November 19, 2008 11/20/2008 5:23:57 AM
Staging Your House to Sell In a Bad Market
Diana Hudson Kresnye says staging is the answer to what ails home sellers
With bad news coming almost weekly about the failing real estate market, it can be a scary time to put your house up for sale. However, home staging expert Diana Hudson Kresnye of Devine Designs in Chesterland , Ohio says you can still sell your house quickly and for near asking price by staging it.
“Northeast Ohio has been hit extremely hard by the downturn in the real estate market but staging your home is the antidote for what ails most home sellers,” said the designer who has staged more than $7 million in homes in NE Ohio since 2006.
Case in point is a home Hudson Kresnye recently staged in Burton, Ohio which had been on the market for more than a year. “The home owner called me from Minnesota where they had already moved,” she said. “They found me on the internet and needed to sell their home before winter hit and property taxes would be due again.” The stager conducted what she calls a “Market Ready Assessment” to determine what changes and updates needed to be made in order for the house to sell as quickly as possible.
“There were deferred maintenance issues, strong colors in some key rooms that needed to be eliminated and the house was vacant, which is the kiss of death,” she stated. Hudson Kresnye said that vacant homes tend to sit on the market up to five times longer than homes that are furnished. “It’s critical to have your house at least partially furnished because people don’t buy houses, they buy homes,” she said. “Furnishings help to establish an emotional connection and help people see the scale and flow within the house,” she explained. Devine Designs has furnishings that can be brought into vacant homes to help showcase square footage.
As part of the staging process of the Burton house, Hudson Kresnye had a team of repairmen, painters, and even landscapers come in to make improvements. She then placed furniture, artwork and accessories in key rooms. The results? The home owners accepted an offer within two weeks of completed staging. “The home owners were thrilled but were kicking themselves that they hadn’t made the investment to stage a year earlier,” Hudson Kresnye said.
Hudson Kresnye has staged homes in San Diego, the Atlanta area and in her native NE Ohio. She said the reason homes are sitting rather than selling is “because 95% of homes on the market have not been updated. People have lived in their homes 15, 20, even 30 years. They have not updated the décor in decades and wonder why it doesn’t sell,” she said. “In this market, you must properly prepare your home for sale. That’s the job of the home owner, NOT the realtor,” she explained.
Hudson Kresnye said that the up-front costs of staging can be a hurdle for some people to stage their homes. “They will reduce their asking price by tens of thousands over months or even a year before making the investment in staging their house,” she explained. “Sometimes it seems home owners are penny wise and pound foolish but it’s usually the case of not having the money to invest.” Hudson Kresnye said she accepts PayPal to allow homeowners to use credit cards when cash flow is an issue.
“It’s exciting to be able to offer people a powerful tool that WILL help to sell their home in this challenging market,” the stager said.
