Home Staging Blog by Jennie Norris

Just got a call from a colleague on my team - and she completed a staging job on a vacant apartment that was modeled for the builder.  She put the rental furniture in her name, and has all her other stuff in the house.  Fee was about $2,000 for the Staging.  Seller/Builder gave her a check.  Guess what?  Doingggg!  The check bounced!  So now what?  The guy has not returned her calls and she called me for advice. 

First - I call this situation "Being Guido."  When we are Guido, we are bill collectors.  And "Being Guido" is not fun at all.  Guido takes our focus off of Staging which is our passion and love.  Being Guido means you and I "hope" the clent is ethical and will pay, and pay on time.  Collecting for ongoing rental in Guido mode is time consuming and frustrating.  People get distracted, our invoices are not a priority, and we wait for payment instead of running our Staging companies like a business.

What I have advised ANY Stager I teach or work with is to get a MERCHANT account.  This puts Guido away and puts us in charge of the process.  With a merchant account, we can take debit or credit cards.  Pay Pal is merely Guido via email - you and I are still not in control of the actual processing of the card.  So even if the person says, "Oh I don't like using credit cards or I don't have a credit card" - they have a checking account which means they have a debit card.  So, no more paper payment.  Debit cards work just like credit cards.  When it's a small amount and a 1-time fee, then I will take a check.  When I work with Realtors, I know where they work, and have recourse to go after their office, or license if it got bad.  But, when it's a seller or builder, good luck. They can hide, they can avoid.  Your next move is a lien or small claims court.  Those are costly if not in actual $$ in time and focus.  That is why being in control with a Merchant Account gives peace of mind.  If the money is not in the bank or on the credit account when you process the payment, you don't stage the house! And since the merchant account process takes up to 72 hours average to plop the $$ in your business account, we run the payment 1-2 days prior to our jobs, to make sure the funds are good.  My clients have not had any issues with this process.

Anyone else have "Being Guido" stories?  I hope that if you read this and do not have your business set up to accept credit cards, you get this set up.  One bad experience where you are left holding the bag is all it takes to set us back financially.  Don't be Guido.  Check with your bank to see what their merchant options are.  It's so easy to set up and gives us total peace of mind.

- Jennie

The Newsweek Issue with Don Imus on the cover has a feature on Home Staging!  NATIONAL feature - yeah!  It features Barb Schwarz, Creator of Home Staging, and has some good basic tips for Sellers.  Staging is the rage! - Jennie

I was reminded two weeks ago about why it is so vital that we all have insurance to protect ourselves and our "stuff" while it might be in a vacant or occupied home.  I staged a $1.6 Million 4500 square foot vacant house - looked great - and the Seller, Builder, Lender and Realtor were thrilled.  That was 2 months ago.  Then we had Spring Break.  Kids had too much time on their hands or something - because the house was broken into.  It was obvious that it was kids - probably teenagers - that did the breaking in - they were not interested in stealing any of the good furniture or decor (thank goodness!).  They did take all our candles (?), some decorative items, chenille throws, and drank our prop-alchohol.  Then they proceeded to mess the place up - they threw pretzels we had as props in the pantry, ate our popcorn, cooked the "faux" oatmeal in our prop dishes (it was like glue - with blue fuzzy mold by the time I got there to the house).  They jumped on the bed, moved our furnishings around for "fun" and just basically messed with the house.  Unfortunately for them, because they stole things, it's not just a minor incident, and the Sheriff got a good set of prints off my silver tray that housed our crystal decanter (also gone). 

I learned two things.  First, I don't think I am going to put real alchohol in houses anymore - not wine bottles or in this case, it was our Martini Mix and props.  Too risky if someone DID drink it and then go off and drive and injure themselves or others. After hearing in one of my classes how a Stager put a candle in a house as a prop, left and a Realtor showing the house lit it - forgot to blow it out - and half the house burned - and the STAGER was held responsible (!!), I don't want that risk.  (Note:  De-wick your candles that you put in houses - then they can't be lit.  Even writing not to light them in your contracts or agreements is not good enough).

Second, I DO have coverage for ALL my stuff sitting in houses.  Years ago when I first started Staging, insurance companies did not offer this type of coverage for our stuff in vacant houses or in transit to jobs. Now they do.  Fortunately, the loss is minimal for my situation, but it still takes time to have to clean items, and replace those things that were taken.  One item in particular had gone to the "Big show" for the first time - and it's gone.  Sigh.

What you need to know is that a good policy that gives you liability coverage AND insures your stuff should cost about $500-$600 per year. Many realtors and homeowners are now requiring that Stagers show proof of insurance.  If you work with Builders, they definitely need proof.  Your own insurance carrier for your house or auto may be able to write a policy, but if they are scratching their heads and saying, "What is Home Staging exactly?" go to someone that DOES know.  If you want a recommendation, I can give you name, but this blog was not intended to promote a company - I just wanted to share what I learned from a recent experience that could have been much worse, but overall, no one likes to have their stuff stolen - even a little amount.

Happy INSURED Staging!! - Jennie