Two Examples - Cost of Home Staging Is Less than First Price Reduction

In previous blog posts, we made the case that the cost of professional home staging is much less than the first price reduction after a house has been on the market.  Specifically, we used data provided by Cort, the world’s largest provider of rental furniture, to make that point with data.  You can read the details in our March 2, 2011 post (Cost of Professional Home Staging – Less than First Price Reduction)

Today, we share two real life examples to further the point that the cost of staging is a lot less than the first price reduction.  In both cases, we were asked to make a proposal of professional home staging.  The sellers decided not to implement the Transitions staging plan and to test the market without the benefit of professional home staging.  Let’s look at the specifics of each example.

Modest Home with Other Houses for Sale in Immediate Neighborhood – I was asked by my Realtor partner to propose a home staging solution and to convince the sellers of its value in selling their home.  My partner knew that this house needed help as it was a modest home, nearly indistinguishable from the other houses for sale in their immediate neighborhood.  My proposal had a $1,600 price tag and would have made this modest house different from the competition, marketable, and appealing to potential buyers.  The sellers decided not to accept my proposal.

This house is still on the market 3 months later.  And the sellers reduced the list price by $10,000 - six times more than the cost of the proposed staging project!

Bank Owned Foreclosure – I was asked by this Realtor partner to propose a home staging solution for a bank-owned house.  My partner knew about our success with helping sell foreclosed houses (check out the pictures of the Peppergrass Staging Project - http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Pepper-Grass-Staging.html or the Manor Staging Project - http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Manor-Drive-Staging.html ).

My proposal had a $2,100 price tag and would have provided full staging of all key areas.  The banker managing this property decided not to accept my proposal.

This house is still on the market 6 months after I made this proposal.  And the bankers reduced the list price twice – first by $30,000 before we made our staging proposal and then another $10,000 after we made our proposal.

There must be some sort of psychology at work here in that the sellers place greater value on “out-of-pocket” expenses than they do for price reductions on the list price of their house.  In the end, a dollar is a dollar whether it is “out-of-pocket” or in the check at the house closing. 

We will continue to argue for the possibilities of professional home staging because we know it works and have dozens and dozens of examples to share.  It makes sense especially when the facts and examples are so obvious.

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy