Kate & Jody - Rehoboth Beach Real Estate

Every Realtor KNOWS that a home should be shown in its best light to help sell it faster and for more money! We also know that, properly done, it is a lot more than putting fragrant pies, breads or cookies in the oven, opening the drapes and turning on all the lights; although even that helps greatly.

Setting the stage to obtain the highest value, in the least time, for a home has recently evolved into a real estate specialty that can pay off grandly for the seller and help the buyer overcome the immense emotional strain of making a decision on which one, of many similar properties, to purchase. For a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, a seller can increase the speed greatly and add several percentage points to the sales price, simultaneously!

For the buyer, purchasing a home is a daunting emotional progression. First the buyer determines price range, then probably a list of must haves, should haves, and hopefully includes – features, advantages, benefits and of course possible locations. However, when they preview a home that really knocks their socks off aesthetically, that list and the priorities can be instantly and dramatically reorganized in their minds! I call it the WOW factor! Few homes have it, those that do, sell for much more money and much faster.

The greatest difficulty for any seller, myself included, is that we tend to romanticize our own homes – seeing the great parts of our own home and being oblivious to the mess, shortcomings, clutter, needed repairs and incongruities. We can call it eclectic but to a buyer it’s often just a mess.

In any communication we must enhance, prioritize, observe, and promote more than anything else. Most importantly, it is what and how the recipient perceives our communication! Our opinion of our communication must be subservient to the opinion of the person or people that we want to convince! This is an often difficult but always required priority in all parts of the marketing, promotion, advertising and sale of a property. We, as Realtors and we as sellers, must convince the buyer - or the home is not sold.

Staging elevates marketing and promotion. A well staged home looks far better in the marketing and advertising pictures, which predisposes a potential buyer to at least take a look. Once the buyer is in the home, the staging of the entire home, every nook and cranny, becomes part of the emotional data base, often subliminally installed. Staging technology, well done, results in getting the buyers to purchase the well staged property instead of the others on the market!

Most of us look right on past our usual surroundings, in all parts of life. We notice changes and differences but seldom the sameness. We as Realtors always give advice to our sellers, in hopes of getting them to better prepare, pose and present the home for sale. However, our all-consuming job is not rearranging furniture and moving pictures or putting stuff in storage, de-kludging and cleaning out the garage. Our Staging advice is not usually fully adhered to. Our hours are best spent marketing, promoting and responding to inquiries on the property. Quality Staging can take hours and days.

Clutter is Killer! There are now accredited Staging Pros who get specialized training to recognize the importances, significances and small changes that put your property in its best and most flattering light. I call it similar to a Lady dressing for a grand ball – best dress, best hairdo, best makeup and best behavior and wonderful poise! All these wonderful details, when a beautiful woman dresses for social success, is designed to hide any flaws and accentuate all the best!

Staging is an art, a science, and an applied marketing philosophy. Staging is a promotional and sales tool of excellence and value beyond most other such tools and techniques of selling real estate and homes. There are accredited Staging Professionals that are trained and tested to recognize and handle the small changes and modifications that let your home glow its best in the eyes of potential buyers and the Realtors that may bring them.

Some things are difficult to overcome in today’s market; most difficult to overcome are lower than 9 foot ceilings and limited windows. Another grouping of deal killers are dated colors, dark, cluttered and unfinished looks. A well staged home in our area can easily bring another 15% above what it will bring without proper staging. Some people can even make money through purchasing an un-Staged home, and while it is under contract, having it professionally and extensively staged – then selling their contract and making as much as 10% net profit… it could be more easily in some cases I’ve worked on. The series of mental decisions that become a decision to purchase are comprised of a series of first impressions from outside the home to a series of impressions as the prospective purchaser tours the home. Most importantly, sellers need to know that the first sale is to the Realtors who will bring your prospective buyers.

Since the primary ingredient in home sales is emotional - a staged home will generally sell for a lot more money and faster. You may be reluctant to pay a Staging professional when you are leaving your home and buying a new one. But, are you willing to accept a much larger check for the sale of your home? Yes?

