The average investment in staging is under $4,000.00. The average price reduction is $10,000. Why not protect your equity in your property with staging instead of throwing it away in a price reduction? At Elizabeth Erin Designs we have over 30 years of combined experience in staging and selling homes. Sometimes we get wrapped up in this business day in and day out that we forget that not everyone knows all the little bits of information that goes into preparing a property for selling. Such as simple phrases/terms/words that we in the industry use regularly. The past couple of blogs I have referred to this phrase, ROI. Simply put, ROI stands for Return On Investment.
In the staging business, we use the term ROI primarily to ask two questions:
- As is, if a homeowner does nothing to improve the property, no staging, no updates, just list as is, how much can they list the property for vs what they paid for the property?
- If a homeowner invests in updates and staging to put the property in a better position in the market, where could they list the home compared to what they paid for the home? Then we can take these two numbers, work with the Realtor to see what makes sense for the homeowner to do to protect as much of their equity as possible.
Return on Investment (ROI) – a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. -Investopedia.com
Let’s take one of our Des Moines staging clients for example to help explain this. Our client first purchased their 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom starter home for $105,000. After three years, ZERO improvements into the property and a couple kids later, they decided that it was time for their family to move. When they first met with their Realtor they discussed a list price of $115,000. They wanted to be able to list their property for top dollar so they reached out to our team to see what they could do.
The homeowners moved out of the property and made the investment of $2,300, so we could work our magic with our signature staging services. After their Realtor did a final walkthrough to see the staging, they agreed that the home showed its true potential and a new listing price of $125,000 was finalized. The photos went live on a Thursday evening and by Friday morning they had three showings. Before end of day Friday they had a bidding war on their hands! They accepted an offer above asking for $127,500.
Why do I share this story with you today? Because it is a great way to explain ROI. When our clients went to go sell their house they had an original price of $115,000 but sold for $127,500. That is a $12,500 increase! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that spending $2,300 gave our clients a $10,200 profit!
Numbers don’t lie. If I told you to give me $50 today and I would double your money and give you $100 in a week, would you do it? Of course! Why not? It’s free money! So why wouldn’t you take that investment with your property? As I mentioned last time, staging is an investment! Our signature home staging highlights the best features of the property and highlights them to their full potential so that buyers want to invest their time to come and view the property. The move views, the higher the probability you will get offers!
Love hearing about the ins and outs of all things home staging? Check out past Katie’s Corner blogs like How To Successfully Sell Your Home or Top 7 Tips To Sell Your House For Top Dollar. Whether you are a realtor/investor or builder that wants to know more about how our signature home staging services can showcase your property or a home owner that wants to protect as much equity in your home as possible, we can assist you! Reach out! Don’t let your hard earned money go to waste. Call us at 515-986-1895 or email at office@ElizabethErinDesigns.com. Want to talk with me specifically? Just ask for Katie. We can’t wait to come up with a personalized plan to protect your investment! Until next time!