Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 23:04     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never select a Realtor who pretended they could sell the house faster and way higher if we moved out, then turned over the keys for their paint job and furniture move-in and charged me $10-40k to do so.

Maybe add some color or get rid of super old furniture but please- it’s you paying for it and doing the work, not a realtor.

Half the buyers is our city can be out of state doing a virtual tour.

And you really think today’s buyers at todays prices are so stupid they can’t imagine where a couch or bed goes in a room they have a spec for and photos?


Yes. Actually, it’s not a question of “smart” or “stupid;” many (most?) people are very bad at looking past bad decor and seeing the possibilities in a space. Look at the responses to almost any listing that is posted here. Most of the comments will be about the decor or other layout issues that can be easily remedied.

We got a great deal on a house in a fabulous location because the owner had too much furniture and hadn’t painted in 20 years. My DH couldn’t see the potential, but he trusted me. Judging by how long it was on the market, other people couldn’t see it, either. There was nothing at all structurally wrong with the house, and it had great “bones.”

In any case, you’ve created a strawman — I’ve never heard of someone charging $10-40k for what you define as “staging” for a normal house. And every time someone posts an example where they followed a stager’s advice and paid $1,000 for rental furniture and had a good result, you argue that isn’t *really* “staging.” I agree that staging isn’t worth spending $40k, but it’s silly to extrapolate from this that getting advice on how to prepare your house for sale is worthless.


DP. I totally disagree that most people are bad at looking past old furniture. Don’t believe your realtor when they tell you this.

You don’t seem to understand how staging is financed. Pp is correct, that you’re paying for the beige furniture. Many costs are passed through to the consumer, and this is definitely one of them.

You’re paying through your realtor, as the realtors here have confirmed. So let’s say you’re paying an extra 1% for the staging, on top of the 4% your realtor is charging to list your house, send a junior colleague to sit there during the open house, and take bids.

1% of a $1 million house is $10k. 1% of a $2 million house is $20k. You get the picture.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 23:01     Subject: The value of staging ?
For the love of God can we stop including painting under the rubric of “staging.”

The sellers pay for the painting, not the realtor. Whether the realtor took 30 seconds to forward their painting pal’s phone number is beside the point. Especially if kick-backs are involved but who knows.

People have been refreshing their houses since houses were first sold. Probably romans were whitewashing their homes before selling them.

This is not something clever realtors recently “invented” to help you. Use your brains, people.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 22:55     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We had already moved out of our house before it was put on the market in Bethesda in April. We paid a relatively modest fee (~$2,200 - we had two quotes and one was $1k more for the same service) and they filled two floors with furniture and left the basement empty. We were laughing because the stagers used our space better than we did. In the end we were under contract in 48 hours w/o contingencies and $100k over list. Did staging make a difference? Probably IMO. The house looked great in pictures and I think it helped us get to $100k over ask instead of maybe 80 or 90k over.


Exactly our experience. We paid about $1000 to stage our small, dark, and inspiring townhouse. The stager was one that I knew because a friend had bought a house that has been beautifully staged by her.

She did it an amazing job, and it looked much better than it ever did when we had lived there! We ended up with a bunch of offers and selling much more above list than I think we would have. No regrets.

(we had also paid to repaint, but that desperately needed doing so I don’t really count that as staging, more catching up on deferred maintenance)


The problem with these anecdotes is that we have no counterfactuals. Would pp have gotten $100k over asking anyway because the realtor priced low, which is a reasonable strategy in this market? How about all the folks who paid the realtor $$$ to arrange staging but didn't get it back? We just have no real data, and I'm not counting the article that's been rightly criticized.


Well, pp has an anecdote. All you have is speculation.


Lol, you’re very naive about statistics
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 22:48     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of posters on this thread are 55+ and haven't bought a house in 10 years. Things are different now, agents charge a 5% commission and many (if not most) of them include staging as part of their services. Some will do "virtual staging" where they photoshop in your pics, but I think that's so lame.


Yes, we know staging is a “thing” as you young whippersnappers say. That’s the point of OP’s thread.

