The Palouse's Real Estate Corner

Written by my Assistant Jennifer Line

    Throughout the real estate industry, home staging is becoming the norm to help buyers visualize the true potential of a home and create an emotional attachment and memory that will last throughout the home search.  In an increasingly competitive market, staging should be considered in order to make a home standout in the crowd.

“All the staging in the world can’t sell an over-priced home, but it sure can sell a home quickly and for more money, even in a buyer’s market,” said Kris Finch, regional Realtor and Accredited Staging Professional.

Originally adopted on the West Coast more than a decade ago, home staging essentially means redecorating your home so that it will appeal to the largest number of potential buyers. And while you can do it yourself, you can also call in a stager who can see your home with fresh eyes.

The perks to hiring a professional home stager?  A professional home stager will be able to highlight the home's best features for the potential buyers. In addition, professional home staging will demonstrate livable solutions for floor plan negatives and awkward spaces. According to a study by stagedhomes.com, a website dedicated to all things staging, staged homes stayed on the market for 80 percent less time (35 days) that un-staged houses did (175 days) in today’s market.

                Stagers advise that the first thing to do when selling your home is to declutter it by removing as many unnecessary items from the home as possible. The "50 Percent Rule" requires that you eliminate the clutter in your home by at least half.  This may be the hardest rule of all. We love our clutter - it reflects our memories, hobbies, and values.  But it doesn't sell homes!  Clutter makes homes seem smaller and disorganized.  Knickknacks on the mantle piece, boxes piled in closets, the accumulation of daily living that lands on the kitchen counters - out it goes.  Remove excess furniture and accessories, wall décor, plants, toys, papers, books, magazines and clothes. Clear off furniture surfaces, coffee tables, dressers and nightstands.

                The next step is to remove everything in your home that marks it as yours - the pictures of your family, the kids' paintings on the fridge, and any political or religious items. Buying a home is an emotional decision, and you want potential buyers to make an emotional connection with your home by being able to "see" themselves in it.

Stagers also suggest neutralizing your house. It’s a fact that neutral colors sell. What you want to do is try to convey an image of quality and neutrality throughout your home.  Potential buyers walking through your home want to imagine themselves as the owners.  If you use styles or colors they would never select, you've just turned them off.  Staying high-quality, but neutral is safest.

Finch suggests looking at your wall colors. “If it is a basement and there is dated dark paneling, consider painting it,” she said. “Basements need warmth and stark white or blues will often make them look cold, instead try a lighter shade of a warmer color. Combine that with opening up drapes or removing them entirely and you may have a whole new look and feel to your basement.”

One of the easiest things to do when staging is to brighten up your house. There are plenty of ways to bring more light into the room, start by uncovering the windows. Open the blinds and curtains and let the natural light shine through. “Remove the layers of old-fashioned draperies, cheap plastic blinds and dated floral valances,” said Finch. “I am always amazed at the affect of natural light on buyers when they walk through a home.  If sellers take the time to open up blinds and turn on lights they will have a much easier time showing their homes’ attributes to potential buyers.” If natural light doesn't reach a room, it is suggested to add floor lamps and table lamps.

 Nursery Before Staging

Another thing to do when staging your home is to limit room function even if you had multiple purposes for a room.  For example, a dining room should look like a dining room. If you had a desk stuck in the corner for extra workspace, move that desk out. If the family room also served as hobby center, clear that stuff out. Each room must be instantly identifiable so the buyer is not confused about purpose of room. 

                                   Nursery After Staging

    One of the most important steps in staging your home to sell it is cleaning. “Staging works.  If you can smell it, you can’t sell it,” said Finch. “You need to neutralize the home. No pet, smoking or cooking odors.”  Baking cookies the day of a showing is great, but definitely not worth the risk of burning a batch of them.

Your home must sparkle! There is no bigger turn-off to a potential buyer than the odors of someone else's life, smudges on the wall from someone else's kids, stains on the carpet from someone else's pets. Most stagers recommend hiring a cleaning crew to achieve the appropriate level of cleanliness and suggest you have the crew return regularly when your home is on the market.

Not only does the inside of the house need to look great, but so does the outside of the home. A lot of decisions are made even before the buyer gets to the front door. You need to make sure the outside appearance is spotless so that they look at it and think "this home looks nice and well kept." It's all these little images - the paint, the door mat, the lawn- that are hitting them all at once, and you're trying to shape that with home staging.

Front Porch Before Staging

Front Porch After Staging 

If you have any questions regarding home staging contact Kris Finch at 509.432.1238 or by email at finch@windermere.com. For examples of before and after pictures see Finch’s work at stagedhomes.com.

I used to pride myself in being called a great house hunter by my clients. I’d listen intently to their needs and their wants.  I’d try to bring husband&wife and sometimes husband, wife, mom & dad/mother-in-law/father-in-law into consensus on what they need, what it could cost, and couldn’t cost.  I am always so proud when I make the urgent call to my client and say, “I’ve found it!” and even more proud when they love it too and write up the offer. 

In the last several months I have had to hone some new hunting skills.  It seems that my new title might be headhunter, rather than house  hunter.  As the economy strained, more and more buyers called wanting to move to the area but could only make it work if their spouse could land a job also, or if they could just find a job here they could move here and get out of the rat race of Seattle, Boise, or some other metropolitan area.  Now my buyers are giving me resumes to pass out to my connections at Schweitzer, WSU&UI (not that the latter two can help much right now).  I forward them more jobs and fewer houses to look at and try to match potential employers with potential employees so that eventually I can get back to what I am best at, house hunting.