Set the stage to sell your home

August 30, 2007 Joyce Owen

Kids’ artwork on the fridge and shelves filled with family photos and mementos might seem homey, but to a buyer those personal touches could make a house look cluttered.

Hiding everything in the attic or storage unit while attempting to sell a home may not be the answer either, say experts.

A new trend – staging a home to improve its eye appeal and increase the value – has arrived in South Walton.

EYE.SPY Consulting and Staging, owned by Candi Hagler and Josh Jerkins, offers free bids to home sellers and real estate agents on how to better package a property for faster selling.

An EYE.SPY representative visits the home, takes photos and then creates a report with suggestions on how to prepare the home for sale.

Hagler said most home sellers can’t view their homes objectively and therefore can’t package them to sell.

“Home staging is a marketing investment to sell a home,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports a staged house sells on average 17 percent higher than a non-staged house, she said.

“If you prepare your property before you put it on the market, you will greatly improve your chances of selling quickly at the asking price,” Hagler said. “If your home is already on the market, you could benefit from a quick one-day staging makeover which could turn the next viewing into a sale.”

Home staging is not interior designing or decorating, Hagler said. It is marketing a home to appeal to buyers using the three R’s – rearranging, removing and refreshing the homeowner’s existing furnishings.

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