Let me help you. What OP and others are asking is whether staging is worth it. Or whether instead it’s something unnecessary that realtors introduced to stay relevant in an era where you no longer need them to point you to open houses because you can find them online yourself with just a few clicks.

Also whether realtors love staging because they get some kind of payback from referring their own contractors to you. The payback could be “soft” in the form of gratis repairs on their own homes, or could take the form of actual kick-backs as one pp suggested. One naive but smug person claimed it was sad to question this. Another realtor says s/he never takes the hard kickbacks—but who knows about the thousands of other realtors.

Another question is whether “staging” just means getting rid of your furniture and moving in their ivory-colored furniture and wall mirrors in sun frames. Or whether it also includes the painting and repairs—which we all already knew we needed to do, thank you very much.

Feel free to comment on any of this without your insults.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 21:53     Subject: The value of staging ?
I feel like a lot of posters on this thread are 55+ and haven't bought a house in 10 years. Things are different now, agents charge a 5% commission and many (if not most) of them include staging as part of their services. Some will do "virtual staging" where they photoshop in your pics, but I think that's so lame.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 21:49     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:I would never select a Realtor who pretended they could sell the house faster and way higher if we moved out, then turned over the keys for their paint job and furniture move-in and charged me $10-40k to do so.

Maybe add some color or get rid of super old furniture but please- it’s you paying for it and doing the work, not a realtor.

Half the buyers is our city can be out of state doing a virtual tour.

And you really think today’s buyers at todays prices are so stupid they can’t imagine where a couch or bed goes in a room they have a spec for and photos?


Yes. Actually, it’s not a question of “smart” or “stupid;” many (most?) people are very bad at looking past bad decor and seeing the possibilities in a space. Look at the responses to almost any listing that is posted here. Most of the comments will be about the decor or other layout issues that can be easily remedied.

We got a great deal on a house in a fabulous location because the owner had too much furniture and hadn’t painted in 20 years. My DH couldn’t see the potential, but he trusted me. Judging by how long it was on the market, other people couldn’t see it, either. There was nothing at all structurally wrong with the house, and it had great “bones.”

In any case, you’ve created a strawman — I’ve never heard of someone charging $10-40k for what you define as “staging” for a normal house. And every time someone posts an example where they followed a stager’s advice and paid $1,000 for rental furniture and had a good result, you argue that isn’t *really* “staging.” I agree that staging isn’t worth spending $40k, but it’s silly to extrapolate from this that getting advice on how to prepare your house for sale is worthless.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 21:33     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We had already moved out of our house before it was put on the market in Bethesda in April. We paid a relatively modest fee (~$2,200 - we had two quotes and one was $1k more for the same service) and they filled two floors with furniture and left the basement empty. We were laughing because the stagers used our space better than we did. In the end we were under contract in 48 hours w/o contingencies and $100k over list. Did staging make a difference? Probably IMO. The house looked great in pictures and I think it helped us get to $100k over ask instead of maybe 80 or 90k over.


Exactly our experience. We paid about $1000 to stage our small, dark, and inspiring townhouse. The stager was one that I knew because a friend had bought a house that has been beautifully staged by her.

She did it an amazing job, and it looked much better than it ever did when we had lived there! We ended up with a bunch of offers and selling much more above list than I think we would have. No regrets.

(we had also paid to repaint, but that desperately needed doing so I don’t really count that as staging, more catching up on deferred maintenance)


The problem with these anecdotes is that we have no counterfactuals. Would pp have gotten $100k over asking anyway because the realtor priced low, which is a reasonable strategy in this market? How about all the folks who paid the realtor $$$ to arrange staging but didn't get it back? We just have no real data, and I'm not counting the article that's been rightly criticized.


Well, pp has an anecdote. All you have is speculation.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 20:45     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I pay for and stage everything from the humblest condo to the biggest new house. All of them have sold in less than two weeks, usually a weekend. Because I get properties sold quickly, I get more business. One new listing pays for all of my staging for the year

Most agents are unsuccessful and cheap. They will not pay for staging. Houses do not sell as fast. They do not get business. They remain unsuccessful.



