never fly in a million years, so IMHO it depends on where you are. You also have to ask yourself - when you do a price reduction, how much do you reduce it? Here, reductions go in 2% increments. A house would have to be hideously, beyond awful to drop 10% before it sells. For really high end houses or in some areas of the USA - sure, a $15K drop might happen. But for the normal average house, at least here in NC, those kind of reductions just dont happen and thus, 1% of the list price isn't realistic -- at least not at this point. I will be giddy with glee tho if it ever gets to that point! LOL.

I do 100% agree with Karen (who has a great name, heehee) to check out some Stagers in your area to see what the norm is and what they offer. You'll be surprised that you might find numbers & services all over the board, and go with your gut also - not just who is the least or most expensive :)

Karen.. I am sending this out for all our sales people to read. GREAT stuff. Another fine example of Staging It Forward...

Karen,

Although I've always know these things to be true, it sounds much better coming from an expert in the field of Staging. Thanks for sharing. I've bookmarked this!

My staging business is approximately 90% vacant homes. My best story is one client who called me out when the home first listed but decided he would "try it out" empty first. He called me back out after 6 months on the market for another quote. Still he wasn't sure he wanted to spend the $2400 it would cost to stage his $750K downtown home. Finally after 8 months on the market he begrudgingly decided to stage his empty home. An hour after I left the home after staging, I received a phone call from the owner. Right after we left the home was shown and an offer was being faxed over. Three days later they also received a back up offer and the home closed in less than 3 weeks. Needless to say he's a believer now!

By far vacant home staging is the easiest, funnest way of working! Since it's also the most lucrative I think more stagers should be following the lead.

Melissa Marro, First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign, www.StagingAndRedesign.com

Loved your post. I am a real estate agent and have done my share of open houses. Plenty of them vacant. I don't have my wife's creativity. It is hard for a lot of prospective buyers to get a feel of just how warm and inviting a cold, vacant house can be. As I gain experience, I am getting better at it though. You stagers are great!

I find the 1% to be a bit high. 80% of our stagings are vacant and they cost $3000-5000 for 3 months of labor, furniture and accessories. For homes over a million that can range from $4000-6000. Thanks for the post. It is a great piece. kh

In my opinion, there are some vacant homes that actually show better but overall, I definitely prefer to see the staged event.

As I said 1 % is a ball park/starting figure. Every market is different as is the price per square foot. Go by your market and don't sell yourself short. You are creating EQUITY for the seller!

MAR

2007

Kate -- I agree with you about the 1%. I wish I could get that kind of blood from a turnip here! I have a question :) When you bill your vacants, you bill them 3 months in advance when you install the furniture, and you lump it all together? What happens when the house sells before 3 months? (power of positive thinking LOL). I was just thinking back on a few vacants we have done (we bill monthly for rental) and if I added it up for a 3 month period yes, mine would be close to the same, about $3K for 3 months depending on the size. I love that passive income thats for sure! I am about to go see a $1.5 million 6500 ft. house this morning that is vacant (its next door to presidential candidate John Edwards house, how cool eh?) and here, that price point is average 9 months DOM. This guy is building a whole development of high end houses and the prospect of more work is definatley there. I think I will do rental furniture from AFR for this house, which I've never done a whole house before with rental furniture from a company. Ought to be intersesting!

MAR

2007

great photos! it really drive your points across. i love the post!

cheers,

cindy@staged4more

JUL

2007

Karen,

What a great post and you certainly seemed to have covered all of the bases...I couldn't think of a single point to add!

Builders, Realtors, and Sellers - take note!

VAL

Thanks Val, coming from you that means a lot!

thanks Karen. I think you nailed this one. I love to do vacants and plan to market myself specializing in them. Less stress than working around a family occupied home.

This is true, I have vacant listings and they are tougher to sell. I am looking for a local Stager to work with now.

Karen, Your pictures say a thousand words. Excellent post.

JUL

2007

Rhonda - vacants are fun to do and yes, less stress sometimes

Frank - here's the AR link to Maryland stagers - don't know if there are any close to you but check and see! Good luck

Thanks Sue!

JUL

2007

Hi Karen,

Great post! You have really valid points and your picktures speak volumes! I've booked marked it!

JUL

2007

Karen,

I love this post! I really like the before and after photos too. You did a great job! Go girl!

JUL

2007

Great post Karen, very timely. I love the bullet points, they capture most points very accurately. In my market, the vacants generally sit longer. Love the before and after pics.

JUL

2007

Karen:

There's a reason this post has stayed active for going on six months. It's all true, staging sells houses. It's all true, there's resistance out there to the cost of it. That must be the resistance because why else wouldn't everyone stage a house, just in case it might help? I agree with your 1%, but I'm in the Washington DC market, which is high and suffers very high price reductions when a house sits. Whatever the cost, it costs more to have a house sit, it costs more to carry two mortgages, it cost more to advertise, otherwise market it and show it over time.

