There's an art to arranging your home for sale
Published Thursday October 9th, 2008
Home staging is more than re-decorating.
As the saying goes, a picture is worth 1,000 words. This same principle can be applied when selling your home.
"Buyers typically make their decision about whether to buy a home within 30 seconds after entering the house," says home stager Georgie Phillips. "Within that time frame, they've already started to make a mental list of the things they like or don't like."
Although home staging "" which began in California "" has been an industry for almost 20 years, it's relatively new to the Moncton area. Georgie, who is a retired nurse, took her home staging training in Toronto with Christina Rae, who is well-known in the Canadian staging industry.
"I believe I'm one of the first accredited staging professionals in the Greater Moncton area," says Georgie, who has been operating her business, Stage & Style, for close to five years.
Home staging is a process of preparing a home for selling that's different from decorating.
"I call it the 'art of arrangement'," says Georgie. "It's a way to de-personalize, neutralize, and de-clutter a home so that the potential buyer can envision their own furnishings in the space." Georgie says that people get used to having their own things in their home and often don't realize how many things they collect "" or the mistakes they've made in choosing colours.
"I've seen lime green, purple, and orange, which aren't good colours for selling," she says. "I'm not saying people should stick to builder's beige or white, but there's a talent to choosing the right colours to enhance their home."
Home stagers follow the "5 Cs", which are key points that should be applied when staging a home. These are: the home needs to be clean; clutter free; have appropriate colour; be creatively staged; and stagers have to compromise with the sellers, because, of course, many sellers continue living in their homes while their homes are being shown.
"When I walk in, I get an instant vision of how the house should be presented," Georgie says. "My purpose is to downplay any negatives and to enhance the positive aspects of a house." She says it's important to make sure that traffic areas are free, that each room should have a visual focal point, and that personal items like collectibles or family photos be minimized. Odours, such as those caused by pets, strong cooking smells, and smoking can be a major deterrent to potential buyers.
"When I consult with clients, I have to be very diplomatic because it's difficult for people to part with their personal possessions and still keep their family functioning within their home," says Georgie. She will recommend colours to her clients and make a list of what things need to be removed, relocated, added, and repaired. Georgie says it isn't a good idea to try to sell an empty house.
"When you're presenting a home, it should appeal to the five senses. It should look nice, smell nice, have soft music playing, possibly a fire in the fireplace, or a candle burning. These are homey touches that make people feel instantly comfortable, so they'll want the house to become their home." Georgie has a variety of staging props, such as furniture and artwork that she'll provide to her clients while the house is being shown.
"There's no house that's too small or too large for home staging," she says. "Every house on the market can be prepared so it will be shown at its best. It's just like getting your car ready to sell: you clean it and have it repaired so it's more appealing to the buyer." Georgie says most of her clients come through realtors because having the home staged is an excellent marketing tool.
"Realtors know that when the home is well-presented, it usually sells faster. The cost of home staging is a fraction of the amount of the usual first price reduction most people will have to make on their home.
"It's better to spend a bit up front and properly prepare the home, rather than reduce the price of the home months later." Georgie says she's staged hundreds of homes and she feels that more than 90 per cent of the homes sell more quickly and for a higher price than they otherwise would have.
She says the quickest sale on a house she's staged has been one day, and that there have been price wars where the house sold even higher than the asking price. She's had many happy clients, including Cheryl Smith, who provided Georgie with a glowing testimonial.
"Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that we sold our house. The sign went up on Friday, we showed it on Saturday morning, and had an offer on Sunday afternoon! I am so grateful for all your hard work and help with getting the house staged. The lady that's buying the house made wonderful comments on the window seat scene and even asked if the canvas print in the dining room could remain."
Georgie says her goal is to help people and that she gains great satisfaction from knowing her work has had successful results.
Maurice and Gisele LeBlanc also expressed their thanks for Georgie's help. "
Well it worked!!!!! You were awesome. The house sold after two showings."
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