But what's your rate? If it's higher than 5%, then you're just passing on the cost to your clients. Also, are you selling in Bethesda or Olney?


Arlington. 5%. If I represented seller in a purchase 4.5%.

Wrapping up the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023. No contingencies. Sellers are pleased.


DP here but you're smart to just pay for the staging. You're likely netting more clients just by offering that service. Plus you can make sure the home looks good so it sells for the best price, which also leads to more referrals. I agree with you that most realtors are unsuccessful because they look at what clients can do for them rather than the other way around. You have to offer something to build a sustainable client base, but most of the realtors just don't get this.


“Smart” means pp is charging his/her clients a higher-than-necessary rate to pay for staging that no comprehensive studies, just anecdotes, says is effective.


PP here. Look, I think that realtors are among the most unethical professions ever. I'm actually the poster who said they receive kickbacks for everyone they refer you to. But if the realtor in this thread is charging 5% commission (presumably 2.5% for each agent), then that's the average rate. Most realtors charge 5% without offering free staging.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 19:20     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I pay for and stage everything from the humblest condo to the biggest new house. All of them have sold in less than two weeks, usually a weekend. Because I get properties sold quickly, I get more business. One new listing pays for all of my staging for the year

Most agents are unsuccessful and cheap. They will not pay for staging. Houses do not sell as fast. They do not get business. They remain unsuccessful.



But what's your rate? If it's higher than 5%, then you're just passing on the cost to your clients. Also, are you selling in Bethesda or Olney?


Arlington. 5%. If I represented seller in a purchase 4.5%.

Wrapping up the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023. No contingencies. Sellers are pleased.


You’ve only sold this one house since March? In a desirable close-in neighborhood?

What about the other sales you made where you foisted staging and your own contractors on the sellers with less success? I suppose it was still a win for you, if not for the sellers.


Despite your lack of reading comprehension skills, let me explain: "the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023." This means in the particular neighborhood, only one similar house sold since 2023. When establishing prices for a house a real estate agent looks for similar houses that are called "comparable sales" or "comp" as most people who read the real estate forum understand.

I have listed or represented buyers in the sales of 27 properties since January 2023. I have five pending sales that will close by mid-September.

I don't have any listings that haven't sold except for three new construction properties that are barely begun. I am putting one new listing on the market on Saturday and it was staged today. I paid for the staging.

A painter will start painting another listing on August 5.

Happy to keep you up to date on my sales through the year.

I enjoy foisting things on those of a limited sort.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 19:10     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our house was painted (we paid for this) where it hadn’t been painted in a while, we removed all extra furniture, pulled out the ugly ikea furniture to put in a generic sofa, pillows, took down family pictures and put up generic canvas art, removed tchotchkes except for a smattering, and put white fluffy towels where our beige ones had been. We had very nice pictures done including dusk shots of the beautiful outside space that’s really our biggest selling factor (we are in a meh neighborhood). It was very light staging, our realtor did it as part of her fee (FWIW our house was fairly nicely updated in most rooms for the neighborhood), and it sold over asking in the first 48 hours. It was purchased by someone looking online only. So I would say in our case it was worth it. Our house looked amazing in the pictures. It looked nice in person, too. Other homes in our neighborhood have been sitting longer.


It sounds like you did 90% of the work decluttering, getting it painted, and getting fluffy new towels and sofa pillows. Moreover, it's not really "staging" if you don't put all/most of your furniture in storage and bring in the realtor's (or their contractor's) furniture. Most of this--taking down family photos, new towels, painting--is stuff sellers like our parents have been doing forever. Apart from arranging the photos, what exactly did the realtor do?


The realtor gave us the list of items to remove/fix/repair/paint, organized their mover to come and pick up the extra furniture to storage/move in their furniture, picked paint colors, arranged/scheduled the painters, picked the carpet/kitchen flooring (forgot we did this!), arranged the installation of flooring, and provided all of the accessories, art, pillows, towels, area rugs, lamps, and furniture. They also came and arranged those things before pictures were taken. My realtor also hosted two open houses personally.


