There has been a lot of talk on AR lately about stagers and sellers and Realtors getting along. Sharing commissions between Realtors and stagers has also been suggested to help client's sell their homes. This appears to be a very "hot" topic for some who feel stagers should wait to get paid until a house sells similiar to that of a Realtor.
This topic has even made it into my my weekly Realtor(R) Magazine Online today:
The Realtor magazine blog has a survey of who is willing to team up with a stager and charge a joint commission rate? The survey currently has over 70% in agreement of joining forces.
I know the previous discussion about stagers and Realtors joining forces did tend to go off on some tangents, but I hope this is a dialog both sides are willing to continue.
Not every home needs to be staged from top to bottom. As a home stager, I feel there is a definite need for my service when a house meets certain criteria such as at least a $350,000 selling price, over ten years old, and the Realtor has determined a home staging consultation is required. Each home is unique and has to be evaluated as such.
In my opinion, a home stager should be paid at the time of service. We are talking about a few hundred dollars for the average home staging consultation, not a few thousand. It would be different if I had a Realtor partner who was bringing me in to meet homeowners on a daily basis for staging consultations. If a home stager was performing 10-20 stagings a week, perhaps then we could wait for some of our money.
Some comments left on blogs refer to the lack of benefits or proof of home staging. I base my staging statistics on reputable websites like www.homegain.com which in 2007 performed a survey of 2,000 realtors and determined that home staging has a 343% return on investment. I have to trust that Home Gain has provided me with reliable, unbaised statistics based on their realtor surney. I also use the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) website for staging statistics. RESA states, "In 2008 vacant homes in our study that were previously on the market an average of 190 days as un-staged properties, had not sold. Those same homes were taken off the market and stgaed and re-listed. Those properties on average sold after 28 days on the market after they were staged, which is 85% less time on the market." Of course, not all stagers are created equal and I am sure some stagers are better than others - this is were our portfolio comes in.
http://realestatestagingassociation.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=304550&module_id=28798
Home staging is a field very similiar to custom window treatments. Prior to any work being down on a custom window order, a deposit for materials is required or the order must be paid in full. Home staging is also a field very similiar to home decorating, you would not call in a decorator and expect NOT to pay them, would you?