I've had homeowners call me to say their Realtor said their home doesn't need staging, but the homeowners disagreed. The homeowners had more to lose than the Realtors if it sat. Staged, the homes sold and quickly. My examples are of houses that are in subdivisions where the houses need to be differentiated in buyers' minds anyway because they tend to look so similar to every other house in that neighborhood. We all as consumers are used to and expect beautiful displays when we shop for anything, and shopping for homes is no different.

JUL

2007

Penny, Anthea, and Denise Thanks for reading!

Patricia, You make a great point of the homes in subdivisions - how to make a cookie cutter home stand out when they all look similar - staging can do that! - I love this part "We all as consumers are used to and expect beautiful displays when we shop for anything, and shopping for homes is no different"

As always Karen, great post!

I am 'specializing' in vacants, even more so ones which require some updating in flooring, cabinetry, etc.

In Toronto area, price reductions are $10,000 - $20,000 which are big 'ouch'es. I did a vacant Friday and the total cost was just a squeak under 1% although it would have been bang on if they were willing to invest in more decor. For what I did get to purchase I think it looks great! (I will get b/a pictures up soon).

Due to the cost of staging vacants it is a harder sell, but so worth it! (As you all know!)

Thanks for putting down the problems with vacants.

Dane - a vacant market niche is great and you can really keep busy I'm sure - yes, it's always nice when the budget allows for more but I'm sure you do a fabulous job with whatever you're given.

I always say that it costs more to keep a vacant on the market than to stage it to sell - staging is the investment that pays for itself. A 1% investment is much less than a 5 - 10% price reduction and month after month of mortgages, utilities, upkeep etc....

Great post! Our company has a large vacant staging client base. We love doing vacants and it is our primary source of revenue. We just staged a 1.7 million vacant and it sold in less than 24 hours -after being on the market for 10 months.

Christine Droney

www.shownsellhomestaging.com

WOW Christine 24 hours! That's a great success story - and testimony that staging works!

Today I attended and open house at a vacant and, for the first time, agreed that no staging was needed. The house was immaculate, in terrific repair and was in a prime location. My relator partner had a HUGE crowd interested in the home and I'm confident she had multiple offers by the end of the day. That said, I attend many open houses in my area, and this was a first for me. We agreed that if the house doesn't sell within 30 days, then we will stage since the vacancy would be the problem.

I believe that agents do a disservice to their clients in vacant homes since the homes are on the market longer adding cost and stress to the sellors. The unsold property is an energy drain-not to mention a financial one-on the sellors. Staging can address so many issues in a house and no one buys a house-they buy a home. The house should look and feel like one.

Hi Cheri - in a hot market in a prime location staging would still be a factor to consider if multiple offers come in on the home, fetching even a higher price. What you say here says it all: Staging can address so many issues in a house and no one buys a house-they buy a home. The house should look and feel like one

JUL

2007

Cheri,

I agree with you about Realtors doing a disservice to their clients. I just wrote a blog about it...but I can't decide whether to post it or not. I am concerned it will anger Realtors as I say that it is their responsibility to educate themselves about staging in order to educate their clients.

The majority don't even mention it, yet they are the professionals. Staging is a very valuable tool in Real Estate.

Karen, like you said, in a hot market staging can make the difference of one or many offers! Sadly the Realtors I've talked to say that when the market is hot they don't need the staging. Many are making the decicions for their clients!

JUL

2007

Dane - you are passionate about staging and it shows. I can "feel" it in your writing. Channel that passion positively and you'll soar! I have no doubt. You are right about your blog. Killing people with kindness always wins over a more "painful" alternative. Re think your blog and see how you can turn it around to get your point across without fear of angering anyone. Think positive thoughts!

You should focus on educating the realtors in your area. They need to understand what is in it for THEM and their bottom line. It's almost like it's not the staging they need to hear about but the ends to the means - "What can it do for me and my clients?"

I'll tell you what it can do! SELL QUICKLY FOR HIGHER PROFIT! That speaks volumes to them. If you can convey that to them, I think they'll be listening. Provide stats, case studies etc. There are lots of article out there that you can use. Create a portfolio with copies of staging articles and stats to show them.

You are always going to face opposition, move onward and keep trying. It is frustrating but as they say Rome wasn't built in day!

Good luck Dane! I always enjoy your fire and spunk!

JUL

2007

Karen, thanks for the advice, I will be taking it and rethinking my blog (I'm soooo glad I mentioned it here). I'm going to work on making the points but with a positive spin rather than my 'I'm disappointed in you' mommy voice! thanks again!!!

JUL

2007

I agree with your list and also feel that it is difficult to get showings when prospective buyers see empty rooms on MLS.

Jo Potvin www.designtomarketllc.com

Dane - I KNOW that disappointed in you mommy voice well - I use it almost daily with my two!

Jo - you're correct, it is a harder "sell" to get it showed - especially when the rooms are empty on the MLS

This blog does not allow anonymous comments