STAGING HOME AND DESIGN BLOG
My partner and I were called in to do a consultation at a home last week. My partner's aunt raves about us (we helped her sell her home in less than a week) and the lady we were doing a consult for is a close friend of my partner's aunt. She called a local Haverhill stager to come in before she knew about Rooms in Bloom. She told the sellers they had to change out all the countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms to granite, paint every room, rent furniture and .. more. None of which was on the "quote". And the quote didn't include the staging fees .. there was no price for that as far as we could tell.
My partner and I were called in to do a consultation at a home last week. My partner's aunt raves about us (we helped her sell her home in less than a week) and the lady we were doing a consult for is a close friend of my partner's aunt. This lady was candid with my partner and told her several things:
1) Her home had gotten the feedback that it was dated and a lot of work. To be candid, it's a lovely home however its very personally decorated. From murals in the ensuite and main bath of a beach in tuscany to stylized paint in the connecting hallways and stairway to paint/wallpaper combinations of many of the rooms. In addition, the living room is being used as a music room and the sellers have 3 huge TV's in the family room, basement and master bedroom. The artwork is predominantly chinese and the sellers have tons of things .. and they are everywhere.
2) She called a local Haverhill stager to come in before she knew about Rooms in Bloom. The stager came in, walked around and came back the next day with a "quote" which comprised a lined piece of paper with a few notes on it and a total of $8,000 to update the home. She told the sellers they had to change out all the countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms to granite, paint every room, rent furniture and .. more. None of which was on the "quote". And the quote didn't include the staging fees .. there was no price for that as far as we could tell.
3) The realtor is anti-staging. He knows its dated and has told the sellers not to do anything. There is a conditional offer on the home which expires July 31st - for significantly less than what our sellers feel their home is worth. They are willing to do the work required however until the conditional offer expires they can't do anything beyond cosmetic touches. The sellers are frustrated. They want their home to sell and they know by doing nothing they are losing equity in their home. They "get it" and are frustrated that their agent doesn't.
My partner met with the sellers last week and they opted to work with us than Haverhill. We went through today, de-cluttered, took down the asian art and replaced it with our neutral artwork and decor accessories, moved furniture around and made the home feel more modern. We couldn't help the paint/wallpaper issues at this point however we hope by neutralizing the home that buyers walking through will get a better sense of the potential of the home.
The lady who hired us was very emotional when we left and hugged us, thanking us for our help. We know if the conditional offer does expire that on August 1st we will be back, looking at the home with fresh eyes and the ability to deal with the paint/wallpaper issues in order to create a cohesive staging design. We hope that our client gets another (better) offer after our efforts today so they don't have to go through that renovation process however we can also see how the home will look once the decor has been updated and know that once buyers get a glimpse of the home re-done, they will be fighting to buy it!
We hope we can get the agent to see just how much easier the process would be if there weren't comments about how dated the house is and how much work it would be to update it. Pricing the home right is vital however the presentation has to justify the asking price! We all know that buyers will pay more money for a home which is "turn key" so advising clients to do nothing is losing them money and decreasing his commission! Staging isn't expensive and all of our clients would emphatically state how vital it is to the real estate process. Investing some money so that presentation of a home justifies its asking price results in fewer DOM, more interested buyers, the strong possibility of multiple offers and a higher selling price.