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National Home Builder Offers Home Staging incentives

This past Sunday the Hartford Courant reported that Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder with developments in 21 states, is offering Home Staging services to its clients so they can sell their existing house and buy a new Toll Brothers home.

The article uses the example of an older couple who wanted to downsize and move into an over-55 community, but had no bites on their home when they listed it in August of last year. Toll Brothers noticed this was part of a trend, with several of their potential buyers not signing contracts for fear of not being able to sell their existing homes. So Toll Brothers decided to do something about it!

They offered the following incentive:

"Sign a contract on a new home, and the builder would provide you with a home stager and pick up 75 percent of the cost. (Going forward, clients who participate in this program, called Center Stage, will pay the cost of the staging, and Toll Brothers will reimburse them for 50 percent of the cost with a credit at closing.)"

Did it work? In the case of the older couple, their home sold in just TWO DAYS after it had been Staged! And now they are preparing to move into their new Toll Brothers home!

There's lots more interesting info in this article, so check it out!

Oh, and please take a second to vote for me (you can vote once a day!) in the StartUp Nation Leading Moms in Business competition! The contest ends March 30th so we're in the home stretch now. I appreciate your vote. :)

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Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz

"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"

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Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.

Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.

Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times, Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine.

If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website. There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos, as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.

Posted by Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager on 03/17/2009 10:47 PM

Comments (34)

Home Staging in the Home Selling Channel

builder, home staging, incentives, downsize, home stager

Post is included in group: Stage It Forward...
Post is included in group: VACANT HOUSE STAGING & NEW HOMES
Post is included in group: Services for Real Estate Professionals
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Home Staging

34 Comments on National Home Builder Offers Home Staging incentives

MAR

Great news-thanks for sharing Annie! Love voting for you too!!

There's thinking outside the box. Smart move on their part and good for stagers too.

MAR

Annie ~ this sounds like a great program -- thanks for bringing it to our attention. It's really a win-win for all parties in the transaction and I hope it sets a new trend!

Annie,

What a GREAT program for stagers and the Toll Bros.Corporation! Making adjustments for this slower market and offering staging for their home buyers contingent sales not only makes perfect sense, but it certainly will help move the economy in the RIGHT direction! As you know, I already casted my vote for your well deserved WIN in the "Mom's In Business Contest", but will vote as many times as I can if they'll let me! ;)

HI Annie, it takes a leader to make a monumental shift in acceptance of a new idea. Toll is to be congratualated.

I approached a retirement community 1.5 years ago with the same idea and they never took me up on it. Your post has prompted me to try again, timing is everything. Maybe now they are ready to take the lead!

Annie ~ There was a home builder here that was doing the same thing two years ago (not Toll Brothers though). I thought it was a great idea then, and still do.

This is a great story, Annie. Wouldn't it be great if this catches on? I love it when people aren't afraid to think out of the box and try something new. Thanks for sharing.

This is such a fabulous idea! I love the concept...Joint Venture! Everyone wins!

Pulte offers the same program - I interviewed w/them a few years back. Please be very careful if you want to venture into this scenario. With the Pulte contract - The Stager became the Contractor - Meaning that the entire update road on your shoulders; 1 check to the staging company dispursed to the out source partners - Electrical, Paint, etc... I SAID NO WAY!

Thanks for sharing this Annie. I've forwarded it on to a couple of friends involved in the 55+ development business. I second what Julea said. Being the contractor and having to sub out the necessary repairs is a whole different type of work. Having a contractor's license here in Calif. requires special licensing, a test and extra $$.

Annie, I saw this article in my google alerts. Toll Brothers has been offering this service for over and a year. It seems to be working for them. Hopefully other builders will catch on.

Cathy, thanks again for your votes! And for stopping by.

Brian, yes. It's those companies that are thinking out of the box that are going to be able to survive in this economy!

Maureen, me too! It would be great if more builders got on this bandwagon!

Michelle P. I agree! Hopefully this will be the first of many companies to offer their own "stimulus package" to home buyers & sellers. Thank you so much for your vote! In this case you really can vote early and vote often. :)

Michelle F. You should definitely try again! If you reread Michelle Minch's old posts you'll see that we did a seller seminar for a retirement community that hosted a luncheon with 3 Stagers giving advice on what their clients can do to sell their existing homes so they can buy in the new community.

Kathy, interesting! Maybe it was Pulte (see Julea's comment below).

Sheila, it would be wonderful if it catches on and becomes a nation-wide trend. Here's to hoping!

