Buyers, sellers see benefits of staging houses

In both sales, staging made the difference. The condo staging helped him “envision putting my things there and how I could use the space,” he said. After staging, some renovations and repairs, his 1972, 1,716-square-foot tri-level house attracted multiple offers, and sold for $815,000, $40,000 over the asking price. “Staging for this property was essential since it was a smaller, uniquely laid out house,” said Karen Summerfield, the Compass agent representing the buyers. “The staging made it feel more spacious and appealing, and really helped my clients visualize their day-to-day life in the home.”

Staging helps buyers make “a good first impression,” said Kathleen Wilks, chief marketing officer for Long & Foster. That’s key, because buyers can “make decisions within the first 15 seconds” of entering a house, said Lily Vallario, a stager and real estate agent with eXp Realty in North Potomac, Md.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2023 Profile of Home Staging said 81 percent of buyers’ agents surveyed found “staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home,” 48 percent of sellers’ agents said staging “decreased a property’s time on the market” and 20 percent of both buyers’ and sellers’ agents said staging “increased the dollar value offered by between 1 percent and 5 percent compared to similar homes on the market not staged.”

Shell Brodnax, CEO of the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), said there are RESA staging professionals in every state. In the D.C. metro area “they are staging like gangbusters,” she said.

RESA defines staging as preparing properties to “appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers that will pay the highest price possible.” More specifically, it means spiffing up the house with fresh paint and finishes, clean and clear spaces, well-placed furnishings, and eye-catching accessories such as new bed coverings, fluffy towels and accent pillows.

The process starts with a consultation, Brodnax said. The stager may walk homeowners through the property, recommending upgrades, repairs, cleaning and style boosts to make the house more inviting.

Staging an owner-occupied house starts with decluttering “to make the house look open and spacious,” Wilks said. “Step two is removing dated furniture, busy carpeting, personal items.” It’s important to “depersonalize,” Vallario said, so that buyers are not distracted by the seller’s imprint. Depersonalizing may include painting walls in neutral tones, such as light gray or beige, and installing neutral carpeting.

But “if everything is plain, there’s no emotional impact. Accent colors add personality,” said Grace Mase, vice president of design and construction at Curbio. Real estate agent Harrison Beacher, of Coalition Properties Group in Washington, agreed. “Don’t be afraid to add a dash of color. Strategic color pops, such as a wall of bold color, blue or green cabinet faces, even a cool orange European stove,” can make the space feel current. Colorful artwork, a rug, or decorative pillows can do the trick too, said stager Ashley Vonada of the Banner Team of Long & Foster.

Outdoor areas also need attention. Vallario recommended power washing the exterior, painting the front door and shutters, edging, and placing pots of flowers by the door. “At the very least,” she said, “spread mulch.” It pays to highlight functional outdoor space, too. Beacher said that with pavers, rocks, string lights and a bistro table, “even a small backyard or side yard adds value.”

The prospect of staging gives some owners stage fright. Houses don’t need to look like the staged-to-the-nines properties on television, said Brandi Snowden, NAR director of member and consumer survey research. Banner said people fear that they’ll have to move everything out of their house. They probably won’t. “A lot of people think the stager will criticize how they live in their home,” Brodnax said. “That doesn’t happen at all. And the average person thinks it’s scary to risk the upfront cost of staging. But, say the staging budget is $4,500. In a hot market the house will sell quickly and over list price and the owners will get their money back.”

Staging services can be provided through the real estate agent either in-house, with independent stagers or with web-based businesses such as Curbio. Sellers also can hire stagers directly. The cost is paid by the seller or agent or shared, depending on the market and circumstances. Most stagers require payment up front; Curbio is paid at closing.

Laurie Mensing, of Long & Foster in McLean, Va., said the cost “depends on many factors – size of home, overall neighborhood and price point, condition of home. An average cost is less than $5,000, narrowing toward $3,000 for the average home.” Curbio staging for 45 days in the D.C. Metro area runs $3,000 for three rooms, $3,900 for five rooms, and $6,400 for eight or nine rooms said Mase.

According to the NAR, staging the living room, kitchen, primary bedroom, and dining room is most common. Banner said full-house staging may be a good option for vacant houses because it gives a sense of the size and use of spaces, demonstrating, for instance, that a queen-size bed fits comfortably in a room and showing where to place furniture to capture the light. Another approach is vignetting. An empty house, said Banner, or empty rooms can be sprinkled with accessories — bathroom towels and soaps, a bowl of fruit in the kitchen, books on built-in shelves — to add sparkle.

“If a house is occupied,” said Brodnax, “stagers stage all of the rooms to the best of their ability using the owner’s belongings.” Banner said they remove some things and move others around to clear traffic patterns and capitalize on the best features of the rooms, then “bring fill-in pieces to accessorize, such as art, lighting, small chairs, shower curtains.”

Virtual staging illustrates online how the space would look if furnished. The benefit can be rapid turnaround and lower cost, but quality varies, Beacher said. The risks can be misrepresentation of size and proportion and lead to disappointment when buyers visit the unstaged property.

To prepare his house for sale, Hantman renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, made repairs, refinished the hardwood floors and repainted. Long & Foster’s Banner Team helped him sort his belongings, donating some and moving some “keepers” to the garage. They staged every room, augmenting his furniture with other pieces, revitalizing couches with slipcovers and beds with new bedding, and polishing the look with rugs, lamps, artwork, and accent pieces. They furnished one bedroom as an office. To highlight the potential use of a narrow room, they created a seating area focused on the fireplace.

Some houses don’t need staging. “I’m not a stager,” said real estate agent Dick Stoner, of the Reist Corp. in Rockville. “Most properties I’ve sold are normal for their area. People understand them and know what to expect. If the sellers are living in the house, I usually advise them to pick their nicest furnishings and declutter. But for really small or really large homes,” he added, “staging does help buyers visualize how to use the space.”

Still wondering whether to stage? Consider the unstaged house that buyer Amy Welsh and her husband visited in Bethesda. “It was hard to see past the owner’s stuff and see the potential of the house,” said Welsh. They bought a different house. After the first house sat unsold, Welsh learned that it was cleaned up and staged, and then sold for $200,000 more than what potential buyers offered before the staging.