Printer Version Of Inside Business - Hampton Roads

CURRENTS
News Feature
Home stagers work their magic

Mary WORRELL
Monday February 12, 2007

Do you know what to do when you’re getting a home ready for sale? Sure, there’s the home inspection and the piles of paperwork, but what about “staging” your home for sale?

In larger housing markets, especially in California, home staging has become about as routine as the home inspection. Staging is the process of removing clutter, taking down family pictures and mementos, but leaving just enough furniture and accessories to allow potential buyers to imagine their things in your house. It’s like turning your house into a model home.

In Hampton Roads, a few people are trying their hands at home staging.

Kimberly Cash, president of Tidewater Home Staging, and her husband got involved in real estate investing when they started buying and rehabbing homes for sale or rent in 2001. You could call it “flipping,” but real estate investors prefer to call it “quick turning.”

“We got very spoiled in the hot market,” Cash said. “That was a great time for real estate investors.”

Then the market started to slow. Cash and her husband had three or four homes sitting on the market at one time “and they weren’t selling like they used to,” Cash said.

Cash, a self-proclaimed HGTV addict, watched home decorating and real estate programs and learned about home staging.

“When you walk into an empty house, it echoes,” Cash said. “You don’t get a welcoming feeling.”

As a way to combat that cave-like feeling, Cash staged one of her own properties. A real estate agent saw Cash’s work and asked her to stage a property. She then began to see the potential staging could have in Hampton Roads’ stale real estate market.

“I didn’t necessarily claim to know what I was doing,” Cash said.

But more people began to ask her about staging. Then she saw Barb Schwarz, CEO and founder of Stagedhomes.com and the woman that coined the term “staging,” on ABC News’ “20/20” and decided to get serious about it. She got her certification as an accredited staging professional, or ASP.

Schwarz and Stagedhomes.com obtained a U.S. trademark for the term “stage” in 1990. Schwarz also developed the ASP and ASP master, or ASPM, courses. Cash went to Northern Virginia to get her ASP designation in 2005.

“I wanted to do it to stage my own investment properties,” Cash said. “I felt more qualified, but I never intended to have a business. I love transformation and seeing something go from yucky to great.”

Cash enjoyed being an ASP so much that she decided to head to Chicago to train with Schwarz directly, get her certification as an ASP master and become one of only 150 ASP masters in the country. Part of the master course work included staging a home with Schwarz and other students.

Many home staging companies offer similar services that vary in price, but most offer consultations, full-service staging for vacant or occupied homes, de-cluttering and “staging to live” services, which is staging for homeowners who want to be a little more organized but don’t have plans to move.

Cash has a 3,000-square-foot warehouse in Virginia Beach packed with furniture and accessories she uses for staging vacant homes. Cash has staged almost 30 homes so far.

“We’re the only company in Hampton Roads that offers furniture,” Cash said. “We specialize in vacant homes. It’s about 90 percent of our business.”

Cash enjoys the luxury of having furniture at her disposal. She can choose a more high-end line of furniture to fit a pricey house and it’s much cheaper than renting it from a third party.

“But it doesn’t matter the price of the house,” Cash said. “Every home should be staged to make a good impression.”

No one knows that better than real estate agents and investors, who can sit with one listing for many months.

Rebecca Beamon is a real estate investor who hired Cash for two of her houses that had been sitting on the market for longer than she wanted.

The first house Cash staged had the most dramatic results, Beamon said. The house had been on the market for five months and was large, with hardwood floors and tile, creating a cold feeling and loud echo.

“When I had it staged it was such a difference in the reactions from people,” Beamon said. “A lot of people can’t envision a home in an empty house.”

Beamon doesn’t stage every home she invests in, but admits that the buyer’s market is demanding sellers do a little more.

“It’s very important to have that edge,” Beamon said. “It’s some of the best money I’ve spent.”

Stagedhomes.com says that investing money in home staging usually outweighs the money lost by lowering the price.

Home stagers face a few challenges in their work, including broaching the subjects of dirty homes and tacky mementos that need to be removed. Cash said many people get offended when they’re asked to take down their family pictures, but said it’s a must in getting the home ready.

“People don’t want to go in and see your stuff,” Cash said. “We need to remove all the distractions so they see your house and not your stuff.”

Another plus for a home stager is being creative. Cash said she’s been known to use a pillow case as a towel and t-shirts as pillow cases in a pinch.

Erin Richett is president of Staged to Impress and a full-time Realtor with William E. Wood. She became an ASP in April of 2006 and got her real estate license in July. Richett keeps her home stager and real estate agent hats separate, but finds that being both is an advantage.

“I’d always been interested in real estate and decorating,” Richett said. “I bought a house in college and rented it out to roommates.”

Originally from Harrisburg, Pa., Richett moved to Hampton Roads to take a job with Northrop Grumman Newport News as a nuclear engineer, but her interest in real estate eventually pulled her away into a more people-oriented career.

The majority of Richett’s business as a home stager comes from referrals from other real estate agents, both vacant and occupied homes.

“It’s easier for me to stage a vacant home, because you start with a clean slate,” Richett said. “In occupied homes you have to deal with a lot of clutter.”

Richett has staged 15 homes so far. Prices for her services vary but include furniture rentals.

As far as employees, Richett and Cash have similar systems in place. On the day of the staging, they come with a team of people, usually independent contractors to help with the staging and a few movers to do the heavy lifting. Richett’s team includes a few interior designers while Cash sometimes enlists the help of her husband and 13-year-old son in addition to contractors.

Realtors are also taking the ASP courses to get the designation and be able to offer their clients more qualified opinions when it comes to getting a home ready for sale.

Carol Klass, a full-time Realtor with The Real Estate Group in Chesapeake, became an ASP in October 2006. When Klass does her listing presentations, she offers staging as one of her services, not separating the two like Richett. Klass is the only ASP at The Real Estate Group.

“I find that offering home staging is a value-added service,” Klass said. “This is something that we need for the slow market. People feel a house will just sell itself regardless, but anything that you can do to enhance the house is a must in this market.”

While home staging is fairly new to Hampton Roads, there are signs that the industry is growing. There is a Hampton Regional Chapter of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, or IAHSP. And last year saw the first ASP class in Hampton Roads. Another is coming up in the spring.

“Staging is really new in our area,” Richett said. “But we want to bring awareness to it.”

A service of Richmond.com