Realtor FAQs

Q. The market is HOT right now. Why should I bother staging my listings?
A. Because no matter the market, your goal as a Realtor is for your listing to sell as fast as possible for as much money as possible. Staging helps to make that a reality because people don’t have to imagine how the space could best be utilized.

Q. What types of stagings do you do?
A. We do two types of home stagings: vacant and occupied with the most common being an occupied property. We call the occupied stagings, refreshes.

During a refresh, we work with the sellers to optimize their current furniture and decor and provide some supplementation (either furniture or decor or both) to make their house as shiny and sparkly as possible.

Q. My client would like to stage just a few rooms, like the living room and the master bedroom. Is that possible?
A. We believe that for a home staging to have maximum efficacy, it needs to give the buyer an immersive experience. This means we will only stage entire properties, not a few rooms.

Q. I’m new to real estate and I’ve heard that staging can be prohibitively expensive. Is that true?
A. We do everything in our power to minimize the cost of staging. Also, if you are reading this, you were referred directly to us which means that your client does not need to pay the cost of the staging upfront.

The costs will either:

1) Come out of the seller proceeds and be paid at closing or within 90 days, whichever comes first.
2) You've included the staging cost in your listing commission and we will bill you after the property closes.


Q. I want to manage my client’s expectations. Can you give me a ballpark estimate for a vacant staging?
A. These are ballpark ranges, we can provide a more precise estimate once we view the property.

A vacant staging for a property up to 1500 square foot property is usually around $1995.00. A 2000+ square foot house is around $2700.00. A 3000+ square foot property would be about $3995.00 and up. There are no upfront costs to your client, all costs are paid at closing. These are ballpark ranges, we can provide a more precise estimate once we view the property.

Remember, there are ZERO upfront costs to you or your client, all costs are paid at or after closing. The seller pays the staging costs out of their closing proceeds via the title company.

Q. What about an occupied property?
A. The cost of a re-arranging staging which we call a refresh varies based on how much time we have to invest and whether or not we are bringing supplemental furniture or just decor. Our lowest price for a re-arranging is $695 and they usually max out around $1495 but again, they are very property dependent.
The best thing to do is to set up a consultation so we can make an assessment.

Q. Is there a cost for the consultation?
A. Yes, the consultation cost is $249.00 and usually the agent pays for it after the closing. We strongly recommend that you only order a consultation for a property where you already have a signed listing agreement in place. A consultation usually requires an hour-long visit to the property and then 2-3 hours afterwards for a member of our team to compile the notes, pictures and suggestions into a PDF.

Q. How do I pay for the consultation?
A. We will send you a Square or PayPal invoice the day after the closing. It can be paid with all major credit cards or via ACH, whatever you prefer.

Q. How does the process work for a re-arranging/refresh?
A. We will set up a time to come view the property, usually an evening during the week. The process takes about an hour. We will walk through the property and take pictures and a video.

Within 48 hours, we will email you a PDF with pictures and a list of recommendations and suggestions to make the property as appealing as possible. There will be tasks for the seller to complete as well as things that we can do if we stage the property.

Q. How does the process work for a vacant staging?
A. For a vacant staging, there usually isn’t a need to create a written write up unless the agent needs us to pass along some unpleasant truths to the seller. For a vacant staging, we provide a written estimate that the seller needs to sign off on to move forward.

Q. How much time is required for each type of staging?
A. A re-arranging usually takes two weekday evenings (3-4 hours each night). A vacant staging requires at least two full weekend days. We do not currently have any daytime availability for stagings.

Q. How much lead time do you need for a staging?
A. As much as possible, our schedule changes rapidly. If we can fit you in, we will though!

Q. When do you de-stage the property?
A. We usually wait until all of the contingencies have been removed before removing the staging as we don’t want to risk de-staging the property too soon.

Q. Do you have a place where I can view previous stagings?
A. Absolutely, please check out our website at www.comelivedwell.com. We update it semi-occasionally. :)

Q. Will you coordinate with my client directly?
A. Usually yes, but it’s all about your comfort level. If you prefer to be the intermediary, we are totally fine with that.

Q. I have a few more questions that weren’t answered in this document, how do I get in touch?
A. Email is the absolute best way to reach us so please email help@comelivedwell.com with any outstanding questions.

All the best,

The Live Dwell Team