Setting the stage

Home staging professionals have some words of advice for people wanting to sell their homes fast and for top dollar: Stow the junk.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with autographed baseballs, collectible tea kettles and Uncle Earl’s antique eyeglass collection. But experts in the home staging business say the very possessions that make a place feel like home can be a major distraction – or even a turnoff – to potential homebuyers.

“The goal of staging a home is to de-personalize it so it becomes a marketable item. The house is going to show better, and it’s going to sell better,” said Kathy Bryant, a local Realtor who offers free home staging services for her clients.

Bryant works for Keller Williams Realty, which is among a growing number of real estate companies using home staging to gain an edge in a competitive real estate market. The goal is to make a first great impression so houses sell for top-dollar and in a shorter period of time.

Home stagers give advice on which books and artwork to prominently display or box up and store. They offer suggestions for de-cluttering closets and cupboards and making repairs, replacements and cosmetic changes that cost little but make a big difference. Stagers rearrange furniture and accessories, bring in loaner items and do the legwork to create a more marketable house.

The result, professionals say, is that potential buyers notice the features of the house instead of the furnishings.

Sula Potter of Windermere Real Estate Palouse recently took a two-day accredited home staging course in Seattle, so she can offer free home staging for her clients. Although she hasn’t staged a home, the Realtor felt the class was a worthwhile investment.

“The main thing they are doing is optimizing the appearance of a house that is for sale,” Potter said.

The course was taught by Barb Schwarz, the Seattle-based Realtor who, in the 1970s, came up with a way to make friendly suggestions for improving the salability of her clients’ property and dubbed the service “home staging.”

Since then, she has written two books devoted solely to home staging, formed an international staging association and taught one million professionals through seminars and classes. But, it has just been in the last year that’s she has earned widespread acclaim as staging gained ground as an accepted real estate practice.

In the past couple of years, Schwarz, who headquarters her business in Seattle, has appeared on national shows, including 20/20 and the Today show.

Schwarz estimated that she has staged 5,000 homes – some without the homeowners spending an additional cent. The key, she said, is creativity.

When owners do need to invest money, she said it boils down to far less than the price reductions of five to 10 percent that occur when sellers are eager to move a house that lingers on the market.

She tells clients and students to stand in the doorway of each room because that’s where people get their initial impressions. If they like what they see, they’ll enter the room, spend more time and maybe make an offer.

“Nobody is going to buy a house until they imagine their own things in the house,” Schwarz said.

Local Realtor Justin Hocking of Tomlinson Black South hires Designology, a Spokane-based company, to stage some of his clients’ homes. As the market becomes more competitive, he explained, it can take longer to sell houses, making staging even more valuable.

“It can make the difference between whether it’s going to sell or not,” Hocking said.

Angela Voss started Designology in 2004. Her clients are a mix of real estate professionals and homeowners – some who hire her to set up a newly purchased house.

Voss charges $249 for a half-day and up to $449 for a full day and will handle everything from planning to rearranging furniture. People with vacant homes get the service with loaned furnishings for $1,000 to $1,200 for four weeks.

“It’s a lot different than interior design because I’m trying to stage the house for a universal look,” said Voss, who has set up homes priced from $100,000 to $1 million.

Demand for her services has increased in the past year as the number of residential listings in the area has risen and Spokane has shifted from a red-hot market to a market where buyers have more choices. Business has been so brisk that Voss recently invested more than $15,000 in home accessories.

When she talks to homeowners about changes they need to make, Voss jokingly tells them about five things that don’t meld with potential buyers: Family photos, religious items, military supplies, odd animal collectibles (i.e. cows) and artwork featuring nudes.

“You wouldn’t believe how many nudes I come across,” Voss said.

But selling time depends on more than appearances. Voss worked on one place in the morning and it sold to the first people through that afternoon. However, she said, other key factors include asking price, time of the year and the skill of the real estate agent.

Jill Treacy of Richard-Treacy Real Estate started offering staging 10 years ago as a means to help clients ready their homes for sale. Today the real estate group receives so many requests for the service that they plan to open a second company devoted solely to home staging. The business would continue providing free staging to clients of Richard-Treacy Real Estate, but would add a paid service for other clients.

Benefits of the service, is a faster selling time and a higher selling price, Treacy said, adding, “We’re selling average houses just like everyone else. It’s just that ours are selling faster.”

The team owns five storage units full of furnishings, which are loaned to clients who need to fill a home or condo.

She recently outfitted condos on Coeur d’Alene Park with tasteful, yet simple, furnishings that created casual living room seating and an inviting dining area that accentuated the condo’s wood floors and view of the park.

Advice to clients varies, Treacy said, explaining that it “could be as simple as some paint and a trip to the dollar store.”

Bryant said it’s helpful for homeowners to have stagers review their property before shelling out money for improvements. Sometimes people think they need to make expensive changes, when a few minor updates, like new knobs and pulls on the kitchen cabinetry would suffice.

About 10 times a year, Design Works Inc. is hired to create a top-to-bottom look for a home. It goes beyond the traditional definition of staging to include furniture that’s actually purchased to compliment a specific house.

Design Works’ owner Don Manfred said the Spokane Valley-based firm designed two places that sold with everything included. One home, in Black Rock, an exclusive golf course community on Lake Coeur d’Alene, sold for more than $1.2 million.

“We figured it right down to the towels,” Manfred said, “and they came in and bought the whole thing.”