Dear Clients,
I would like to explain to you how I work.
This is not meant to offend, just to educate you on the steps I take when I start the home staging bid process and when you'd like me to stage your property in the next day or two from initial contact, I'd like you to understand the process I undergo before we can even begin and I hope you understand why I can't do it with a snap of my fingers.
I only wish it were that simple. BELIEVE me I do!
Let's set the scenario:
Day 1: I get a phone call let's say on a Wednesday : (actual) Client says:
"Hello, I have a (vacant) house that needs staging, how does it work and how much does it cost & can it be done possibly this Friday?"
My reply usually goes like this, "Thank you for contacting me, of course I can explain the home staging process but may I ask you some questions first?"
(I have a list of questions I ask prior to even getting to their question and I can thank my friend Michelle Minch for this idea on a blog she wrote a while back)
For my area, and I stress MY AREA, North, TX, the general, ball park, average figure to stage a vacant property is 1 to 1.5% of the list price of the house (which includes, rental furniture, accessories, professional staging and de staging once sold, delivery and set up for 3 months or until the property sells).
To explain further in the North Texas market, we have large homes that are not as large dollar as the rest of the country (we've never been in a "bubble") so please don't send me comments saying that that would never fly where you are - it's a ball park figure and it flies here much of the time if you're pricing it right. And pricing is not the point of this blog to begin with.
After about a 10- 15 minute phone conversation (sometimes longer) I send the client on to my website if they have further questions or I schedule an appointment to "go see" the house and write a bid.
I do offer a variety of options though as well, from verbal to written reports (for the diy'ers) rental furniture options with accessories, they do part, I do part or all etc.
There is no "one size fits all" in my book when it comes to home staging.
People who are budget conscious need a variety of options. Those who aren't need quick facts and price. Period. No sense wasting their time or mine.
Let's say we proceed from there.
I return to my office at some point during the day (and believe it or not, your property is probably not the only one I'm seeing today nor is it the only thing I do in a day. This doesn't even include the days that I'm actually staging either or presenting reports to clients which are often done after 7PM when clients return home from work)
FYI: Here are some other things I do regularly on my work days;
Let's take it from there:
I truly wish it were as easy as the asking for it, but the process of home staging is not instantaneous at least where my company is concerned.
The process can be quick if all parties are on the same page and scheduling permits and the stars are in alignment that week.
But please understand the next time you contact a professional stager, that although they wish to work as quickly for you as they can, in many cases that it is impossible to work on less than 48 hours notice.
Client and Professional Stager feedback most welcomed here!
There is never a second chance to make a first impression. Make your HOME the STAR attraction in the competitive Real Estate market. I don't sell houses but I help houses sell! Call 469-964-0516
"Sell This House" Staging Experts answer seller's questions on Washington Post segment
Dallas & Ft. Worth, TX IAHSP Invites YOU to a Spring Fling! April 30th, 2008
Plano East Senior High Theatre wins District 9 5 A UIL One Act Play - The Dispute
Man dying of cancer not allowed out of lease - McKinney ,TX - How you can help
Plano East Theatre Presents - The Dispute - FREE to the Public March 27th
A Most Valuable Player in a Successful Home Sale & it's FREE
You get MORE at the Habitat ReStore - Staging Props for cheap!
Thank you John McConnell, Professional Real Estate Photographer
Free Home Staging Event February 16th, 2PM- Denton Public Library, South Branch
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2008 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
Karen, This is such a true representation of what goes on daily in the life of a stager. I just love the ones where the home has been on the market for 8 months and all of a sudden they need something to happen in the next 48 hours.
Hi Gary, this is in response to exactly what you mention here.
I just wanted to put it in writing because I am coming up against this weekly it seems now and I am hoping to educate clients before they contact a stager and expect a miracle.
There may be some staging magicians out there that can pull it out of a hat but I certainly am not one of them.
