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Home-staging trend gives sellers help in buyer’s market
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Ashleigh Walters is helping home sellers put their best features forward, a necessary endeavor for sellers looking for an edge in today’s buyer’s market.
Walters launched her home staging company in May. Since then, Home Staging By Ashleigh LLC has staged four Charleston-area properties.
“The first one sold on the second showing, the second one the owner decided to keep,” said the 26-year-old, who is also a chemical engineer with Onex, a family-owned refractory company. Her last two projects have just been completed and are on the market.
“Home staging is not interior design or even interior decorating,” Walters said. “It is about putting a home’s best features forward and creating a buyer-friendly environment. I have to make my clients understand that once the home is on the market, it is no longer a home, but a product.”
Simply defined, home staging is anything that is done to a home to make it more attractive to potential buyers. The techniques can be as simple as removing clutter and setting out fresh flowers or as complex as replacing appliances and light fixtures.
While most real estate agents have a sense of what might help a house to sell and usually offer tips to clients, an increasing number of people have begun making a career out of turning for-sale properties into showplaces.
The concept is making headlines in magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens and is behind the allure of popular television shows such as HGTV’s “Designed to Sell.”
“Staging is a wonderful concept and I think it should work,” said Dave Schade, a Charleston-based land acquisition manager for KB Home. “I’ve seen it become more prevalent in other areas than here. Predominantly, all new ideas come from the West Coast and migrate from the West Coast to the Sunbelt states.”
West Coast home stagers have recently taken the staging concept further. Centex Homes is using actors to portray families during open house events, and Seattle realtor Jan Sewell is borrowing contemporary artwork from the Seattle Art Museum for her home stagings.
“I have not gone as far as fake families,” Walters said. “That is kind of odd.”
A home critique
During an initial consultation, Walters walks through the seller’s home as a prospective buyer and makes notes of the negatives, such as cramped space, clutter, worn carpeting, wild wall coverings, and dated essentials such as light fixtures. She also make notes of the positives, such as a beautiful view or fireplace. If the seller decides to have the home staged, Walters concentrates on four main areas in the home: entry or foyer, living area, kitchen and master bedroom.
“These are the rooms that most buyers base their decision on,” Walters said.
Clutter from closets and storage areas is boxed up and packed away.
“Depending upon how much stuff a person has, you may box up even three-quarters of their personal items,” Walters said. “When trying to sell a home, it is all about first impressions.”
Debbie Peretsman, a Charlotte, N.C., resident who owned a condo on Morris Street in downtown Charleston, was Walters’ first client.
Peretsman had bought the condo for her daughter to live in while attending college and was ready to sell. Peretsman’s daughter and a roommate planned to continue living in the condo while it was on the market, and Peretsman described the space as having a typical college dorm-room feel.
“Ashleigh whipped that place into shape and we were able to get top dollar,” Peretsman said. “It was airy, it was bright, it was clean, and there was no personal stuff lying around. You felt like you wanted to stay there. We probably got at least $25,000 more for it.”
Walters first learned about home staging from a friend whose parents had their home staged in Dallas. She is working toward a certificate in interior design at Trident Technical College and is thinking about becoming a real estate agent. One factor that directed Walters into the home-staging business was the flexibility the career would give her when she has children, she said.
“I also wanted to do something that would work the other side of my brain. I wanted to do something more creative,” Walters said.
Growing national industry
The home-staging field is growing, according to Gina Vierra, project manager for StagedHomes.com, which offers training programs in staging for individuals as well as real estate professionals. The company, founded in 2002, has trained 8,533 accredited staging professionals, 6,455 of whom have been accredited this year.
“We have women who have left corporate America’s high-paying jobs,” Vierra said. “We also have individuals who haven’t worked in years, stay-at-home moms.”
Vierra, who is also director of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, said new IAHSP chapters are opening across the country, including one in the organizational stages in South Carolina.
Barb Schwarz, president and founder of StagedHomes.com and IAHSP, coined the staging term in the 1970s and holds a federally registered trademark on the word “stage.”
A former real estate agent, Schwarz founded the company, now based in Concord, Calif., to help her sell her dormant listings. She eventually became a top producer and a public speaker.
In a survey by StagedHomes.com covering 2004 and 2005, the average increase in price for a staged home versus a non-staged home was 6.9%. Staged homes also spent 50% less time on the market, according to the survey.
Before it was a trend
While home staging as a career may be relatively new, interior designers have been working in tandem with real estate professionals for decades to boost the marketability of properties.
“I did it when it didn’t even have a name,” said interior designer Heyward Suzanne Boone, owner of Bailey House Interiors.
Boone, who is a member candidate of the One Day Decorating Association as well as numerous industry organizations, said she specializes in one-day makeovers and real estate stagings. She said most people do not see their homes with an objective eye.
“In a one-day makeover, you would call me over to your house and we would use everything you already have to redo your house,” Boone said. “Makeovers are for the way you live; staging is for the way you sell. You want someone to come in and do an evaluation and prepare your house for market so your house presents well and you get top dollar.”
Pam Bishop, an agent with Prudential Carolina Real Estate, has worked on a number of projects with decorators and just completed a Daniel Island home staging with Boone.
“We listed it June 9 and we got a contract at the end of July,” Bishop said. “The difference in what it looks like is huge.”
Bishop said sellers in the current real estate market need to set themselves apart.
“Last year, you didn’t have anything to pick from. This year, you have a lot to pick from, so if this kind of freshening helps, that’s the thing to do.” Bishop said.
Phillip Ford, president of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association, said he sees home staging as a need, particularly in the resale market.
“A lot of times people put their houses up for sale and there’s so much stuff in there, it’s hard for a potential buyer to figure whether furniture would fit or whether the house is in good shape,” Ford said.
Real estate professionals also say furnished homes sell more quickly, which is why Carriage Properties agent Laurie Tarleton hired Walters to stage an empty, 800-square-foot condo on Rutledge Avenue that had been on the market since this spring.
Walters rented furniture to help define the use of each room in the two-bedroom unit and placed a few books, candles and fresh flowers on the surfaces. She spent about $275 for linens and accessories. Tarleton will pay about $1,300 for the staging, including Walters’ fee of $75 per hour with a minimum of four hours, the first month’s furniture rental and Walters’ shopping bill.
The money is worth it, Tarleton said. Potential buyers will move on to the next location if a particular property doesn’t grab them immediately.
“I think a lot of buyers can’t go into a place and visualize what it could be,” Tarleton said.
Sharon Kucharski, another Carriage Properties agent and the one who brought Walters her first home-staging client, is convinced that staging helps a property sell quicker.
“If you leave your house messy, it’s going to be hard to sell because there’s a lot of product out there,” Kucharski said. “My clients sprung for the money, and it worked.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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