Vacant Home Staging...Do You Really Have What It Takes?

I added on to a previous post that I feel is even more important with vacant homes sitting everywhere, and hobby stagers trying to get into the business.
With vacant homes on the rise in the real estate market more people are turning to Home Staging to give their home that competitive edge. What most people don't realize is the time and labor involved in staging a vacant home. Here is an example of what can go into the process from start to finish.
After the necessary recommendations and improvements from the Home Staging Consultation Report has been implemented the acutal Home Staging process begins.

The following usually takes place:

Visiting the property to take a look at each room, the space, feel, and style of home.
Visually figuring out what furniture and accessories will best fit the spaces to be done, also known as space planning.
Taking photos of each room.
Figuring out the cost of furniture and accessories for the house.
Ordering furniture, paperwork, contracts, and phone calls.
Delivery of furniture from Furniture Company, if you use one.
Going to warehouse to start picking out and packing accessories.
Getting a truck, or trailer to carry all of the items you'll need.
Loading all items, accessories and furniture into truck or vehicle of choice. (Hoping you don't need anything else and have to make several trips)
Driving to location.
Unloading items from truck, unpacking, and placement of items and furniture, known as hands-on staging.
Take after photos.
Taking all excess that's not used, including totes or boxes and load back into truck.
Drive back to warehouse to unload.
Drive home and Crash!
Wake up the next day sore from head to toe, with scrapes, bruises and cuts, (forget the nails).
House Sells...Then What?
Call furniture company to pick-up furniture.
Drive to get truck that you'll be using to bring items back.
Drive to warehouse to get totes and boxes to put items from home back into them.
Drive to house that has now sold.
Start packing, bubble wrapping, and placing all items in totes.
Load furniture and accessories into truck.
Drive back to warehouse.
Unload, Unpack, and put everything back into warehouse.
Take truck back.
Drive home and crash again!
The next day start all over!
This is just an example of what usually happens, every Home Stager does it a little differently.
The average time from start to finish can average between 20-25 hours.
So when someone asks what the big difference in staging a vacant house versus a home with furniture already in it put your pencil to the paper and figure out how much time you spend from start to finish.
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Feel free to add to this list!
Here were some add-ons from fellow stagers.
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For those in the unglamorous world of vacant home staging with their own inventory add:
Shopping for more furniture because all of yours is out - or you just don't have the exact thing for the space.
Shopping for just the right rug, pillows, accessories to compliment the paint color because you just don't have the right thing in your warehouse. (For us perfectionists)
Wrapping/padding all of your furniture so it does not get damaged in transit and stays looking new and fresh. (Repeat process when unstaging)
Unwrapping/unpadding all your furniture before set up.
Joan Inglis (Lake Wylie Home Staging)
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Staffing and sceduling of assistants, instalations such as draperies and window treatments (in some properties), STEAMING & IRONING of linens the night before or day of staging, cost of food, gas & supplies, Project Managment of upgrades such as flooring, painting, lighting, etc, hmmm~ I'm sure I'll think of more....
Connie Tebyani, Platinum Home Staging Serving Los Angeles and Ventura Counties (Platinum Home Staging, Inc.)
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I know the shopping and the trips back and forth can get crazy. The one thing thats no one thinks of is hauling all the stuff that a normal occupied house would have. Like an ironing board, an iron or steamer, a vacumn cleaner, a broom and dustpan, rags, just the stupid little stuff you need for spills and dusty tables, and fuzzy rugs.
Becky Raike & Nicole Forte -Staging Sells Your Home (Staging Sells Your Home )
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Don't forget the extension cords, tape of ALL kinds, velcro, glue, stapler...and I love ZOTS...there is awas something you have to tweak.
Renee Pratta ~ Renewed Rooms ~ SC (Renewed Rooms)
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You can add making sure any new items purchased for the job are included in your inventory list. Staging - especially vacant staging - is not glamorous! It is a labor of love.
Tracy Moses~Redefining LUXE~Staging ~ Redesign (Redefining LUXE)
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What it REALLY takes to stage a vacant home, and what MUST be added to the list is.......many doses of Ibuprofen!
$8.00 for a bottle of 750 tablets at Costco........about a 6-month supply for me!! The best investment in my business I can possibly make:)
Marianne Sweet, Home Sweet Home Staging, LLC Rochester Hills, MI (Home Sweet Home Staging)
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So the next time you have someone ask you how to justify the cost of vacant staging give them this list.

