Staging properties...by myself?

Bex

Bex

Hey everyone

So this is my first attempt at property development. I had intended on paying a professional property staging company but am starting to think that I can probably do this myself. I know I have a good idea when it comes to styling but I'm just wondering:

1) Which is better - rent some furniture or buy some investment pieces?
2) Are there any staging companies that let you just go to their showroom and pick out the pieces you want? That would at least reduce the cost of hiring.

What do you reckon? Do you know of any good companies in Sydney?

BTW my market is high end in Sydney. Thanks in advance :)
 
We have staged properties ourselves a few times. My parents plus my own home held enough "spare" furniture to furnish with bedside tables, lamps, coffee tables and couches, art work, dining room furniture and accessories.

The last time, I bought two nice beds from eBay because nobody wanted to give up their beds. We bought cheap mattresses and used nice linen from our own houses plus my mother bought a new bed set that she used afterwards.

Once the contract was unconditional, I advertised and sold the beds from the house before settlement to avoid bringing them home. (Actually, one of the bed bases was used for one of our sons who upgraded from single to double and we sold the cheap mattress and bought him a better one.)

I know a couple who use the same very high end furniture and decorator items each time, and this is extremely high end. It really produces the "WOW" factor. I'm not sure if they store it or use it themselves between needing it for staging. I do know friends used a professional hire company and I seem to recall it cost them a few thousand for two months whereas we did it (and it looked as good) for nothing.

It does take time, but that suits us as we have "time".
 
It is amazing what you can buy on ebay. Though for a high end, you really should have high end furniture.

Do you need to stage each lot or just do one as a show home?
 
Wow thanks for your responses! Dave, we are just staging the one property at the moment. I agree about the high end furniture. I guess I could try Ebay in the long run but I would have to make sure it was top quality. I've had a scout around some of the online boutique furniture stores and I'm pretty sure I could pick up some beautiful pieces for a reaonable price. But if I invest in these pieces, I wonder if it will end up suiting all types of apartments, if you know what I mean?

Sanj I think you're probably right. Go the professionals the first couple of times and then try and emulate them myself if possible.

Spades, what is virtual furniture?

Wylie thanks for the advice - looks like you've got staging down to a fine art :)
 
Bex said:
Wow thanks for your responses! Dave, we are just staging the one property at the moment. I agree about the high end furniture. I guess I could try Ebay in the long run but I would have to make sure it was top quality. I've had a scout around some of the online boutique furniture stores and I'm pretty sure I could pick up some beautiful pieces for a reaonable price. But if I invest in these pieces, I wonder if it will end up suiting all types of apartments, if you know what I mean?
Click to expand...

One thing you could do is buy the furniture and then rent it out to other small developers for staging between your own developments.
 
I suppose it depends on how much staging costs.

You might be able to reduce the cost by supplying some of your own pieces, ie beds which they stage/dress for you.

But I would definitely see how they do it the first time and how successful that it
 
sanj said:
It's her first development, i think that would end in absolute disaster imo.
Click to expand...

Its all down to numbers. Hire furniture for $4000 a month (like on selling houses australia), or buy furniture for $4000 and sell it at the end for $3000, or rent it out for say $2000 a month. Both to me are a better option than renting furniture and having nothing at the end.

Obviously using your own is best, so long as its high enough quality and suits the development. For example I have nice furniture that was not particularly cheap, but it still wouldn't cut it in a high end development. They are all about huge shag pile rugs and twigs in vases :)
 
DaveMSydney said:
Its all down to numbers. Hire furniture for $4000 a month (like on selling houses australia), or buy furniture for $4000 and sell it at the end for $3000, or rent it out for say $2000 a month. Both to me are a better option than renting furniture and having nothing at the end.

Obviously using your own is best, so long as its high enough quality and suits the development. For example I have nice furniture that was not particularly cheap, but it still wouldn't cut it in a high end development. They are all about huge shag pile rugs and twigs in vases :)
Click to expand...

That is assuming:

a) You can buy the furniture for $4000 (impossible for a high end property imo) if youre talking fully staging the place - bedrooms, living rooms, dining set, artwork etc

b) That you can do as good a job and make as good selections as the professionals

c) That your selections will appeal to other developers and will go very well with their colour schemes and style of home


Far too many assumptions for me and far too many things that could go wrong. Ive used professionals to stage 5 or so properties for sale and everytime ive done the numbers ive thought it is a pretty good business but it requires economies of scale imo. If youre doing quite a few similar developments then maybe but not for a one off.

I'll show you what i mean, have a look at this link. This was a property i sold last year that i had staged, i paid around $3.5k from memory and it included staging 2 bedrooms, living room, TV room, dining room, kitchen, 2 outdoor areas and some minor stuff in the bathrooms as well. http://www.onthehouse.com.au/reports/property_profile/8194619/38_Chapman_Street_PERTH_WA_6000/

Buying everything would have cost significantly more than the cost of renting it and i simply am not doing enough places to justify buying and storing all this stuff. If someone is pumping out quite a few units per year in a similar style then i suppose it would be worth considering.
 
I asked an agent about this virtual furniture. I think it is great for the internet, but the agent's comment was that it is well and good for internet browsing, but people walking into a house after seeing virtual furniture are generally disappointed to see the empty house, which is nothing like it looked on the net.

Virtual furniture on the net doesn't supply the "WOW" that real furniture and/or staging gives.
 
Fair enough wylie....Virtual furniture would be more useful to developers or maybe even a rental prop?
Maybe you could use an app/software for virtual furniture to get an idea on how you'd like your place presented and then go and buy your staged furniture.
 
I did the ebay thing to dress a few of mine.

The key is to get the look you want.

You will want a dining table and chairs that will fit, barstools only if you have a breakfast bar. A lounge (doesn't have to be comfortable, but looks right), lowline tv cabinet and maybe coffee table. Beds to fit the rooms, bedside tables with lamps, or in one room I put a desk/chair with bunk beds.

I gave a quick coat of paint to a few peices to make them look good, but in the end, they were only there to show the size and space in the room in the end, the buyers would be using/buying their own stuff.

In high end, less tends to be more, so I'd do a list up and then do some online price checking before weighing up all your options. I made money of the furniture I bought, and kept a few peices I liked for my own place.....win/win as far as I'm concerned
 
Sanj and Westminster: you know, you're right. I think the best (and safest) option is to go with the professionals, particularly since this is my first time. I'll check out how they do it and see if I can replicate it myself further down the track. I'm going to go with a company that has a good rep and it will cost 5K.

Dave you're so right about the Easties in Sydney loving the shag piles and twigs! :)

And spades that's a great idea - to use the virtual furniture to see how it might look.

Thanks so much for all of yr help - its really helped me to come to a decision and I really appreciate it - ta!!
 
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