Staging is different from what an Interior Decorator does. Interior Decorators seek to take what is fashionable and current and melding that with your personality to some extent. This is quite different and often at odds with Staging. Sometimes a professionally decorated home is very, very, difficult to sell as the décor is too specific to appeal to the buyer. An Interior Decorator puts emphasis on the décor while a Staging Professional puts emphasis on the home that is for sale – can you see the opposing viewpoint and purpose here?

Since your first sale is to the Realtor who will list your home and your second sale, by the way, is to the rest of that Realtor’s office when it is shown on Caravan, and your third sale is to all the other Realtors that may have prospective purchasers – Staging should be done BEFORE your property is shown to the Realtors or at least before your Listing Agent shows it to other Realtors and before it is placed on the Multiple Listing Service.

If your home is already listed and for sale and it has not sold; consider having it Staged and then having an Open House for other Agents and Brokers followed by an Open House for the public. This will build up enthusiasm that did not occur when you first listed the property. Well Staged properties that are properly listed will get lots of traffic from agents and prospective buyers in a matter of days and will sell far faster and for a lot more money than other properties that are not as well listed or not Professionally Staged.

Even my son Abraxas, a fabulous professional artist who can paint masterpieces from images in his mind www.AbraxasArt.com was not able to imagine what his house would look like finished when he purchased an old and terribly neglected and badly repaired house in Milton Delaware. This surprised even me! The house is small but empty rooms look even worse and even smaller than they are. Empty rooms feature only the smallness and the imperfections of a place. Virtually no one can envision furniture, paintings, carpets, drapes, and accessories or even the possible uses for an empty room. Staging fixes that.

Professional Stagers often keep an inventory of furnishings and accessories and have arrangements to rent furnishings too. Furniture rentals and Staging are FAR more affordable than the first price decrease or a few extra months of carrying the mortgage.

OK… How MUCH! Staging is amazingly inexpensive! I recently met with a Staging Pro who is now working with us – see the end of this article – and I was stunned at how inexpensive her services are! http://www.refinedspaces.com/more_infor_on_staging.htm

The price depends entirely upon the amount of work that is required and how much the homeowner decides to do independent of the Stager. The Stager will prioritize recommendations for the owner so that the owner may choose from several price ranges and can even be a step by step endeavor. If there are no offers in a week or two then an enhanced next step for a few more dollars can be done. I suggest going with a starting Staging contract of about 2% of the purchase price you expect for your home and work up to 5% - as the minimum price reduction that will change interest in a property is more than 5%.

Staging is usually comprised first of reducing clutter dramatically, organizing closets and putting perhaps 90% of the owners personal possessions into storage and then getting rid of or replacing many major furnishings. Then simple things like adding fresh or silk flowers and updating the window treatments. Overall the purpose of Staging is a faster sale in a sluggish market and a higher contract price in any market.

Staging puts a home in a condition to inspire lookers to become buyers! The increased marketability is like that of a model home – which the developer often spends many thousands of dollars to make appealing.

Furniture placement, proper accessories, color coordination and hundreds of details attentively done, right down to the way the drapes are arranged, the way the pillows are arranged, placemats, place settings on tables, office space arrangement in the home office kitchen counter displays, cupboards organized, drawers organized, closets well organized, right down to placement of shoes, hung clothing organization, ties, scarves, belts, hats, coats, all placed in carefully orchestrated ways and such things as folded sweater arrangements, etc. Towels in the bathrooms should be of proper color, size, placement and even the inside of the bathroom closets and kitchen cabinets too. The refrigerator should be arranged and of course most or all of the magnets and stuff taken off the refrigerator. Family pictures should be reduced to a couple or eliminated. Perhaps a change of shower curtain and of course everything beautifully cleaned. Staging is about making a home look terrific!

