Agent Will

Over at Realestatetalks.com, a lively forum on real estate in BC which I have taken part in for almost 4 years, every once in a while a true nugget of gold can be dug out of all the posts.  One such posting by the often great contributor named LadyLuck came up this past weekend.

She had been selling a home and was looking at ways to stage the place.  As she expressed and I can confirm, staging is not cheap.  In fact the cost of staging can be downright of questionable value.

Forget what you see on TV.  If your home just needs a good declutterring then that only takes a few hours some hard looks in the mirror (“Do I really need to hold on to this?”).  Even then, however, your furniture likely is not that good.  I know you love that broken in sofa and that coffee table you picked up at the flea market in your college days but it may not match what Buyers want.  So a Stager will come in and take everything out, maybe slap on some fresh paint, perhaps new flooring, and bring in stylish contemporary furniture and accent pieces.  Total cost?  Could be in the several thousands of dollars with no guarantee of sale.

So why do people do it?  Actually, very few do because of that cost but those who do do so with the promise that it is an investment twofold.  First, it will sell their home faster.  Second, it will do so for more money.  A $5000 investment in staging could net an extra $10,000 on the sale price (double your money in a couple of weeks).  After all, if there was no benefit then no one would do it, right?

If your home is gorgeous, really gorgeous, not “I think it looks good” or “My friends say it looks good” but an impartial opinion gorgeous then you likely do not need much staging.  But if your home is average, filled with your personality, crammed to the walls with the collections of life and the remnants of adventures, and has taken on some of the scars of your day to day life then you need staging.  Really.  You do.  Just get over it.

If your property was an investment and sits empty, you need staging.  Blank, bland, and boring does not sell.  Also the lack of distractions (furniture and accent pieces such as plants, lights, art) only magnify the vacancy and the possible negatives.  Buyers cannot see what may be very well.  They do see what is and what is may not appeal.  After all, if that was the case developers wouldn’t have showrooms all decked out would they?

So what can be done by the more savvy?  LadyLuck had this idea, and it is brilliant.  Don’t rent staging furniture.  Buy it.  Go get a whole home done up top to bottom with new pieces from a store offering delayed payments.  Then include the furniture in the sale.  A buyer who is likely already stretching to afford the place gets not only a new home but all new furniture inside!  Leather sofas, stylish tables, breakfast stools, beds, everything!

Then from the proceeds of sale pay off all the furniture.  Done.  Home staged on the cheap.

But what if the Buyer does not want the furniture?  Doesn’t matter to you.  You can either sell it or donate it (Google it and see that many charities are happy to accept furniture donations including the Homestart Foundation).  Really doesn’t matter to you as the cost was more than covered by the sale.  Some pieces you may just want to keep for yourself.

Caveat to Buyer:  Just make sure if such a “Furniture Included” deal is offered to you that it is indeed paid in full and that you won’t have some big burly guys coming to take back your furniture you thought you bought from the home seller.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am and is filed under Selling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.