Hey Julie, I have a friend that use to do home staging. She started about two years ago, of course she no longer does it, at least not on a full time. The market just could no longer support her. Surprise, surprise

Good point! I didn’t think about how these professional stagers would be affected by the market. It’s more than just buyers, sellers, agents, and loan officers.

I keep reading how home sellers have to put so much more work into selling their homes these days as compared to the past. So I would have thought that there would be more work for stagers these days—apparently not so.

Hmmmm… that’s a good point and you’re right — I’ve been reading that too. When it was crazy (with the good market), people just bought whatever they could get… now they’re a LOT more picky. Hmmmmmmm… I’m stumped.

I am a professional home stager located in Pasadena, CA. I am also on the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Staging Association (www.realestatestagingassociation.com). My business, Moving Mountains Design, is booming - we have several stagings or consultations per week - although like all small businesses, we experience occassional slow periods. I know a lot of home stagers that are very busy, and I know a lot that are not getting any business. It takes years to build a successful business and many people who got into home staging over the past couple of years, don’t have the endurance, marketing skills or the financial know how to build a sustainable business.

I don’t quote national staging statistics because real estate markets in each city, or even each neighborhood are very different. Also, the skills of each stager is different. The most important statistics are the statistics from the individual stager or staging company. Last year, almost 80% of the homes I staged sold in 60 days or less. Half of those sold in less than 30 days and several of those sold in less than 10 days many for full asking price, and several for over asking price.

Simply put, when you put your home on the market, you are entering it in a beauty contest. The best looking homes sell faster and for a better price regardless of market conditions. Well-done professional staging does help sell homes.

The Los Angeles Times featured my company in an article in the Sunday Real Estate section March 16, 2008. You can read the article here:http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-staging16mar16,0,4612003.story

Michelle,

Thanks for sharing your services. So… really? Homes have been selling over asking?

In general, what role do you think price plays when selling a home?

Julie: Many of the homes we stage sell for full price and some go over asking price, even in this market. If one buyer is hot to buy a great looking (staged) home, then chances are what attracted them is attracting others, creating a multiple offer situation. Multiple offers usually result in an over asking price situation.

Correct pricing is very important. Sellers have to be realistic about what their home is worth in THIS market. I occassionally deal with home sellers who tell me “I am not going to let the market dictate how much I sell my house for”. Those are the homes that sit for months without viable offers, and then have to take a big price reduction whether they are staged or not. Staging is not license to overprice you home. Chances are, if these home sellers had priced their home correctly in the beginning, the home would have sold more quickly (thereby saving the seller the additional carrying costs) and for a better price than if they overprice the home and then have to take a price reduction later.

As a home stager, I don’t get involved in the pricing of a home and never discuss it with the homeowner. That is the job of the listing agent. But I am fortunate to work with a number of listing agents that know how to properly and realistically price their listings.

Staging helps sell realistically priced homes, in any market, faster and for more money. Nothing will help sell an overpriced home except a big price reduction.

I like that.. “Staging is not license to overprice you home.”

I still can’t imagine a multiple offer situation in this market, yee of little faith, I guess.

Thanks for the perspective… price it right, make it look good, and hope for the best.

In the last 4 homes were staged, 3 out of 4 sold in 10 days or less. One sold for full price offer just 2 weeks ago. At least 2 received multiple offers. The 4th house spent the first month on the market as a For Sale by Owner with no success. It has now been on the MLS and getting traffic for 3 weeks and the Realtor is expecting at least 1 offer this week.

Staging Really does help sell homes. These 4 properties were all vacant homes. One is Huntington Beach was on the market for over a year with no offers. We staged it in May and it received 3 offers in 3 days and sold in 6 days.

Staging helps show people how nice a home can be. When it looks beautiful, potential buyers feel better about it and they seem to percieve a better value for their dollar. Vacant homes look dull and boring. All there is to look at are the imperfections, paint, dirty carpet, etc.
Staging is not about hiding things. It’s about coaching a seller into fixing / repairing, and cleaning before staging. Staging just shows the property at it’s best. It’s like when you dress up to go out to visit friends. You want to look your best.

Check out our success stories at our website.
www.CoastHomeStaging.com