Home Staging NJ Luxury Real Estate

Recently, I went to a stager's liquidation sale.  They were getting out of the prop rental side and going to focus on purely redesign.  Initially, I didn't want to let on I was also a stager; I thought they might either mark up the pricing or be snide and negative.  Of course, people are always nicer than I anticipate and I wound up having a lovely chat with one of them over what their business had looked like.

I don't have an MBA and I'm still learning, every day, how to run a profitable staging business AND pay myself.  (I have had a profitable business for a while now, but this is the first year I've been paying myself aswell.)  So, my conclusions are merely my own best guess.

1.  A Signature Look

These girls decided to have a signature look.  The one they picked was Tropical.  Their aim was to have everyone walk into each home and say, "Oh, I feel like I'm on vacation.  What a great idea - a permanent vacation.  Let's buy it."

Professionally speaking, the home itself is to be the star, not the styling.  While you want univerally appealing decor - and "Carribean Vacation" certainly gives you an identifyer most people could recognize - it is a mistake to pick something EXTREME.  For example, houses I have done with mid-century furnishings, while hip, stay on the market longer than those that look like Pottery Barn Meets Neiman Marcus!  Maybe, I got lucky with the NY loft look, this August, but then, around here, that's a very common desirable feel.  The more general the home looks - yeah, bland, blah, beige are words that are tempting to use as descriptors - the more money it sells for, faster.  For those with real design chops, this is a straightjacket... but, the job of a stager is to sell the house.  Designing the next one for that seller is likely where your profit will come, if you're a newbie at staging.

2.  Known as Expensive

The Girls were frank, up front and honest:  we charge $1,000 a day.  Despite the million+ price tags around here, that caused people to choke.  Often.  A flat rate, per day, feels like a lot.  An hourly rate, I have learned, is easier for the homeowner to swallow.  Frankly, as I get older, I prefer an hourly rate.  The last thing I want to do is spend all day at someone's house, sweating away with no breaks.  Plus, I run out of polite things to say.  I need the break to re-group physcially, but also mentally.  By the time I get back the next day, I have a whole bunch of different, better ideas, all of which help the property.

The challenge here for me is this:  I did approx 30 - 35 houses this year.  Next year, my goal is 40.  Can I still afford to split homes up over day parts... or will a point come where we will have to be done in one shot?  This remains to be seen.

3.  Allied with a volume trader, Got caught in a bad deal

I felt sad for them here, because I could see how they would get caught up in this.  It's a good lesson to hear though.  By allying themselves with a Volume Trader, they became subject to the same price pressure on services that he has.  He agreed to use them if they agreed to a 3 Month Rental, with one month free.  I'm not sure how that could ever work.  If you add the 4th month in, you become hideously expensive.  If you give it away, you're giving up your profit.  I can see doing that once to get the business, but the trap is that if he gets it once, he demands it always.

4.  Used an awkward furniture vendor

This may or may not have been a factor; I just know it's a difference that didn't help them.  My guys - AFR - are so superior to everyone else that I can only imagine what they missed.

5.  Formidable Competition

Yes, me, of course, but I am only one of the assets available around here.  There is a French furniture shop that stages, with all of their yummuy Provencal paraphernalia and a top architecture firm.  Plus, all the "yentas with flair" who believe they have a feel for the business; you know, the girls who used to teach Step Aerobics, but have moved on to Stagin?  My relationships with top dog realtors, my experience and the fact that I was the first here are all strands I strive to make strong bonds, but I'd be fooling myself if I thought I had any edge with legs.  And I've just met Nancy Maurer, whom I can see already is going to be just primo.  Plus, overall in this industry, the best is yet to come.  These girls hadn't realized the league they were trying to compete in.

That's my 2 cents, my friends.  I share it because I think we all need to think through these issues and make conscious decisions knowingly - seeing the whole picture, not just the immediate details.

Juliet Johnson Staging serves the luxury real estate market of Essex and Union County, New Jersey.  Staging NJ homes for sale is the best method of helping sellers appreciate what they have.