OK. But most of this isn't "staging," it's simply fixing up your house for sale. All of us do it anyway. It's what our parents did when they sold their houses--they painted, they decluttered, they rented a storage unit for all the stuff. You make the house look as nice as possible--this is different from staging.

I can see hiring the realtor to do these fixing-up and decluttering tasks because it takes a lot of the logistics off of you. But know that you're paying more if you go through a middleman (the realtor) and use their contractors. For example, if the realtor recommends paint colors, that's great, but your own painter will probably do it more cheaply than paying a middleman (your realtor) to call up their own painters (who won't give you the long-term customer discount we always get from the painters we always use). When we sold our starter house, we rented a storage unit and DH and his friends moved our extra furniture in temporarily. Installing new kitchen flooring sounds extra and does requires professionals, but again you don't need to pay a middleman (your realtor) to text their flooring contractor.

Actual "staging" is the part where they move out your furniture and put in beige, white and grey furniture. It sounds like they gave you a few pieces, like a sofa and some throw pillows?

Impressed that your realtor hosted two open houses personally, though. Ours hosted one (makes me wonder about how your realtor priced your house, but that's a different topic), but it sounds like lots of realtors just send a trainee to sit in your house during the open house.


That's not true about the contractors at all. My contractor does an amazing job and gives my clients a very reasonable rate bc I give him lots of business. He is competent and reliable so I always know that the work will be completed in time for professional photographers to come in. And, most of the time, unless your realtor is doing huge business, he/she will be doing the open. If they are not, you probably picked the wrong agent.


So now "staging" also means bringing in the realtor's contractors to paint or whatever fixes you're recommending be done? Do you know how shady this sounds? Also, some of us have long-term relationships with painters and handymen who take care of us for a good price and quickly.


Trying to help your client is shady huh? Did you forget to take your meds today? If you have a relationship with a contractor, great. Use him. Many people dont.


Yes, finding a bunch of things "wrong" with somebody's house and referring them to your own contractor for fixing is shady. Take your own meds (or find an insult that's not from 2010).

Most home owners have contractors. But if they don't, better would be to provide a list of contractors they could choose from.


DP.

I don't think "most" homeowners have their own contractors. We do; however, I believe we're in the minority judging from the number of calls I get from friends and acquaintances wanting to know whom to call. There is no reason for a realtor to provide a range of contractors. If you want to use your own, then you're free to do so.

Your posts on this make you sound unknolwedgeable and, frankly, pretty paranoid. If you won't trust your realtor on contractors, then why on earth are you trusting them with one of the largest transactions you'll ever make? You are not making any sense.


You can call me names like paranoid and unknowledgeable, but I actually have a finance degree. This kind of incestuous self-dealing is ripe for kickbacks and so on, and it's something people are well advised to stay far, far away from.

Yes, I trust my realtor to do the contract. But somebody who wants to sell me services from their stager and contractors, not so much.


LOL. A "finance degree." Thanks for the full-on belly laugh!


Have you ever heard the words "conflict of interest" or "self-dealing"? Someone should shut that sh!t down.


+1 Realtors receive kickbacks for everyone they refer you to. Most people don't understand this.


Someone with a finance degree from a top three school is trained to look for corruption everywhere because it is the hallmark of corporate America and the government.

I have been a real estate agent for years and use many people who do work on houses. The closest I get to a kickback is the carpet guy who sends me an annual Jesus calendar. I am usually the one who buys lunch for a crew because they work on a Saturday and Sunday or tips them well because they finished painting a house a day earlier and I can get it on the market faster.

I feel very sorry for you that you were trained to see dishonesty in everyone. It must be a very difficult way in which to live.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 08:40     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I pay for and stage everything from the humblest condo to the biggest new house. All of them have sold in less than two weeks, usually a weekend. Because I get properties sold quickly, I get more business. One new listing pays for all of my staging for the year

Most agents are unsuccessful and cheap. They will not pay for staging. Houses do not sell as fast. They do not get business. They remain unsuccessful.



But what's your rate? If it's higher than 5%, then you're just passing on the cost to your clients. Also, are you selling in Bethesda or Olney?


