Stagers... are we red headed step children that get no respect?

Can you recommend a stager in Colorado Springs? I have NEVER seen advertisements for one... and we are a large office.

Ok, I can't resist. I must make another comment to Ellen about Realtors being cheap. Every dime I spend on a listing comes out of my pocket, in advance, with the hope that I will be able to sell the property and recoup my costs. If I don't sell it, then the money I have spent is gone. Not counting my time, I spend about $30,000 to $40,000 a year on marketing. Remember I am a one man office. But because I am good at what I do, I have no problem dishing out $1,000 to $1,500 per listing in marketing costs. This does not include my man hours. So here's may challenge to Ellen.

If staging will increase the value of my listing and if it will ensure that it sells quicker, then why not stage the home and agree to be paid at closing. It it closes you get paid, if not you don't. By using this business model I am sure there will be no problem finding people willing to hire your services. If you are good at what you do then there will be no problem getting paid at the end.

Personally I think this would be an excellent idea. If I were a Stager and sure of my abilities, I think I would do this.

To all Stagers, no charge for this idea:)

I love your idea Bryant.  We dish out the money out of pocket and risk not getting paid.  Rick and I spend anywhere between $2,500 to $5,000 per listing which is insane, but that's what our market requires and what sets us above our competition.  If a stager were willing to wait until the house was sold, I would hire them on the spot, no questions asked.

ines

I am sold on staging.  Seller's will not do it themselves. It takes the monkey off my back when it comes to telling them what they need to do. I had a listing a couple months back that was a "nice" house-neat and clean as a pin!  But kind of Blah,  A mid1980's Mcmansion cookie cutter House (just like all the rest) It gave me a kind of Cold sterile feeling. The house had no spark or oomph to it. The seller's had just painted the house and we're not willing to pay for staging. The paint color they used in the Beautiful Light filled Family room can only be described as Horrendous "Baby Room" Aqua green and they were not about to paint over it. They liked it. So I paid the Stager myself. The stager rearranged what they already had in the house, bought some plants a couple pictures and sheer drapes. It took her 1/2 a day with a helper. The transformation was incredible! You did not even notice the color of the walls in the family room after she was done! It was a miracle! The sellers were amazed and so was I!  The house sold in 6 days for $682,000 List price was $689,000.  Three houses have come on the market on the same street (same type house but none of them "staged") One has been withdrawn without selling (even after dropping their price) The other two houses are still on the market both have dropped their prices down to 650,000 and 649,000.  I am convinced that this house sold quickly and for more money because of the STAGING! Stagers, as an agent I need you, admire you and have the utmost respect for you!

Debbie Cook

PS The name I use to my sellers is "Professional Home Stager" not "Decorator" or I am going to bring in a professional to stage your house. That way they are not insulted.

Thanks for writing such a well-timed piece, Craig!  You make very valid points which we stagers can all learn from.

I especially like the term that you came up with to market ourselves - "real estate/property merchandiser"....that, actually, is the perfect description for what we do! 

Craig, Ellen may be right, we are cheap lmao.  But I like to think it's not at the risk of being 'penny wise and pound foolish.'  : 0 )

I get the feeling that eventually, Rodney won't have to be wearing that red wig; like anything else that is a newer concept, no matter what the profession, change is hard. AR folk are IMO a bit more used to change or more embracing of it, because we jumped into blogging after all - but somehow I think the value of staging will become more and more second nature to us agents and your posts have gone a long way to helping me see why that is true.  You rock.  

K, I had to come back and add this: we used a real stager for new urban town homes just being built. The model needed pizazz, not just furniture. She did a fabulous job, and we have her brochures located at strategic places around the model. She did a fab job of picking furniture that enhanced the urban steel bannisters, for example.  Everyone who comes in to see the property comments on at least one or two pieces - it's an invaluable service. I've already recommended her to others, including someone buying one of the townhomes! 

Craig,

Thanks for the GREAT BLOG.....and Ellen who????  ;)

You know, I need to make another comment here - I posted mine after reading Craig's blog and before reading all of the comments.

Actually my comment is a question.....What makes some of you assume that "Ellen" is a Stager? 

Some of us "newer stagers" on this site (that is only 5 months old I might add), may be voicing our frustrations, but to anyone reading this comment, who might be a realtor, I would like to say this:

Please do not misconstrue what we are saying - we are not directing any animosity or anger toward realtors or the real estate profession, we are just, collectively, trying to figure out how to introduce a new 'product' and show how useful and profitable it is to both realtors and sellers!

