Home stagers are run off their feet as vendors try to make their property stand out in a falling market as more properties start to come to market in the traditional spring lift.
Auckland agent David Ding told OneRoof that staging made a big difference in a slower market, but said people should still shop around.
With houses taking an average six to seven weeks, an extra few weeks of staging is usually needed, he said.
“The price is not fixed; the price is negotiable. Talk about the price, if they won’t budge on the price then say can you chuck in one more week for me.”
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Home staging can vary in price from anywhere from several thousand dollars for a basic home staging package for a standard three-bedroom and one-bathroom home to tens of thousands of dollars for a large house.
Ding warned sellers not to “overspend” because a one-bathroom unit on the North Shore selling for around $800,000 would be fine with a $1600 home staging package.
“Put it this way there’s a difference between staging and non-staging, but there’s not much difference between $1000 staging and $5000 staging.”
Another way to save money, he said, is to opt for partial staging because it is not often people can move out. The customer could also ask to see the company’s inventory and should use a firm that is flexible.
Just last week his vendor was unhappy with a pink outdoor chair so the staging company switched it to yellow and when they still weren’t happy, they changed it again. “There’s always something you’re not happy with and it’s good to work with someone that’s happy to put the customer first, not always say no.”
Living Edge Interiors managing director Sharon Laffan said people are realising the importance of using home staging as a way of getting people through the door.
“It’s quite a transformation and we can turn that around within six to seven hours,” she said.
“They’ve got to have good marketing photos to get people into the open homes and if they haven’t presented their property – you know you’ve got to do everything you can in today’s market to get people through the front door and as we know a well-presented home sells.”
Her company is traditionally busier in spring and this year is no exception, she said.
Living Edge Interiors packages include hiring the furniture and furnishings for five weeks with an option of either an enhancement package or full stage, but with houses taking a bit longer to sell people many are now having to extend this on a week-by-week basis. The price varies depending on a range of things including the owner's requirements, the size of the house and even how easy it is to access.
Living Edge Interiors managing director Sharon Laffan: “You’ve got to do everything you can in today’s market.” Photo / Supplied
“It’s a funny market at the moment and houses are staying on the market a lot longer as we know so I just think in general it’s a little bit longer but they are moving.”
There have also been requests for staging smaller spaces such as apartments and townhouses, which Laffan puts this down to the fact that more of these properties are being built as a result of Auckland Council’s infill rules.
Home staging business Ash Road owners Natalie van Peer and Kate Salter say they are the busiest they’ve been in their four years in business and are fielding multiple enquiries a day from homeowners wanting to put their best foot forward before listing their properties, especially in a slower market.
“It’s probably not enough to slap it on and have it sitting on the market. You can add an enormous amount of value through good home staging,” van Peer said.
When the two Grey Lynn friends first got into home staging, many people didn’t see the value in spending thousands of dollars in hiring furniture and décor, but van Peer said agents now recommend it as part of their standard practice to market a property.
“When we first started it was a really hard sell and it was even a really hard sell with the agents and we had feedback that no one is ever going to pay that much for staging. But increasingly they are seeing the value and so agents that we work with, it’s not like it’s not an option, but it’s presented as part of the way that they are going to market the property – those fundamental things you do to sell a house. If you are selling in a certain area of Auckland, you are going to stage it and you are going to stage it well.”
Ash Road home stagers and renovators Natalie van Peer and Kate Salter. Photo / Supplied
And while the winter months have been a bit quieter for the pair, they are now run off their feet despite market data showing fewer properties are selling.
“Our business has been going for four years maybe a bit more, but this is definitely the busiest we’ve been at this time of year, which is probably reflective of a number of things, but we are gearing up for what we think is going to be a rather insane summer period for us.”
The majority of Ash Road’s clients are in and around central Auckland - including Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, Westmere and Ponsonby - where they said home staging is becoming the norm.
And while van Peer acknowledges that it can seem a big outlay for people, she says it is actually “so tiny” when taking into consideration the value of the house.
“We’ve staged so many houses where people have had it on the market for a period of time with their own stuff in it or bad staging and it’s just sat there and sat there and then we get called in because it will change agency or the people just decide actually, we just need to put some more effort in and it’s sort of gone within the five weeks we give them for the campaign timeframe to hire furniture.”
Usually, the homeowners move out - which is their preference - giving van Peer and Salter free reign to make their house beautiful.
They meet a truck at their Newmarket warehouse early in the morning to fill it with their handpicked collection and by lunchtime the property is usually filled with all their furniture and furnishings.
Often the photographer arrives in the afternoon and by the weekend, the property is being featured in the newspaper.
“One of the reasons we got into staging is because we didn’t think staging ever looked really good. So, it sounds really crude, but we basically just buy what we like... The way that we stage and the way that we style is with things that we really love.”