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Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Home Staging & Redesign Specialist in Houston, Staging Your House To Sell By Professional Home Stagers! Our goal is to get your home sold for top dollar in the most cost effective way!
Contact Cindy today for a Home Staging Consultation. Please visit our website for more information.

Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.

We also have a location for the Houston Bay Area- League City Home Staging.

Where Do Consumers Cut Back When Budgets Are Tight?

Based on an article in the April 2008 issue of Residential Design & Build when budgets are tight homeowners start prioritizing where they want to put their money into their homes. So this is where the budget minded will wisely spend their money.

Square Footage-50%
Finish Details-29%
Landscaping-28%
Home Electronics-24%
Outdoor Living-18%
Cabinetry-15%
Countertops-14%
Appliances-13%
Plumbing Features-12%
Flooring-11%
Security System-10%
Windows-9%
Fireplaces-8%
Decking-7%
Roofing-6%
Lighting-5%
Interior Doors-4%
Siding-4%
Locks/Hardware-3%
Structural materials-2%
HVAC-2%




Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Home Staging & Redesign Specialist in Houston, Staging Your House To Sell By Professional Home Stagers! Our goal is to get your home sold for top dollar in the most cost effective way!

Contact Cindy today for a Home Staging Consultation. Please visit our website for more information.

Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.

We also have a location for the Houston Bay Area- League City Home Staging.

Study Shows Vacant Houses Are Slower To Sell

In a recent study and article by redfin.com the #6 reason to a slow sale of a house was to show it vacant. The study suggests keeping your homeowners there. It showed 9.5% of homes that were vacant would go through a price reduction, based on what a buyers thinking process was when buying a home. When they see it empty, they automatically assume the homeowner needs to get out fast, thus bidding low.

Marketing your Home to Sell- 7 Tactics By Redfin.com


To avoid this underbidding, home staging and the use of furniture can turn your lonely house into a "Buy Me" house.

Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Home Staging & Redesign Specialist in Houston, Staging Your House To Sell By Professional Home Stagers! Our goal is to get your home sold for top dollar in the most cost effective way!
Contact Cindy today for a Home Staging Consultation. Please visit our website for more information.
Areas Served: Houston, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, Piney Point, Mid-Town, The Heights, Montrose, Texas Medical Center, The East End, West Loop/Galleria/Memorial, Downtown, Museum District, West University, Spring Branch, Royal Oaks-Lakeside, League City, Clear Lake City, Friendswood, Kemah, Seabrook, Pearland, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, The Woodlands, Kingwood. And all areas down to Galveston Island.

We also have a location for the Houston Bay Area- League City Home Staging.

Cindy Bryant - Houston Home Stager - Featured On ABC Houston Local News

Recently, the owner, Cindy Bryant of Redesign Etc a Home Staging Company was featured in two segments on ABC Channel 13 Local News. Reporter Patricia Lopez interviewed Cindy and watched the transformation of how to redesign a room. The segment was "Stretch Your Dollars" and the features were "Redesigning a Room", and "Tips on How to Redesign a Room Yourself"

Click link to watch video segment.


http://www.redesignetc.com/html/tv_video.html



Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Houston's Home Staging & Redesign Specialist Staging Your Home To Sell! We Serve Houston To Galveston Bay!

Houston Home Stager Cindy Bryant Featured In Houston Chronicle

Recently Houston Home Stager Cindy Bryant was featured in the Houston Chronicle and was asked 5 questions by Reporter Purva Patel.
June 10, 2008, 9:44PM


MoneymakersFive questions with Cindy Bryant

Staging homes adds a dimension to selling
By Purva Patel-Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle


Cindy Bryant grew up watching her mom prep homes for sale.
After spending most of her career marketing professional athletes, she started her own home-staging business, Redesign Etc., a year ago.
Staging entails cleaning, stylizing and depersonalizing homes so others can imagine living there.
Staging can also mean painting, new landscaping and other changes, depending on how much a homeowner is willing to invest in marketing a home.
Bryant recently spoke with Chronicle reporter Purva Patel about home staging. The following are excerpts of that conversation.

