Tale of two condos: why staging pays
I've done some home staging for a few clients over the last few years, but more often in my area, sellers don't see the value and don't want to spend the money. And, honestly, it's always a bit of a crap shoot. I did one home a few years ago and it sold during the first weekend on the market in a bidding war. But another house I worked on, which was on the market for nearly $9M, is still on the market after several years and several price reductions. There are no guarantees.
Last week, I was condo shopping with a friend and client who is looking for a small pied a terre in Boston. He has a country house on the Cape and he's looking for a small city place so he doesn't have a long daily commute to and from work at Harvard. One of the buildings we checked out is a full service concierge type new building - lots of amenities including valet parking (which I would love!) We saw two basically identical units on different floors and with different views. The first unit we saw was empty, the second fully staged. The difference was amazing and I wanted to share just what a difference staging can make.
Condo 1 Living room - unstaged
Condo 2 Living Room - staged
Condo 1 Kitchen - unstaged
Condo 2 Kitchen - staged
Condo 1 Bathroom - unstaged
Condo 2 Bathroom - staged
Condo 1 Bedroom - unstaged
Condo 2 Bedroom - staged
For 500 sq. ft. these are nice little spaces. Now, clearly, there is little difference between the two units. And the staging is pretty basic and not at all upscale. However, the difference between the two units was like night and day. Both my client and I have pretty good imaginations when it comes to mentally placing furniture, but even for us, just seeing it laid out made all the difference. He even said the words "I could live here". Music to a seller and realtor's ears.
Still, staging remains a pretty uncommon thing here in New England. Sometimes Yankee frugality gets in our way.
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13 comments:
It's a HUGE business here in Sydney, Australia. I have done it for a friend/client but prefer to work with people who are actually going to live in their homes. I find pandering to the masses in home staging or styling a bit boring. It is so big here that someone I met recently was quite surprised I worked with the buyer and not the seller. They couldn't imagine why a new home owner would need help to decorate their home for themselves!
Give me a real client with a personality to inject into their home anyday.
Jennifer XX
Most people, outside those in the interior design business, have difficulty "seeing" how a space can become liveable. Staging, done by an expert, is money well spent and usually is reflected in extra profits received.
The difference is huge and speaks for itself...
For myself, as a designer, I think it would be difficult to make this line of design profitable, unless you specialized in it and had a huge warehouse full of furniture and accessories to select from...
However, on a more modest level...I do think that most home sellers would benefit from having a designer come in to edit and rearrange what they already have... I just don't know how lucrative it is time wise for a designer to do that... and the last thing that I want to do is to pack up someone else's junk!... ~Terri
I agree, I think to be a really successful stager, having a warehouse of stuff is the way to go. And it's true, you don't get the same satisfaction as a real decorating job. The client I had whose house went in a bidding war actually did her staging like a home reno/redec and doing her master suite was a true design project. It was drab to fab. But I was so sad that literally six weeks after it was all installed, they'd sold and moved. However, they brought most of it with them to Florida and I subsequently had some additional accessories made for them. But still, I loved that room!
Great post, Linda! I may save this to show people how much difference staging makes. Here in the Southeast, it's still a hard sell. As far as doing it for a living, I too think it's probably all or nothing to make it profitable.
I think staging is the way to go. It just resonates with a clean filled in look. A house we recently bought was not staged but the homeowners had it decluttered and clean and that made a difference to me. olive♥
We purchased a house and we found out it was staged when we asked them to throw in the kitchen table! Our own house sold in two weeks and I think it was because it was squeaky clean and no clutter.
Hi there! I agree with you 100%. Staging is so undervalued sometimes, but it really makes a difference in allowing the potential buyers to see how "livable" the home is, and the potential it has. You example was perfect, and the condos do look so different with a few minor touches, a few hundred dollars really go a long way ;) thanks for sharing!
It is true, it makes a huge difference to be able to see how the spaces will accommodate furniture. Thanks for sharing.
A little bit of staging (and a lot of cleaning!) goes a long way. I personally get irritated if a home is too staged (like they are trying to fool me or hide something or don't think that I can think out of the box!)
This was just perfect!
Summer hugs to you Linda!
ox, Mon
Great post - it really shows how valuable "creating a space" whether through staging or simply de-cluttering can make an impact. But I have to ask - who hung most of the art!!! Must have been at a giant's eye level LOL
Staging is popular in this area! Great examples.
xo,
cristin
Linda, what a wondeful example of staging. I have supplied furniture to Black Rock for staging, it helped get the houses sold. You doing a write up on the Houses was a great help also. Thanks for always helping the masses understand how with a little bit of vision perceptions can be changed.
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