Staging makes homes sparkle
By Audry Shimkas
IJ Correspondent
The Marin Independent Journal

To stage or not to stage? That is the question many Marin home sellers are asking themselves before putting their homes on the market.

According to Arthur McLaughlin, buyers decide within 10 seconds whether they are comfortable in a home so first impressions are key. "If an owner is asking top dollar, I have to make the house look super fabulous," said McLaughlin. "If an owner is going for over asking price, I want to make sure the house shows like a diamond."

McLaughlin said he begins by reviewing a home. The first thing he looks for is the scale of furniture to the size of the room. If large furniture makes a room look crowded, he moves some of it to a secondary room or to the garage. McLaughlin doesn't like big furniture near an entry. By moving a heavy piece to the furthest end of the room, it "grounds" the whole space without overwhehming it.

Staging is different for each home and for each owner's pocket book. Full-service staging costs between $6,000 and $20,000, or more, while smaller makeovers cost as little as $260 and take an afternoon. Do-it-yourselfers can get by with one hour consultation for $75.

Cynthia Duncan, 40, a full time mother of a 3 year old daughter, said she made an additional $13,000 on the sale of her 630-square-foot, $245,000 condominium in Sausalito because of staging. Duncan had lived in her condo for 16 years when she decided to sell.

"The trick was to allow whoever walked in to picture their own stuff in my home," she said. "The staging definately seperated my home from others that didn't sell in 48 hours like mine."

"I stage a home to get buyers to respond deeply to the space in a very limited amount of time," Stanford said.

In staging, less is more, she said.

Excerpts from the Marin Independent Journal.