Friday, May 30, 2008
Cottage Industry
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Giannina Smith Staff Writer

As the lackluster home market continues to dull, some sellers are using "home staging" to help make their properties stand out.

From furnishing and accessorizing vacant homes to re-accessorizing and de-cluttering furnished ones, home staging focuses on making homes more visually attractive to prospective buyers.

"It's like a cottage industry that has sprung up," said Robin Elliot, associate broker with Prudential Georgia Realty, who said about one-quarter to one-third of her clients use some kind of home-staging service to help sell their homes.

Elliot, who increasingly recommends home-staging services to clients, said as home improvement shows on networks A&E and TLC have become increasingly popular, prospective buyers have a different idea of what to expect when looking for a home.

"I think it used to be when it first started it was like, 'Wow, if you do that you really separate yourself and make yourself better,' but now it's almost like that is the norm or it's getting to be the norm, of wanting to get your house to look like it's staged -- and if you don't do that, then you're below average as opposed to, it used to be, if you do that you are way above average," Elliot said.

Kathy Nielsen, owner of home-staging company Georgia Interior Solutions and regional vice president in the Southeast for the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), has been in the home-staging business since 2005 and works with homeowners, agents, developers and builders. With her own warehouse of furniture and accessories, Nielsen provides services from consulting and furnishing key rooms to staging entire vacant homes that are up for sale.

Depending on the size of the home and the extent of decorations needed, Nielsen said the cost for home staging ranges from $200 to $400 for a consultation to $6,000 for the complete staging of a larger home. Although "it boils down to how many rooms we do," she said the average price for a staging showcased for two months is between $2,300 and $2,500.

While Nielsen focuses on major overhauls, Kim Zamoski of Redesign Interiors works on already furnished homes, rearranging decorations or adding a few of her own. Charging $50 per hour plus the cost of purchased accessories, Elliot said some of her clients have paid well below $1,000 for Zamoski's services, which can be a less expensive alternative when it comes to staging.

"Basically what you are doing in staging is de-cluttering and doing a detailed cleaning and just de-personalizing and neutralizing," Zamoski said. "You want to accentuate great qualities and cover some flaws."

As home staging has gained in popularity, the market downturn has only increased the demand for services.

"It's been exacerbated by the down market. I think it really has just exploded because of that," Elliot said. "I've certainly done more of it in the last eight months than I had been."

Staging experts have seen a boost in business since the home market began declining.

"It's almost like a beauty contest right now because of the quantity of homes for sale. It is critically important that the home stands out and that it's one that prospective buyers will remember because the quality is so high," Nielsen said. "We want to ensure that your house they just left, they want to come back to and we want to ensure that we've emotionally connected them to the home."

While home staging may help make an emotional connection with prospective buyers, does it really help when it comes to selling? According to Mortgage News Daily, statistics show an average 3 percent minimum increase in final sales price on homes that had been staged.

"I think people in the beginning thought this was something we just were trying to market and it didn't help, but it really does," Zamoski said. "There are a lot of homes that are selling, and to compete you have to get the buyer emotional about your house."

Real estate investor and owner of Peach State Property Buyers Inc., Angela Smith had her home staged by Nielsen after it sat on the market for six months without an offer. When Smith saw the home completely staged, she decided to increase the asking price $35,000 and in two days had an offer on the home for the new asking price.