Your home is a detailed reflection of your life and style; as it should be. You have those things you love, cherish, use and like; the tools and pleasures of your life – close to hand and on display. As you may have surmised by now, Staging changes your home to a house for sale! To a degree it will no longer seem like your home and properly done a Staged home will soon become someone else’s home and you get a big check! This is not at all about Interior Decorating; quite the opposite it is not about making it your home it is about setting it ready for another to imagine it as their home!

As Realtors we often see homes that are remarkably well set up for the current owners. Often these homes entice a prospective purchaser to inspect the pictures, the art and décor, the book titles, etc. After leaving they sometimes have a strong perspective of the owner, good or bad, but have little or no memory of the home itself! A staged home should be warm, inviting, comfortable – but far from reflecting the seller’s unique style – it must be just impersonal enough to attract the buyer to imaging how their things would look in the home and have them mentally moving in! This should be done to attract a widest possible possibility of those who are in the market for a home such as yours, in your location at your price! And, done well it will sell quickly at top dollar.

Home Stylists, another term for Professional Real Estate Marketing Stagers – seek to call attention to the homes best features and to downplay any and all weaker features. They get rid of such things that may be too distinctively personal to the seller, such as children’s art work, too many books on the shelves (my case) too much art (my place looks more like an art gallery) and most of all too many knick-knacks! Dated furniture is removed and replaced with what will work and work most effectively! The idea is to pull the prospects eye and mind away from what is and direct it to what can be and will be – for them, the buyer!

The National Association of Realtors has strongly suggested, encouraged and promoted Staging, Home Styling, Enhanced Marketing Design of Interior Spaces for every Realtor to suggest to every seller in every market. Those real estate agents and professional support staff, who use Staging, rave about the results and claim faster sales for higher prices than the competition in their market, at whatever price the home is marketed for. In a search for most effective marketing of homes for sale, many of the more successful agents use staging and many use it always!

A professional Stager is often a real estate agent or has been. They know what turns a buyer on… or off. A few plants are great. Too many plants are not. And, all plants, if they are real must look perfect. If they are not real, they are stored, thrown away or replaced with high quality artificial plants, the ones that look all the way real. All plants, real or not, are taken out and sprayed, cleaned, trimmed, primped and made to look ready for debut – it’s all part of the minute detailing that is important and unique.

Many Kitchens and bath rooms are dated; with avocado, harvest gold, turquoise, flamingo pink, etc. Dated kitchens and baths are killers for price and speed of sale. One terrible example we had was a wealthy couple with dozens of beautiful homes all over the country. A few months before retirement they decided to sell the extra homes as they would not be traveling to live in each one, near one of the businesses, any more. The home we had for sale needed $4,000 in changed countertops – changed from iridescent blue, pink and green to off white. They didn’t and wouldn’t change them. Obviously, they had ample funds. The home should have sold in a month or two. It took about a year, the market appreciated over 25% during that time and they had to take a very low offer to get it sold. They did not and would not follow our advice. It cost them about $100,000 to save the $4,000. He was very smart in buying and selling businesses and not at all smart in selling homes.

We had one home extensively staged, as mentioned above, all new off white paint in the entire home and all new carpets and pads. In addition, since the beautiful home had the best of everything, but it was 70 years old, we scrubbed and waxed the kitchen cabinets and appliances. Removed the avocado refrigerator and put it into the garage. Changed the hardware on the fine wood cabinets to update them and make them look like brand new custom cabinets and even painted the insides of all the closets.

A Realtor has a few seconds to make a first impression on a buyer! Any home that is shown has a few seconds to make a first impression on a buyer. Any home, when being shown to a buyer, makes a series of first impressions with each room, each closet or drawer that is opened and literally with each footstep taken through the home. A well staged home requires little if any talk from the selling agent and thus instead of ONLY the sellers agent being able to put a home in it’s best light – the home shows it’s best with any and every agent – regardless of who is showing it and whether or not they are an effective salesperson! The sale of a home is made in the buyers mind in a matter of seconds and then they check and double check, contemplate and look everywhere at everything to ensure that the first impression is accurate.