Jacqueline, I am a big fan of win-win's as well and it seems this is the perfect example!

Julea, thanks for letting me know about this. I hadn't heard about the Pulte offer but it definitely sounds like one I would've passed on as well. In California I believe it's illegal to do any contracting work without the proper licensing (and workman's comp, etc). It could've gotten many Stagers into big trouble!

Ginger, that's what I get for not reading down all my comments before writing one. :) I just said in response to Julea's comment that I thought it was illegal to do any contracting work in CA without proper licensing. Guess I was right!

Tanya, don't you love Google Alerts! That's where i found the article too.

Annie, that's why I no longer claim the title of "interior designer". I don't want the liability, headaches and middle-man responsibilities of others actions. TOO STRESSFUL!

Ginger: Yes, good point. There is much more liability involved with interior design than with Staging. Thanks for following up!

Great article Annie. Aloha Staging in San Leandro are working with Toll Bros in our area and doing a great job! Kym

Thanks Kym! Glad to hear Toll Bros is working successfully with a Staging partner in your area.

I think this is a great idea espically with the sellers putting out the money first.

They have to be more than testing the market to see if it will sell IF they put the money out of their pockets.

Virginia, I agree. It appears from the article that the builder started off paying the Staging costs up front but found some sellers were not following the Stager's recommendations so they changed the terms.

Annie, Wise builder, it's a great incentive and that home sold SO fast! Good luck on the contest, I am voting (almost) every day!

I just saw that on a Google alert. I hope all builders follow suit!

MAR

Glad to see you posted here on AR as well as Twitter... getting alot of good comments. Its a great article and hopefully we will see a new trend!

Aloha Annie,

Wow, what an interesting prospect. Thanks for sharing this information!

Peace,

Carole, yes it's great to see builders really leading the pack in that way. Thanks so much for your votes!!

Cindy, me too! :)

Lisa, thanks for suggesting I post this on AR. Seems a lot of people were interested.

Kimo, you're welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

MAR

Great post Annie! Thanks for bringing this to the community.

I was aware of this program that Toll Brothers started from the beginning in 2005. I first learned about it in the Boston market. I am happy to see how it has evolved.

As Barb Schwarz has always said, it takes commitment on all parties to have a successful sale. Toll Brothers is a leader in the industry and it appears they are willing to change their business model, if it means more business for them. We can hope that EVERYONE (sellers, REALTORS, Stagers, etc.) in the real estate industry assess their business model frequently and makes adjustments for current markets. We can all change and should be willing to do so to bring our businesses up to the next level.

Good luck with the contest. I hope you win!!

Jane Ann, Enhanced by Lance, Mobile Alabama's Premier Property Presentation Specialist

Jane Ann, good to hear from you. Thanks for the comment! So true that we have to constantly review our business models to make adjustments to what's going on in our local markets. And Toll Bros is a wonderful example of leading the pack through innovation!

MAR

Toll Brothers sent a stager at no cost to my seller to walk through their home and suggest a few changes. The sellers had already done many of the painting projects that I had recommended to them. The stager only had a few minor ideas, which of course, were a little helpful.

I had suggested for months that the sellers needed to upgrade their dated kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The stager agreed with me. The sellers did not take our advice.

Their home finally sold, but months longer than it should have taken. I feel like I earned twice the commission that I was actually paid because of the lengthy listing time. I wish the stager had been more agressive and made more effective staging suggestions that might have helped the house sell sooner than it finally did and for more money.

MAR

Sharon, thank you so much for sharing this story. It is true that not all Stagers are created equal. I cannot speak to the particular Stager that was sent or of the circumstances of the visit. However when we meet ultra-resistant sellers, there is sometimes not much we can do to change their mind. This is one consequence of a free service to the sellers. Since they have not invested any money in hiring the Stager, they may feel less inclined to carry out his or her suggestions. Though now that I think of it, I have had several Realtors offer my Staging services to their clients at no cost to the seller (Realtor pays) and I have had great results. I think it may be the way the Stager speaks to the client and explains the specific reasons behind each suggestion s/he makes. I find that with resistant buyers, if I take a few minutes longer to go into detail about the justification for my recommendations and to praise them for being open to my services, it often takes the edge off and they can get on board with the Staging plan.

MAR

Well said Annie, Different Stagers have different approaches. I know many that skirt the issue and the homeowner does not buy into the suggested changes,leaving the property on the market far longer than necessary.

Thank you Michelle. The Stager, Realtor & Home owner are truly a team and all have to be on the same page, working toward the same goal or they won't achieve success.

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