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Home Staging Anyone
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Credit checking and requiring a deposit up front is ideal. You could take a credit card as security.
I would recommend seeking out an attorney and see how the property mechanics leins work in your county/state. If you can place a lein on the property you should get paid out of closing. Pending bankrupcies and situation where there is more owed than made on the deal would leave you high and dry. The few staging situations that i have seen get paid up front.
Credit checking and requiring a deposit up front is ideal. You could take a credit card as security.
I would recommend seeking out an attorney and see how the property mechanics leins work in your county/state. If you can place a lein on the property you should get paid out of closing. Pending bankrupcies and situation where there is more owed than made on the deal would leave you high and dry. The few staging situations that i have seen get paid up front.
OhhBoy,
I could not disagree with you more. I cannot think of a more perfect way to destroy an opportunity than by telling the potential customer that "we need to run a credit check on you to make sure you`ll be able to pay us"
Furthermore, filing a lein on a property is a lot of trouble to go through for anything less than a couple of thousand of dollars and often leads to a counter attack and opens you up to a smear campaign against your company.
If you offer a service of any kind. You absolutely must be prepared to deal with the occasional slow pay or no pay in this manner; Bite your upper lip, whisper quietly to yourself, and move on. Continue to make calls for payment and be a consistent thorn in their side, offer them payment options and as a purely last resort, if the outstanding payment warrants it, send it to "collections" I feel that you would be far better served to train yourself to spot these customers in advance. With time you`ll see them coming a mile away and avoid them.
Gerri,
I really feel that you have almost all of the pieces in place to start off strongly. Nice job. You have received a lot of solid advice here and you will continue to get good ideas, but sometimes you`ll get a bad one. My opinion is that Ohhboy, was way off on this. I understand that he was looking out for your best interest but perhaps after reading this he will reconsider what the consequenses are for employing such a tactic.
I am also a strong advocate of staging. For my own home I was able to exploit the previous owners inability to stage by picking up a property that just wouldn`t sell and ended up incredibly undervalued. Like yourself, I could see the potential behind the first impression and moved on it.
Best of luck in your endeavor! I think it`s very rewarding what you do. ....
Oh..I almost forgot to mention.....I had a similar idea years ago to offer such a service to homesellers but my plan was to increase their sale price dramatically or cut their sale time dramatically then cash in on a percentage of the difference. No results, no obligation to pay. A bit crazy but it definitely says "this is how much I believe this will help you.....if it doesn`t work, it`s free!"
~Eric
OhhBoy,
I could not disagree with you more. I cannot think of a more perfect way to destroy an opportunity than by telling the potential customer that "we need to run a credit check on you to make sure you`ll be able to pay us"
Furthermore, filing a lein on a property is a lot of trouble to go through for anything less than a couple of thousand of dollars and often leads to a counter attack and opens you up to a smear campaign against your company.
If you offer a service of any kind. You absolutely must be prepared to deal with the occasional slow pay or no pay in this manner; Bite your upper lip, whisper quietly to yourself, and move on. Continue to make calls for payment and be a consistent thorn in their side, offer them payment options and as a purely last resort, if the outstanding payment warrants it, send it to "collections" I feel that you would be far better served to train yourself to spot these customers in advance. With time you`ll see them coming a mile away and avoid them.
Gerri,
I really feel that you have almost all of the pieces in place to start off strongly. Nice job. You have received a lot of solid advice here and you will continue to get good ideas, but sometimes you`ll get a bad one. My opinion is that Ohhboy, was way off on this. I understand that he was looking out for your best interest but perhaps after reading this he will reconsider what the consequenses are for employing such a tactic.
I am also a strong advocate of staging. For my own home I was able to exploit the previous owners inability to stage by picking up a property that just wouldn`t sell and ended up incredibly undervalued. Like yourself, I could see the potential behind the first impression and moved on it.
Best of luck in your endeavor! I think it`s very rewarding what you do. ....
Oh..I almost forgot to mention.....I had a similar idea years ago to offer such a service to homesellers but my plan was to increase their sale price dramatically or cut their sale time dramatically then cash in on a percentage of the difference. No results, no obligation to pay. A bit crazy but it definitely says "this is how much I believe this will help you.....if it doesn`t work, it`s free!"
~Eric
Gerri-
This is very good advice! I appreciate your clear and concise reccomendation.
Thank you,
Gerri
Thank you for clarifying the point. Staging is a different animal....I like the way you put that. Ohhboy, brings up some valid points. It`s busy when people are selling a property or home. Individuals can become overwhelmed with what is before them. Some people are just thieves and will attempt to avoid a bill if given an opportunity. I agree also on this- Protect yourself with a solid contract. It will be enforceable in court if you need to take that route as Ohhboy mentioned.
Stager,
I`m very sorry to have gotten you caught up in this little debate. If you will please bear with me, I`m going to ramble on here (once again) for just a moment longer directed mostly to Ohhboy in regards to the necessity for credit checks and property liens.
