When Does it Make Sense to Stage??

Praful... I'm not sure about your market, but the costs involved are not that high.   If a house sits on the market for more than 90 days,..there IS something wrong with it.  Right now the Summer months are hot months for selling. (No pun intended)  The "amount" is a rather ambiguious term.  It can be a few hundred dollars, and several thousand.  Usuallly it costs more for vacant or older houses because they require more work.Always keep in mind that penny-wise can be pound foolish for a seller.

As Barbara Corcoran says,  "It's a Cinderella contest", so make sure your property is ready for the ball.

Joan... I have not had properties sit on the market for very long, and my market isn't that hot.  As far as the monthly staging cost,  I'm wondering if you're referring to the rentals of furniture, or the rental for accessories.  There can be a variety of staging costs, so that is why I'm asking?   I'm not sure how your staging is structured.

If the house is occupied, I'm not sure why there would continue to be monthly staging costs.  If it's vacant that is another situation.  Generally a vacant house should be staged, in my opinion, for a number of reasons.

1.)  Buyers have bad imaginations, and can't figure out how to use a space or how a property will function.

2.)  Vacant properties will show off any perceived "flaws" even more.  Staging takes their attention off of them.

3.)  As a rule staging usually helps move a property faster, so staging may not be the reason a property doesn't sell

Rosalie,.. if your clients are under water, and you are worried about overwhelming them  with a list of items that need to be addressed, maybe you might want to talk with a stager.  The reason I say this, is often realtors find it difficult to talk to their clients about what should be done, or may not even know how to improve a feature for a seller, or hide a flaw.

In the past many people  would move about every 7 years.   Based on that, most sellers probably today are under water. 

Now keep in mind that about every month a home sits on a market, a property will lose 1% in value.   Now.. imagine if you spent 1% of the home's value, and it moved in a month or 2!  Imagine how much of the equity you might salvage selling it faster. 

Sellers rarely see how to improve their property. A stager can bring in a "buyer's eye", and you can avoid offending the seller's emotional attachment to their home.   They are already going through a wild range of emotions for a number of reasons, so why would any realtor expect them to  be objective about what needs to be done when selling a property.   A consultation with a stager can help guide you through the process, and make things less stressful. Don't expect them to give you all the details, but they are there to put together a plan of action,...which is something most sellers are not able to do.

Janet... it's obvious that realtors who may not understand (or think they do) can create alot of myths about our industry.   It's unfortunate, but they could really be helping their clients, AND themselves, just by having an initial consultation with the seller.  

It's really something I've been concerned about, especially with high priced houses sitting on the market so long.

Teri,.. thanks, I have been known to put my own "spin" on what I think can be an issue in our industry.  What I find interesting is that they think we are overpriced.   I realize we all have varied services and talent, but the same can be said for realtors, and they almost always get a percentage of the sale.  :-)

Plain and simple, we don't get that.   Wouldn't it be nice to get 2-3% for a listing, and another 2-3% if we sell it too. Our contributions  are there to enhance the marketing efforts of a property.

Unfortunately it seems too many houses that I see on the MLS listings are being put on the market in shabby condition. The defense is the client doesn't have the money to invest, ..but they are eventually penalized with a lower price if they don't.  

Even bankers are starting to get it.  They realize they may be losing money,..but they won't lose as much if theiy "recondition" a property.   

Julia,.. you're absolutely correct.   It shounds like the sellers want to have the "selling edge" and are very savvy when it comes to marketing their home.