July 2, 2009 - Jan Whitlow, Florida's Lifetime ASPM, IAHSP

Having trouble selling your home in this buyer's market? Home Staging may give you the edge over other homes up for sale. Home Stagers say they are seeing more business from frustrated home sellers. They're Staging more homes that are owner occupied than are vacant. The goal says Deborah Ehrlich is to Stage for presentation not for function that's the difference between Home Staging and decorating. "We don't want buyers to admire the baby pictures on the walls, but the rooms they are in," says Ehrlich.

Ehrlich says, at the height of the market, 70% of her work was Staging vacant homes, now it's staging occupied homes. This week she's preparing a vacant home in the Water Chase subdivision for July 4th open house. The owner is a Realtor. Many Realtors are turning to Home Stagers to sell homes. "Vacant homes have no soul," says Ehrlich. "The investment in Staging is always less than your last price reduction." She adds homes that are Staged sell faster and for more money than homes that are not Staged. Ehrlich says 80 percent of people who walk into a vacant house can't imagine their things in the space and that's why staging is so important. "In a vacant house, you stage what I call the buyer decision rooms. Those are the rooms buyers first see when they walk in the door." Ehrlich focuses on the entrance area, the kitchen and family room, living room and dining room, the master bedroom and the bathroom. "I don't want you to fall in love with the dining room set, I want you to fall in love with the dining room," says Ehrlich. Colors are kept neutral and furnishings simple. Ehrlich says this highlights the house's features for a faster sale. "Buyers, they know in seconds if they're interested in that house. We need to present the wow factor and they need to see their things in the space." When Home Staging, Ehrlich says homeowners need to remember it's about presentation not function.

That's the goal for the owner of a 2,240 square foot Palm Harbor home. The house built in 1983 by Carol Willi and her husband has been on the market a couple of weeks. "Our four kids are grown. It's time to move on. This house needs a new family," explains Willi. Willi has hired Home Stager Jan Whitlow, owner of Selling Edge Home Staging, hoping for a fast sale. Willi's family room is decorated with a collection of firefighting memorabilia her husband is a retired firefighters. Whitlow suggests, "When we come here, the eye is distracted to the firefighting and family pictures fine for the way you live to sell its completely different." In the dining room, Whitlow suggests setting the table. Another tip is to put away two-thirds to half of all personaL belongings in the house.

"Staging is all about creating a feeling for the buyer, 'This is where I want to live,'" says Whitlow. She adds less is more, set accessories in groups of three and remember a room's flow is important. In the kitchen, she recommends rolling up and putting away the area rugs, "When you have area rugs it breaks up the floor. You want every room to appear as large as possible." Willi says her Walk and Talk Tour of her home has helped begin to detach herself emotionally from her house and her personal things. "The more she talked, the more I realized the buyer's view point and what it looks like when a buyer comes in. Some things are too personal and I need to take them down and put them away," says Willi. Whitlow says when selling a house keep in mind, "Your home is not a home any longer. It has become a house, a commodity for sale that needs to be packaged marketed, wrapped up in a bow and given as a gift to the next buyer. It's all about marketing, marketing, marketing." The cost for Home Staging varies by the number of rooms and a home's square footage. An hour walk and talk tour for do-it-yourself tips starts at around $100 and up.

Isabel Mascarenas