Real Estate Blog - Knowing when enough is enough

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Knowing when enough is enough

Here are some before and after photos of a lovely ranch style home in the mountain community of Oakhurst, California. The seller's contacted Dream Interior Redesign and Staging to help with staging BEFORE they listed the house. This was 19 months ago.

before by Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst, CA

after by Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst CA before photo by Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst CA

Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst CA

by Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst CA

The interior of this house unwent a COMPLETE renovation. All of the floors on the main level are totally new. The floors are stained and stamped concrete, slate, wood, carpet and speciality tile. This kitchen is completely new and the master bathroom is truly unique with very special features. Click here to see a short slideshow of this property with more after photos.

This owner/seller is total perfectionist and has renovated many homes but since this was previously their family home he didn't know when to stop. Week after week I would stop by during the renovation process to see when I could get in to stage. Week after week he was redoing work that was already completed but not to his satisfaction AND they kept upgrading hoping to recoup costs. They ended up listing it 6 months AFTER their original planned listing date. THEY MISSED their market and the cost of the reno. had skyrocketed.

Repeatedly I tried to tell him to stop and get it listed but he just couldn't. By the time it was ready, our strong summer market was passed and overall property prices and values were headed into this slump. They felt that they had to ask a BIG price for the house since they'd invested so much time and so much money. THEY MISSED their market.

Now they have reduced the price almost $200,000 and I had to destage. THEY MISSED their market. The house is rarely shown and it is empty. People see the staged house on the agent's website or MLS but that is not the same house when they see it in person.

As stager's were often struggle with getting people to understand the need to renovate and upgrade their houses...with this house I had the opposite dilemma.

SELLER's IF you are preparing a house for today's market you must consult with professionals about how to best spend your preparation dollar. A professional stager and real estate agent team can help you decide how to invest your money wisely. Visit www.homegain.com and look at their house preparation maximizer to help with making those decisions.

If you are interested in this property contact their current agent, Dorothy Miller at Coldwell Banker, Oakhurst CA, 559-760-9034.

Dream Interior Redesign & Staging by Ginger Foust is a full service professional staging and redesign company serving the California foothill and mountain communities of Oakhurst, North Fork, Coarsegold, Ahwahnee, Bass Lake, Wawona and Mariposa. Click here to see a short slideshow with examples of our staging work. Also, visit our website at www.dreamredesigns.com or www.oakhurststaging.com for more information or call 559-877-2442.

Posted by Ginger Foust-Home Stager Oakhurst CA Dream Interior Redesign & Staging Calif on 12/13/2008 10:46 PM

Comments (24)

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24 Comments on Knowing when enough is enough

DEC

2008

Ginger ~ Your post is such a good example of a seller letting their emotions overrule good business sense. It's too bad they didn't listen to your good advice to do the necessary improvements (not going over the top) and then get it on the market before the market changed. It looks like a lovely home, but as a vacant property it won't be nearly as inviting to potential buyers as it was when staged.

Wow

This is the first example I have seen of an overstager! Usually we all hear of the relucatant stager or non stager and how it cost them.

Your blog points out that too much of a good thing..

Thanks for referencing the HomeGain Home Sale Maxmizer that helps determine which home improvement might give the best return on investment. If you click on Home Sale Maximizer you can get access to the survey of over 2000 agents as well as order a free desk top tool. There are also HomeSaleMaximizer widgets for free down load for your site.

Maureen, this renovation was so emotional for these seller's I don't know if anyone could have convinced them to STOP before they did. They love their current home and wanted to include many of the features from that house into this one...mistake. I love this house but in many ways it is not neutral and has features that buyers will either love or hate.

Since I'd spent so much time with these seller's, I became personally involved with them and it really hurts to see them in such a bind. Thanks for your reaffirming comments. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Louis, do you think it's OVERstaged or over renovated? When buyers see the exterior of the house they are quite surprised by the interior. I had a very limited staging budget and had to use much of what the seller's supplied so staging wasn't easy but I think it adds warmth that empty houses do not have. Yes they probably did go over the top with their remodel, adding features that do not get the return that they wanted. That's where homegain can certainly help IF people would listen. Thank you for commenting and adding more information about the home gain maximizer.

by Dream Interior Redesign and Home Staging Oakhurst CA

Ginger

Of course there is a more than subtle difference between staging and tearing down and starting over!

The key to maximizin resale value is to do the things that will provide a greater return than the expense put into the work.

In this case perhaps the work might have paid off if the market was rising, but doing all that work when the house could have been staged in relative short order and then sold, seems in retrospect to have been a massive error.

Managing sellers expectations AND behavior I've learned from this post is important.

Thanks Louis. I use homegain information with clients and RE agents all of the time. Love your new sliders with the stats. I will be sharing information with agents on how to get their own in my Jan. 09 newsletter.

Ginger, I had this seller. It took him over a year to finish a rental home of his that he renovated and by the time he was done, the market had turned and he'd lost $50,000. Luckily we staged and sold it quick as today he'd have been down $100,000...but oh my. Those types of people actually have a problem doing anything less than 150% and they sometimes are their own worst enemy as far as return. They don't know when to stop.

