Staging Furniture

Hi Guys,
               Ive been doing a bit of research into Staging Furniture and just wanting to know if anyone has used it and had success.  From some prices I have seen it is quite a reasonable price.

Hi Fredo,

I have staged all the properties I have sold (quite a few now!) and have always sold quickly and usually for the amount I've wanted. I work with property investors and owner/occupiers all the time - and I always advise the same thing... invest a few thousand dollars up front to create the best impression you can.

There has been research conducted that shows that staging a property will sell it for an average of 5% more $$ and in 50% less time. This has certainly been my experience.

Actually I had a client not too long ago who didn't take my advice and stage their property straight away. It sat on the market (vacant) for 6 weeks at which time they thought they would try staging it. Bingo - it sold at the next open home. For the time it sat on the market they still had holding costs to pay (around $3,000 during that 6 week period).

It can be rather expensive to stage a property depending on who you use and where you are, but one way to keep your costs down is to stage just the lounge, dining room, outdoor area (if there is one) and the master bedroom. If you have small rooms, then a good staging company will furnish them with small scale, very light and bright coloured furniture.

Good luck and I hope that sways you!

Jane Eyles-Bennett - Renovation Design Consultant
WHERE EVERY RENOVATION PROFITS www.hotspaceconsultants.com

Thanks Jane ...

Finally someone has been able to quantify the results of staging a property and I tend to agree with those numbers.  I have not staged any of our renovated properties that we have sold and we can still sell them within a 14 day time period and get a premium price for the property.  We are heading towards staging 2 of our 4 renovations we have on the go at the moment.

My opinions on the subjects are as follows ...

1.  The Display Home Effect:  I do not know about anyone else but when I would into a display home I can usually imagine myself living in one .
2.  The Google Ranking Effect:  It definitely helps if you have a fully renovated, staged home to be at the top of a short list of desirable houses in a given area.  Which makes it sell quickly especially if you are in a down market.

Things to consider:

1.  Staging can be expensive and can eat your profitability.
2.  The moving (knocking it about) and storage of the furniture is an operational consideration.

Like everything we do ... Give it a go ... sort out the teething issues and then do it all the time.

Thanks for your insight Jane.

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Hi Fredo,

Are you still looking at staging ?

If so, let me know. We're in the processof selling a two-bedroom apartment at the moment, and have decided to stage. In initial reactions are good, the property is an off-the-plan property and looked a bit bare. The effect of staging the place well is definately a positive one. Reply to this and I'll let you know how things go is you're interested.

Andy Kirby,
Founder,
www.icsustainability.com.au

Hi Andy,
                     That would be great if you could let me know how you go.  In the process of building some units and very curious as to know if it is money well spent to stage a property.  I think it definately looks better but at the end of the day it is the money figure that determines whether it successful or not

Look forward to hearing the outcome.

Cheers

Hey Fredo,

I have recently sold two properties, one was staged and the other was not. The staged property sold within 4 weeks and acheived a premium price the unstaged property took 12 weeks to sell and achieved only a mediocre price.

Hy thoughts on staging are that you are attempting to have the potential purchaser create an emotional bond to your property, ie they can see themselves living in your house and therefore will be prepared to pay a premium to do that.

My advice would be to consider who your target purchaser is, you said you are in the process of building units so potentially they will sell to investors who will not be as easily fooled by staging.  If some of the units are the same you could potentially only stage one as a display unit and not have to stage the others.

The last thing I would say is if you are going to stage make sure you have all of the staging complete before the Agent takes the photos for the advertising campaign. And make sure you check what photos the agent intends to use before everything goes to print, there is no account for an agents taste sometimes.

Let me know what you end up doing. 

"[M]y thoughts on staging are that you are attempting to have the potential purchaser create an emotional bond to your property, ie they can see themselves living in your house and therefore will be prepared to pay a premium to do that" - I completely agree with this comment j.w

I work in a residential real estate office and staging a property well, makes all the difference. You would be surprised how little imagination most people have when they go and inspect homes, if they get that far. In my experience the photos on the internet can greatly impact how many people will inspect your property, if the photos don't show your home in it's best light some people won't even bother going to an inspection.

In my opinion paying the extra to stage your property is well worth it.

Hi Fredo

I have been staging my own properties and clients properties for the last 5 years and all of the results have been fantastic.  As Jane mentions above a client she had that decided to not stage their property and after no offers and 6 weeks on the market they decided to stage it and it sold straight away.  This has also happened to some of our clients.  
 
All of the results we have had are properties selling for $10,000 - $40,000 more then the appraised price and selling off the first or second open inspection.  I would say that most home staging companies would tell you they have had simular results also..

Goodluck with your property sales!

Charyn Youngson
Houses To Impress
www.soldfortopdollar.com.au
www.housestoimpress.com.au

Hi Fredo!

I am so glad you have posted this!
 
Does anyone know how much staging cost? Say, for a typical 3 bedroom home - all rooms staged. My realestate agent gave an approximation of $3,000. This does not sound a lot for the benefits gained. And where does one look for a staging company? Some of them charge $100 per hour for consultation (when looking at google results). Should I ask if they have some sort of credentials? Ie. interior design... or is that too anal?  

Vita I think that is about the right price.  It is no where as expensive as I what I first thought it would be.  You can also just do key areas of the property if you want to save on costs.  Most packages I have seen run for between 2 weeks and a month.

Hi Vita,

Our staging is for a 2Br apartment, and we're paying around $2,500 for 4 weeks in total. The staging is done before the photoshoot and runs through all the open inspections. Looking at the photos we have, it looks a lot better with furniture than just being empty.

We also chose to stage because people very often look at apartments and can't work out how to use what they consider to be limited space (the place we're selling is approx 80m2). I think this is an Aussie thing, people are used to having as much space as they like and never think about how things 'fit' into the apartment. Both me and my wife have lived in the UK and Hong Kong, where space is at a far greater premium, so we know what can be done with a bit of thought.

We're actually using the 'Finishing Touches' lady (sorry, but I can't remember your name, Finishing Touches Lady) who we'd seen at one of Steve's conferences.

Andy Kirby,
Founder,
www.icsustainability.com.au

Hi all,
I am a home stager in SA, for a 3 bedroom home with 2 bath would cost you any where from $2700-$3300 for a 6 week rental period. I prefer a 6 week period to allow any conditions that are usually put into a contract, eg. finance etc.
Make sure you interview your home stager and look at their portolio of properties they have staged. Most companies will give a free consult and will only charge a consulation fee if they are giving suggestions for improovements, decluttering or furniture placement.
If you would like any other info please check out my website for further information.
www.superiorstyle.com.au
In most cases of homes I have staged they have received offers anywhere from their first open to upto 2 weeks at the most!
It pays to stage!!!
Cheers
Mel
P.s the lady you are referring too in the previos post is Katrina Maes in Melbourne.

Darren Bassham
www.handymanjobsadelaide.com.au