The Home Page: How To Stage A Home For Resale

By Denise Willard

With the coming of spring the birds begin chirping, the flowers start blooming and property owners begin scrambling to put their homes on the market. Most homeowners understand the value of making the necessary upgrades and repairs to their homes to prepare for the spring selling season. However, they often do not fully appreciate how critical it is to properly stage the home’s interior before putting it up for sale.

Prospective buyers don’t purchase a property, they purchase a “home” that they envision living in. This is why vacant homes take twice as long to sell as furnished ones. Most homeowners understand the benefits of staging a vacant property; however, they often don’t appreciate the benefits of staging a home for resale that they still occupy. They assume that they “have it covered.” They time the sale of their home so that it is on the market while they are still living in it—ensuring that it is furnished. With this aspect of the sale covered, they go about making the necessary upgrades and leave the interior “as is,” assuming that the house will sell on its own merits. The main reason this approach doesn’t work is because property owners decorate their homes based on their individual style, which often conflicts with the goals of staging a home for resale.

With real estate staging, the focus is taken off the homeowner and refocused onto the home or property. The emphasis is on broadening the home’s appeal, highlighting its positive features and creating memorable and lasting first impressions—to get it sold fast and for the right price. Most homeowners are not able to see beyond their own design style, which makes it difficult for them to focus on what a prospective buyer wants and needs to make a purchase. For this reason, professional staging is recommended, not only for vacant properties, but for those that are occupied when they are put on the market.

Real estate staging is the process of visually preparing a home to appeal to the broadest possible segment of the buyer population to minimize the time it is on the market and maximize the homeowner’s return. Market statistics show that most prospective buyers make buying decisions within the first 15 seconds of entering a property, and their first impressions are lasting. In addition, Realty Enhancements International reports that enhanced homes sell 16 days or 30 percent faster and earn $42 per square foot or 13 percent more than competitive properties. In today’s market where supply outweighs demand and where over 74 percent of buyers purchase homes through use of virtual tours, staging is even more critical to set listings apart from the competition.

If you are about to embark upon a staging effort, the first step is to look at your property objectively from the perspective of a potential buyer. Think back to when you went home shopping. What made a property memorable or unattractive to you? Making this mental shift will help you implement the changes necessary to properly stage your home.
The next big step is updating outdated interiors—kitchens, bathrooms and the like—to make your house current and competitive. Once remodeling projects are underway, the focus then turns to the following core staging activities:

* Neutralizing the interior,
* Reducing sensitive objects,
* De-personalizing the home,
* Highlighting property features,
* Optimizing interior layout,
* Enhancing curb appeal and showings.

To neutralize the interior and broaden its appeal, use soft neutral paint colors, remove dated wallpaper, keep carpets neutral and reduce strong décor styles. Removing sensitive or controversial objects is the next step. Toilet plungers, firearms, suggestive art and religious artifacts should be stored away for now. Minimizing family portraits, de-emphasizing hobbies and collections, returning rooms to their intended purpose, storing away toiletries and medications and removing evidence of pets also help to de-personalize the home, which in turn helps the prospective homebuyer identify with the property.

Using just the right amount of furniture and knowing where to put it is very important to highlight the selling features of the home. To properly place furniture, take an inventory of all the key selling features of the home—large family room with fireplace, beautiful view or newly refinished hardwood floors. With these items in mind, select furniture that will enhance these features and de-emphasize the less appealing ones. For instance, if the dining room is small, remove a leaf from the table and use four chairs to make the room appear larger. If the home has a beautiful fireplace, flank it with two small scale sofas to draw the viewer’s eye to it without making the space look too cramped. If there is a lovely view hidden behind heavy window treatments, remove those window treatments and install ones that are decorative and frame the window to draw the buyer’s eye outside.

In addition to highlighting the home’s features, traffic flow is important when placing furniture in the home for resale. The goal is to allow prospective buyers to move freely around the property without purses or bags impeding their way. Otherwise, they get the feeling that the rooms are too small. A good rule of thumb is to arrange furniture to allow three people to move freely in one space at any given time. This will help you remove furniture when there is too much, and will ensure that placement is adequate for showings.

Enhancing the home’s curb appeal is critical to the staging effort. While there are shows on HGTV devoted to enhancing a home’s curb appeal, I cannot overemphasize the importance of the front door and its surrounding area. It is the place where realtors and buyers linger as they wait to gain access to the lock-box for the key, and where the first impression is formed. If this area isn’t favorable, it will be the impression that stays with the prospect—no matter what the interior holds. Therefore, paint the front door or replace it if it is damaged (including any hardware).

Add an inviting bench or chair and a decorative pot with a plant. A new welcome mat is a good idea, and make sure the doorbell is functioning and replace the light fixture to ensure it is as bright as possible.

Enhancing the mood or comfort for the prospective buyer during showings is also important when staging a property. Clear all counters, clear refrigerators and empty closets by one third. Hire a weekly maid service, keep the dishwasher and ovens sparkling, replace shower curtains, replace old, tired grout and use new bathroom towels on showing days. Remove all odors from the home. Smokers’ homes will need to be painted, and furniture and carpet replaced. The interior should be well-lit at all times and window treatments should be left fully open to allow in as much light as possible. One way to really make the house much brighter is to remove the screens from windows. Store the screens in your garage or basement until the sale of the home is complete.

A final way to add that special “icing on the cake” is to “plant” a few ideas around the home to help a homebuyer envision living in the space. These ideas include leaving a checker game in progress, setting an attractive dining room table or setting up a mock outdoor barbecue. These little touches will help a prospective buyer feel “at home,” and increase the chance of a fast sale.

Denise Willard is the owner of Décor by Denise, a full-service interior decorating and real estate staging company serving clients in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.