Vacant Staging - How it works

I get a great many inquiries about staging vacant houses and how it works. These inquiries can be either from real estate agents or home owners that have vacant property and are considering having the property staged so that it will show better.

Most people think that you just put a few pieces of furniture in a house and some hand towels in the bathrooms and that's all it's about. Well, it 's a good bit more than that.

It's usually a 4 step process starting with an initial consultation with a home staging professional reviewing the home, taking photos, drawing diagrams and taking measurements on every detail needed to complete the job. This is when budget and goals are discussed with the home owner.

Once the home owner decides to proceed, the professional consultant meets with a furniture rental company with which they have a good and reliable working relationship and often receive a discount that they can pass onto their client. Then the pieces that best suits the home and the sellers budget are chosen. Most furniture rental companies require a 2-3 month minimum rental contract and the monthly rental fee is paid directly to the rental company

This is where most people think that the job ends ......not so. The day that the furniture is to arrive at the property, the consultant and their assistants meet the rental movers and direct where all of the pieces are to be placed. The consultant then starts adding tons of additional accessories in the form of bed linens, wall art, plants, trees, table decor, pillows, throws, light furniture, knick knacks and materials. These touches create the emotion, the feelings of the house and what turns the house into a home. This is where the professional home staging consultant shines, creating the emotional connection points that draws a buyer into a room so that they will linger a little bit longer and begin to start imagining this as their home. A monthly rental fee of the accessories is paid to the staging company.

A few days before the house is to close in escrow, the home stager meets the furniture rental company again and spends the day de-staging the home.

What all this boils down to in dollars & cents is a staging service fee, a monthly furniture rental fee and an monthly accessory rental fee. The cost is usually anywhere from 1/2 to 2% of the asking price and based on the size of the house and number of rooms that are to be staged.

This is usually the place where the owner suffers from sticker shock, but be reminded, statistics show that a vacant home takes twice as long to sell than a furnished home and we all know that in this real estate market, that can be a long time. This is an investment in selling your house, not an expense. Making extra mortgage payments while the house sits on the market....that's and expense.

Let us help you sell your vacant property faster and for more money with professional home staging.

www.southern-staging.com 770-251-0608 home/office

Staging Your Home is an Investment, Not an Expense

You've decided to place your house on the market to sell and you know it needs some updating, but you think that the buyer will come in and make allowances for the changes that it needs. You may be leery of spending money on Home Staging or updating. You may think that the buyer will want to choose their own fixtures and colors, so you'll leave the property as it is.

As an experienced retired realtor, I know from personal experience that it is difficult for a buyer to visualize making changes to a home or look past the home owners personal taste and belongings. If they are able to see past the changes needed, they expect to purchase at a reduced price and usually the offer is significantly lower than the actual work would have cost the seller.

You must look at the money you spend on staging your home as an investment that will pay off in the selling price. There are no guarantees that staging will sell your home quicker and for more money, in the market that we are experiencing now, but it certainly gives you an edge over the competition.

Here are a few statistics to consider:

Over 80% of buyers start their search for a new home on the internet
Staging your home before the pictures are taken for the MLS shows your home at its best. If a buyer is not impressed with your home, they will move on to the next listing and you will have fewer showings and more days on the market. We all know that there's not a shortage of homes for a buyer to consider. Why send them down the street?

Staged Homes sell quicker than un-staged homes
The longer your home sits on the market, the longer you will have the carrying cost of your home; mortgage, insurance, utilities. The National Association of Realtors survey found that the longer a home stays on the market, the further below list price it drops. The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) study shows occupied homes that are staged, listed and sold, spend 89% less time on the market than and un-staged home. Vacant homes that have been staged, listed and sold spend 85% less time on the market than an un-staged home.

Only 10%of buyers can visualize how a room would look furnished and accessorized
This is most important for vacant homes. If your home doesn't feel inviting and looks too small or too big for the buyer's furniture, they will not see the potential of the home and move on to the next one. Whenever I used to show vacant houses to a buyer, they would never stay in a room long enough to become emotionally connected. Sometimes they would only stick their head in the door of a room and walk away, without ever taking the time to linger and imagine their family in the space. You want them to imagine their family enjoying the fireplace or having breakfast every morning at the breakfast bar. If you don't have anything for them to connect with, you lose the potential to sell.

Staging your home saves you money by reducing loss due to extended time on the market, carrying costs and eventual price reductions. Even if you decide to do it yourself - staging is worth the time and the money.

If you find the task more than you can wrap your head around, give me a call and let's discuss the service that will benefit you the most. Check out my website to see some before and after photos.

Go Green...Use What You Have

Everyone is going green or at least talking about it, but how can you be "green" in decorating? Use what you already own.

Who has the luxury of throwing out all of their furnishings and accessories and starting all over? In this economy, not many people. We may be able to afford an occasional new piece of furniture or new accessory that we bought on sale somewhere, but how do we make it blend in with our old stuff?

That's when having a re-designer come in and offer suggestions, really pays off. For about $75 - $150 per hour, you can have someone come in and look at your space with a fresh perspective. They're able to see things that you haven't even thought about, because you live there and once you have your space set up a certain way, it's difficult to imagine it any other way. A re-designer can even go into the attic or basement and use pieces that you forgot about and you'll think "why didn't I think of that"?

Repurposing items is another way to use what you have. Perhaps that old toothbrush holder would make a great little flower vase for daffodils....it already has holes in it and you don't have to worry about arranging them. How about that old bar/table that used to be your grandmothers? I'll bet it would make a great "entertainment" console for the T.V. and components. It's a great way to incorporate the modern conveniences of today with the sentimental pieces of your decor.

At Southern Staging & Redesign, working with what home owners already have is a specialty of ours. Give us a call. You'll be surprised at what a difference a few hours can make.