Real Estate Staging / Home Staging Blog

• While I have learned much from fellow members here on Active Rain and in Stage It Forward... I have to admit there are some member's posts I follow more regularly. What they have to say about Home Staging and the Home Staging Industry time and again captures my attention.

So recently when Jennie Norris, a Vice President at stagedhomes.com, connected one of the critical and troublesome industry "dots" that other home stagers in others markets have experienced... I was intrigued.

Jennie wrote a bit of an expose' on home staging and what she felt were wrongful pricing strategies in her post entitled Get off your back and on your feet - and walk out of the red-light district! I have to say THIS POST really got my attention. If you have NOT read her post, Jennie describes her frustrations with what she felt were low ball fees other stagers are charging for their services. Jennie writes "When are we going to stop giving it away - and realize the VALUE of what we bring to the table?  And if you are out there undercharging because you think it's the only way you can get business - for shame!  Take another look at what your market will bear - and don't leave money on the table!"

While low ball pricing may be a new issue for Jennie in Sacramento, it is NOT new to other stagers in other markets... including myself. It is good to see that Jennie finally connected one of the  problematic issues (dots) that I and others have written of in the past.   But you might be surprised to know that I believe the fact that lowball pricing is occurring, it is NOT that big of an issue. WHY lowball pricing IS occurring is a bigger issue that I want to address.

Let me paint a bigger BIG picture why the industry is experiencing some of the difficulties it is right now. While this is NOT going to be a pretty picture, this also is NOT a post trying to point fingers and BLAME ANYONE for where the industry is at. To be honest blaming doesn't change these facts. What I hope to do is show and propose solutions that benefit all. BUT here is where we are within this industry NOW:

• FACT: It is very EASY and FAST for someone to become a home stager. NO formal training is required. (This happens to be the category I fall under).
• FACT: Because foundation training programs have made it SO easy and fast (from 1 day to 1 month) to become a trained certified/accredited stager, there is NOW and continues to be a glut of people freshily graduated and empowered as a "professional" stagers entering the market place. In some markets there are more then it can bare. Of course the larger the market the greater the probability a stager WILL compete with some fellow graduates from the same foundation course they took, as well as graduates of other foundation training courses.
• FACT: The home seller/consumer has NO idea what good staging is or is NOT.  The home staging industry has created NO way do differentiate or compare common types of service or FEES for those services we provide our clients. (For example the auto indsutry has common TYPES of cars: Compact, Economy, Midsize, SUV etc...)
• FACT: When starting and operating a staging business new stagers who are hungry for business WILL undercut the "going" rates in order to get some work under their belts. Sometimes a new stager's "pay" could be the opportunity to capture amazing after photos for their portfolio, for services they have actually provided. (I did this when I started.)
• FACT: The home seller/consumer market has NO idea what staging costs. What a homeseller believes staging costs is is often based on a distorted understanding... which often comes directly from TV shows like Designed to Sell. This show NEVER takes into account the LABOR fees to pay for Lisa LaPorte (a VERY talented staging host) or her team of laborers.
• FACT: The real estate market is extremely slow... and in some markets totally stalled. Because it is so slow, less people are trying to sell their homes and those that are, are VERY cautious about spending their hard earned money on staging... for MANY home-sellers, staging is an unproven risky venture. So if they are interested in staging, price is the ONLY way to differentiate so the cheaper they can get staged... the better.

Again where the Home Staging industry is is the result of MANY players and MANY circumstances working in tandem and unfolding over time. If you see this as an attack on any one person, company or orgainzation you are mistaken. Again... blaming is ugly and useless. What I hope is that WE can create a masterpiece of a solution.  However, I will say this, there are those individuals, companies, and organizations that must step up and work together and do their parts to create solutions... instead of trying to breakdown any attempt at building this industry up. Also, standing on sidelines doing nothing is equally harmful. One fine example of a company working to improve the home staging industry is Brook Furniture Rental. Brook's sponsorship of 2 SIF RoundTables and their formation of a staging advisory panel is a HUGE step and huge commitment that will benefit ALL.

Getting back to what can be done... First, all members of the home staging industry must realize this industry is no longer made up of 1,2 or 3 players... it is made up of 1000's... stagers, vendors, and trainers. The Stage It Forward Group on AR and now SIF RoundTables are a START in the breaking down of the barriers between those individuals and companies that for whatever reason try/wanted to operate in a protectionist bubble.

