Ep #10: Staging Your Home For Selling

Welcome to Your Real Estate Connection in Westchester. A show for people looking to buy or sell homes in the Northern Westchester County area. Join local real estate expert Harriet Libov as she shares her professional advice on the local real estate market, connects you with knowledgeable community residents, and gives you helpful insights behind the home buying and selling process. Now, let’s dive into today’s episode.

Hi and thanks for listening. Today’s topic is staging your home. Since HGTV appeared in our living rooms, most Americans have become real estate renovation experts, and know the importance of staging a home before selling. Making the decision to hire a professional stager is a financial investment and depending on what your home looks like prior to staging.

There are three important reasons to consider full out staging if you are open to the process. First, it changes your presentation online and photography. Second, it invites your potential buyers to envision themselves living in your home which results in offers. Third, you will see it come back to you not only in offers, but you will also receive more dollars on the sale of your home than you would have seen otherwise.

But regardless, it is still a huge decision to full out stage. There is preparation required to remove, donate furniture prior. Paint your home’s interior or remove wallpaper, give your kitchen and bathrooms a facelift, and a dollar commitment to get rent furniture if you choose to go that route. You truly have to be committed to selling your home and making these changes as it will not feel like your home anymore.

If you do not want to rent furniture, there are levels of staging to improve photography. Decluttering, doing some painting, removing dated wallpaper, or removing a few pieces of furniture that you are not committed to and adding some art and accents from a store like home goods. Some sellers rent a storage unit to put their belongings in temporarily. That is another route that is possible and more palatable to many.

For homes that are vacant, renting furniture and all accents with a stager’s inventory with a stager’s inventory for showing your home makes the rooms look larger and more inviting. Buyers can envision themselves there or your agent can photograph the home empty and virtually stage. The latter is a less expensive option and gets buyers in the door for showings but does not continue the warm feeling once they arrive to view the house and the room is empty. Regardless of the level of staging you choose, prepping your home for sale does indeed help the sale of your home in both offers and dollars.

I’m a fan and have taken staging courses myself. As a career full time real estate agent, I refer to professionals for the time intensive staging projects for both their expertise and focus on the property for sale. I’ve learned a lot through the process, but I do believe in referring to experts as a practice in my business in general. For a decluttering and overall facelift to prep a home for sale, I can offer suggestions in a few visits if the homeowner’s willing to do the work. I can also refer companies that do the actual decluttering, packing, and donating to assist with the project.

Today we’ll be speaking with an expert stager, Marlene Gold of Gold Staging who is a stager I have worked with for years. She works throughout Westchester and has designer training, but the majority of her work is staging. Thanks for being here today. I appreciate you tuning in. Let’s settle in, learn about the staging process, and begin the conversation.

When listing a property, sellers look to me for advice on how to prepare and present their home. There are some basic tips that are important for every seller to do. Declutter on surfaces, in closets, and floors. Everything looks bigger without clutter. Straighten bookcases and dust in between. Empty and straight closets so they looked organized, decorative, and spacious. Organize your pantry and laundry room. Neutral colors are best with a fresh coat of paint.

Take away personal items that are sentimental or valuable. Anything you would be heartbroken about if it broke during a showing or it was missing. Fresh new white linens, comforters, and towels on beds and in baths. Family photos. This is where some people differ. I don’t mind a few. But if you have a lot, definitely put away most. I think a few adds warmth and personality.

Remove all personal hygiene items such as toothbrushes and shampoos from sight in the bathrooms. Store them in a cabinet. Create lots of appeal at your front door and back entertaining space. Attention to detail here is important. Pots of flowers, a place to sit and relax, and an open pathway to the front door will feel so welcoming. When all complete, a deep clean of every room in the home including the garage and wash the windows so the house feels and smells clean and sparkles.

All of these will go a long way and takes preparation unless you live this way naturally, which some people do. Staging your home professionally is a step beyond. Giving it a facelift if dated. That’s when it’s time for a professional stager. If you have moved out already or if it’s new construction, it’s a no brainer. For a dated home, a professional stager can provide ideas to update your bathrooms inexpensively but effectively. They might suggest painting cabinetry and are experts at choosing the right paint colors to enhance the countertops and fixtures.

After the face lift is complete, renting furniture in the main spaces in an empty home will give it the feel of a model home. The same kind of model home you would visit if you were to look at new construction all in today’s style. The dollars spent to create a warm appealing home will come back to you both in salability and price.

