In Real Estate all the World’s a Stager
Posted on February 1, 2004
Filed Under Staging Articles |
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Orignial artical authored by: Phoebe Chongchua - Original Article published in: The Coast News San Diego
It may not be exactly what Shakespeare said, but today it is certainly applicable in the real estate world. Many newly listed homes are becoming a stage to attract top dollar for sellers. Home staging certification programs are becoming more popular for real estate agents and those who want to become stagers, people who take on the challenge of making listed homes aesthetically desirable to the masses. When you put a home on the market it becomes a product, said Deby Plourde, a staging professional and co-owner of HomeStaging Plus in San Marcos. Plourde said staging makes a house look very model-like and the benefits are tremendous. The home will sell faster and for more money. It will look better in a competing market said Plourde.  Laura Straub, now a Long Beach resident, had never heard of staging until a Realtor recommended using a home stager to help her and her husband sell their home. The Straubs owned a very unique 3,300-square-foot home in Carlsbad. The property, which had three bedrooms, sat on a half acre of land and included a one-bedroom apartment. Our house was so unusual that it was even hard to pull comps on our house because nothing looks like our house, said Straub. The couple originally put their home on the market in January 2003, but had no success selling it at that time. Straub said she thinks potential buyers could not picture how their lives would fit into this particular property. To be able to show it [so people knew] what they could do with it was harder to do, which is why I don’t think it sold the first time around.  The home was taken off the market in early 2003. When the Straubs tried again, they used HomeStaging Plus. The home went on the market in December and sold in February 2004. Straub said Plourde and her partner de-personalized the home, making it more neutral, neutral in the sense that you can picture your own furniture in there as well as what we have in there.  Plourde worked on clearing space and losing the clutter, giving way to a larger appearance. Straub said she quickly saw the effectiveness of staging and related her experience to times that she’s gone house hunting in nonstaged homes. Theres so many distractions with furniture and clutter and things you don’t necessarily like and ugly wallpaper, and I start looking at family photos and I get distracted by the deccor of the house, which is possibly what happened the first time around when we tried to sell [ours]. Home stagers often work on an hourly rate. Plourde said they range from $50 to $150 an hour. HomeStaging Plus spends about 20 hours on site, not including the designing and planning time. Most of the time, clients are asked to put their belongings in storage. Stagers then rent furniture and artwork; those costs are transferred to the client. However, when appropriate, personal items are used. I really liked that they used as much of our furniture that they could,  said Straub. But does home staging play a role in a hot sellers market? Even today, if a homeowner isn’t using a stager thenyou are running the risk that you’re leaving money on the table, said Joanne O’Donnell, owner of Chic Home Interiors n the Bay area and trainer for Certified Staging Professionals thoughout the Western United States.