Well staged homes often, perhaps usually, have a contract written quickly, while the buyer is still in the home! They know that if they are not quick, the home makes such a powerful impression that someone else will buy it before they do. Staging ensures that if they don’t write a contract while in the home, the impact will be lasting enough and more lasting than any other home they see, that they will come back a second time or go to the office to write a contract! Staging does Work.

Initially, in order to show your home off to its best advantage, and therefore maximize its price advantage and minimize its time on market; The Staging Artist evaluates your property from the outside while assuming the viewpoint of a qualified buyer and then carefully considers every point of the inside – going in the front door and touring through the entire home, looking at everything a Buyer would view and investigate – again from the viewpoint of a qualified buyer! The Stager then determines what works and what doesn’t – according to the style, location, price and appropriate market for your home.

Curb Appeal is of course the first view and results in the first conclusions that a Buyer may draw, before they even enter the home. I can tell you that I’ve had buyers tell me, before entering the driveway or stopping the car; “This home is not interesting to me. Let’s keep going to the next house.” The Stager seeks to give your home more snap, a better first impression in keeping with the home’s style, location and price. Here is where touch up painting is considered, perhaps a change in color for the front door and most often what can be done to strongly upgrade the appearance of the yard, plantings, shrubs, trees, grass, driveway and even all those things that will entice or alienate a buyer who walks around the entire property before going inside. Usually this includes mulching, edging, pruning of shrubs and trees, and of course getting rid of anything and everything that makes the property look unkempt or less neat. This can include adding colorful annuals along the drive, walk, or foundation. Upgrading Curb Appeal can add several percentage points to the offers and to the eventual contract price. Here it is usual for the Stager to give the seller a detailed list of things to do and instructions. Sometimes the Stager will have recommendations for contractors to do the work for you.

Inspect the entire property and remove any and all building materials, scrap wood, discarded household items, etc. from the property. Store garbage cans in the garage, or have them screened from view with a small section of cosmetic fencing.

Here the Stager fully inspects and usually takes dozens or even hundreds of digital pictures during a full and complete check the home, from all sides and from the roof line down: Is the roof free and clear from obstructions and moss? Do the shingles need replacing or at least power washing? Are all the gutters clear, well hung and well connected to downspouts and ground drains to get all water at least 20 feet away from the foundation, in a downpour; these can be the Frog Tongues, which are the roll up flexible tubes that roll out during a rain and roll back up to the downspout afterwards. Are the downspouts in good condition or have they been dented, bent injured by lawnmowers and gardening? Replace downspouts if needed. Are all the windows clean and clear of all obstructing plantings and trees? Are all the screens in new condition and clean of insects, dirt and debris? Are there any bushes, plants, trees or shrubs that need to be neatly trimmed and pruned?

Siding, trim and paint on the outside are crucial. Does the entire home need power washing? Is there any trim that needs repainting; eaves, gable ends, fascia, soffit, window trim, door trim, thresholds, steps, any thermopane windows foggy and in need of replacement? Do all doors and windows operate easily and properly? Are the foundation plantings sufficient to elevate the value of the home; or do they need improving? Does the foundation need cleaning, staining, repointing of brick or stone masonry, bleaching of concrete, mortar or stucco, painting of siding or trim, or perhaps it needs a cosmetic covering of high quality masonry board or sheet goods that look like cultured brick, stucco or stone?

Here is a brief inspection check list for Staging your home, even if you do it yourself; including some of the things already discussed.

SET THE MOOD PRIOR TO SHOWINGS OF YOUR HOME – OR INSTRUCT THE REALTOR TO DO SO IF YOU ARE OUT OF TOWN. Open draperies and blinds.

At this point you may be thinking Hell NO, this is my house and I’ll live here the way I want to. It is my house! And, if you act based upon that assumption – it may be your house for a long time to come! Think about it.

You need to think that this is someone else’s home and the money you get at settlement is yours – not the home. That is the point of all this!

