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One of the most transformative real estate practices over the past 20 years has been the countrywide adoption of professional home staging. Given that homes now take between 7-10 seconds to sell and that in many markets, the online pictures must sizzle if a seller hopes to get any traffic through the home, staging has become critical.
It’s generally recognized that the home staging industry started in 1972. Barb Schwartz, a real estate agent and interior designer, is considered the visionary behind the concept, coining the term “staging” to describe the process of decorating and maximizing a home’s potential for sale.
As owners of a staging company that has been in business for over 20 years, it has been remarkable to see the industry grow to the point where staging is considered mandatory for homes going onto the market in markets such as ours.
We have also seen some crazy things over the years. We have had furniture come back with scribble marks from children, odors from cigarettes, cooking and animal smells, pet damage and more. We’ve had items stolen, discovered that our staging items have been used for personal “liaisons,” had listing agents fail to notify us that the property had closed, had buyers move in, steal some items and put the remainder on the curb where they were snatched up by opportunist passers-by and more.
We have also had sellers, once the home was staged, decide not to sell, saying, “We had no idea our home could look this amazing! Why would we move?” It has been wonderful to see sellers tear up as they return to their staged property, amazed at the transformation.
On the other side of the coin, the most frequently asked question we receive is from buyers who, in love with the look of a staged home, ask if they can purchase all the staging items and move in “as-is.”
There have also been horror stories: Some sellers have absolutely hated the finished result, not understanding that the staging is designed to catch a buyer’s eye, not to resonate with the seller’s personal tastes.
Some sellers have also been insulted at recommendations/suggestions that the 1970s suite of furniture that cost them a mint back when the Ford Motor Company was selling Pintos may not be suitable for current tastes.
If you have never used a staging company, getting started can be a bit daunting. Here are seven categories of questions that can be asked to determine if any given company will be a match for you and your sellers.
7 categories of questions to ask when interviewing stagers
1. Experience and expertise
There are no prescribed rules for becoming a stager, so just about anyone who thinks they are a designer can set up shop. While some organizations do offer certifications, and some stagers are actually certified interior designers, many stagers are not certified per se.
Key question would be:
- Are you a formally trained stager with any certifications?
- How long have you been in business as a professional stager?
- Do you have experience staging in our local market?
- Do you understand local buyer preferences?
- Have you staged homes like ours before?
- Do you have a portfolio or website we can look at?
- Do you have any reviews?
- Are you bonded and insured?
- Do you have a current business license?
2. Inventory and style
Not all homes are created equal, and most staging companies focus on properties that fit into the “normal” range.
On the other hand, staging a high-end luxury home is a world apart from a standard tract home. Although some staging companies can handle both ends of the spectrum, luxury staging is really in a class of its own and, in many cases, the furnishings provided are rented specifically for the individual property in question and are moved in and out by professional moving companies.
As a result, luxury staging can be dramatically more expensive than for normal properties and require a substantially different skill set to get the exclusive look that matches the property.
Questions include:
- What is the predominant theme/style of your inventory?
- Do you own your inventory, or are you renting it?
- How old is your inventory?
- Is your inventory in good condition?
- Do you have luxury-level inventory for upscale homes?
- Do you have inventory that matches the seller’s existing furnishings (for partial stagings)?
- What type of staging do you do outside?
3. Process and procedures
Every staging company works a bit differently. Some cover specific price points, others focus on certain geographical areas. Some want the home completely vacant and cleaned the day before the crew arrives to stage, while others will apply penalties if the seller decides they want to stay and watch.
Questions include:
- What geographical areas do you cover?
- What is your process from start to finish?
- Do you charge for your preliminary evaluation?
- Which rooms do you recommend I stage, and which rooms can be left vacant?
- Will you stage a home that will be occupied? If yes, how do you handle children? Pets?
- Can the client be present during the staging process?
- Do I have to clean the home before it is staged?
- Will you stage a home if it reeks of specific odors such as cigarette smoke, cooking smells such as curry, fried fish or intense pet smells?
4. Pricing and contracts
The truth is: Staging does not really work in all price points. For this reason, especially in lower-priced markets, partial or “light” staging may be the best option, and it’s even possible to add in some virtual staging.
It’s important to understand how much your staging package will actually cost and, especially in markets where homes are staying active for longer periods of time, what happens when the contract is up.
Here are some relevant questions:
- Do you have different packages?
- Do you do partial stagings (if applicable)?
- How much do you charge, and what is the pricing based on (options include square footage, number of bedrooms, possible ADU, level of inventory required, time desired for the staging to remain in place, whether staging is rented and so on)?
