Staging FAQs: What Are the Statistics of Your Success?

Oh no you are one of those that let's facts get in the way of claims.  LOL  Thanks for the reality check.

Marie - I agree.  Referrals and word-of-mouth are great gages in how successful you are.  Stats can be so skewed.

Hi Marie ~   I also rely on word of mouth referrals and testimonials from previous clients and reviews on Angie's List, etc as those are all excellent ways for potential clients to find us.

In an emerging industry, it can be challenging to standardize anything like staging statistics due to the various ways the data is collected.  RESA has been working on statistics standards and encourages its members to use their recommended form and send them in -- which is a good start and allows a framework for the data to be collected and compared.  

However as you said, all real estate is LOCAL and so for me, I only publicize my own, carefully-monitored staging statistics -- since DOM in another market will mean nothing to my local clients.  I get my data from our local MLS in their published monthly report for local DOM;  once my staged properties go on the market I get the MLS number & check daily to see what date it goes pending.  Our local MLS also publishes the selling price (and public sites like Zillow and Redfin do this too), and I verify everything with the seller and listing agent.  My local statistics include even those properties that aren't priced well, or where the sellers won't agree to the staging suggestions I'd made; but they don't include properties that were withdrawn from the market -- only those that are "sold."

Hi Marie - I hear you!  I could Stage the heck out of a property, but still not get a quick sale because the property has been over-priced, or has poor photos, or is unavailable for showings...none of these factors is in my control.  I recently de-Staged a property that had been on the market for over nine months without a sale.  Over-priced, very awkward layout (it was a flipped house, with strange, over-sized additions), busy street...talk about one stat skewing everything!  Unfortunate, but Staging can't fix everything.

I do know that if a property I have Staged is priced and marketed properly, it will certainly sell much faster than the competition. 

Great to know that not everyone just believes whatever they read! We need analytical minds like yours!

Marie, Here in Huntsville we have a huge population of Engineers, because of NASA and their supporting subcontractors.  For them it's all about the statistics and crunching the numbers.  When shown local stats for example about sales they do take notice and tend to price their home correctly.  They may not be happy about it, but can usually detach themselves emotionally from a home they realize needs to be priced below what they hoped to sell at.