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 Winning
the Real Estate War:
10 Tips from Home Stagers
Julie Cazzin
From the April/May 2005 issue of MoneySense magazine
Last spring when Jim and Heather
Thompson decided to sell their home in Vancouver, they realized they knew little
about how to get top value for their biggest possession. "We were talking about
our life savings," says Jim, 47, who works as the head of sales for a technology
company. "But I was really clueless as to what sells."
The Thompsons enlisted the help of John Carter, co-founder of DEKORA, a
"home-staging" firm in Vancouver. Carter spent a day going through their home
room by room and drawing up a list of suggestions aimed at maximizing their
house's appeal for prospective buyers. After discussing his proposals — which
ranged from removing some shrubs in the front yard to powerwashing the driveway
and walkways — the Thompsons gave Carter's crew the go-ahead to implement some
of his ideas. Total cost: $4,000.
We know what you're thinking — $4,000 just to get your home ready for sale? —
but consider the results. After a single Sunday showing early last year, the Thompsons' home attracted three offers, all of them higher than the couple's
asking price of $649,000. Three days later the Thompsons agreed to sell their
residence for a $41,000 premium over the listed price. While a hot real estate
market helped, the Thompsons are convinced that Carter's primping and attention
to detail was a big reason for their house's runaway success. "Our place fetched
the highest price of any bungalow sold on our street — ever," says Jim.
Home stagers like Carter claim they can help anyone get a premium price for
their home. Practically unknown in Canada even three years ago, stagers are now
a presence in the real estate markets of Toronto and Vancouver and are popping
up in many other cities as well. These home professionals — many of them former
decorators or real estate agents — specialize in knowing what motivates
potential buyers. They use all the tricks of the trade to help homeowners come
out on top in the perpetual battle between buyers and sellers. "Getting a house
ready to live in and getting a house ready to sell are two totally different
things," says Carter. "Decorating is about making a home comfortable for you and
your family; staging a home is about merchandising properties. It involves
making a house clean and clutter-free so people can connect with the home. Done
right, it helps your place sell faster and for more money."
How much more? Coldwell Banker Realty tracked 2,772 properties, ranging in price
from $229,000 (U.S.) to $4.8 million, in eight major U.S. cities. It found that
while the average home was on the market for nearly 31 days, the typical staged
home sold in just under 14 days. And while the average home sold for a mere 1.6%
over the seller's asking price, the staged homes went for a hefty 6.3% more.
Home stagers perform their magic by playing up the best features of your house
and minimizing the worst. They rearrange artwork on the wall, pack up your
prized bowling trophies and clear out your son's high chair. Most stagers charge
about $100 for an initial consultation; you then have the option of executing
their suggestions on your own or hiring the stager to do it for you at $100 an
hour.
We asked Carter and other home stagers to share their 10 best tips with us. Want
to get top value for your home? Sit back and listen up:
1.Make an impression
Prospective buyers make up their minds about your house even before they get out
of the car. To ensure they have the right idea, clean up your yard, rake the
leaves, shovel the snow, and sweep driveways and porches. Get out the rags and
cleanser and spend 30 minutes scouring your front door, porch, railings and
steps. Then tuck away all your recycling cans and bins at the back of the house.
Debra Gould, who owns the Six Elements home-staging firm in Toronto, says it's
important to avoid planting negative associations in buyers' minds. When
attending an open house she had to climb several steps to get to the front door.
"I couldn't help but think that this could be a nuisance with groceries," says
Gould. "Then, when I finally got to the top, the recycling bins were sitting
right there on the porch. I immediately told myself, 'Imagine carrying one of
those bins full of newspapers, cans down several slippery steps.' I couldn't see
myself doing that, so I left, knowing it wasn't the house for me."
2. Unclutter
Clutter eats equity, say stagers. So purge your closets, empty cupboards, box up
small appliances. Rent a storage locker to keep what you want, then toss the
rest. "I give storage boxes to my clients and tell them to edit, edit, edit,"
says Theodore Babiak, a Toronto real estate agent with Royal LePage. "I suggest
they take some of their books off the shelves, reduce the number of CDs or DVDs,
pare everything down."
The stager's motto? Be ruthless. When Tamara Roberts was selling her Vancouver
condo last year, she paid $150 for a one-hour consultation with home stager
Carter, who gave her a detailed to-do list that included instructions to leave
only one thing on the kitchen counter (a bowl of crisp green apples) and to
remove fridge magnets and small area rugs. "Everyone knows to unclutter," says
Roberts, "but John brought it down to specifics. He even had me keep a storage
container under the bed so I could throw my pajamas and bedtime reading in there
so buyers wouldn't see it." The payoff? Her condo sold in one day for $6,000
more than her asking price of $339,000.
3. Impersonal works
You want buyers to imagine themselves living in your home, not to feel like a
guest in it. So stash anything connected to your family or personal interests.
Hide your son's hockey trophies, store family photos, remove all traces of
day-to-day life. "If someone goes into the bathroom," says home stager Gould,
"and the rim of the tub is covered with shampoo bottles while people's
toothbrushes are lying around the sink, it's hard for that person to imagine
that this could be his or her bathroom. The buyer becomes very conscious of
being in someone else's environment. That won't get you an offer."
