Hawai'i home sellers turn to experts for 'staging'

• Tips for do-it-yourself home staging

By Kaui Philpotts
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ann Morgan, right, and Pat Wassel put the finishing touches on a living room in a home that is for sale. Photos by Deborah Booker The Honolulu Advertiser

So, following a Mainland trend, Hawai'i home sellers are catching on to the practice of hiring experts to "stage" their homes — improving them with the help of interior designers and other professionals — before they hit the market.

Other folks, whose homes have been on the market for a while without offers, also are looking to staging to give their homes an edge that will result in a sale.

Staging also makes life easier for the seller's real estate agent, say Ann Morgan and Pat Wassel of Home Showcasing. By telling clients to clean up and shape up (albeit tactfully), stagers relieve the agent of having to bring the bad news. And the client gets a home that shows well and, according to the stagers, often sells faster. Morgan and Wassel say homes they work on typically sell within three months.

"For many people a good design sense is not a priority in their lives," Morgan says. "We can tell people what they need to do because that's what we're being hired to do."

Holly Turl of Coldwell Banker's windward office says staging can even bring a higher sale price. Since the mid-1990s, when sales were sluggish, she has been scheduling all her properties for the service. She often waits to see how a staged house turn out before setting a firm price. "Lots of listings sell over the asking price just because they have been staged," she says.

Here's how home staging typically works in Hawai'i: Often the seller's agent will pay for a consultation with a home-staging professional, which begins at $150. The consultation produces written suggestions for making the property more appealing. It usually includes suggestions on reducing clutter, repairing broken screens and drippy faucets, and cleaning up in general. Home Showcasing's consultation also includes sprucing up the home's entrance and yard.

The consultation can end there, letting the seller decide whether and how to follow through.

Or, if the seller prefers, the consultant can suggest window washers, repair services, carpet cleaners and yard services. Morgan and Wassel supply names, and the sellers hire the contractors themselves.

"The two things we stress are cleanliness and cutting down on clutter," Morgan says.

Wassel and Morgan operate a business that helps home owners spiff up their properties before selling. Getting rid of clutter, they say, is a key issue.

One of the main goals of home staging is to open spaces so prospective buyers can visualize themselves in the home.

"When we enter a home, we try to think of ourselves as the potential buyers," Morgan says. "People get distracted by clutter. We try to simplify the look." They also add fresh towels and real plants as needed.

"I tell people that they're going to be moving anyway, so start packing and labeling now," she says. Morgan and Wassel have even recommended that sellers rent storage space and move much of their clutter into it until the house is sold.

Home-staging professionals also help sellers make the most of what they have.

"I love to get into people's closets, because they don't know what they have," says Morgan. In a Kailua home recently, the two found that the sellers had just painted a large room a lively chartreuse and were very proud of it. Instead of making them repaint it a more neutral color, they rummaged through closets and came up with large Balinese paintings that had never been framed. They put them on plywood backing and hung them on the bright walls. The effect was striking.

Morgan and Wassel say a small investment can pay off big. They stress the need for fresh bedding, healthy plants and fluffy towels. When sellers don't want to buy the items themselves, the consultants can tap their own inventory.

Small things add up

Interior designer Dian Cleve takes the art of staging to the next level with her high-end clientele.

Cleve was hired by a California-based developer, the Nicholson companies. The developer, along with island architect Pip White, are working on a series of high-end kama'aina-style homes for resale.

In a new Kahala home, she recently added 10-foot plants and large-scale furniture groups to downstairs entertainment areas to show the sweep and grandeur of the spaces. The home, which looks modest from the outside, opens to wide expanses of hardwood floors and glass-paneled pocket doors, which open onto a covered lanai and swimming pool. She likes the local sensibility, "where people present themselves modestly on the outside and then you open the door and, wow!"

While Cleve caters to million-dollar clients, she says the same ideas apply to everyone selling a home.

She begins with suggesting what she calls "a CARE package." The letters stand for clean, arrange, repair and edit — principles she swears by.

"I look at what shows wear and then change it. Why spend all that time trying to polish up a faucet with heavy oxidation? Go buy a new one!" she says. Those small things add up. If your home sells a month sooner, you will have paid for the staging, she says.

When she's staging a home, Cleve sets up very specific design criteria. Then she sets about creating a space with an imaginary couple in mind. She imagines their tastes and lifestyle, gives them personalities and hobbies, and caters specifically to that. Prospective buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in the home.

For the Kahala home, developers wanted her to create at least four places that would get "wow!" responses. She went as far as placing elegant china cups and saucers filled with coffee beans on a linen-lined tray in the master bedroom. The bathrooms are filled with oversized orchid plants and glass vases with imported soaps.

What you really are doing when you stage a home for sale is creating desire, she says.

Tips for do-it-yourself home staging

If hiring a professional to "stage" your home is beyond your budget, here are a few things you can do yourself to make your home more attractive and sellable.

• Clean and organize your home thoroughly. Remove clutter. Pay attention to the windows, carpets and garage. Make sure the beds are made with fresh, cheerful linens. Wash all dishes, put food away and hang up clothes.
• Take an objective look at your entrance. Consider repainting the front door and removing any smudges on the walls. Add a big potted plant or two and a new doormat.
• If you have pets, take them with you when you leave. Scrub and deodorize their areas.
• If the whole house needs painting, do it. You can't overemphasize curb appeal.
• Repair anything broken, such as screens, faucets, curtains, lighting fixtures, large appliances.
• Do expensive things such as painting and recarpeting only if absolutely necessary. If you do decide on new carpet and paint, make sure to use neutrals. New owners often have their own tastes.
• Buy new plants and get rid of the unhealthy ones. Plant them in nice pots. Fresh flowers are also a nice touch. Think large scale rather than lots of small items.
• Start watering and fertilizing your yard now. If it's in bad shape, consider hiring professionals. Keep it uncluttered.
• If you have a swimming pool or pond, make sure the water is clean and sparkling.