I am emphasising this: It is not wise to "spell out" that you are going to wreak havoc on your potential clients lives if they ever fail to pay. Don`t place in large bold print that a lien that is sure to follow if not paid within X days of closing. And unless you are faced with an unusual situation that you believe calls for such a move do NOT run a credit check on your client. If you truly feel that you need to run a credit check on a potential client then you are already taking a big risk by taking the job.
As Ohhboy mentioned, the actual fee for filing a lien is not expensive considering what it can do for you. It may collect your bill . What else will it do though? Upon closing, all those present- real estate agents, lawyers, possibly accountants, certainly the people you want to impress, and buyers of all kinds who know who-knows-who?- will be made all too aware of who it was that filed the lien, what it was for, and then possibly the argument for why it wasn`t paid, who`s responsible and the question will often remain for all parties, right or wrong, "did they do such a bad job that they didn`t get paid?" Isn`t that then exactly what the sellers would argue? I`ll add that it`s their right as upheld by the other end of a good contract and if there is but a hint of truth then you can look forward to arbitration. Either way, at that point somebody will have to pay. It`s a negative experience forever associated with your good business name. I ask, how much would one pay to avoid that scenario?
Ohhboy, please understand that this is not an attack on your way of doing business. If that works for you, that`s great, you`re taking control, you found your weakness which was apparantly was dealing with a large enough percentage of unreliable clients that it seriously affected your bottom line. My argument here is that for Stager, credit checks and liens are inadvisable unless getting paid becomes an inevitable and persistent problem as it was with you. Can we agree on that?
Again, my apologies and thanks to those who take the time to endure my oft long-winded outbursts. I do appreciate your patience.
No apologies necessary. I am learning quite a bit through this rigorous debate and would not have had the insight or experience to bring up most of these points! It`s ideas like these that stimulate action or non action when it comes to putting all the pieces together. Thank you for the insight.
Gerri
Good ideas.
Gerri
As a good rule of business, written agreements are the best agreements...especially when money is involved. Regardless of what billing option, collection option, etc. you choose it is always wise to seek an attorney`s advice.
Just out of curiosity, have you checked with the organization where you obtained your accrediation to see if they have a generic contract that you and your attorney could review? If not, is there one on the web or www.microsoft.com</A> `s templates for small business owners? If so, then you might be able to have an attorney tell you what modifications, if any, are necessary to make the contract legally binding (including collection methods/options). Then again, your attorney could always draft a contract specific to your services and have it applicable to your area`s local, state and federal laws.
I have close relationships with a couple of very large real estate companies. I called my contact at one & asked how this was most commonly handled with their agents/clients. Usually through escrow, just as Michele suggested.
I do have a suggestion for you to get in front of realtors & to have a close working relationship with them. This is one of the first things we did when we started our business. Many real estate companies have a "preferred vendor program", or a "concierge dept" as Coldwell Banker does. You can usually join for a reasonable fee & they will market your business to their agents and clients. So often real estate companies have "closed offices" and will not allow outside vendors to come in to market, so this is a great way to get your foot in the door. The ones we have dealt with allow us to come in to their sales meetings to speak, invite us to company events, and really treat us like we`re a member of their "realtor family".
To research your states and local realtor associations or your area`s multiple listing services (MLS) try the following website: http://www.realtor.org/leadrshp.nsf/?OpenDatabase</A>
Thanks for the good advice. I thought seeking out builders would be a good avenue as well until I was offered the opportunity to do a new display home. I quickly learned that my outlay of expenses to furnish the home with high end furniture would set me back. Renting wasn`t an option because many displays are set up for 6-10 months.So the expense of renting would have exceeded the cost of purchasing. I even approached local furniture stores to see if they would consider letting me use their merchandise with small signs tastefully placed around mentioning their business...but there was no interest because they couldn`t turn around and sell it as new once it was returned to the store. This may be something I can consider once I have a warehouse of furniture, but for now, I can`t bear the expense of furnishing a complete house.My existing inventory (remember I`m still a baby in this business)is somewhat limited and I supplement furnishing by renting. This cuts into my profits and requires additional time for project management (being there for pick up and delivery).
You have contributed several good suggestions. I appreciate that. Let those creative wheels keep turning and by all means, let me know if you can think me out of this box!
Thanks,
Gerri
Have you spoken to furniture manufactuers or just furniture stores? The reason I ask is because you might have more purchasing power if you purchase direct from the manufacture v. a furniture store. Besides it never hurts to inquire, after all the worse that can happen is they say no.
If they say no, then what about garage sales, your local newspaper classifieds, furniture re-upholstrey vendors, pawn shops, and/or recycled/refurbish type vendors. Another idea is to contact your local storage vendors and ask how often they auction unpaid/unclaimed storage items.
Here is a link to an article on refurbished furniture: 01,HGTV_3132_1380387,00.html
Here is a link to the Cheapskate Monthly website. If you subscribe to the newsletter then you will receive a wealth of tips on how to shop economically savy and within budget: http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/</A>