Forget the MLS posting, the virtual tour, the lawn sign and the tastefully appointed post-sale gift basket. When it comes to the package of services used to secure new residential real estate listings and encourage repeat business, some realtors are offering to pay for initial consultations with a professional home stager. It's a move that makes everyone money, says Calgary-based professional stager Kathy Tough. Her initial consultation covers two hours and concludes with a detailed list of specific recommendations homeowners can undertake to make sure their home "appeals to the broadest buying audience." While a lot of vendors use the list to guide their own staging, others hire Tough to complete the job or to stage particular rooms, with the kitchen, master bedroom and living room topping the list of spaces most worth staging.
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Larry MacDougal, Business Edge |
Stager Kathy Tough swings into action preparing to showcase a house for sale. | "If they really want to maximize the presentation of their homes, (the things on this list are) what they need to do," says Tough, who's stepping up her efforts to market her NewSpaces company services to real estate agents. But are the services of a professional stager becoming less important in Alberta's red-hot residential real estate market? In Edmonton, for example, listings hovered around 2,120 at the end of February, significantly lower than the 3,658 active listings that vied for attention on the Calgary Real Estate Board's website by mid-March. Hardly, says Anita Ericksen of Realty Showcasing Inc. in Edmonton In business since 2003, Ericksen cites U.S. staging-industry stats that estimate a return on your staging investment of 169 per cent. She figures consultation rates in the Edmonton market vary from $75 to $175 for the first consultation, with her own consultation rate set at $139 for 1.5 hours. Clients who opt to have her stage a home with their own furniture are looking at about $1,500 for a home of more than 2,000 sq. ft. Leaving the potential return on investment aside, Ericksen says prospective clients need to consider what happens when property doesn't sell. A motivated vendor may need to drop the price by more than $10,000 - just to get the same potential buyers back into the home. That's a move she recommends against doing if the property hasn't been professionally staged. Besides attracting multiple offers, she's seen realtors "increase the (list) price just for the way it looked, post-staging," says Ericksen. For those still not convinced the money's worth it in a market characterized by multiple offers, Ericksen points to New York City. There, 20 multiple offers are typical - and the vast majority of the properties that attract multiple offers have been staged. Like realtors, Ericksen says the bulk of her business comes from referrals. But with more realtors buying into the value of staging, she's currently negotiating a deal that would see a real estate agent pay her initial consultation fee as a straight-up service to clients. Earl Sauter says he understands what is behind the move. Residential real estate sales are major business transactions and the "love me, love my dog (principle) does not apply in selling houses," notes Sauter of Seller Direct Real Estate Inc. in Calgary. A 30-year veteran of the real estate industry, he says real estate agents are often able to give vendors the right advice about what it takes to get a home ready for market. "We actively work with the seller to get things in order." Even so, he's a fan of the professional stager, if only because many vendors struggle with the details of how to make a home they love into a home others will want to buy - and maybe even pay a premium to own. "You can sell anything if the price is right. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting the most amount of money for your client." Teresa McRae with CIR Ltd. Realtors in Calgary says the services of a professional stager also free her to focus on other aspects of her business. While her real estate experience and training means her staging advice may be relatively similar to the professional she hires for her clients, McRae says her clients are more willing to listen to someone they view as a "professional" stager. That willingness to listen means a growing market of clientele who pay people such as Tough to help them pre-pack their homes as a way to de-clutter their living space prior to putting a home on the market. "What people have to realize is that 78 per cent of the factors of buying a house are decided before somebody even comes to your home ... Once they've decided your house meets their criteria (in terms of size, neighbourhood and price), once they come in the door, it's up to you to present your house to make them fall in love with it." And clutter is a big one, admits Sauter. He recently toured buyers through a home that sounded spacious on paper but felt "cramped" to walk through. On the flipside, a staged property "automatically seems like a home that's been well-looked after," says Ericksen. "A lot of individuals believe that home staging is really just about selling your house as quickly as possible - and that's really just a small part of it." (Joy Gregory can be reached at joy@businessedge.ca) |