Arlington. 5%. If I represented seller in a purchase 4.5%.

Wrapping up the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023. No contingencies. Sellers are pleased.


You’ve only sold this one house since March? In a desirable close-in neighborhood?

What about the other sales you made where you foisted staging and your own contractors on the sellers with less success? I suppose it was still a win for you, if not for the sellers.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 08:38     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our house was painted (we paid for this) where it hadn’t been painted in a while, we removed all extra furniture, pulled out the ugly ikea furniture to put in a generic sofa, pillows, took down family pictures and put up generic canvas art, removed tchotchkes except for a smattering, and put white fluffy towels where our beige ones had been. We had very nice pictures done including dusk shots of the beautiful outside space that’s really our biggest selling factor (we are in a meh neighborhood). It was very light staging, our realtor did it as part of her fee (FWIW our house was fairly nicely updated in most rooms for the neighborhood), and it sold over asking in the first 48 hours. It was purchased by someone looking online only. So I would say in our case it was worth it. Our house looked amazing in the pictures. It looked nice in person, too. Other homes in our neighborhood have been sitting longer.


It sounds like you did 90% of the work decluttering, getting it painted, and getting fluffy new towels and sofa pillows. Moreover, it's not really "staging" if you don't put all/most of your furniture in storage and bring in the realtor's (or their contractor's) furniture. Most of this--taking down family photos, new towels, painting--is stuff sellers like our parents have been doing forever. Apart from arranging the photos, what exactly did the realtor do?


The realtor gave us the list of items to remove/fix/repair/paint, organized their mover to come and pick up the extra furniture to storage/move in their furniture, picked paint colors, arranged/scheduled the painters, picked the carpet/kitchen flooring (forgot we did this!), arranged the installation of flooring, and provided all of the accessories, art, pillows, towels, area rugs, lamps, and furniture. They also came and arranged those things before pictures were taken. My realtor also hosted two open houses personally.


OK. But most of this isn't "staging," it's simply fixing up your house for sale. All of us do it anyway. It's what our parents did when they sold their houses--they painted, they decluttered, they rented a storage unit for all the stuff. You make the house look as nice as possible--this is different from staging.

I can see hiring the realtor to do these fixing-up and decluttering tasks because it takes a lot of the logistics off of you. But know that you're paying more if you go through a middleman (the realtor) and use their contractors. For example, if the realtor recommends paint colors, that's great, but your own painter will probably do it more cheaply than paying a middleman (your realtor) to call up their own painters (who won't give you the long-term customer discount we always get from the painters we always use). When we sold our starter house, we rented a storage unit and DH and his friends moved our extra furniture in temporarily. Installing new kitchen flooring sounds extra and does requires professionals, but again you don't need to pay a middleman (your realtor) to text their flooring contractor.

Actual "staging" is the part where they move out your furniture and put in beige, white and grey furniture. It sounds like they gave you a few pieces, like a sofa and some throw pillows?

Impressed that your realtor hosted two open houses personally, though. Ours hosted one (makes me wonder about how your realtor priced your house, but that's a different topic), but it sounds like lots of realtors just send a trainee to sit in your house during the open house.


That's not true about the contractors at all. My contractor does an amazing job and gives my clients a very reasonable rate bc I give him lots of business. He is competent and reliable so I always know that the work will be completed in time for professional photographers to come in. And, most of the time, unless your realtor is doing huge business, he/she will be doing the open. If they are not, you probably picked the wrong agent.


So now "staging" also means bringing in the realtor's contractors to paint or whatever fixes you're recommending be done? Do you know how shady this sounds? Also, some of us have long-term relationships with painters and handymen who take care of us for a good price and quickly.


Trying to help your client is shady huh? Did you forget to take your meds today? If you have a relationship with a contractor, great. Use him. Many people dont.


Yes, finding a bunch of things "wrong" with somebody's house and referring them to your own contractor for fixing is shady. Take your own meds (or find an insult that's not from 2010).

Most home owners have contractors. But if they don't, better would be to provide a list of contractors they could choose from.


DP.

