What Steps does a Vancouver Home Stager follow to stage a
Property for Sale?
What exactly does a Vancouver Real Estate Home Stager do, from start to finish, to stage a property for sale? Often I’m hired to stage a property with very little notice. The client either goes through a REALTOR® and is not involved in the staging details, or they are unaware of what we as Stagers do in the background and only really see the end result on staging day. As if by magic, the client’s home is transformed into a beautiful show room. However, behind the scene, many hours of thought and labour have led up to the final end result. Here is a list of what a home stager does for each and every staging job.
Initial Contact
- Either receive a phone call from a REALTOR® or a client that they wish to have their home for sale staged.
- I take down pertinent information, ie the client’s contact information, the address of the home for sale, the name of the REALTOR®
- I ask if the home is vacant or occupied, how long the home has been on the market, or if it’s a new listing.
- I ask for the square footage, how many bedrooms
- I prefer to see the home in person, so I will set up a convenient time to view the home for sale. At this point I ask the client if they would like a full consultation, where I charge $225 to walk through the home and room by room and point out all the pre-work that needs to be done before the home can be staged. This includes suggestions regarding home repairs, areas that will need “editing”, tagging furniture that will need to be stored off-site, how to store furniture off-site, carpet cleaning or replacement, general cleaning, and curb appeal. If hired to do the final staging, I will credit back the charge for the consultation and apply it to the final staging invoice.
- If the home is in good shape, I will offer to view the home for 20 minutes, in order to take photos, measurements and notes for a staging proposal.
Proposal
- Drive to home for sale and view property for sale and meet with client and or REALTOR®. Discuss who the target buyer is.
- Drive around the area and research the demographics and lifestyle of the people living in the area. We like to stage to a specific buyer.
- Return to office and download photos of property for sale.
- View each room thoroughly and calculate how much rental furniture, artwork and accessories will be needed to stage the home.
- Calculate the number of hours it will take to stage the home, including packing up and de-staging and how many staging assistants will be needed.
- Calculate the time needed for movers, if applicable.
- Type up a Proposal, indicating all costs and total the costs plus HST and send to the client within 24 hours of viewing the property.
- If the client agrees to the Proposal, we fill out our Contract and send this to the client, requesting a signature a deposit before staging can begin.
- Once the signed Contract and deposit is received, the fun begins!
Design & Packing Up
- I view the photos again and create a design plan for staging. I decide ahead of time where I plan to place the furniture or rearrange the furniture. What colour scheme I will use, where I will be placing accessories and artwork. What will the style be? Contemporary, traditional, modern, transitional? What local touches will I bring in to capture the target buyer? The design process is extremely important, and can’t be rushed.
- Book movers if needed for a vacant or an occupied requiring some extra furniture.
- If a high rise, make sure that the concierge is aware we are arriving with furniture. Check that either the home owner or REALTOR® has organized this or that there is a number to phone.
- Organize to pick up keys or to meet home owner or REALTOR® at the property for access.
- Shop for any items that may be needed for the stage.
- Go to storage and pack up all the items needed for staging. On average we fill about 5 or 6 bins with individually wrapped objects, plants and lamps. We pack up cushions and throws, bedding and bathroom linens
- Load vehicle with staging bins.
- Drive to the nearest café and pick up a latte. Trust me, you don’t want to be near me before I’ve had a coffee.
- Unload staging bins and carry up to property.
- Tour property with staging assists and explain a plan of attack.
- Unpack all contents in bins.
- Stage property (believe it or not, this is the easy part).
- Call REALTOR® and/or home owner and give them a heads up that we are finishing up in about 30 minutes.
- Load up empty bins, tools etc.
- Take photos.
- Offer Kleenex® to the home owner – they are overwhelmed with tears of joy.
- Hugs all around.
- Present invoice and collect final payment for staging job for the first month.
- Drive off into the sunset.
What? The home sold? Time to De-stage
Book movers for the de-stage.
- Collect keys and arrive at home to de-stage.
- Haul in empty bins and packing paper.
- Collect and wrap up all accessories, lamps and plants.
- Take down all artwork and pack up all bedding and linens.
- Load vehicle and return all items to storage, unwrap and place back on shelves.
- Meet movers at storage and direct the return of furniture items.
- Send a confirmation note that the home has been successfully de-staged and a thank you note for the staging job.
- Find out how much the home sold for and add it to my staging statistics ie. Time spent on market after staging, how much the home sold for compared to the original asking price.
There is so much to staging that isn’t seen by the public. Many hours are spent before and after staging day. Yes, the end result on staging day is fantastic, but it wouldn’t be great without all the pre-work, thought and design work that went into the project. If you’d like to receive a Proposal to stage an upcoming home for sale, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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