• RESA has been trying, (with some success) to get foundation training programs to work together. What RESA is undertaking is NOT to get foundation training companies to share proprietary information and methodology, but to set some guidelines and define some standards that can be communicated to the general public as to what constitutes good training. The public needs a way to KNOW what a TRAINED STAGER is and how the consumer can differentiate a formally trained stager from a "yesterday I arn't one today I is one" stager.
• SIF RoundTables are NOT about fellow members trying to to gain access to a companies proprietary information and "have ideas given to them for free"... as was recently communicated to a group of stagers. The issues we are tackling are bigger and touch all stagers regardless of where they were trained, what market they are in, who there competition is, or how big/little old/new their staging company is. Banning, thwarting or scaring people away from opportunities such as this keeps us stuck.
• The SIF Quartley Qwick Staging Stats (QSTAT's) WILL help to begin to address some of the issues above. In fact, SIF QSTAT's will directly address the pricing issues Jennie spoke of. The stager who got the job will know what average rate for staging is for a DEFINED type of staging in that market. Currently, how a stager ultimately chooses to PRICE their services is totally up to them. BUT with QSTAT's bench mark price ranges could be communicated. The competing stager's who presented THEIR solutions would have NATIONAL, STATE and LOCAL data that can be presented to the consumer to EDUCATE them to make an informed decision. You might say the playing field would be leveled... NOW individual stagers can compete.

There is so much more I can write about that will help begin to paint the masterpiece of a industry so many of us see and believe in. But for now... this seems to be enough.

Sorry this was so lengthy...

Me

Early last week I made a comment in a post regarding how home stagers could learn from the Realtor community who annually benifit from coming together and learning together as our own unified group like the NAR. There are MANY of us who are beginning to understand and believe in the fact that having common association(s) can be a good thing for ourselves and our clients. Terrylynn Fisher generated more compelling dialogue on the same subject when she wrote her own thoughts and feelings about having and an END GOAL of a NAR like association for staging in her post entitled: Exclusionism keeps us small and weak! 

It is no secret that to ultimately achieve an end goal it must first be envisioned. Having the END GOAL of a NAR like organization/assocaition for the home staging industry is AWESOME... and I embrace THAT goal 100%. But I thnk maybe we are trying to hard. Not loosing site of the END GOAL, maybe what is more important is that we FIRST define and take smaller steps that start moving us to that "associated" END GOAL.  

To helps us see where we are and to help us define the steps to move ahead we need to ask ourselves "what do we as stagers REALLY want for and as our industry?" Then take a hard look and ask if this is what our collective actions are communicating in spite of what we think?  Is what we REALLY want happening equal to the vocal minority that is shouting for a BIGGER picture? If you think it is then why does it feel like we are still stuck here?

Why isn't there this vast tidal force moving us toward a greater good that some of us are shouting for?

Well, I believe part of the reason is the fact that our industry is riddled with distrust, misunderstanding, conflicting philosophies, and egos. PLUS this industry is trying to GROW and UNITE during the WORST real estate market in decades. But even though this obviously is NOT ideal, this should NOT stop those of us who are committed to creating something more for ALL in this industry.

So as an industry (or fledging industry) how we ARE working to get unstuck? Well maybe, without realizing it, we are getting ourselves out of this rut by starting with a rock and roll motion... kind of like what one does to get a car unstuck out of a snow bank. I have come to observe that sometimes when someone tries to rock forward for this industry, there are those that roll back. Is this BAD? I have to say "No". Do I like it? Well I have to say "NO" again. But it is a reality.

Case in point...SIF now has over 25 Roundtable discussions planned for all over the USA and Canada, and even though we have "rocked" there are some who feels it is necessary to roll with their own independent gathering of stagers they too have dubbed a "round table". What are this person's "underlying intentions"? I really don't think it matters? Is this a bad thing that it is taking place? I really don't think it is. This just is the rock and roll I am talking about. Different interpretations of a similar thing can be helpful, but who we are and HOW we respond matters MORE.

When someone seems to rolls forward the rolling back response can seem like negativity.(Please do not confuse this  use of the word "negativity" with with mudslinging.) But I am beginning to see how this BACK and FORTH motion WILL create the monument that will get us unstuck so that we can trust and fully embrace bigger goals like creating an NAR for home staging. 

There are a lot of little things that can be done to get us unstuck and driving on to our associated END GOAL. To get a car unstuck there are a number of things one can do, like: put on chains, throw down rock-salt, shovel out the snow packed under, or just give a push... likewise there are many little things we can do to help move us all along and to be associated in a way that benefits all.

While I have hoped we would move faster... this is not all doom and gloom. I have come to learn that our industry IS moving and moving in the way it is supposed to. My hopes are based on MY rocking vision... but with each passing day I see there are those rolling with equally important visions that need to be taking into account too.

Just my thoughts as I rock and roll...

Me