For the most part we are dialoging amongst ourselves - sometimes we might ask realtors for their opinions because they have the experience and knowledge and can give invaluable advice.  It is always good to hear from another perspective. Just look at how beautifully that worked on the "Stagers Attending Realtor's Open Houses" blog post!

I am a little disappointed with some of the negative energy that I'm picking up here tonight.  We are here to network and the Webster Dictionary defines Network as "a usually informally interconnected group or association of persons (as friends or professional colleagues)".

We can all learn from each other - even the "newest" of us have valuable insights to share.

Where is the 'love' guys?!  Let us not diminish some wonderful 'networking' advice from one of the best!

As a stager/merchandiser I like your advice ,Craig. to start building relationships with realtors.  Usually I'm just trying to sell my services, instead of educating them and letting them get to know me.

 They will be more likely to use me as a stager if they know me and trust me and see that I really do care about my business and theirs.

Thanks.

Craig, when are you doing your 'Return from the Road to Hong Kong' blog with pics????

Talk about being treated like a redheaded stepchild!!!  I know just how that feels.  You wait days for the King of AR Stagers to grace your blog with one of his much sought after comments....and he calls you by the wrong name!!! 

Great blog though....another keeper for my files!

Val-

You are so on the money (as usual). We are part of the marketing arsenal for Realtors and they are our biggest client. We're all on the same team.

Bryant-

Thank you for your thoughtful and thought-provoking posts. I sense that you are truly committed to quality and excellent client service. On that note, I have a few thoughts to share...

Having spent a few very tough years in resale real estate and a short while in new construction, I sympathize with your 'everybody's after the money I haven't even earned yet' sentiments. I had to start a mass mailing newsletter advertising other realtors' listings just to be able to afford to advertise my own (placed prominently in that mailing, of course:).

It had occurred to me, too, that it would be a great idea to take payment at closing. I mean, we do that with other contractors, right?! That plan is flawed, though, for a  couple of reasons, the most obvious being that we don't usually bringin those contractors until an agreement has been reached. You wouldn't need a stager at that time.

The second, less obvious reason is that, while most agents who stay around for very long have done so because they (as you mention above) have learned how to price appropriately or decline the listing, many have not -- successful agents know that an overpriced listing will suck the life out of a marketing budget and reflect very poorly on them later when a new agent takes over and, after a huge price reduction, sells the place inside of a week.

But I digress...the problem is that a great number of listings emerge on the market overpriced and, from your earlier posts it is clear that you know that, even with its gold-plated nails, and custom Zebra carpet with coordinating Monkey chandelier (I'm so derivative here; had to pay homage to Jessica's awesome blog), property will very rarely sell above the CMA range. More clearly put, even the best property, if priced incorrectly, will languish on the market. 

As I no longer hold an active real estate license, I am without access (at least in my area) to the complete information from the MLS to determine whether or not I believe the price is right. Of course I could look at the public tax records, but those sq ft prices are skewed by the fact that the tax office estimates square footage of the home based on a drive by in most areas; consequently it is very often in significant error.

I believe it was Craig who discussed that a stager's job is to merchandise the house so that it will bring the top end of its range of price. That said, not all stagers know how to assess the appropriatenes of the home's price even with full access to information. We must rely on the expertise of the Realtors we work with to price and accept listings as prudently as they govern their marketing budgets before our services can really pay off. Similarly, the Realtor must rely on our merchandising talent and focused approach to making the home appeal to the largest cross-section of the population possible.

So, to take payment at closing would require a leap of faith on the stager's part--faith that the Realtor priced, and will market the home appropriately and aggressively.

It's a circular and interdependent relationship that Realtors and stagers have. I would submit that we all owe it to ourselves to make every effort to educate and understand each others' industries for the common goals of supporting property values in our home areas and providing stellar client service with every sale.

-Brenna, (GRF stager)

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Craig,

I have done as you suggested and turned this comment into a blog here: http://activerain.com/blogs/greatrooms .

Thanks for the great advice!

Claudia

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Wow Claudia - you made some wonderful points here - and in such an honest and thoughtful way!

Thank YOU for adding yet another dimension to the reason that Stagers and Realtors need to work together - and in a spirit of reciprocal trust.  We really are on the same team after all!

Staging is a career still in it's infancy in many areas. It will take more time before it's embraced everywhere. I believe lots of sellers (and agents) look at it as an expense instead of an asset to get their homes sold faster for more money.