Will Home Stager's Statistics Bust Your NUTS?

By now you have all read the glowing stories and/or watched the captivating HGTV shows that triumphantly boast: "SOLD in one day after home staging!" "Multiple offerings after home staging!" "SOLD at first open house right after staging!" Yet even after all these great staging experiences have been reported in mainstream media, there still is apprehension by Home Sellers and the Realtor community to tap in to and use staging solutions that help sell homes… especially in this slower market.

Now don't get me wrong, there are those of you who have been "early adaptors" of home staging services. But in general, Stagers still experience quite a bit of resistance and reluctance by both Realtors and Sellers alike. Stagers have learned that their nut of concern, which needs be busted into, is the fact that there are no national, independent and verifiable statistics that back up claims of staging effectiveness.

While some individual stagers do keep their own personal statistic, there are NO comprehensive and consistently tracked national data to back stagers up. So, unfortunately. all we end up having too offer, are the tales of all the wonderful experience our clients have had… but this never seems to be enough. Our clients are asking for and need more data.

Up until now, the primary reason there are no NATIONAL real estate staging statistics is due to the fact that within the home staging industry there has been no autonomous body independent of the competitive foundation training organizations to capture statistical data . But this is all going to change... thanks in part to a group of stagers of Stage It Forward and their new Quarterly Qwik Staging Stats program.

Stage It Forward (SIF), an independent group of over 1200 stagers, are now going to regularly track staging stats. Once gathered and tabulated, the home staging industry will finally and continually collect the data needed to convince home sellers and Realtors that staging is an effective marketing strategy on both the national and state levels.

Besides finally having statistics, there is another benefit to SIF stagers joining together… that benefit is it starts industry standardization! Just as there are different types of automobiles (sub-compact, economy, intermediate etc...), most Realtors and Home Sellers do not realize that there are actually 5 different “types” of home staging. Being able to track statistical effectiveness about each staging type will help Realtors and sellers understand and choose from the best staging solution.

Additional benefits from standardizing staging industry data include:

• Real estate market fluctuations as they relate to staging will be captured and reported.
• State and national statistics will be compiled.
• Standard fee ranges for standardized service types will be reported.
• SIF’s Data gathering process will create an audit trail.

SIF realize there is MORE that needs to be done, but this definitely is a good start. SIF has stated over and over that it is best that our industry CRAWLS before it walks applying slow and steady pressure will surly help the industry bust open the statistic nut.

Staging It Forward...
Me