In my experience as an agent, I have to listen to my clients to understand how far they will go to prepare their home for sale and follow their lead. Some of my clients ask me for the name of a stager as soon as we meet. Many sellers are not open to staging until their home lingers on the market, and the feedback is that their home looks dated. They take it off the market, they stage it, and it sells.

Today we will be speaking to Marlene Gold, the owner of Gold Staging and Redesign. Marlene is an accredited staging professional and certified interior decorator with over 15 years of experience. She is talented, skilled, and passionate about interior design and home renovation. Her unique insight into the psychology of decorating, buying, and selling naturally led her to staging.

Marlene finds great satisfaction in helping clients realize their goal to sell their properties quickly and for the highest market value. Marlene and I have developed a great rapport over the years, and my clients have so much respect for her talent when they list their homes and experience the results. I have never had a seller who staged with Marlene who regretted one piece of advice she gave them. She is decisive and firm in her beliefs. So her clients have to be ready to listen to her sage advice.

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Harriet: Welcome Marlene.

Marlene: Hi Harriet. Thank you for having me on your podcast. It’s an exciting subject.

Harriet: It is an exciting subject. It’s one that you know I feel strongly about. Enough to warrant its own episode, which is how important it is to me. So I have sellers listening today to develop a deeper understanding of what professional staging brings to the table.

You know I’m a believer when my clients are overwhelmed and open to the process. You do renovation consulting and decorating as well. Staging is the biggest part of your business. How did you decide to get into staging? How many homes do you stage in a year?

Marlene: Okay. So when you hear how many homes I stage, you’re going to gasp and wonder how I do it. I do it because I don’t sleep.

Harriet: I believe that.

Marlene: And ‘tis the season. It seems like the season hasn’t stopped. So I started my business 13 years ago when staging was new to the east coast. It started in California. I was having a conversation with a tennis team acquaintance who was telling me about her staging business. I had no idea what staging was at the time, but I was thinking about starting a business in the design field.

My past professional life was a publicist for leading interior designers and companies in the home furnishings industry. So I was familiar with how to market a product and how to give people the information that they needed to buy it. After my conversation with her, she was sharing information about a staging certification course. I believe you took the same one.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: You did. I decided to enroll and start my business. I had unofficially been staging and helping people renovate, including the renovation and home prep for my three moves. I moved from New York City to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Beverly Hills, and then to Larchmont.

Harriet: Never knew that.

Marlene: Yeah. You’re going to find out some interesting things today.

Harriet: Yes.

Marlene: So that was the beginning of Gold Staging and Redesign. I stage between 75 and 85 properties a year, which is a crazy amount. You mentioned the home renovation and construction part of it. Well, staging has changed a lot. I’m finding that in my staging projects, I’m doing more and more minor renovations like changing a kitchen backsplash. Possibly even redoing a master bathroom but not in a scary way. It’s just that everybody wants everything done.

Your younger buyer, they don’t want to do any of the work. It’s not like when we were buying a home. We took pride in making it our own. They want to come in and paint and decorate and be done. 

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: A big part of that, and I just was racing back to have this podcast meeting with you. I was explaining this to a resistant client that at the end of our meeting was sold. They have a 31-year-old daughter, and their daughter doesn’t want to do anything. Both people are working. So you have young families where the husband and the wife are working, and they don’t have the time.

Harriet: Correct.

Marlene: So not only do they have the wherewithal, but they don’t have the time to figure out how to renovate something. They don’t have the time to pick out a tile. It’s a product of instant gratification. They just want it done.

Harriet: Right. I see it myself. I would say three to four years ago, my feeling was buyers had no vision. In the last year and a half, maybe they’ve gotten older and it’s a different crew, but I am starting to see buyers that have a little bit more vision.

So with some firms, they have multiple stagers. You call the company. They can send a couple different people out. It’s not always the same person. In your business, you’re the decision maker. Your staff supports you. How does that work?

Marlene: Well, I’m a little bit of a control freak. Gold Staging and Redesign is my brand. I am involved in every project because I worked very hard at establishing my company. I just can’t afford to have one of the junior people come in and make a pedestrian recommendation that just won’t have my stamp on it. The plan is something that I can only provide.

What I mean by plan is I come in and I will walk through the property with a homeowner and the realtor, and I will take photos. I will verbally discuss the initial recommendations that I feel will help them get the house sold for the highest market value and the fastest amount of time. I then develop the plan after the start of the process.

After the plan is developed and set in motion, my staging team then comes in on staging day to accessorize, make the beds, stage bookcases, cabinets, and more. Even as that has my signature as I pick out the accessories and pick out the pieces that I think are going to work the best.

