New business idea....Property Staging

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by JessicaP, 18th Feb, 2016.

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  1. JessicaP

    JessicaP Well-Known Member

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    Hi PC brains trust. Just thinking about some new business ventures if we do decide to go ahead and sell the landscaping business.

    What do you all think about property staging? It seems to be gaining popularity and it would be right up our alley. I've been thinking that we could even take it further and offer very basic cosmetic touch ups to help get a better price (painting/flooring/basic outdoor tidy up etc). We could manage the whole sales campaign with indoor and outdoor cleaning up and staging.

    Eventually want to manage full renos for other people, even managing house moves - we could do a really beautiful house completely move in ready which is not something offered at the moment. We could even source houses for people - like a BA (down the track, I'm getting carried away....)

    Would you/have you ever used a property staging company?
     
    JessicaP, 18th Feb, 2016
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  2. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    We've used them several times. I always think "no way would I want to be carting that furniture in and out, all the other things, beds to be made, lamps, prints, dining tables and chairs".

    Of course, you could hire people to do the grunt work, but that costs money too.

    Then you have to have a stock of different styles of furniture.

    I would see if you get a job with a staging company to see the ins and outs. This would not be a cheap business to start up I imagine.
     
    wylie, 18th Feb, 2016
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  3. JessicaP

    JessicaP Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking about seeing if I could work with another company to see how it all worked.

    Is work experience still a thing when you're not in school anymore :p

    Someone I know got a property stylist to do their house and they said the company hired the furniture themselves.....that could be an option to keep start up costs low.

    And the heavy lifting stuff isn't a problem - would be a holiday after the landscaping!
     
    JessicaP, 18th Feb, 2016
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  4. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Getting a job (or even offering to work for free?) would be a good way to see how things work. Hiring the furniture isn't something I'd thought about, but that would lessen the costs.

    The most recent job we had was five bedrooms, all dressed beautifully with all the trimmings, dining table, chairs, sofas, tv console, fake tv, two outdoor settings, bathroom accessories, kitchen accessories and knick-knacks for a five bedroom house and it was about $4.5k (maybe $4.7K?).

    That is for four weeks, but they all throw in a free two weeks, so six weeks in total. It took a large truck, two (maybe three?) large men to cart it all up the stairs and remove it all, and a couple of women dressing the rooms. It took several hours and would take the same to pack it all up.

    I wonder if you could find someone willing to share some details so you could cost this up?
     
    wylie, 18th Feb, 2016
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  5. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    If you did find a mentor for a property staging business, would that make them a stage coach?
     
    geoffw, 18th Feb, 2016
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  6. Vultures

    Vultures Well-Known Member

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    I guess it depends on how seriously you want to make it - one of the local agents here in Hobart told me of a guy who does staging but the low-end variety. He only charges $1500 or so for a month but he sources the furniture cheaply, looks for new or near new stuff from Gumtree or garage sales etc. I don't think he does any of the "trimmings", just the bigger items to fill the place up a bit. I haven't seen it myself, but I would imagine he doesn't just plonk a random Gumtree assortment in peoples houses! He probably buys whole sets and coordinates somewhat. Anyway, decent side income for him :)
     
    Vultures, 18th Feb, 2016
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  7. JessicaP

    JessicaP Well-Known Member

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    It wouldn't be that serious - just a side business while we build the main income.
     
    JessicaP, 18th Feb, 2016
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  8. Lizzie

    Lizzie Well-Known Member

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    Did a Cherie Barber (free) intro course the other night and she's very big on staging ... showing examples of bare room/staged room.
    I know staging/styling is very important - and do it in all my houses already - but there is a demand for those who don't have the ability. She reckons around $5,000 is the going rate for 8 weeks - and only for the main rooms ... and staging does increase the sale price as people tend to buy "the dream" rather than the bare room.
    I'd like to go into styling using the clients own furniture with a few soft furnishing additions
     
    Lizzie, 26th Feb, 2016
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  9. Lizzie

    Lizzie Well-Known Member

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    p.s. If you get a chance to do the freebie Cherie Barber 2-3 hour thingy ... very well worth it. Over two hours of talking about renovating on a budget, with heaps of examples and explanations of what she did and how, for those who already have an inkling of what this reno gig is all about - and barely 10 minutes promoting her paid course and workshops at the end.
     
    Lizzie, 26th Feb, 2016
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  10. JessicaP

    JessicaP Well-Known Member

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    Great, thanks for the heads up Lizzie - will definitely look into the Cherie Barber talks, sounds like the area we are going into.

    I would much prefer to stage an empty house than try to work with someones stuff - just did a (free) trial run on a place my sister is selling - so much fun! We hired the big stuff and used some of our own soft furnishings (with a bit of stuff from the cheapy shop). Came up beautifully. Got some lovely photos so if we go ahead we can put our own work on a website straight away. Will keep you all posted :D
     
    JessicaP, 26th Feb, 2016
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