Q: With home sales slowing in parts of town, are you seeing more sellers resorting to staging services?
A: Absolutely. Yes, the market is not great, and I'm getting a lot of calls every day. People are having their houses on the market three to six months now and they're not getting any traffic to the house.
If you can't get traffic, you don't get offers. I'm getting more calls, and some people are calling before they put their house on the market because they realize there is so much competition. They want to start out with a bang rather than have to sit on the market for six months.

Q: How long does it take to sell once a house is staged?
A: Nationally is a whole different can of worms because every city and every market is different. In Houston, for my business, I've had houses sell in two days. My houses usually sell under 30 days. On average they sell about two weeks after they've been staged by our company.
I had a house that was on the market for a year, and it sold two days after it was staged. I got a call from an owner, who said the Realtor had said their million-dollar view would sell the house. After a year, she called me and said, "My million-dollar view is not selling this house."
I came in, picked out some paint color, completely repainted the whole place, brought in furniture and redid the whole place. Two days later, she had a full-price offer. So it does work.

Q: Are there any particular types of pieces that are better suited for staging?
A: It depends on the demographics of where the home is that you're staging. It's different in the suburbs versus a loft downtown. That's going to appeal to two different types of people — a family home in the suburbs as opposed to a loft that would appeal to young professional couple living in the city. That's why I pick up all kinds of pieces: urban, modern contemporary and traditional pieces as well.

Q: What's the biggest mistake people make when it comes to staging?
A: The biggest mistake is, and I come across this every day, people usually love their homes and it's a very, very emotional thing for them, so it's very hard for people to detach themselves from the house.
Because of that, they cannot look at their house objectively because they've lived there and it looks fine to them. They can't get past, say, their red dining room that maybe they spent hours and hours picking out that red color they love.
They don't understand that not everybody is going to love that red dining room. It's almost like a child to them.
They're just so emotionally attached to it that they can't give an objectiveview.

Q: Have you had to adjust your prices because of rising gasoline costs?
A: No. I should because I do go all over Houston. But I haven't yet. I can tell you it's tough because I drive a Suburban, so it's definitely driving up costs.


Contact Cindy Bryant for a Home Staging Consultation. Cindy Bryant is the owner of Redesign Etc. Houston's Home Staging & Redesign Specialist Staging Your Home To Sell!

cindy @RedesignEtc.com or Phone: 281-748-2170

Website

What's Really Involved When Staging A Vacant Home

With vacant homes on the rise in the real estate market more people are turning to Home Stagers to give their home that competitive edge. What most people don't realize is the time and labor involved in staging a vacant home.

After the necessary recommendations and improvements from the Home Staging Consultation Report has been implemented the actual Home Staging process begins.

The following usually takes place for Home Stagers when staging a Vacant home:

Visiting the property to take a look at each room, the space, feel, and style of home.
Visually figuring out what furniture and accessories will best fit the spaces to be done, also known as space planning.
Taking photos of each room.
Figuring out the cost of furniture and accessories for the house.
Possible shopping for items needed specifically for that home.
Ordering furniture, paperwork, contracts, and phone calls.
Delivery of furniture from Furniture Company, if you use one.
Going to warehouse to start picking out and packing accessories.
Getting a truck, or trailer to carry all of the items you'll need.
Loading all items, accessories and furniture into truck or vehicle of choice. (Hoping you don't need anything else and have to make several trips).
Driving to location.
Unloading items from truck, unpacking, and placement of items and furniture, known as hands-on staging.
Take after photos.
Taking all excess that's not used, including totes or boxes and load back into truck.
Drive back to warehouse to unload.
Drive home and Crash!
Wake up the next day sore from head to toe, with scrapes, bruises and cuts, (forget the nails).
House Sells...Then What?
Call furniture company to pick-up furniture.
Drive to get truck that you'll be using to bring items back.
Drive to warehouse to get totes and boxes to put items from home back into them.
Drive to house that has now sold.
Start packing, bubble wrapping, and placing all items in totes.
Load furniture and accessories into truck.
Drive back to warehouse.
Unload, Unpack, and put everything back into warehouse.
Take truck back.
Drive home and crash again!
The next day start all over!

This is just an example of what usually happens, every Home Stager does it a little differently.

The average time from start to finish can average between 20-25 hours.

Visit http://www.redesignetc.com/ Houston's Home Staging Specialist Staging Your Home To Sell!