Hi right back at you Karen, My whole job with our company is to take care of the logistics and the business of running the office and I can tell you it can be daunting even with one person dedicated to just that. I think to keep your sanity you just have to believe real hard that eventually people will become educated to the fact that staging has real value and will call us to prepare their homes before they go on the market, instead of waiting until they are desperate and need a fix with-in the next 10 minutes.
Karen ~ You've written an excellent recap of a typical stager's day here. I can't imagine being able to perform all of the necessary tasks and provide a quality staging service in less than a 5 to 7-day turnaround. And that's only if ALL of the necessary paperwork has been finalized. Great post -- you might want to include it in the Real World Staging for Newbies?
My hope is yours Gary, that eventually people will understand the value and the process of staging before calling. However, until we reach that day, I'm on a mission in the real world time of what we all face around the country. I think it's awesome that you are dedicated to logistics and running the office. One day I'll have YOU too (-:
Hi again Maureen. I agree with your time table and that's if everything else is final. I've never heard of the real world staging for newbies.... I'll have to check it out.
Karen, I was wondering about your FYI paragraph. Is that what we're supposed to be doing when we're not staging? Who woulda thunk? :-)
Call it multi tasking Terry, my Florida friend... that just taps the surface of some days around here....I'm off to bed tonight cause I've got to start the whole thing all over again manana.... and you'll see I didn't even mention blogging on there ;-) another full time job in and of itself as you are well aware
Karen,
Thanks for the great blog. It is reassuring to see that I'm not the only one who feels a bit overwhelmed with ALL that needs to be done! (Although a fun profession). And yeah, I'm just starting the AR thing and already can see I'm going to be spending lots of time here.
Maureen - thanks for the RWS for Newbies tip - I'll be checking that out! Sheri
Karen: While you have described my typical day, I am tired just reading about it. Thanks collecting the thoughts and for putting them in readable format. I don't think it will change anything, but hope springs eternal;-)
I don't think we can stress enough how much time, effort, work, heart, blood,(literally) sweat and tears goes into this whole process. It takes a lot of energy too. Not to mention the physical labor and mental exhaustion. Very well written!
Welcome Sherie, you'll find lots of info AND support here. Enjoy!
Michelle your day is more than what I wrote there, building mezzanines, design projects, tv commercials, the list goes on for you my friend, I can only imagine your exhaustion....did you see you were the inspiration to the way I handle my calls now when they come in? You are always on my mind.
You're right Cindy about the effort and physical stress that goes into the process and that's before we even get to the job to stage! It floors me when someone asks, "do you do potpourri and bath towels" as if that's all I'm going to be bringing. Educate, educate, educate.
Karen, and the thing is people wonder why Im so tired all the time- I tell them staging looks glamorous but it is a physical and MENTAL job mixed in with creativity, psychology- ok, well you know the list goes on and on!
It looks glamorous when Marci "SupaStar" Toliver is in the house! When are you posting those photos? :-)
Karen - As I was reading this post, I kept thinking - Wow! SPOT ON!! Very accurate and well written. Great job and thanks for sharing such an open and honest account of what we do.
Karen ~ Great breakdown of your day. Isn't it always the way that people want you there right away? Like you don't have other things to do or other appointments already set well in advance.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here Kimberly and Kathy but I've had it in my mind these past couple of weeks because I've had to explain it to some callers that it just can't work that way, at least for me. If another stager or company can do it faster and with the same care I take, I say more power to them and I want to be them when I grow up ;-).
Thank you for reading and knowing....
Karen
Great post. I got tired just reading it! It is crazy out there - I mean, we have been known to work miracles but sometimes I just shake me head at certain request. I had someone call me once on a Thursday and wanted furniture delivered on Friday (complete staging) and then removed on Sunday. She was going to have an open house and that's all she wanted the furniture for. I didn't know if her request was funnier because of the time-frame or the fact that she was positive her home would sell over the weekend.