What a sad story. The owner was plainly not rational about this renovation, because it makes no sense (to someone who isn't involved) to make so many personal changes to a house you'll never live in. It's not only buying a home that's an emotional decision, is it?

Terrylynn, the man in this story knows what flipping a house entails but I guess it was different for him with this house since it was his family home for many years. It was almost as though they were renovating it in a way that they would have wanted it...not right for all of the buyers and especially in this market. I just hope that they don't lose it all together. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Laurie, it is sad and for me the sad part is seeing the house today empty. After I destaged they tried to put a few pieces back in but everything was very worn and just looked shabby so I advised them to remove everything. They wanted to buy all of my staging accessories/furniture/art that I'd used but they couldn't afford it. The emotional part is tough and it's hard for me to separate from many of these people's situations. Thanks for your empathy.

DEC

2008

Great post Ginger and helpful links. Stager for a Builder's family home gives you a gold crown for embracing the challenge.

Cathy, thank you. I loved this job but wish that it had happened 6 months prior. I really believe that it would have sold quickly in THAT market. Empty houses are just sad houses IMO.

DEC

2008

I have a similar situation now, I'm afraid. I actually looked at the property when we were house shopping 4 years ago. It didn't sell, and the owners moved out and spent the last year renovating. It's nicer, but the floor plan is still the same floor plan :(. The asking price is too high, in my humble opinion, as they certainly want to make some profit on their year of work. Sigh.

Very nice Ginger, Kym

Very informative post. I believe I'm in the middle of this same type of situation. I thought I was crazy because we usually can't get sellers to spend money on renovations. Now with this one, he's putting his money in the wrong places even after our consult. Very sad indeed. Thanks for this great reminder.

Great post, Ginger. I quote HomeGain's realtor survey all the time to help remind people to put their money into the right kinds of improvements to maximize ROI. So sad to hear about a situation like this. I hope the right buyer comes along soon.

DEC

Thanks for sharing. i hate when we have to destage too soon. I have to admit that it's often difficult to get people to do the right amount of improvements!

Hi Ginger...renovating a home to sell is tricky. The choices they made were certainly not the most sellable choices...and the staged photos show what a difference your work made. Sorry to hear it had to be de-staged. Missing the market is also too bad....we too have a certain market 'season' here in FL (Oct-April) and missing it is not an option. Thanks for sharing....Regards-Kathleen G

DEC

Beth, it is disheartening to see people spending their money in the wrong places. A plasma TV in the bathroom is a nice feature but they will never recover that cost (Yes it's real, not a prop) They wanted to buy another to go above the fireplace in the family room and I talked them out of that. I hope they can hang on and not lose it completely. Thanks for sharing.

Kym, thank you!

Robyn, I hear you and throughout the end of this reno' I kept hearing myself saying to the seller..."RXXY what are you doing", no one will notice THAT but he just couldn't let things be." How do we get them to detach? Thank you for commenting.

Dawn, homegain is a good tool and it reinforces what I seem to almost preach about with every client. For our area, the west, it says decluttering and cleaning yields almost a 800% return....duh, where have they heard that before. Do you have their nifty new slider tool? Margaret Oscilla blogged about it recently. Thanks for adding your thoughts.

Kathi, unfortunately I'm primarily destaging these days. Seller's don't pay enough attention to the DOM stats for our area and they generally aren't prepared for the emotional and financial impact of that wait. It's too bad for everyone involved. Thanks for sharing.

Kathleen, THIS house was way over personalized with the custom finishes that they added. The seller is a custom concrete guy and his special touches are awesome, but they do narrow their field of buyers. He was trying to also "showcase" his work but it's costing him dearly! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

DEC

Sad to hear this story Ginger but you did your due diligence and you cannot control what others may do. It's a hard lesson for the seller but you make excellent points. Consulting a home staging professional BEFORE making costly decisions is always a wise investment.

DEC

Thanks Karen for the empathy and affirmation. I know that they were thinking that their over-the-top improvements would bring them top dollar but not in this market unfortunately!

Thanks for sharing, Ginger! You make some wonderful points:
What a story - I feel bad for them. I constantly advise my clients to weigh renovations carefully. Most major renovations will only earn back the investment over time. And time is usually short for Stagers! The important thing: decide which renovations are Needs (updates), and which are Could Use (major renovations). And like you say, Know when enough is enough already!

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Hi Michael, since I never saw the house before renovations started so I don't know just what the before was, but I do know that what they did cost a lot more money than they'd planned even with the usual 10-15% buffer added on. Here's a situation where "going with your gut" was probably not a good idea. They needed some professional input from the onset.

Thanks for commenting.

JAN

Ginger, This certainly is the reverse of what usually happens. Many fllppers also get into this problem, especially the perfectionists. In this case there was also emotional attachment which confuses the seling issue. You did your part well and they went ahead and did what they wanted to.

Kathleen, the emotional attachment was the kicker and I can relate since I had the same problem with my last home. That's why I worked so hard to convince them to stop before they got in over their heads but I guess I need to work harder at my skills of persuasion. Thank you for stopping in and commenting. Happy New Year and keep warm.

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