When the housing market is slow, home staging is often a seller’s saving grace.
Furnishings that potential buyers see in empty homes aren’t there on accident. They’re often placed to accentuate the best qualities of a home and increase its marketability.
“It is really a marketing tool to prepare a home so it is more competitive in the marketplace,” said accredited home stager Carma Zarosinski.
It turns out that a carefully chosen paint color or furniture placement can make a big difference in selling a home.
Staged homes sell for an average of 7.4 percent more than others, according to Accredited Staging Professionals. They tend to spend about a month on the market, a relief for sellers who often endure 160 days waiting to sell.
“If it is an unoccupied home it definitely helps to have furnishings in there to warm things up so people can visualize living in the space,” Zarosinski said. She owns and operates Carma for Design. The downtown Camas firm has gained about 30 staging clients in the last year, many through Realtors.
Staging accentuates a home’s positive aspects and diminishes the negative. For example, in a long narrow room Zarosinski might draw in its long end with an attractive heavy object. She’ll dress up a window to detract from a lackluster view. And the right paint color can make a room appear larger or brighten things in the winter.
The concept of preparing homes for sale is far from new. But staging has only been defined as an industry over the last 10 years.
Randy Huntzeker, who was president of the Clark County Association of Realtors in 2007, said he’s seen staging take off in recent years.
“Two years ago we didn’t need to stage anything,” he said. “You put a sign in the yard and you’d get an offer.” But now the market is more saturated, requiring sellers to be more competitive.
Huntzeker has staged some of the homes he sells, but said professional stagers are especially helpful with preparing vacant or model homes for sale.
In contrast to interior design, which Zarosinski said is tailored to clients’ tastes; a staged home is intentionally stripped of personal touches.
“Everything is more of a generic flavor,” she said of staging. “If it is too personalized, a buyer cannot visualize themselves in the home.”
This can happen even with personal furnishings of the highest quality.
“Every once in a while you go into a house and the furnishings are so compelling that you can’t even see past them,” said Mike Lamb, an associate broker with Windermere in Vancouver. He’s been selling homes since 1980 and sees about 1,000 homes each year.
He recommends that sellers visit other homes to understand what appeals to buyers. And while he has staged many of the homes he’s sold, Lamb said professional stagers are especially helpful for independent sellers.
“It’s really good to have an objective person come in,” he said. “None of us can be objective about our own house.”
That’s why staging an occupied home can be a bit tricky. While Zarosinski typically spends a day and a half staging a vacant home, she’ll work on an occupied house for as much as two weeks.
She evaluates the home and then reports to its occupants on areas to improve like landscaping, paint colors or organization. It’s best to clear the home of any bold colors or smells. Even good smells, she said, can influence the perspective of potential buyers.
It’s ultimately up to the client which items will be removed or rearranged, but Zarosinski said removing clutter is crucial because it “eats the equity in your home.”
“They’re really selling their real estate and not their stuff,” she said. “How you live in a house and how you sell a house are completely different.”
Zarosinski charges roughly $200 per room per month for staging. That number can change depending on time and materials used, but she said it’s typically less than a home’s first price reduction.
Lamb agreed that up-front investment in a home’s appearance is one of the easiest ways to increase its market value.
“The houses that showed best have always sold quickest and for the most money,” Lamb said. “It is worth taking the extra time to (stage) because it’s money in your pocket.”
