Could what's in your home affect the value of it?

wow thank you everyone for the wonderful comments...

Laura - I'm a Feng Shui believer and implement many placement techniques

Beverly - perfectly said

Hello Praful - Thank you for your comments. Staging is part art ..part science. Knowing who the target buyer is dictates the style of staging not necessarily the age of the property. 

Hi Rod - You should try it! staging is progressive marketing and it works but also agree, not all stagers are created equal. It has a taken 9 years to perfect our craft and I'm still learning. 

Tina-yep! what motivates a buyer to make an offer is not always logical

Thanks Debbie me to. not the easiest to take care of though

Hi Margaret - I think it's a perfect example because the house is ordinary and like you say clean, bright, and clutter free but it was still lingering for 3 months not sold. We staged 1/27 and went under contract within 7 days! 

Kat - thanks. good news is its sold now.

Ginny for your comment and support

Hi Dorie, prefectly said. It's all about appealing to the broadest sector of buyers

Melanie - thanks. with the internet marketing and the MLS photos visual marketing is essential to appeal to todays buyers. Seeing is believing when you have the stats to back it up.

thanks Ed.. it's all about creating a new story for buyers

Hi Karen - it works over and over. This home went under contract within 7 days of staging with no price reduction this week. we more often the highest selling home in the neighborhood than not.

Thanks Michael - exciting gets you offers fast

Thanks Eric I always say it's the small things that make a big difference

Hi Gary - Price-Presentration-Promotion is a winning combination

Thank Bob - your right ho-hum does not get you top dollar

Thanks for your comment Mary Ann- I hope you have a stager on your team

Exactly Richard! just heard the house went under contract  just 7 days after we staged it. it had 124 DOM

Sheila - excellent point! I falling down on the job with pinterest

Deborah - it falls on the sellers shoulder to present the very best product they can to the market place. They have the most to gain or lose. It does not have to be expensive and often they just need a good action plan they can implement on their own. The price point of the home irrelevant. Staging with what a seller has is better that not making any effort at all. There are lots of things we can do and suggest to make a house show better even with old dated furniture.

The one thing I've never understood is why REA's decide what their sellers will do or will not do and never even share the information. I say treat them all the same...present what's best for the sale of their home and let them decide. Any good stager or broker for matter is going to work within their means.  

Thanks Terry

Hi Larry - I bet it was a surprise walking into that. :0)

Andrew you crack me up with your comments. Have a great day!

Hi Tessa thanks! actually works just as well if not better when the "canvas" is not as good

Hi Wayne - thanks. creating easy to implement action plans is the key

Hi Peter - yes good visuals make it much easier for people to understand..along with statistics

Thanks ben:)

Hi Margaret - absolutely, ever house is different and regularly used all the owners items and just make it better -  sometimes it's with what they own and sometimes we supplement. In this case the before was not getting the job done so a different course of action was necessary

Hi Kimo, This subject of stagers getting paid at close does come up, even with stagers, and I do understand it's not always easy to help sellers understand the benefits. I way I see it is there are many factors that go into a successful sale and the presentation part is just one of them. IMO the main issue is stagers have no control or say on some very important issues...like price, major repairs, and even which Realtor the seller selects. I understand a Realtor is commission based and takes on alot of risk but you also counsel and quide on other important factors and if the seller is unrealistic you have the option of not taking on that client. I doubt any Realtor would want a stager getting involved in the price or promotion end of the transaction, but if I'm asked to front 5000.00 in inventory (like this house), hire professional movers 2X, hire design staff, installers, and pay hefty insurance premiuims I should also be in loop and have the option of not doing a job if I don't think the property will sell within a reasonable time frame.  

As a stager our business model and pay scale is more like a tradesmen. The scale is based on an hourly rate verses a percentage of the sale...so in other words our gross profit is in the hundreds verses 4-6% of the sale price. And then when providing inventory the turn makes a huge difference... for us the faster the home  sells the better it is. (furniture rental companies are the opposite) All that said I have seen a few companies get paid a close but the fee was also higher..approx 1-1.5% of the sale. I think it's an interesting concept and maybe one based on individual relationships.  

Rosemarie - Yes your right sometimes it just takes moving some furniture around and adding some updated accessories

Thanks Jimmy - Definately right...It certainly can influence how fast it sales and the quality of your offers

Well thank you very much Tina. This was just an average stage for us.

Thanks Bryan! I agree that's not a compliment. Hopefully you have a good stager that can get creative with what she has and do it on a budget. I see homes all the time that try it "their" way first and end up callinmonths later to stage. In the end you can only recommend the best course of action and than it's falls on themto follow through.