A rising trend in the real estate industry is home staging: preparing a home to be sold.

Ellen Krzemien of Springville, owner of The Home Staging Source, knows first hand what it takes to impress perspective home buyers.

“I’ve been staging the homes of my friends and family for as long as I can remember,” Krzemien said. Four years ago she decided to turn her passion into a business and took a three-week training course in Chicago with Barb Schwartz of Staged Homes, who, according to Krzemien, “owns the only registered trademark in the Staging industry.” Now having built her business up, Krzemien, an Accredited Staging Professional, services much of Western New York.

“Eight out of 10 people look online when they are preparing to buy a home,” Krzemien said. “You would be surprised what pictures you’ll see on the internet of homes for sale - dishes in the sink, laundry everywhere.” That is where Home Staging comes in.

“I always stress two things,” Krzemien says: “paint and packing.” She says it’s important to neutralize a home before selling it; she has homeowners take down personal pictures, tone down wild or busy paint and wallpaper and remove the personal taste of the decor. “The goal is to depersonalize and effectively make the house look like a model home,” she said. “You want it to appeal to every gender and age.”

Krzemien urges homeowners to put away the clutter before showing their home. “I tell them, you’ll have to pack sooner or later. Now we’re just killing two birds with one stone.” A buyer should be looking at the house and its features instead of at the seller’s belongings. “I cringe when I see a beautiful fireplace in a room and the furniture is all centered around the TV,” Krzemien said. In cases like this, she will have the homeowner rearrange the furniture to frame the fireplace as a focal point.

Whether she is staging an empty home or one that is still lived in, Krzemien will sometimes bring in pieces from her own inventory of home decor, including artwork, greenery, bedding, lighting and accent pieces, to accentuate the features of the house. “I also do a lot of reworking what they already own,” she said, reiterating that the goal is always to simplify, keeping clean lines with current colors and accessories that accentuate the home.

Many different packages are available on Krzemien’s Web site, ranging from simple consultations to full vacant home staging.

“When I am first called in to stage a house, I walk through with my camera like I’m a potential buyer,” Krzemien says. Then she goes back to her office and reviews the photos and prepares a report, if requested by the seller. Most occupied homes take just one to two days to be staged, especially if the homeowner helps with the work.

More than 95 percent of homes staged by ASP stagers sell, on average, within 37 days. That’s opposed to homes that have not been staged, which ASP Home Staging says take about 212 days to sell.

Krzemien gets a lot of her business by word-of-mouth, but she said that she has visited many real estate offices in the area and also gets business from them. “I can be the bad guy,” she says. “I can go into a person’s house and tell them what about it doesn’t appeal to buyers.” But she stresses that she and the seller have the same goal: “To sell the house in the shortest amount of time for the most money possible.”

While homeowners can choose when to utilize a home stager, Krzemien prefers to be brought in before the home goes up for sale. “It’s hard to generate excitement about a house that’s been on the market for a while,” she says.

Krzemien stages businesses as well as houses and also does move-in staging, helping new buyers unpack and set up their new home.

Why should sellers bring in a professional Home Stager instead of doing the job themselves? Krzemien says that homeowners often find it difficult to detach themselves from their belongings and surroundings. “It is easier for someone to come in with a fresh eye,” she says. “We’re making the home become a product, to have it stand out from the competition.”

Krzemien can be contacted at 913-0626 or by e-mail at Ellen@thehomestagingsource.com. