Lately the national media has focused a lot of attention on home staging because of the current housing market and the economy. Some of this press has been positive such as the pieces in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune, whereas others have taken jabs at the staging industry and have likened staging to merely placing a bowl of fruit on a table to get a home to sell. In my mind any press is good press and getting the concept of home staging in front of consumers is important. The negative spin does not really bother me since as a home staging professional I know that if it were that easy I would not have to spend hours working one-on-one with home sellers to educate them on what they need to do to market their homes to their target buyer and what they need to do to enhance their home's selling features.
I think the problem lies in the public's misconception of what home staging professionals do and the very word we use to describe our business. Years ago when I would tell people that I was a home stager I would see blank looks on their faces. I would then have to "sell" them on what home staging is: a process by which we market your home to show your home's best selling features and make it appealing to the most potential buyers. They would laugh at my suggestions to remove their outdated furniture and wallpaper and tell me that staging was "too fake" since it was not really how people would live. I wonder now if I could have saved a lot of oxygen, time and cell phone minutes if I had just said, "I am a home marketing professional. I help you to market your home just like you would market a car if you were selling it".
The reality is that there are good home stagers and bad home stagers just as there are good pre-owned car salespeople and bad used car sales people. Consumers will have an experience with either a good or bad stager or a good or bad car sales person and then will base their opinion of an entire industry on that experience. As home stagers we have a lot to live up to: We are not just marketing a used car- we are marketing a "used home" and more often than not it is people's most valuable asset and most personal and emotional item. The key is whether or not we are a used car marketer and throw a bowl of fruit on the table just as a used car salesman hangs the pine scented tree from the dash or a luxury pre-owned resale home marketer who takes the time to assess the selling features of a home and then details the product before putting it on the market.
To illustrate the point of how important it is to prepare a resale home for market I have included before and after photographs of a recent staging project. This involved a lot more than a bowl of faux fruit!
Step 1: The consultation: we started the process by meeting with the client to assess the home. He had done a wonderful job of updating the kitchen and bathrooms however the clutter, furniture and décor did not do a lot to appeal to the younger professionals that would most likely purchase this condo and made it hard for them to focus on the selling features.
Step 2: Storage and Clutter Removal: the client had moved from a 4 bedroom home into the condo 2 years ago and had a lot of extra furniture items and clothing. We recommended that he store these items while the home was on the market so that buyers could appreciate the space his home offers- not his bicycle and extra dining room table.
Step 3: Staging and Accessorizing of the home: We brought in our staging team and a crew of movers to remove the excess furniture and add accent items that would appeal to the younger buyer that will most likely purchase this condo.
Step 4: Cleaning and detailing of home: The final step was to have a professional cleaning company clean the home including all the windows, carpet and vents.
The results were amazing- the home now had a look that appealed to the types of buyers for his property. It was the same space but had a completely new look. Bottom line- adding a bowl of fruit would not have solved this marketing dilemma!
Kate Hart is the President of Select Home Stagers, the nation's premier staging company. To find a home staging professional in your area visit www.selecthomestagers.com