I don't think "most" homeowners have their own contractors. We do; however, I believe we're in the minority judging from the number of calls I get from friends and acquaintances wanting to know whom to call. There is no reason for a realtor to provide a range of contractors. If you want to use your own, then you're free to do so.

Your posts on this make you sound unknolwedgeable and, frankly, pretty paranoid. If you won't trust your realtor on contractors, then why on earth are you trusting them with one of the largest transactions you'll ever make? You are not making any sense.


You can call me names like paranoid and unknowledgeable, but I actually have a finance degree. This kind of incestuous self-dealing is ripe for kickbacks and so on, and it's something people are well advised to stay far, far away from.

Yes, I trust my realtor to do the contract. But somebody who wants to sell me services from their stager and contractors, not so much.


LOL. A "finance degree." Thanks for the full-on belly laugh!


Have you ever heard the words "conflict of interest" or "self-dealing"? Someone should shut that sh!t down.


+1 Realtors receive kickbacks for everyone they refer you to. Most people don't understand this.


+1. There’s a reason law requires you choose your own appraiser. But “you should hire my painter Joe and my handyman Jeff to fix up your house so I get a higher commission both in terms of the higher rate I’ll charge you for this ‘advice’ and a possibly-but-not-guaranteed higher selling price”—hard pass.

Our parents did this on their own. We can too.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 08:36     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I pay for and stage everything from the humblest condo to the biggest new house. All of them have sold in less than two weeks, usually a weekend. Because I get properties sold quickly, I get more business. One new listing pays for all of my staging for the year

Most agents are unsuccessful and cheap. They will not pay for staging. Houses do not sell as fast. They do not get business. They remain unsuccessful.



But what's your rate? If it's higher than 5%, then you're just passing on the cost to your clients. Also, are you selling in Bethesda or Olney?


Arlington. 5%. If I represented seller in a purchase 4.5%.

Wrapping up the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023. No contingencies. Sellers are pleased.


DP here but you're smart to just pay for the staging. You're likely netting more clients just by offering that service. Plus you can make sure the home looks good so it sells for the best price, which also leads to more referrals. I agree with you that most realtors are unsuccessful because they look at what clients can do for them rather than the other way around. You have to offer something to build a sustainable client base, but most of the realtors just don't get this.


“Smart” means pp is charging his/her clients a higher-than-necessary rate to pay for staging that no comprehensive studies, just anecdotes, says is effective.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 08:26     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I pay for and stage everything from the humblest condo to the biggest new house. All of them have sold in less than two weeks, usually a weekend. Because I get properties sold quickly, I get more business. One new listing pays for all of my staging for the year

Most agents are unsuccessful and cheap. They will not pay for staging. Houses do not sell as fast. They do not get business. They remain unsuccessful.



But what's your rate? If it's higher than 5%, then you're just passing on the cost to your clients. Also, are you selling in Bethesda or Olney?


Arlington. 5%. If I represented seller in a purchase 4.5%.

Wrapping up the sale of a listing that sold for 8.9% above best comp from March 2023. No contingencies. Sellers are pleased.


DP here but you're smart to just pay for the staging. You're likely netting more clients just by offering that service. Plus you can make sure the home looks good so it sells for the best price, which also leads to more referrals. I agree with you that most realtors are unsuccessful because they look at what clients can do for them rather than the other way around. You have to offer something to build a sustainable client base, but most of the realtors just don't get this.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 08:21     Subject: The value of staging ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our house was painted (we paid for this) where it hadn’t been painted in a while, we removed all extra furniture, pulled out the ugly ikea furniture to put in a generic sofa, pillows, took down family pictures and put up generic canvas art, removed tchotchkes except for a smattering, and put white fluffy towels where our beige ones had been. We had very nice pictures done including dusk shots of the beautiful outside space that’s really our biggest selling factor (we are in a meh neighborhood). It was very light staging, our realtor did it as part of her fee (FWIW our house was fairly nicely updated in most rooms for the neighborhood), and it sold over asking in the first 48 hours. It was purchased by someone looking online only. So I would say in our case it was worth it. Our house looked amazing in the pictures. It looked nice in person, too. Other homes in our neighborhood have been sitting longer.