Harriet: Right. You map it out for them, and then they know what they have to do.

Marlene: Correct.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: Correct. Some of the stagers that have a design background that work with me, I’ll let them pick out things. I go through everything that they’ve selected just because, again, it’s my vision. Staging is so important that the one thing I don’t want to happen is have someone say, “Oh you made me hire a stager and the house didn’t sell or we didn’t get as much.” So I need to make sure that my client’s getting a perfect product so that it sells fast and it’s a win/win for everyone.

Harriet: Right. So I’ve met many talented stagers in my business. As you know, it’s easier to stage an empty home. If it’s new construction, you’re starting with a clean palette. I personally think your greatest talent and biggest asset for my clients is your ability to transform a home that’s dated and lived in to make it look fresh and new and still feel like a home that they’re willing to live in while they sell it. My clients are always amazed when it’s completed how much they like the way it looks even though they never would have thought of making those changes.

I think you pretty much just answered my next question. Was your initial visit a proposal or a guide, but that’s for the sellers to have? It’s kind of a blueprint for them as to what you believe can be done to a home to prepare it for sale. What do you think a seller should know and understand before they consider full staging?

Marlene: So you’re correct in that it’s much easier for everyone when the house is empty. Staging a home when a seller is living there is very difficult. We need to be very respectful of the way a seller designed their home to live in and the way they enjoy it. It’s not so easy for them to undo this. Their house is a place of memories, collections, and most people are really proud of the way it all looks.

But on the same note. Even though it’s much more difficult for me as a professional stager and other stagers, it’s much more rewarding taking an occupied home and transforming it into a sellable product that has a lot of the seller’s own pieces and making those changes. It’s very satisfying. Staging, it’s not about what I like or what you like or what the seller likes. It’s about what’s going to have the biggest appeal to the targeted buyer.

We’re designing to sell. Making the house the star, showcasing everything that’s special and staying with the house. The biggest thing is we’re trying to make sure there’s nothing on the buyers to do list. Because no one wants to do anything today. They want to move right in, put their stamp on everything, and call it their own.

Harriet: Regardless, sellers will have…After a first visit and consultation, they’ll have a written proposal from you even if they choose to do it themselves of what you think needs to be done. 

Marlene: Correct. But I do want to get back to your other question. I think that the seller that’s living in the house needs to remove themselves in the process. They need to think of their house as a product and let the stager and the realtor provide them with guidance so that they can sell it fast.

They need to look at staging as a business opportunity and not like someone’s coming in and telling them how to decorate and what to do. They really need to look at this as what is going to make them the most money. Once they can view their home as a product and a business opportunity, I think they’ll have an easier time with embracing the staging because it’s going to go into their pocket.

Harriet: Right. It’s so funny that you say that because you use the word product. A lot of times when I go out and talk to sellers and we’re talking about price, the word I usually use is commodity because you have to stop thinking of it as your personal home. It is a business decision because it’s a huge asset. There are good agents and there are talented people that can help them accomplish all of those goals.

So how does the process work after a seller client decides to stage? I know from working with you that you provide names of trades that can get the job done for the seller. How much time should a seller plan to meet with you before listing their home for sale? Obviously, you don’t know until you walk in what they need. So what would you say for your average job that doesn’t require renovation, what’s the time frame?

Marlene: Okay. Well there are a few things, and I don’t want to jump all over the place. After the seller decides to stage, we go over the plan and agree on what they’re willing to do.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: I provide the trades, the painters, the cleaners, the carpenters. People that will resurface stone or marble if they need that. I’ll provide the trades for anybody they don’t have or already want to work with. Generally if there’s painting or furniture moving or packing up and landscape work, they should plan on a busy three to four weeks. That’s depending on the scope.

The sooner you start the process the better. A few months is great if you have that luxury. There’s enough anxiety about the sale of a house or a home. Adding the pressure of a tight timeline is just not worth it. So probably the more time the better. One of the most difficult things for people to address in the process is what to do with the things they no longer want. How to donate, how to dispose of them, give them away, or store it.

Harriet: Correct.

Marlene: Once the seller figures that out, you’re good to go. The whole process becomes easier.

Harriet: It’s liberating.

Marlene: Very liberating.

Harriet: Yes. So in a house where you’re staging if you’re removing a room of furniture and renting furniture for that room. Or if even we’ve had projects together where they were using their living room with a Ping-Pong table. So we remove the ping pong table and furnish the room.

Marlene: Or a playroom.

