AR Member Says Staging a Waste of Money!

Elaine, honesty is always the best policy!  Even if you only do a few little things to that house, its got to make a better impression than if nothing was done.  P.S. you shocked me when you revealed the naysayer!

Thanks Elaine and good for you! I am tempted, but not going to do so, to send your post anonymously to a Stager or two in my area. It's so difficult to get people to stage in this market and becomes more complicated when people lack integrity and stage places that have serious other issues.

Honesty is slways the best policy and you will be rewarded for following the Golden Rule!  Clever Title at always Elaine.

Leave it to you to do the right thing instead of the profitable thing.... Way to go!!!

I'm with you Elaine....this is a pet peeve of mine...

Hate to say it but a dressed up turd is still a turd. Staging a property like this is a waste of time and money...who would want to put their inventory in a place like that anyway.

Any time a property does not meet a minimum maintaintance standard or has problems we provide a service that helps them identify the items that need attention before staging. Even if it means it cuts us out. We'll handle everything from subcontracting plumbers, handyman, carpet installers, painters, whatever is needed. Personally.. some of these type of jobs have been my favorite.

Good call...on occasion we have arrived to stage, and the homeowners were not ready.  They SAID they were, but they weren't.  One was a property I was assisting on, and a painter was working on the lower of a split level, the basement was a complete construction WRECK and the upstairs was far from ready.  After contacting the Realtor, (the car was loaded, ready to stage) s/he said, "do the rooms you can". I didn't even bother with pictures, because this one was a lost cause...

Hi Elaine!

You won't get a statue perhaps, but you will sleep better at night knowing that you did the right thing. Everyone has some stories like yours. Putting lipstick on a pig would not make any difference in selling the property, so do your job and tell them what it needs to be: fixed, cleaned, replaced, etc in order to get their property ready. And if they will still have some money left, yes, stage it But only then.

Elaine, what you did is an important component of staging - making sure the necessary repairs and upgrades are done before we even think about bringing anything in.  My other favorite is when they ask me to do minimal staging throughout the house - a chair here, a picture there, no impact, no emphasis of the selling features possible... I say, if you are going to do it, do it right.  When the amount of staging they want (are willing /able to pay for...) is so minimal as to be a waste of money, I usually can find other ways to spend their money for them, on repairs, paint, etc.  Usually when funds are that thin, the maintenance schedule has suffered...

Well done, Elaine. I have a script that I use when I do this sort of thing in my mortgage business:

"You do know that I'm paid commission? What that means is that I only get paid if I do your home loan. So, if I ever told you that I don't want to do your home loan, you can take that as evidence that I care more for my clients than I do about my paycheck. That being said: I don't want to do your home loan."

Then, after explaining why it's a better choice to do something else, I ask them to refer me to people who want to deal with someone who always keeps his word and always gives a great deal.

Thanks for being my friend on Facebook...I hardly ever look through the blogs on AR anymore unless it comes up on FB :)

Elaine - I need to call you or e-mail you. We have a project coming up... :) not like what you describe in your post though. ~Rita

I love your honesty.  My business partner and I had a discussion about this, or at least along the same lines.  Our company's goal is bottom line, to get that house sold.  And frankly, as you said, some homes would be wasting money on a measly staging compared to some big overhauls, which would sell the home.  Perhaps what they could pay you for is a complete list of what needs to be done to sell the home... like the remodling work.  Then let them choose if they can invest in that...then you're still being honest :)

April, Salt Lake City

OK the title got me too.  I would NEVER question your integrity or work ethic, I know you are first rate, but just challenge you to think about this.

Just a thought, sometimes the other stuff (which he will hopefully do because you called it to his attention) is what your staging consult is about...and what if the buyer never gets to the view because of all the other distractions?  A simple staging and coordinating of the whole project would help both the seller and the realtor who don't know where to start.  We are sometimes visual and they just are not or are overwhelmed.  I would tell you as the Realtor, if I had called you in, I needed that assistance with the seller or I would not have called you to start with.  I am afraid the view will get lost with the deferred maintenance and distractions.  Staging the view by staging the house, just my opinion.  It can be very simple, project coordination and then simple staging, but the view will be ever so more a WOW than the way it is now, right?  Just thinking like a Realtor here.  GOOD thought provoking post. 

Elaine,

We inspectors get that kind of thing. The roof is blown off, there is mold inside. The floor is sagging or has collapsed. Then people want to have an insepction to know if there are any significant problems. Usually an inspector points out more subtle things but a few times the report was much like what was apparent to anyone who looked at the home.