Looking the part - Hendricks County Flyer (Avon, IN)

Home staging becomes popular in resales
by Brenda L. Holmes

Selling a house can be a lesson in marketing for homeowners. Do we need to paint? What about the carpet? How do we sell our empty home?

Many of these questions can be answered by a qualified real estate agent or even a qualified home staging expert.

"Statistics tell us that only 5 percent of the population can walk into a room and visualize what it can be," said Linda Barnett of Home Matters, LLC, a home staging and interior decorating service.

"When a home is empty, people have no frame of reference," Barnett said. "We all buy from emotions and if we are not emotionally connected to a product, we are not likely to buy it."

Along with making an empty house feel like a home, she said a home staging service can also turn a occupied house into a showplace for interested buyers.

"Home sellers cannot change their location or market," Barnett said. "But what they can change is the condition of the house."

She said she helps people get their homes ready for sell by taking away clutter and sometimes large furniture to better show off a houseís space.

"What we try to do is to create the image of a lifestyle that is attractive to the buyer," Barnett said. "Itís much better to spend a few hundred dollars up front so you donít have to reduce your asking price," Barnett said.

Several area real estate agents and brokers agree with Barnett in that a home has to be ready to show.

Barnett said some of the best staging can be done by a good, deep cleaning.

"And if you have a walk-in closet, you really should be able to walk into it," she added.

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