Harriet: Or a playroom, right. If you’re renting furniture, what’s the minimal time period to rent and what’s the financial commitment? On a room of furniture let’s just say. I know you try and do main rooms. You do the master bedroom, the living room, the dining room, and the family and leave the other ones alone. So what would you guess the commitment?

Marlene: So if you’re removing furniture and renting, there’s a three-month minimal. Even if the house sells in a week and the furniture needs to be out, you’re committed to the three months.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: I really don’t like to quote costs because every project’s different and every property is different. Our approach to staging is to customize and take into consideration the price of the house, the community that it’s in, who the buyer is, and really put together something that is going to sell. We typically furnish the key impact rooms, the main rooms of the house. Or if there’s an area that the buyer might not know what to do with or there’s a very small room, we need to give that a purpose.

If you’re thinking about staging an entry, foyer, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, master bathroom with rental furniture, that’s likely going to cost you between $8,500 to $10,000 plus our staging fee, which is anywhere between $2,500 and $3,500. Again, it all depends on what we’re bringing in and the furniture that we’re bringing in, but it’s a game changer.

Harriet: Correct. I don’t want anybody who’s listening to get nervous about that number because you don’t need to rent furniture all the time when you’re doing things. But when you’re talking about a property that’s a million dollars plus, an investment of $10,000 that reaps the rewards sometimes makes so much sense. That’s why we’re here today.

Marlene: Well, I can tell you that I don’t want you listeners to be scared of the number either. Because very often we will stage with what a seller has, but we’ll rearrange the furniture. We’ll reposition the furniture. We might find a chair in a bedroom that is better suited for a living room. We’ll look in their attic. We’ll look in their storage spaces and find pieces that they forgot about. We’ll pull it out, and we’ll put it in another room. So you can stage a property without renting furniture.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: It’s really important that you focus on those awkward spaces because you need to take the confusion out. We’ve been staging a little differently today. I call it the pandemic staging. I mean now it’s really important to make sure that the homes have a home office with a door so that there is like an adult work from home space. Play areas that have tables that kids can work from home and do their schooling. So staging, it’s just changing. It’s changing on the buyer’s needs.

We also focus on the outside because that’s an outside room. Everybody thinks of staging as something interior. The stager’s going to come in and make it look pretty, but that’s not a good stager. You really have to look at…I come in and I look at what does this house have to offer? What does the buyer want from this house? Does this house give the buyer what they need? Then it’s my job to have the house deliver. That’s why it has my stamp on it and I can’t have other people do that.

Harriet: I remember when we stood outside a house. That’s a very good point because I’ve never actually had another stager do that. Before we even started, a tree had to come down because it was blocking. It was such a genius move on your part. It totally changed the curb appeal of the house.

Marlene: Well that’s what I was also going to say. I mean you have to consider the curb appeal because that’s your first introduction to the house. People always ask me, “Well, why are you focusing on the landscaping?” Well, if you have a house with mature plantings, people are going to look online. They’re going to drive past the house, and they’re going to see these mature or overgrown shrubs. They’re going to assume that the inside is as overgrown or dated. Well, if that’s not true don’t plant the negative. Pardon the pun. If it is true, you don’t need to set that tone.

Often trees will block light. They’ll cover the house. Again, it’s back to the house being a product. If you have gorgeous architecture, show it off. You need to let the light in. It’s natures decluttering. Everybody talks about decluttering rooms and the inside. So you need to declutter the outside as well.

Harriet: Right. No, you’re talking about somebody driving by. In my case–

Marlene: Or walking up to the house.

Harriet: Or clicking to the next photo because the front photo looked good. A lot of times, if you put an interior photo first, the first impression of someone looking at it is, “Ugh, what’s wrong with the front of the house that they have to put an interior photo first.” So 100%. I had to totally get what you’re saying there. I also remember projects. There was one in Armonk where you did a clever facelift to the bathroom with both painting and remodeling. There was this unnecessary ugly shower stall. Remember?

Marlene: Oh god. That was one of my better suggestions.

Harriet: There was a tub and a shower and then a shower stall. You decided rather than spend money updating the shower stall to turn it into a closet. It was such a game changer. Then the other house in Armonk where there were glass doors, French doors, separating the family room and the dining room. I remember how resistant the sellers were because it was a decent amount of money to do that. You kept saying, “Game changer.” I think I had about seven offers on that property.

Even though I have a pretty good eye, I mean I never could have advised those sellers to do that. Is that your design training that’s coming into play there?

Marlene: Yes, but it’s also my giving my heart and soul and really thinking about the house. Again, what do buyers want today? Why is it necessary to have this wall here? I don’t want you listeners to get scared and think some stager’s going to come in and make you renovate your bathroom. It doesn’t need to be a full renovation.