Karen, I always estimate more time than I need. That way, if I CAN do it sooner, I look like a champ! I had a call last Tuesday from an agent who wanted the home staged by the 16th for a broker open house. I said I thought that was do-able, previewed it on Wednesday, wrote up and got the proposal accepted on Thursday, and picked out furniture on Friday. She then called back and asked if I could have it done by Sunday, because she had decided to do an open house that day too. I knew that wasn't happening, so I agreed to come out and accessorize the house on Saturday. The actual staging was done yesterday. So, five days of work, just for one client. Now, multiply that by how many?
Karen, thank you for writing this post. It's good for everyone out there to see just exactly how much work goes into home staging. It sure doesn't get portrayed this way on T.V.! Great blog!
Karen -- I have a 6000 square foot beauty with 9 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. . .can you have it ready for the open house tomorrow?!? (Oh. . . and the landscaping could use some attention, too)
Hi Karen- you are sooo good at the education part of our business! Sometimes I think that is the most tiring part-trying to explain everything that must be coordinated. Why do folks call after business hours and sound so desperate for an immediate staging???
Elaine-great idea of offering an accessory staging until the furniture could be delivered, although it meant another trip. Thanks for sharing.
Kathy
You've exhausted me! But you know what, this could also be a checklist for me to refer to as I get busier! Thanks, Karen - Julie
Karen, Thank you for sharing. I have to agree with the writer who said that you get the call and they want it done ASAP,. when the house has been on the market for 5 or 6 months... they want us to jump through hoops. I really do think that some homeowners think that we have this furniture loaded on trucks and sitting there ready to be delivered to their door step. Great blog...
Great post. But I didn't see anything in your typical day about "Blogging in the Rain". Networking and blogging is so important to me to keep track of the industry and my peers.
Debbie I'd call that wishful thinking on both parts!
Elaine you're so right it's days of prep and I do take that into consideration. What you did for your client was called superb customer service by accesorizing first in the time crunch and last minute request you got & you did what you could to help the client under the circumstances, that's jumping though hoops in my book and what a good stager does when they can.
You're right Charlene this ain't no TV show!
Lori I'll be right over....
Thank you for your kind comment Kathy, my feeling is to give as much info as possible but also try and be direct and not confuse. This was more of a "catharsis" of sorts for the way my brain was feeling of late.
Oh you'll get busier Julie just you hang in there.
Mary Lou if it were only that easy to have those trucks loaded and ready to go huh? We need to be the calm in the storm of the ones that are at a point that they are frustrated with the progress of the sale of their home. I believe staging of some sort will soon be the norm at the beginning of every resale transaction in the very near future.
Marla, I didn't mention blogging here as a part of a typical day although you'll see from my posts I include it at some point of most days, the only difference is it's usually at night, early in the AM before a typical day starts or on the weekend!
WOW. You go girl. Educate, educate, educate. Post it in every Realtor, Consumer blog you can! Thanks for a great blog!
Always speaking the truth my friend. Can we get this published in the Wall Street Journal next week...wait tomorrow???
Even when you can turn around a fully staged vacant in 3-5 days I find that its more stressful for everyone- the sellers, agents, and me.. the stager. Your whole life becomes that one project. Constant calls for...contracts to be signed, furniture rental availability, applications, confirmations, payments, accessory selection, quick shopping, loading trucks, and still running day to day operations. I also find it can cost more too, for example if I need to add inventory I'm not looking for bargains but the right pieces or my selections are not available from the rental company and I go up a level. AS professionals its important to slow sellers or agents down, educate them on the process and make it easy for them so they'll come back again.
Margaret
Thanks for reading Cindy
Yeah Beth, the deadline was yesterday
Margaret I couldn't agree with you more. One project can end up taking days, weeks, even months for those who have work to do prior to even staging, that wasn't even mentioned here. It should make us all feel a bit better to know that we all feel the same stress and understand the time needed to do this. We just need to keep spreading the message that staging works and then explain the process.