Each time you do or don’t do and each time you make a decision about doing or not doing - based upon “This is my home.” Instead of “This is the home someone is going to buy and it may be the next person to arrive!” Each time you make the MY HOME decision or act, you reduce your chances of selling or your price.

Each time you do every possible thing to get the next person to your home to buy it at full price, you increase your chances of achieving just that.

Thinking is the first step, then deciding, then acting to achieve the goals you have made.

The Professional Stager is your coach to help you change everything about your home and the way you think, and do – so that you can have what you want… a sale, perhaps a new home for yourself.

As the prospective purchaser drives up to your home, the driveway, or curbing, lawn, landscaping and home should warmly welcome them. As they step out of the car and walk up to the door, each detail should welcome them, including clean windows, open drapes, warm colored door, polished knocker, door bell, perhaps a door decoration or wreath, etc.

And then, as they walk through the door of your house, will that buyer feel welcomed, as though by a good friend not seen in a long time – with a tenuous hug, smile and a warm and charming “It’s great to see you – I’ve been waiting for you. Welcome HOME.” This welcoming, friendly warm feeling should “hug” the buyer gently and differently with each new step and each new view as they walk through the home and check all the features, nooks and crannies of the home YOU hope will soon be theirs. And, hopefully they will feel more and more that way with each step and each sequential thought!

Staging should make your home a SHOPPER STOPPER for the eventual buyer. A Shopper Stopper is a home that stops the buyer from wanting or being able to favorably compare your home with any other home on the market for them. It should do this so well that price is no longer a consideration – they will find a way to buy it and no other home at any price is a possible choice. They have Stopped Shopping! And next you want them to be a Prayerful Purchaser – they PRAY they will be the one to get this home, this home most perfect in all the universe for them. Today’s buyers are incessant shoppers, until they find the Shopper Stopper or give up and take something that is just OK – and when it is just OK, they want it for the lowest price and best terms with the most ways of getting out of the contract. A Prayerful Purchaser is one who Prays they will get this home, what was your home and now they pray will be their home – no matter what it takes.

Price, conditions, terms, getaway clauses are not a consideration, when a home, well Staged, that is a Shopper Stopper - turns a home shopper into a Prayerful Purchaser!

What does it Cost?

Fortunately, staging a home doesn't have to be expensive to be effective. A basic staging consultation, in which a home stylist evaluates the home and submits a report of what needs to be done, usually costs between $250 and $900, depending on the market and the price of the property. The seller should pay for staging. "The salesperson doesn't pay for the home inspector to inspect the house or the roofer to put on a roof," the Stagers say, "So why expect the salesperson to pay for staging? It's the owner's home."

The second phase of staging, when the actual cleaning, packing away, and primping are done, can get expensive. Costs for hiring a professional to actually carry out staging recommendations can range from $900 to $25,000 depending on the extent of the work to be done. Homeowners who are willing can usually do some or even most of the staging themselves, making the option more viable for mid-range sellers. The nice thing is the Stager will give you a list of priorities and several prices, dependant upon how much you do and how much they do.

Professional stagers will always attempt to stay within a seller's budget. An average consultation is about $350 for staging an average three-bedroom, two-bath house and that fee is able to be kept low because of her creative uses of the seller's own furnishings. A Pro-Stager may even use towels, sheets, and rolls of fabric to make window treatments and feature walls that look like they cost thousands of dollars!

Here are some free and workable Styling tips
I have compiled some of 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.

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.

· 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.

Remove or push aside window coverings that block sunlight. Light creates positive energy buyers can feel.

All dressed up and ready to go: Statistics show benefits to staging

When Cinderella went to the ball, she probably would not have won the prince if she had gone dressed as a maid. Cinderella would have lost out, and so would the prince.

There is a fine line between enhancement and camouflage, and staging houses for sale -- like dressing up people -- lies somewhere in between. In good staging, the best features of the house are maximized, and the worst are minimized. Staging a house is presenting the dream, showing it the way it could be. That's what dreams are made of, and the relatively recent phenomenon of staging homes for sale has proven that actualizing that dream has merit, both for buyers and sellers. The following statistics indicate how much.