Harriet: 100%. That’s only a few cases where the seller’s even willing to do that.

Marlene: Correct. Correct. Again, one of the first questions I’m going to ask is what is the listing price range? Because if you want $2.5 million for your house, it needs to look like someone’s going to pay $2.5 million for your house.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: So you can do a lot of cosmetic enhancements that don’t cost a lot of money but that will give that renovated feeling like changing light fixtures. Like changing out cabinet hardware.

Harriet: From Amazon and Wayfair. Not expensive.

Marlene: From Amazon, Wayfair, Overstock.com. Here’s another thing. I’m going to share a little tip that I’ve been doing in a lot of my houses. So when you have recessed lighting that has the black inside. They call it the baffle. I used to paint those white. Then I came across in Costco these retrofitted LED recessed lights that literally just screw in and pop in. It’s like four for $35. You change out the—A painter can do it or somebody handy. It looks like new recessed lights.

So there are a lot of things that are going to give this buyer the perception of move in ready. That’s where you need a professional. You were one of the first realtors to really embrace staging. I know that you have a staging background yourself as part of your training. A lot of realtors today have their own staging inventory. So they don’t need me. You don’t need a stager to come tell you to clean up the room or edit.

Harriet: No. I have a few things that I lend to my clients, but that’s not a seller that wants to call in a professional stager. You have to know in a realtor what people are open to and when it really needs it. I remember one of my clients most recently when they upsized. They sold their home, and they bought a bigger, more beautiful home. They said they were going to hire you to do designing because they loved their staging so much when they were living with it. Has that ever happened?

Marlene: Every single time. Every single time. I staged a property yesterday. They were like, “Oh my god. We’re going to fly you out to Florida.” Then they’re like, “Oh my god, why didn’t we do this before? Will you come help us with the next house?” That’s part of the redesign portion of my business. I’ve been so busy that I’m only limiting that design to help to my staging clients.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: Every single time. Or they’re like, “Are we ever going to see you again? Are you going to come back?”

Harriet: Right. Because you’re in their life in a very strong way the same way I am for a short period of time. Then we part ways. Then there is a new person.

Marlene: Yes.

Harriet: Okay. Any parting words? Thank you so much. I think this was a great way for the listeners to understand what serious staging is and when to hire a professional stager. So any parting words for our listeners?

Marlene: Yes. So I think if you’re thinking about selling in the future, make the changes now and enjoy them. Don’t wait until you sell it. Even though you think you know everything that you need to do everything, and you have some solid advice from your realtor. It might be worthwhile having a staging consultation with a professional stager like myself to make sure that you’ve really covered everything. Because we think about your house differently. We walk through it with a buyer’s eyes. There might just be something big that you missed.

Harriet: I’m going to take it a step further actually because you just touched on something that I think is so important. Your eye for color. Many sellers are already prepared to paint before I come for them. They know we have to paint this room. They need advice on picking the right paint color. They’re spending a lot of money to paint. For what your consultation fee is, even for that I think is huge.

Marlene: Thank you.

Harriet: Expensive mistakes sometimes, right?

Marlene: Yes. If somebody has an empty room, empty rooms look smaller than rooms that have furniture.

Harriet: Right.

Marlene: So you don’t need to stage every room of the house, but if you have a main room that’s empty, you should really consider staging it.

Harriet: Agreed. Thank you for joining me.

Marlene: You’re welcome Harriet.

Harriet: Always fun to talk to you.

Marlene: Likewise.

Harriet: Okay. Talk to you soon.

Marlene: All right thank you so much. Bye, bye.

Harriet: Bye.

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So here’s the takeaway. There are all levels of staging your home. As an agent, I can do the first level of staging and help with suggestions that sellers are willing to do so that the photography is enhanced by the process to invite buyers in the door.

The next level of staging is to meet with a professional stager for a consult to consider doing more and using their expertise and props to look like a model home much the same way it would appear if you looked at new construction. It can be a game changer, and sellers have to discuss with their agents and decide what they are willing to do.

I’m a huge fan of staging if a home is dated. I’ve seen the benefits time and time again. In fact, even if you are thinking of selling your home in five years, I would consult with a stager before doing any painting or modifications and come up with a plan.

That’s all for today. Next episode we will learn about a neighborhood in Armonk called Windmill Farm. It’s a lake club community that’s very unique in Westchester for what it offers. It’s where I raised my family. Talk soon and please reach out to me if there are any topics you would like me to cover in this podcast in the future. Have a great day.

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