Karen, it's so true that the client tends to count only the hours we are at their property. There's a lot more to staging than the TV shows can show in an hour! Thanks for doing your part to shed some light on the process of staging...from start to finish.
Wendy Casey - Vancouver, BC
Hi Karen....your words are spot on! In today's world of 'immediate gratification', some days I feel like people call for your help, expect that you have nothing else to do and demand that you are available at all hours. I know that the reality of ALL that we do is not forefront in people's minds....and the backstage work takes energy for creative thought and careful planning for the end result to look it's best! Thank goodness for the clients who come along and are ever-mindful of our business time and appreciate our professionalism during these financially-stressed times (for many people). Regards-Kathleen G
Wendy I'd love to see a "real world" staging show one of these days an in the trenches type show that reveals what really goes on behind the scenes.
Hi Kathleen, of course we want to make it easy on our clients who are surely under enough stress when getting ready to sell or are at in a lot of cases already on the market and seeing no results. They want that immediate gratification you mention, who wouldn't and I am happy they are calling.
I just want for consumers to know, just like many professions, it just can't happen as quickly as they'd like. Where my true passion rests, is for Realtors and Sellers to see the need to stage BEFORE listing and truly TAKE THE TIME necessary to prepare the house right the first time out!
Karen how true this is...clients just don't understand the back end work involved. I often remind them that we are filling a whole house with appropriate decor to enhance the space and if this was their home to decorate it would take them months. Just packing our accessories to match the home and furniture chosen is a full day job. And of course you will always need that one more special piece. So it's out to the store.
You forgot one thing...EATING, huh who has time to food shop these days?? This is a great post. Thanks and have a Happy New Year
Phyllis Pafumi
It always irks me when people don't want to pay for the time doing a job properly involves but they want it done yesterday.
Oh yeah Phyllis I do sometimes forget to eat (not always a bad thing (-:)
I feel your pain Gayle
Karen,
Were you watching me today? Ok, the only thing different for me was that I carry my own inventory and don't use a rental company. It still takes me a few days if I have to buy new furniture and wait for it to come in. There is no way possible I can turn around a job in 48 hours....at least not yet!
Wow Anthea! More power to ya girl and yes I'm always watching my fellow stagers (-:
I am tired from our MN/WI roundtable , dinner with Beth Patnode, and trying to hit every good store in the Twin Cities plus the 3 1/2 hours drive time. Staging - who has time for that??
Kathleen, I'm jealous that you and Beth had dinner together! Can't wait to hear about the RT.
Karen,
Thank You for this post. Don't you wish anyone looking to hire you would read this first? The truth is our clients truly do not know the amount of work it takes to make their property a shining star. All we can do as stagers is continue to spread the word.
Yes it would be nice Trisha if everyone who hired us knew really what goes on behind the scenes!
Karen, Karen, Karen, you are in need of a bit of rest child! Would you like to stop over at my place? I have tea just waiting to be steeped for you. You are so fun. You have laid this out quite well. If Friday won't work can you fit me in Saturday morning? :)
Yvonne I accept! Get the pot ready my friend and when I come it's for the weekend!
OMG, Karen what a fabulous post! I have not read all the comments, but my goodness, I am running into this a lot. Staging can not be done over night! I am going to bookmark this and keep it for future reference so that I may address this issue with my clients.
Well put Karen! I answered the call to stage two properties at the same time two doors from each other and ended up developing "tennis elbow" in the process (I say banging my head on the wall). This post perpetuates the fact that consumers/agents need to be educated to the "realities" of home staging.
Thanks Joelle for reading, sorry I took so long to respond. It is not an overnight process and it's something that we need to make sure our clients understand.
Two properties two doors down at the same time Tina? WOW I am duly impressed on top of writing a book you are a woman of many talents! - sorry for your bodily aches though.