'It's like walking into a brand-new home'

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

Photo provided by Kathi Jones-Cutler This dining area is an example of how home staging can organize a living space to make it more appealing to potential buyers.

Staging makes homes more appealing to buyers, dwellers

If you’re showing off your home and you want to make it a star, it might be time to put it on stage.

According to industry experts, the process of home staging allows homeowners to arrange their homes in a more organized, appealing way. Homeowners can stage their homes for better living or for better selling.

Home stager Carolyn Stieger, owner of We Stage Greater Detroit, said her services can help make a sale. According to her, the national average for the time it takes to sell a home is 268 days for non-staged ones compared to 40 1/2 days for the staged ones.

“When it looks good, and people want to be able to move into a home quickly … those houses seem to sell much more quickly,” she said.

Stieger said she tends to focus on staging “impact rooms” that are more difficult for a customer to easily envision using — such as the kitchen or bathroom. Warmer, more inviting wall paint can play a powerful role in a buyer’s psychology, she said. “More sellers are realizing that white is not neutral; it’s cold,” she said.

Kathi Jones-Cutler, a Realtor with Max Broock Realtors in Birmingham, is also a home-staging professional who believes that the practice is becoming more popular. She attributed this to the housing market’s transition toward a buyer’s market.

Jones-Cutler said many elements come into play with home staging, but one of the most important is cleaning, de-cluttering and purging a home of excess items. “It’s a great time to have a garage sale,” she said.

Organization and easy access to all major parts of the home is also important for potential buyers. For instance, they should be able to see what’s inside the cabinets, she said.

Jones-Cutler added that “first impressions are lasting impressions,” and sloppiness can trigger customer doubts over the condition of larger issues like the basement and furnace.

“When you put your house on the market, it has to be depersonalized,” she explained. “It’s almost like you’re walking into a brand-new home or grocery store.”

In contrast, homeowners can personalize a staged home more if they are merely looking for a redesign and are not selling it.

“Put family photos out, maybe with the color you’re looking for on the walls,” she said. “Maybe you leave your sofa positioned directly across from the television.”

She said prices can vary for a professional home staging, but she advised home sellers to consult a home stager who understands real estate and not just decorating.

“It’s a lot different to understand how to sell,” she said. “It’s money well spent because it can save them thousands of dollars and hours of grief in the long run.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1058.