It sounds like you did 90% of the work decluttering, getting it painted, and getting fluffy new towels and sofa pillows. Moreover, it's not really "staging" if you don't put all/most of your furniture in storage and bring in the realtor's (or their contractor's) furniture. Most of this--taking down family photos, new towels, painting--is stuff sellers like our parents have been doing forever. Apart from arranging the photos, what exactly did the realtor do?


The realtor gave us the list of items to remove/fix/repair/paint, organized their mover to come and pick up the extra furniture to storage/move in their furniture, picked paint colors, arranged/scheduled the painters, picked the carpet/kitchen flooring (forgot we did this!), arranged the installation of flooring, and provided all of the accessories, art, pillows, towels, area rugs, lamps, and furniture. They also came and arranged those things before pictures were taken. My realtor also hosted two open houses personally.


OK. But most of this isn't "staging," it's simply fixing up your house for sale. All of us do it anyway. It's what our parents did when they sold their houses--they painted, they decluttered, they rented a storage unit for all the stuff. You make the house look as nice as possible--this is different from staging.

I can see hiring the realtor to do these fixing-up and decluttering tasks because it takes a lot of the logistics off of you. But know that you're paying more if you go through a middleman (the realtor) and use their contractors. For example, if the realtor recommends paint colors, that's great, but your own painter will probably do it more cheaply than paying a middleman (your realtor) to call up their own painters (who won't give you the long-term customer discount we always get from the painters we always use). When we sold our starter house, we rented a storage unit and DH and his friends moved our extra furniture in temporarily. Installing new kitchen flooring sounds extra and does requires professionals, but again you don't need to pay a middleman (your realtor) to text their flooring contractor.

Actual "staging" is the part where they move out your furniture and put in beige, white and grey furniture. It sounds like they gave you a few pieces, like a sofa and some throw pillows?

Impressed that your realtor hosted two open houses personally, though. Ours hosted one (makes me wonder about how your realtor priced your house, but that's a different topic), but it sounds like lots of realtors just send a trainee to sit in your house during the open house.


That's not true about the contractors at all. My contractor does an amazing job and gives my clients a very reasonable rate bc I give him lots of business. He is competent and reliable so I always know that the work will be completed in time for professional photographers to come in. And, most of the time, unless your realtor is doing huge business, he/she will be doing the open. If they are not, you probably picked the wrong agent.


So now "staging" also means bringing in the realtor's contractors to paint or whatever fixes you're recommending be done? Do you know how shady this sounds? Also, some of us have long-term relationships with painters and handymen who take care of us for a good price and quickly.


Trying to help your client is shady huh? Did you forget to take your meds today? If you have a relationship with a contractor, great. Use him. Many people dont.


Yes, finding a bunch of things "wrong" with somebody's house and referring them to your own contractor for fixing is shady. Take your own meds (or find an insult that's not from 2010).

Most home owners have contractors. But if they don't, better would be to provide a list of contractors they could choose from.


DP.

I don't think "most" homeowners have their own contractors. We do; however, I believe we're in the minority judging from the number of calls I get from friends and acquaintances wanting to know whom to call. There is no reason for a realtor to provide a range of contractors. If you want to use your own, then you're free to do so.

Your posts on this make you sound unknolwedgeable and, frankly, pretty paranoid. If you won't trust your realtor on contractors, then why on earth are you trusting them with one of the largest transactions you'll ever make? You are not making any sense.


You can call me names like paranoid and unknowledgeable, but I actually have a finance degree. This kind of incestuous self-dealing is ripe for kickbacks and so on, and it's something people are well advised to stay far, far away from.

Yes, I trust my realtor to do the contract. But somebody who wants to sell me services from their stager and contractors, not so much.


LOL. A "finance degree." Thanks for the full-on belly laugh!


Have you ever heard the words "conflict of interest" or "self-dealing"? Someone should shut that sh!t down.


+1 Realtors receive kickbacks for everyone they refer you to. Most people don't understand this.