Staging helps homes sell quickly, for more

Stacey Clem, president of the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors, estimated home listings increase by 25 percent when the weather warms up.

With 15,049 homes listed through the GSBOR in 2005, home sellers need every advantage to keep their home from languishing on the market.

Carol Jones, Realtors, real estate agent Ben Copeland said he’s got a way to help.

Copeland said he’s the city’s first accredited staging professional and that his technique of staging makes homes more presentable to buyers.

“Staging is the final step to getting a home ready for sale,” Copeland said. “Staging organizes all the contents of a house so that a buyer can best see all the key features of the home.”

Barb Schwarz, CEO and founder of stagedhomes.com, is recognized in the industry as the inventor of home staging, which she began in Bellevue, Wash., in 1972. Schwarz, an interior designer turned real estate agent, realized dirty and cluttered homes were driving away potential buyers.

So, she started staging homes. The result, Copeland said, was brisk sales.

Since then, staging has become commonplace in competitive western real estate markets such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas, he said

Real estate agent Copeland, who attended a weeklong staging course in Miami with Kelly McFrederick, a Schwarz protégé, said staging is an effective way of selling a home for its highest possible amount.

Cleaning and removing clutter are the foundations of staging.

“The most important things you can do are usually just things that take old-fashioned elbow grease,” he said. “You don’t need a huge outlay of money.”

Copeland said home sellers should start preparing to sell their home two months before listing it.

Step one, he said, is cleaning.

“People love the smell of fresh paint, and they love the smell of detergent and things that imply (cleanliness) to them,” Copeland said.

He also said people generally cram too many pieces of furniture into their homes. He advised renting a storage unit and stashing the extra furniture away.

Sellers should remove collectable items that personalize a home during the listing period. For example, Copeland said, Hummel figurines and refrigerator magnets may be valued accessories to the seller, but they make it harder for buyers to picture themselves in a home.

By the same rationale, Copeland said walls with unusual colors should be repainted to a more neutral hue.

“The cloud painting on the (children’s) wall is a main offender,” he said.

He said taking care of deferred maintenance issues before listing a house is the right choice. He said a buyer would rather pay more for a home with a new roof than pay less for a home with a roof that needs work.

Curb appeal makes a difference, too.

Copeland said exterior lighting is important, especially for more expensive homes.

Lawn care specialist Eric Hartley said landscaping would be money well spent prior to listing a home for sale.

The 20-year veteran of lawn care said as little as $300 can dramatically improve curb appeal.

“Landscaping scares a lot of people because they don’t know what to do or how to do it, and it can be expensive if you hire it out,” he said.

However, he said, homeowners can do much of the work themselves.

He advised trimming trees and bushes, edging grass at sidewalks and curbs, adding lime and fertilizer to grass, adding fresh mulch, planting fresh flowers during growing season and cutting grass taller and in different directions for a thicker appearance.

Copeland offers his staging advice free to clients who list their homes with him. He charges $300 or more for independent consultations.

He said every small improvement could help a seller receive the highest amount of money possible for their home.

“Springfield’s market has a great deal of parity,” Copeland said. “Staging is a great tool to get your home off the market quickly.”[[In-content Ad]]