In discussions with colleagues and based on my own experiences with staging, I suspected that staged homes sell faster and for a higher price than those that are not staged. Wanting to test that theory, I analyzed 2,772 properties sold between March 1 and September 30, 1999, in eight cities: Atherton, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Portola Valley and Sunnyvale.

Out of that group, I took a sample of 129 properties that had been staged, or 4.7 percent of the total. This sample represented condominiums, townhouses and single-family residences. They ranged in list price from $229,000 to $4.8 million.

The following results show marked differences between the sample of staged homes and the total group, which consisted of both staged and unstaged properties.

For the group of 2,772 properties, the average number of days on the market was 30.9, and the average difference in sales price over list price was 1.6 percent.

For the sample of staged homes, the average number of days on the market was 13.9 -- about half of the time for houses in the general sample. The average difference in selling price over list price was 6.3 percent, nearly four times as much as for the other group of homes.

Please note that the staged sample was not skewed by one or two outstanding properties. The homes in the sample were fairly similar in terms of days on the market and net sales difference.

It would appear from the above that buyers, like Cinderella's prince, want to see the house "dressed up." Judging from the net sales difference, they are willing to pay for it, too. In addition, this phenomenon is occurring in an extremely strong sellers' market that would not appear to need any help.

I believe that the above findings have significant implications for Realtors, interior designers, prospective sellers and buyers and anyone else who stands to benefit from the marketing and sale of residences. And this information is pertinent not just to the Bay Area, but could be instructive throughout the country as well.

By contacting Realtors in numerous major metropolitan areas in the United States, I found that, for the most part, staging is hardly being done, if at all. As usual, California seems to be the leader in this area. Thus, our experience here may well be helpful down the line in other real estate markets, even where sales are so strong that some feel there is no need for an additional boost.

Concerning the actual staging of houses for sale, there are a number of stagers in the area who charge a range of fees and use a variety of approaches. Some focus on rearranging the existing furnishings with only minimal additions; others create an entirely new "look" by bringing in their own furnishings and accessories. Some will implement major remodels; others will coordinate painters, landscapers and other service providers. Many will combine both approaches, depending upon the seller's needs and pocketbook.

Whatever the approach, staging houses for market appears to make a difference to buyers. And based on the results of my analysis, the practice also carries with it implications for sellers who wish to get the most value from their properties.

And while statistics are hard to find, a recent Denver Post newspaper article about home staging found that a staged home sold in about half the time of its non-staged counterpart, according to statistics gathered by Los Altos, Calif., real estate broker Joy Valentine, who surveyed about 3,000 homes in all price ranges in 1999 and again in 2002.

Valentine also found that staged homes fetched more money, often tens of thousands of dollars more, than non-staged ones, The Denver Post reported.

Staging has witnessed "huge growth" on the West Coast and East Coast, according to Shell F. Brodnax, director of marketing for www.stagedhomes.com, a San Francisco-area company that trains people nationwide to become "Accredited Staging Professionals." Last year, the company trained 3,000 people nationwide in how to stage homes.

Local Realtors also acknowledged the practice of home staging has become popular here. "It's becoming more of a common practice here," a Realtor at Coldwell Banker in Longmeadow, said.

Sometimes, simply reducing the clutter in a house, vigorously cleaning it or rearranging the furniture will do the trick. Other times, the Stager advises clients to paint walls more "neutral" colors. "You want your house to look clean and crisp,"

And if a client's furniture looks dated, the seller may need to buy or rent new furniture, which they can sell after they sell the house. Many Stagers have a small collection of furniture lent or rented to clients.

But no matter what's being done, sellers have to be willing to make such changes, something that is often easier said than done.

The key is to stop thinking of your house as a home and start thinking of it as a commodity. "Once you decide to sell, you have to walk away from any attachment," Smith said. "Your house goes from being a house to a product."

