This article was published on: 04/01/2003
 

APRIL 2003 Cover Feature: Setting the Stage


© 2003 Photos for RM by Cynthia Howe
Simplicity plus harmony can equal a faster,higher-priced sale.

Setting the Stage Simplicity plus harmony can equal a faster,higher-priced sale. BY STACEY MONCRIEFF Before and after photos featured in the print magazine Online exclusive: Choosing and Using a Professional Stager Online exclusive: Before and after photos for online article The house had been on the market for two years. It was a modern estate, packed to the gills with antiques. The incongruity proved too much for prospective buyers. But professional “house stylist” Lori Matzke was undeterred. She urged the seller to tone down the interior flourish—doilies, silk flowers, and carpets on top of carpets. He followed her advice, and a week later the home sold for near the $900,000 list price. Since time immemorial, sellers have been preparing their homes for sale—planting, patching, and clearing out clutter. But it’s only within the past five years that the concept of professional styling has begun to take hold. Styling, also known as staging, was pioneered in the 1970s by Bellvue, Wash., real estate practitioner-turned-speaker Barb Schwarz (www.barb.net). Schwarz coined the term “stage” in relation to preparing a home for sale and holds trademarks for her staging training products. Her techniques take the art of showing to a new level. “How you show a home isn’t the same as how you live in it,” says Matzke, founder of Minneapolis-based CenterStage (www.centerstagehome.com), a home presentation company with 13 affiliates from Portland, Ore., to Miami. “That porcelain collection or furniture arrangement that draws compliments from guests may impede buyers’ ability to see the house.” House stylists arrange, accessorize, and light the home in a way that gives buyers a sense of the possibilities. Matzke brings along props, but she prefers to work with what the sellers have. To give you a feel for how styling can transform a home and draw more interest from buyers, we invited Matzke to Chicago to style a vacant and an occupied house. Our before-and-after photos tell the story, and Matzke’s commentary and the accompanying tips give you great ideas for putting styling techniques into practice without spending a lot of your own—or the sellers’—money. Speaking of money, house stylists don’t work for free. Some charge by the hour, some by the job. Matzke charges a $100 consultation fee and an hourly rate to do the work; she can stage a Minneapolis home for about $360. Depending on where you live and the size of your listing, however, the cost can run into the thousands. Want to do it yourself? For $150, Matzke’s company provides a report with a detailed, prioritized list of styling tips. The report may suggest that you or the sellers buy a few low-ticket accessories such as pillows, plants, or a decorative bowl to add color or fill in empty spaces. “An investment of a few hundred dollars can mean thousands more on the sale price,” she says. If you find you have a flair for styling, check out Schwarz’s accredited staging professional program (www.stagedhomes.com). The only caution: Make your listings look too good, and the sellers may decide not to move after all. Styling tips We’ve compiled the best tips from stagers and real estate pros—things you can do for little or no expense—to put a home in prime showing shape. Clear out closets and clutter—sellers can give away or pack up toys, linens, and small kitchen appliances to store offsite. Buyers are also forgiving of storage boxes neatly tucked away in a garage or basement. Focus most on the most visible areas—the foyer, kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and family room. Depersonalize the home by removing photos, mementos, and dated items. Use plants in colorful pots or inexpensive wicker baskets to fill in empty spaces. Look to home catalogs forlittle details on beautifying the home. For instance, group books, pictures, and objets d’art appealingly on bookcases. Try angling one or two pieces of furniture slightly and move furniture 4 inches to 6 inches from the wall to create more interesting room spaces. Put away large collections— porcelains, plates, and so on. Remove valuables, prescription medicine, collectibles, and breakables. Trim trees, prune shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly. In summer, turn on the sprinklers for five minutes, 30 minutes before the open house. It makes the lawn and driveway sparkle. Ask sellers to refrain from cooking anything that leaves a distinctive odor, such as fish, garlic, or cabbage. Hire a professional service to clean the home, including the carpets and the windows. Set the dining room table with attractive linens, dishes, and stemware. Arrange fresh or silk flowers throughout the home. Light a fire in the fireplace in fall and winter. A mirror in a pretty frame can make a small room feel more open. Use as much natural light as possible. Add extra lamps in dark rooms or corners. Make functional repairs—fix dripping faucets, sticking doors, and broken fences. Bring in another pair of eyes—even if it’s not a professional stylist. The person may see problems you and the sellers have missed. Special thanks to Alisa A. Coghill and Dan Bogojevich of Prudential Premier Realty, LLC in Oak Park, Ill., for the use of the vacant listing shown on pages 32, 34, and 35; to Marshall Field’s State Street store in Chicago, 312/781-5000, which provided furniture and accent pieces; and to our stylist, Lori Matzke. Create harmony the feng shui way A home in Los Angeles sat on the market for weeks. It had many lookers but no offers—despite its fair price and good location. Enter Katherine Anne Lewis. The certified feng shui consultant and owner of Harmony and Balance in Los Angeles took one look at the yard and knew the feng shui was off. She told the owners to cut down an old metal fence pole in the front yard and replace it with large plants; lengthen a short rock border to wrap around the house; and bury three candles next to a large oak tree. Five buyers made offers the next day, one of which ended in a sale, she says. You may have thought of feng shui (pronounced “fung shway”) as mystical mumbo jumbo. But it”s really another way to look at staging a home, says broker-associate Holly Ziegler, author of Sell Your Home Faster with Feng Shui (Dragon Chi Publications, 2001). Ziegler’s been selling real estate for 27 years and studying feng shui, the ancient Asian art of creating harmony and balance within an environment, for 11 years. There are nine types of feng shui. Ziegler and Lewis practice what’s known as “Tibetan Tantric Black Hat Sect,” which identifies nine life energy areas based on the location of a home’s front door. To be in harmony and balance, each life area requires certain elements and colors. At the aforementioned Los Angeles home, the metal pole occupied the wealth life area, which needs wood for balance. The oak tree was in a relationship area that needed fire. Thus, the buried candles. Lewis has also put the feng shui touch on commercial developments. At The Grove, a successful retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, she assigned addresses with positive chi (energy) and guided developers in the placement of fountains, trees, and plants. Energize your listings When you study feng shui, much of what you learn is common sense, says Holly Ziegler, author of Sell Your Home Faster with Feng Shui. Watch for these chi-zappers in the homes you sell. Clutter blocks the flow of energy through homes, sending a message to buyers that the sellers aren’t ready to move. Clean it up. Offensive posters in a teenager’s room give off negative energy. Replace them with uplifting artwork. Furniture with its back to a room’s doorway blocks energy. Turn it to face the door and welcome buyers. Drains suck energy from a room. Add candles in bathrooms for energy and balance. Remove or push aside window coverings that block sunlight. Light creates positive energy buyers can feel. Before and after photos featured in the print magazine Online exclusive: Choosing and Using a Professional Stager Online exclusive: Before and after photos for online article

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