Houston Home Staging Professional Cindy Bryant To Be Guest Speaker on Radio Talk Show

Keeping You In The Loop!

KNTH 1070 AM Live Radio Talk Show

Get Your Questions Answered Live!

Home Staging & Curb Appeal will be the topics this Sunday, April 6, from 10am-11am. Guest speaker will include Cindy Bryant, owner of Redesign Etc. -Home Staging & Redesign Specialists Staging Your Home To Sell! She will be live in the studio to talk about the benefits of professional home staging, tips and recomendations and answer any questions you may have. Milan Ross, Realtor with Prudential Gary Greene in Houston will be the host. Milan's show airs every Sunday from 10am to 11am and he answers questions about buying, selling, leasing or investing in the Houston Real Estate Market.

Tune In To hear broadcast live or click on link below:

http://1070knth.townhall.com/

Kids Wish Network-Houston Girl Gets Her Dream

Gabby Gets Her “Dream” Bedroom

by Jill Atchison-Kids Wish Network, February 22, 2008

I recently completed a wish for a very special young lady named Gabby from Houston, TX. Gabby suffers from Sickle Cell Disease. When I spoke to Gabby in the fall she told me her only wish was for a Betty Boop bedroom makeover! I began working on getting furniture and Betty Boop items. There were many Betty Boop Vendors who contributed a vast array of Betty items including bedding, rugs, lamps, bathroom items - you name it, we got it! Getting her just the right furniture however, took some time.
Last month I received a call from Christine of Four Hands Furniture out of Austin, TX. She agreed to donate a queen sized four poster bed, two end tables and lamps. I then contacted Bi-Rite Furniture out of Houston, TX and Turbo, the owner agreed to donate a dresser and mirror. Reyes Ortiz the owner of Ultimate Comfort also donated a queen pillow top mattress and box spring. So finally we had the furniture!!
I also enlisted the help of Cindy Bryant the owner of Redesign Etc., Inc. and Bennett Taylor of Elements by Taylor to put everything together. Cindy accepted delivery of all the “Boop Stuff”. Bennett not only painted a 4′ X 4′ Betty “Mural” but ran all around town picking up furniture.
Last Tuesday I sent Randall from Randall’s limo’s to pick up Gabby and her mom and get them out of the house while Cindy and Bennett went to work. Randall took Gabby to Westpark Wal-Mart where the asst. manager Terry Lazar had a Flat Screen TV waiting for her. After they picked up the TV they went to Olive Garden for lunch.
Meanwhile back at home, Four Hands had the furniture delivered and Bennett brought her mural and the furniture she collected, while Cindy worked fervently to get everything set up for the “Grand Unveiling”. When Gabby got home she was very surprised and very happy with her new bedroom. Gabby’s mom Janet said “she had the best night’s sleep she’s had in a long time”. Gabby is excited to have her friends come over to check out her new room.
Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.


If you'd like to Donate to Kidswish Network and help the Kidswish Children, click here. You can also subscribe to our blog feed to keep up to date with our wish kids.
If you have or know a child that fits our criteria, call 888-918-9004 to talk to one of our wish counselors.

"Redesign Etc, was honored and humbled when asked to design the room for Gabby, she is a "little sweetie pie". This experience is the best one I've had so far, it really was so much fun and to see everything come together, and people give of their time, goods and services, was such an overwhelming feeling for me. Gabby is a special and brave young lady, one that I will never forget."

Cindy Bryant-Owner Redesign Etc.

Return On Home Staging Investments

2007 Home Gain Survey Based On Over 2,000 Real Estate Agents Nationwide:

Improvement-Professionally Staging A Home
Typical Cost -$403-$584
Increase In Sales Price -$1,938-2,431
Avg. Return - 343%
Agents Who Recommend -91%

http://www.redesignetc.com

To see completed survey on other home improvements click link below

http://www.homegain.com/media-center/statistics-market-analysis

Home Staging Accentuates Your Homes Features!

After Home Staging

This Home Sold In 30 Days!

Using what the home seller had, we created a warm, cozy inviting room that a home buyer could imagine living here. Focus was taken off of the mismanaged space and on the features of the house. That is what home staging does!

Visit www.redesignetc.com Houston's Home Staging & Redesign Specialist Staging Your Home To Sell!