Home Staging Basics

When we get a listing that is vacant we almost always recommend staging the property.  Home Staging is the preparation of a home to sell by a trained professional who specializes in understanding the buyer demographic and preparing homes to sell. There is a vast difference between a home that was simply de-cluttered and cleaned and one that was professionally staged! Creating the “model home” look is not easily achieved without the help of someone who does this everyday for a living. Staging really helps with marketing the condition of the home and shows it in it's best light. 

 When working with realtors it important to know what you’re getting yourself into. How much they are going to spend on staging can seriously add to your overall expenditure when sellling. Although we find staging incredibly beneficial, a heads up to cost is always a good idea. There are a number of factors that go into our pricing:

Delivery Cost is based on the difficulty of the install. Factors like single level or street level, staircases, both inside and out, can add quite a bit to our delivery cost.  Unfortunately we often under bid since we use professionally licensed and bonded third party movers, rather than renting a truck and grabbing a couple of guys.  We do so because we recognize the importance of protecting the property and our product. 

Labor: Packing and installation time and removal time, and number of team members needed for these 3 processes. 

Product: We price out each furniture item, floor covering, art, lighting, and bedding. The pricing is based on the caliber of the product and it's cost to us. Original art is priced higher than our printed pieces. 

 We offer 2 months staging however, on a case by case basis, will offer a 3rd month at a 2 month price. We'll do this when the client is willing to do their part in addressing a substantial part of the preparations needed and fully staging the home as we then know that the home will almost always move within the 60 days. 

A standard 50's, 60's home that appears to only have 1 living room, 2 small dining areas and 3 beds, 2 baths would be in the $6,000 to $7,000 dollar range. Public and Master staging only would be approx. $3,500 to $4,500.  

Homes like 30 Bayshore Terrace, that are more than 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, with outdoor product, were just over $12,000. This number is based on the higher-end furnishings that were required a 3 month lease.  If they had only done the public areas and master it would have come down to approximately 8,000.  The access was also challenging and required an enormous amount of delivery time in order to make sure that the walls and floors remained intact.

Eleven Things Your Stager Should Be Doing;

1. DECLUTTER!
2. Reorganize Furniture without over/under crowding
3. Upgrade with Eco-Friendly Materials
4. Repurpose your Existing Resources
5. Create Serene Settings
6. Make Awkward Spaces Functional
7. Update with Paint
8. Create Memorable First Impressions
9. Invest in Contemporary Appliances
10. Revamp the Kitchen
11. Update Outdated Bathrooms

 Most importantly, we offer free consultation so you can find out our costs at no additional charge. This is a great way for client’s to meet and become familiar with us, preview our works and see how our strategies and attitude differ from other realtors in the area. For more information on our techniques or the Marin realty market please visit our Facebook page or MarinRealEstate.net