My agent has been scratching her head trying to figure out how to stage this house. Most of the inexpensive staging companies do not have the right type of furniture. Our listing agreement includes that she selects and pays for staging. So today she announces that we are going to put this up for sale without staging. Try it for 2 weeks. She is convinced the house will sell itself on the views.
We will see. I like staging, it makes everything look so good. Plus, I have a comfy place to sit while we are in the last couple of weeks
" Most of the inexpensive staging companies do not have the right type of furniture. Our listing agreement includes that she selects and pays for staging"
Do you feel you need to push back on her decision? Sounds like the benefits (saving $) are to her not you.
Frankly, I have no idea what was in the house when I walked in it. It was staged. All I could see was the deck and that tiny view and the privacy the property offered (CB’s house got it beat!). The second thing we saw were the sagging beams that needed to be fixed (not at CB’s house, lol). I’d say go for it but… split the staging $$ save with the realtor.
I wish I could stage your place with my stuff. Kinda MCM here.
I’d push for the agent to either pony up the usual amount for you to put toward furniture or require her to reduce her part of the commission. Then you can decide if staging is a big deal. I’d want to at least have the main rooms staged for photos and the first couple of weeks on the market.
Have y’all looked at furniture rental companies such as Cort vs. actual staging businesses? You might be able to rent the major pieces then fill in with accent tables and accessories that you purchase or provide from home.
CB- Your energy & the quality of work for this project are amazing. I lived many years in Southern California & return often. I have fond memories of houses similar to this one. The view from this house heightens the openness that I love about this style of home.
@Silpat - I agree, you should be compensated in some way, regardless of virtual staging.
Often co-op apartments here are virtually staged for listings. At least in my building, they seem to attract serious buyers. If your realtor were willing to do this, I'd suggest including images of the view during the day & at night.
Are you going to have to carry the accent color all the way up to the vaulted ceiling, above the exposed beams? In that case, if I were a buyer and my furniture didn’t go with the color I’d be looking at it and saying what a PITA to repaint. An actual color, like teal, would determine the color scheme for the entire room outside the kitchen.
I think you should consider a largish piece of art highish up in the blank space to the left of the hood instead,
Or if you feel you really must, go with a lighter, more subtle and neutral color. Definitely NOT the dark gray sample you have up.
I’m going to get the washed out teal up abd see if it overwhelms the room, or adds the right amount of color. Right now we look too white and sterile. Of course, some staging and art work would take care of tgat!
My agent wants to try some virtual staging. I agreed no staging for 2 weeks. If no action, staging comes in right away and new photos. So its her risk:)
Agree—normal furniture sounds good to me, especially beds in the bedroom for scale. As long as the pieces are streamlined and non-fussy they should be fine.
Estate sales with some authentic mid century pieces augmented with some current stuff in a pleasant blend?
I did a SoCal estate sale a few years ago, definitely had stuff from the 60s & 70s, I’m sure there are others!
I don’t think we are going to buy any furniture because then it becomes an issue of what to do with it when done. My agent used to have an inventory for staging about 5 years ago. She kept having to pay to store it, move it, etc. It was stored in a place in downtown San Diego and then homeless guys were peeing outside the unit and it got into all the furniture!!! It was just a lot of work and she didn’t want to do it anymore.
We looked into renting enough furniture to fill out the family room, dining room and master bedroom and it was going to cost about $4,000 because there is a minimum rental period. Might as well have a staging company do the work for that amount of money.
My main concern is the master bedroom. If you walk into it without furniture, it appears small. Several potential buyers have balked at the size. The original buyer that almost went into contract was going to take out the wall closet to make more room in the bedroom. If we could stage just that room it would make a world of difference in perspective because there is plenty of room for a king size bed and nightstands in that room. Not to mention a 12 ft long closet plus a walk in closet. Noone needs to have dressers in the room!
So, we had another discussion last night and we might split the cost of staging (because of the reduced commission structure in this listing). My agent is scrambling to see who is available to stage next week and at what cost. She says it might be ‘too late’ to get it staged in time to take photos late next week. Uhhhh??? I’ve only told you Sept 15rh for about 3 weeks now !!
It is all dependent on the results of the next post
One word of warning about virtual staging - here, it is used to show how a room could look when remodeled. There are zillions of homes in the city with unfinished “basements” that are basically garage space. I noticed that it becoming popular to virtually stage those to show that the unfinished space can be converted into living space. At least looking at the listings on the phone, sometimes it is hard to say if those photos show a real, fresh remodel with photoshopped furniture or the walls have been photoshopped as well.
It is time to get serious about setting the asking price. Originally we have been telling the earlier buyer candidates $799,000 and thinking that we were way high. But there have been recent developments in the neighborhood that are in our favor. Here’s our current comparable analysis, all in 91941 zip code:
7
9
4
7
We ther ly
Sold $765,000 very quickly. No view, one less bathroom, back yard is small. Has mid century vibe in curb appeal. No garage. Bathrooms need renovation. Interior style does not match architecture. Has pool
7
9
5
3
Cin thia
This is the one we are most excited about. This house is below our property, if you look at the Aerial View in the photos you can see my property in the background upper right with the big tree… Even though listing says ‘views’, this only has views from one upstairs room. No views on bottom living floor because of a large hedge. 2 story, has one more bathroom but same square feet. Very small back yard. Good condition. The house went into contract in two days and the agent is telling us the final sale price was $855k!!!
4
2
3
5
Cobalt Dr
Whole house needs updating but single story in same neighborhood. Minimal view in easterly direction. Sold $775k in escrow. Took a while to sell. Buyers are going to think at least $75k to remodel in their minds.
So, we think we are somewhere in the 800s to sell quickly. If this is correct, we are way higher than I thought and it might save my bacon!
COMPETITION
There is only one currently for sale in the area that would be our competition if a buyer is out looking in the price range
The company you used to stage the “spectacular view” house–I loved that house, I often wonder how it is doing now --did a fabulous job.
I think that staging the place in an aggressively MCM way would actually be counter-productive. Most people don’t have that furniture. Those who do will already be in tune with the style and not need much of a visual prompt.
We don’t have a choice to stage with MCM furniture. Staging companies don’t carry that inventory. We are just looking for someone that has clean lines, light wood and a contemporary style
I called for final inspection yesterday and we failed for something I would have never noticed. The original door from back living room to garage has a doggie door in it. The inspector was very strong on the fact that the wall and entry between garage and living room had to be fire rated. So, we added the 5/8 fire drywall soffitt. He came in and passed that and then saw the door into living room. We failed because it had a doggie door cut out in it which would allow fire to just shoot right through. First I thought we would just plug it up with some wood, but I knew it would be a lot of labor and never look good. So, we lucked out and found a 36" solid core fire rated door at the Home Depot for $60! So, brand new door installed very quickly.
Also, because the door swings into garage we had to add a landing. You cannot exit a door and drop 9" down into the garage. It really isn’t safe. So, we have quickly poured a large concrete landing in the garage and ready for next inspection
The staging of the living room at the Del Monte hilltop house was my absolute favorite. I have never seen such beautiful staging. The company was Parker Rose and they were outstanding, but expensive