And like a Hollywood starlet, a well-staged house captures a potential buyer's attention. Or as Smith put it, selling a house "is all about seduction."

EAST BAY - If you watch shows like "Curb Appeal" and "Designed to Sell," you might think staging was a commonly used tool to help market a home. While that may be true in other parts of the country, in the Northeast staging is just beginning to catch on.

"The concept is getting more popular," said redecorator Kristen Marcks. Her business, RedecorateRI, is located in Warwick, but she has clients throughout Rhode Island particularly in the East Bay. Ms. Marcks has averaged a couple of staging jobs a year in the three years she's been a certified redecorator.

Though staging and interior design are both about making a home look better, the difference between the two is that staging is done for people who might live in the house, while interior decorating is done for the people who currently live in the house. Ms. Marcks said staging is "sometimes about smoke and mirrors" — but in the best sense of the phrase. The point of the exercise is to help prospective buyers envision themselves in the home.

Area real estate agents like Chris West of Gustave J.S. White Real Estate in Newport have tried to get sellers to utilize staging to help market their home. "It's a great idea," she said. "We've had interior designers come talk to us about the benefits, but we've yet to have a seller try it." Some of Ms. West's clients have elected to take a DIY approach to staging. She has a series of videotapes on staging that she lends and will also make suggestions herself. "I advise sellers to take down personal mementos and clean up around the front door."

Part of the reluctance on the part of sellers to stage their homes is a belief that it's unnecessary in today's hot real estate market.

According to designer Jan Girouard, IRN, of All About Redecorating in Newport, that's not always true. She recently completed a staging in a Portsmouth home that was just not selling. She removed a collection of dolls from the living room, put sectional sofa back together, rearranged lamps for better lighting, and decluttered. The job took two hours. The house sold in two weeks.

"Sellers should think of the sales process as a business," says Ms. Girouard. She recommends thinking of your home as a product. "When you have a particular product you have to differentiate yourself from other products." According to Ms. Girouard, there's an even bigger reason stage: "The longer it's on the market, the more apt a seller is to lower the price. Staging can help a home sell faster and for more money."

For one of Kristen Marcks' clients, that proved to be true. "I went out to consult with a client who was unhappy with her family room. At the end of the consultation she told me that the house had been on the market for more than a year. Shortly afterwards, she re-listed that home and the agent had an open house complete with homemade cookies and fresh flowers. It sold that day — for more than originally listed – AND after a bidding war!"

Both Ms. Girouard and Ms. Marcks recommend that sellers stage their homes before they list them with an agent. "It can really take the stress out of the (sales) process," Ms. Girouard said.

Compared to compromising on the asking price, at an average of $500 to stage a 2,000- to 2,500-square-foot home, staging is a solid investment. And it's generally a quick process. "I can do a first floor in about three hours," Marcks said.

Most of the time, staging is done with existing furniture and accessories. "If I do recommend clients buy something I make sure it's an item they can take with them to their next home," said Girouard, who does eight or nine staging jobs a year.

For savvy sellers, staging offers an opportunity to make sure they receive the highest return on their investment — their home — as possible.

All homeowners can utilize elements of staging techniques to help their homes shine for parties, the holidays or everyday. Designers Jan Girouard and Kristen Marcks offer these tips:

* Make sure lighting is appropriate to space. Task lighting, up-lighting, general lighting and picture lighting should work harmoniously to create a pleasant space. Lighting should not be jarring.

* Keep only the most frequently used appliances, such as the toaster, on the counter. Everything else should be stored away. (Refer back to the first tip.)

Those of you who have tired of looking at the same pictures on Judy Wakeley's web site over the last few months will be happy to hear that she has updated her online portfolio with some new pictures, finally! She has tried to retain examples of a variety of rooms and price points, so please feel free to visit her page: http://www.refinedspaces.com/refined_spaces_portfolio.htm

Also, for anyone who missed the print edition, Judy has linked the Cape Gazette article about Refined Spaces from her site. You can access that here: http://www.refinedspaces.com/more_infor_on_staging.htm