4. Keep it fresh
Barb Schwarz, president of StagedHomes.ca of Concord, Calif., has been staging
homes for 30 years and she says a disturbing number of home sellers don't
realize that their home … um, smells. "There's nothing worse than stepping into
a house that smells of smoke and pet odors," says Schwarz. The easy solution is
to keep your windows open for 10 minutes a day. This strategy works better than
deodorizers, says Schwarz, since a lot of people have allergies to artificial
room fresheners. The oldest trick of all? Leave chocolate chip cookies baking in
the oven. Yes, it's hokey, but the smell does do wonders to help buyers bond
with your home.
5. Declare war on grime
Cleanliness helps put a buyer's mind at ease since it suggests that you've
probably taken good care of your residence in other ways as well. So clean
everything: walls, door handles, light fixtures and pantry cupboards. At
Carter's suggestion, Jim Thompson, the Vancouver home seller, hired a
professional cleaner to scour the inside of his home and a contractor to
powerwash windows, walkways, eavestroughs and pathways.
Toronto home stager Gould recommends you pay special attention to the furnace
room since every home buyer wonders what shape the furnace is in. "If the
furnace looks clean, it looks newer," says Gould. That goes for the fuse box and
electrical panel, too.
6. Hire a handyman
Dripping faucets, cracked tiles and mouldy caulking around the bathtub can knock
thousands of dollars off the price of your home. "I have a lot of clients who
say, 'Well, that's a little problem, the buyer can deal with it,' says Gould,
who makes a practice of walking through sellers' homes and compiling a list of
what needs to be fixed. "And I say, 'No, if it's a little thing, then we should
deal with it.' "
7. Color it up
Your single best investment may be a fresh coat of paint in key areas of your
home. "Paint your front door and put some urns with brightly colored flowers on
your front step or just inside the entryway," says Jane Hall, a Toronto designer
and owner of The Voice of Color in Toronto. "Those things make a house seem
cared for, different and important."
8. Reduce furniture
An easy way to create a sense of space is to get rid of some furniture. Moving a
sofa and end tables into storage can give a small room some much-needed
breathing space. So too can storing the table and chairs that normally sit in
your kitchen, piled high with mail, magazines, books and groceries.
If your furniture dates from the Mulroney era, consider packing it away and
renting a few modern, stylish pieces or borrowing a couple of well-chosen pieces
of wall art. "Keep it clean and simple," says Carter, "like a hotel room or the
show room for a new house."
9. Light me up
The brighter and sunnier a space, the easier it is to sell. Start by investing
in a good window-cleaning service. Stagers say clean windows let in as much as
30% more light than grimy ones. Then thoroughly clean the shades on your light
fixtures, change light bulbs and add floor lamps if an area seems dim. Dump
those energy-saving 60-watt bulbs and go with higher wattage lights for maximum
illumination. Finally, when it comes time to show your home, make sure all the
lights are on. "Hallways especially should be lit," says home stager Hall. "When
those are dark, it gets depressing for buyers going from room to room."
10. Add a touch of humanity
A couple of planters on your front porch, a vase of flowers on your dining room
table, even a simple rose in a bud vase can warm up a room. This is where you
can let some of your creativity show through. "You want to get away from making
rooms feel dull and sterile," says the home stager Gould. "Flowers and plants
are good for that." Candles help, too.
Apply all these tips and the final results can be stunning. "I could never have
achieved anything as effective on my own," says Thompson, the Vancouver home
seller. "The stagers helped me turn it into a show home. And even though this
might sound silly, all the changes made it so attractive that it sort of made me
want to stay."
Such feelings are common. Stagers say a few homeowners actually change their
plans and take their residences off the market once they see how good their old
places can look. Many decide to stage not just their old homes, but their new
ones as well. "Home sellers will often ask me to come to their new home and work
some of my magic there because they don't want to go back to their old way of
living," says home stager Schwarz, who's prepped more than 2,000 homes in the
U.S. and Canada. In fact, Schwarz notes that a lot of home sellers don't even
want to see any of the stuff they've put into storage because they discover
they've never missed it. "They want to live fresh, clean and clutter-free. It's
a wonderful thing. Because staging is, above all, a cleansing experience."
To read more about this,
click here...
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What Others Are Saying About Us...
"My husband said
he did not want to sell the house after the staging.
It looks spacious and really attractive, with a tasteful design and
contemporary color... Neighbours and persons who came to the Open
House were really impressed. We got a decent offer in
the second day after the Open House.
Great thanks to Marilynn
and her staging team!"
Sophia
"Marilynn and her team
STAGED the outside and the inside of my home. It made a
huge difference.
I really like coming
home to a 'dressed' house. Will hire them for STAGING
for LIVING for my new home. My realtors were
impressed!
Thank you again..."
Paul
"This 7th floor Yale Town condo was
competing with others in the same building with views of mountains
and ocean. Pricing the condo competitively and STAGING it sold it
one weekend at the asking price! Thanks, Marilynn, Staging works! I will tell all my listings about the staging
success."
Adil Dinani
Royal Le Page Coronation West Realty – Coquitlam
"As an executor in an estate sale, she
showed me where to begin. She recommended replacement of flooring in
entry hall, laundry and a basement bedroom. Finishing touches and
placement of accessories in various upstairs locations. She
provided a very good service! It made a great difference.
Hard to improve on.
This home sold in one day."
Verniece Drewery
Port Coquitlam, BC
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