Lynchburg Living

Departments

By Donna Dunn

Nadine Blakely remembers holding an Open House a few years ago for a woman with a lovely home, but packed closets. After it was over, Blakely, a Realtor with RE/MAX 1st Olympic, called the homeowner with news that many visitors liked the home but felt it didn’t have enough storage.

Having just received her home staging specialist accreditation, Blakely and the homeowner cleaned out every closet. They folded towels so they all lined up perfectly on the shelf. They organized the kitchen pantry with neat stack and color coordinator. Was it worth that investment of time?

The next couple that came to see the house bought it.

“[Home staging] has certainly helped me sell homes–without a doubt,” Blakely said. “That’s going to help the homeowner be on top of the market.”

What is home staging?

Today, many homeowners have become familiar with the idea of “staging” due to a proliferation of HGTV shows. The idea is to make a home appealing for potential buyers by decluttering, depersonalizing and making everything look fresh and new.

Groups such as the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) tout the benefits, especially in quicker home sales. In a March 2010 article, RESA stated that the average vacant home stays on the market about 277 days nationwide, while the vacant staged house sells in 63 days. Occupied homes may languish for 233 on average, but a staged occupied house sells in 53.

Heather Bonawitz, an Interior Redesign Industry Specialist and owner of Becoming Designs, provides staging guidance to homeowners and real estate agents in Central Virginia. She said the key is to stage without making a home look sterile.

“I still want the room to have personality, but not be personal,” Bonawitz explained. “It should still have charm. You don’t want to strip it down too much … My main goal is to focus on the architecture. You don’t want people to focus on your stuff.”

She said homeowners sometimes think they understand staging, but really they’re just focused on certain aspects of the process.

“It’s not just about placing towels and baking cookies,” she cautioned. “It’s about creating an ambiance. It’s a whole package.”

Blakely said talking about staging can be tricky, because a home is such an extension of the owner. So she explains it this way: “The way we live in our homes is very different from the way I will help you market and sell your home.”

The Process

“Initially, I do an assessment,” Bonawitz said. “I start with the first impression, then walk room by room. Then, I sit down and give them a check list, which can be four to five pages long.”

Bonawitz calls this “room editing,” and she emphasizes the importance of initial impressions.

“What is that first impression you’re making? First impressions are made within the first 30 seconds. Then with each room you have a chance to build on that impression. If you made a good impression that first room, it needs to carry out through their house,” she said.

Once the assessment is done, the homeowner can implement the changes themselves or contract Bonawitz to do the work. Either way, Bonawitz encourages all home sellers to consider staging.

“If you’re going to sell a used car, then you’re going to take out all the personal elements and clean it. That’s for a used car. But for the biggest investment in someone’s lives, they often do very little to improve it,” she said.

Polly Wooldridge, a Realtor with John Stewart Walker, made it her 2010 New Year’s resolution to become an accredited home staging specialist. She quickly summarizes how homeowners can get started with staging.

“The first thing is the basics: clean, repair, replace, declutter and depersonalize. That sounds like it’s not staging, but it really is the beginning,” Wooldridge said.

Wooldridge said the process of staging involves appealing to the five senses.

“You want everything to be bright, clean and spacious,” she said.

Removing the Personal

Often, depersonalizing a home is the most painful part for homeowners. To take down family portraits and remove children’s artwork from the refrigerator can be emotional for some people.

“There’s a psychological aspect; it’s personal to them,” Bonawitz said.

But she said homeowners should understand that depersonalizing doesn’t mean that your personal things aren’t wonderful, it’s just that they’re distracting.

“If you have a nice picture from your wedding day, that’s what someone’s going to focus on and not the architecture,” she said.

Blakely has seen this phenomenon first-hand.

“If you’re kitchen is done in roosters or cows, that’s what the buyer will remember,” she said. “People will not buy what they cannot see. When I walk into a kitchen and the refrigerator is plastered with pictures and magnets, the kitchen looks smaller.”

Declutter

Decluttering is key to home staging. It means packing up overstuffed book shelves, clearing out closets busting at the seams and removing excess furniture.

“If they’re going to be moving, they’re going to be boxing their stuff up anyway, so go ahead and get that process started,” Bonawitz recommended.

She said to take down personal pictures and art. Leave only enough to provide visual interest in the room.

“If they see a lot of pictures, they see it as work–holes in the wall they’ll have to spackle,” she said.

Bonawitz advises homeowners to take the time to organize what they leave in the house while it is for sell.

“You’re still living there, but organize. Don’t just shove everything in closets. Compartmentalize and put things in baskets or containers,” she said.

Keep It Neutral and Open

Having a little color is great, having too much can be overwhelming.

Blakely said you don’t have to have “builder’s beige” on every wall, but you should have neutral colors that allow the potential buyer to envision having their furniture in the room.

“Keep neutrals, but greens and blues can also be neutral,” Bonawitz said. And she cautioned, “People will look at red walls, and they’re going to see that as work.”

Likewise invest in new carpet, countertops or cabinets if they will be seen as too loud, dated or worn.

“Resale homes are in competition with new construction,” Blakely said. “I just had a conversation with a client … rather than do a carpet allowance, why don’t you think about replacing the carpet? It’s hard for people to have the vision to think they can pick their own carpet. It’s better to make everything fresh and clean.”

Bonawitz agreed, “Kitchens and baths sell houses, so if you can update kitchens and baths, it will pay off.”

She also advises removing throw rugs.

“Staging is almost the opposite of decorating. You take more things away than add,” Bonawitz said.

Removing rugs allow potential buyers to appreciate the beauty of hardwood floors or tiles.

Set the Stage

Once you’ve taken an inventory, removed the clutter and made your space more neutral, Bonawitz says you can do those final things that make a space inviting.

She often helps homeowners with space planning and furniture arrangement.

“How furniture is arranged will make the room feel either smaller or larger,” she explained. “Angling can make room feel more open, but always do it on 45-degree angle.”

Otherwise, the angles may look like a mistake. She suggests grouping furniture rather than lining it all up against the walls. At the same time, if you’re working in a small room, don’t put all the furniture in the middle.

Blakely underscored the importance of open floor space. She recently toured a home with so many decorative items and kids’ toys in the room that she had to advise the buyers to look at the ceilings to see how big the rooms were.

“People have to visualize themselves in that space,” she said.

Artwork should be placed to look like it’s in a gallery, with all pieces hung at eye level.

Blakely said all of these elements show up in photos used to sell your property. She said that’s essential now that 87 percent of buyers start on the Internet.

“You’ve got to have a huge Internet presence and you’ve got to have great pictures of nicely staged rooms,” she said.

While appealing to the visual, don’t forget the other four senses. Wooldridge advises homeowners to pay particular attention to how their home smells.

“Sometime baking something really does set a mood. I had a house in the country for sale, and the owner always put bread in the breadmaker before a showing. That was the right mood for that house,” Wooldridge said. “For others, a light vanilla scent can be inviting.”

Wooldridge said she’s seen staging make such a difference for her clients. She recalls working with a client whose home was not in the best location. However, the interior was immaculate.

“I used a lot of interior photos,” she said, “and sure enough, we sold it within 30 days.”