“Staging”

It sounds like something you’d do on a movie set or for a play. In reality it’s done every day in private homes all over the United States.

“Staging” is the professional term for making over a (usually) empty house that is on the market. Television shows like “Designed to Sell,” "Decorating Cents" and "Sell this House" have shown the general public what a difference some rearranging, paint and a lot of creativity can do for a home. According to the Wall Street Journal using a professional to stage your empty house can increase the selling price from 2 – 10% in a “sluggish” market. In luxury homes the increased sale price is higher – as much as 20 – 50%.

Linda and Stacy Gaut, owners of Transformations for the Home work all across Yavapai County converting empty houses into homes, highlighting each individual structure’s personality and bringing out the best in the home. Stacy and Linda have a combined 30 years of experience in “home transformations, visual merchandising and design.” They say there are emotional and psychological aspects that come into play when a buyer is looking at a home. They work to give each room in each home a comfortable look and feel.

Linda says they got into the business of home staging when they were selling their own home in San Diego. She says, “The real estate agent was impressed with our decorating and she gave me my first few jobs in San Diego.” After that Linda took several courses to get her accreditation with is as a “Property Staging Consultant.”

With a slow market, some people may hesitate to add on a cost to selling their home. But Linda says that the reality is, “Only 10% of Americans can visualize a space.” So having the home laid out in a fully decorated and functional manner helps the other 90% see and feel what the home could look like. The Gauts say it is similar to detailing your car before you sell it. A vehicle is detailed so it will fetch the best price possible; and it follows that a house can get the same treatment.

A Home Staging survey found that 91% of real estate agents recommended that their clients hire someone to stage their home. Some people can do this for themselves. Others are not blessed with the gift that this type of job calls for. You need real ingenuity to balance out the use of space, color, art, plants and even the actual layout of the furniture so it’s more conducive for potential buyers to want to wander around the house and feel comfortable there.

Linda says that, “There are now only 4 buyers for every home on the market. So staging the home helps improve the look of the home and set it apart.” She says, “Our specialty is moving things around that people already have. Rearranging. Overcoming any objectives buyers may have.”

Even if the family is still living in a house that’s on the market, Transformations for the Home can work with them. Linda says, “Maybe it’s as simple as they don’t have good traffic flows for clients. We solve existing problems and maximize the positives for a wide variety of buyers.

The costs for the service vary from project to project. Who pays for the service also varies. Sometimes it is the real estate agent, sometimes the seller, and sometimes the cost is divided between the two. On average it takes 2 weeks to go from empty house to staged house. Linda clearly enjoys her profession and is enthusiastic about each project. She smiles and says simply, “It’s fun!”

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