- Are there increased fees for a lot of stairs, or if the use of an elevator is required (if applicable)?
- What do you do if parking for loading and offloading is not readily available (if applicable)?
- What is the normal length of your contracts?
- What happens at the end of our contract if the home is still not sold?
- Are extensions available and, if so, how much are they?
- Do you have any penalties I need to be aware of?
- Do you want payment up front, or will you bill to escrow?
- What types of payment do you accept?
5. Timing and logistics
Larger staging companies usually have projects booked back-to-back. It is common for our company to have a complete set of furnishings for a four-bedroom home in one truck and a comparable three-bedroom set in another truck that have just been unloaded from one home and are scheduled to enter another property the very next day.
In a perfect world, the inventory seldom ends up back in the warehouse — it simply goes from one home to another with minor changes along the way. As a result, communication is critical, and changes in timelines can result in a mess.
Here are some essential questions to ask:
- How much lead time do you need to schedule staging?
- How long will it take to stage my property?
- Can you accommodate last-minute staging?
- What happens if I find out at the last minute that the home is not ready to stage on the contract date?
- What type of notice do you need to remove the staging?
- What happens if that notice comes late?
- Who maintains/cleans the staging during the contract?
6. Potential issues
Stuff happens, and it goes without saying that over 20 years in the business, we have seen lots of crazy. Read the fine print in the contract very carefully — you will most likely be on the hook if things go missing, are damaged or do not meet the seller’s expectations.
Here are questions that should be addressed:
- What happens if the client is not happy with the staging once it’s completed?
- How do you handle the remaining holes in the walls once inventory is removed (magic fasteners can fail, causing damage to items, so most stagers prefer nails in the walls to hold up artwork)?
- What happens if damage is done to the home during the placement or removal of staging items?
- Who is responsible for damaged or stolen pieces of inventory?
7. Additional services
Some staging companies go above and beyond to provide additional levels of service. You may not need any of these, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
- Do you work with buyers who may want interior design services after they have moved into the home?
- Do you coordinate with and/or provide cleaning services?
- Do you coordinate with and/or provide photography services?
- Do you facilitate any storage for sellers who may need to store items that need to be removed prior to staging?
Questions NOT worth asking
Lastly are questions that simply do not apply:
1. What is the average days on the market for homes you have staged?
While this question might appear logical on the surface, it is meaningless. The seller and their agent are the ones who determine how long a home will take to sell — the staging company merely sets the stage to bring in the highest possible number of potential buyers and stimulate their emotions while they are there.
Days on the market is also determined by location, current market conditions and more. Do not make a stager respond to this question — quite frankly, many of them do not make any attempt to keep track.
2. Does your staging come with a guarantee?
Although it may guarantee that the home will look nice, there is absolutely no way it will guarantee a sale, based on the reasons given in Question No. 1 above.
3. Can you install your staging in such a way as to hide defects?
Quite simply, that is illegal and a violation of disclosure laws. Although the best place to locate a throw rug may be over a defect in the floor, no stager should put it there on purpose to hide the defect. Additionally, it’s the agent and seller’s job to disclose what is under that rug (rules differ state to state).
4. Will our home look like a magazine when you are done?
Only if it was nice to begin with. Staging only accentuates what is there; it is not designed to transform a home from ugly to spectacular. No amount of lipstick will turn a pig into a prancing pony.
5. Can a buyer purchase all of the staging items?
We get asked this question all the time. The simple answer is “no.” The reasons behind the answer are a bit more complicated:
- Staging inventory is purchased based on how it looks, how heavy it is and how it blends with other pieces. When our designers go shopping, they will actually try lifting a corner of the furniture to ensure it is not too heavy: Imagine moving heavy furniture in and out of homes multiple times. The bottom line is that it’s not always easy to find good pieces, so stagers are very reluctant to let items leave their inventory.
- If we sell pieces, they have to be replaced. That not only means an expense for the item being replaced (often at a higher price than the original item cost), it also means time spent looking for replacement pieces, in some cases assembling them, getting them back to the warehouse and placing them into active inventory. Buyers, however, never want to pay full price for “used” inventory and will not only try to bargain, but they will never consider paying extra for the time and effort required to go out and buy replacement items.
Staging can make all the difference, and an effective relationship between a staging company and a real estate agent can be very rewarding. Once you have found a company that works well for you, you are off and running.
If you are like us, however, even though our team owns our own staging company, we cover our expenses by staging for many other agents in our market, and, occasionally, we need a backup company to handle our volume.
My recommendation is to have a couple of carefully vetted companies in your pocket so that you can always ensure the highest level of service for your clients.
Carl Medford is the CEO of The Medford Team.
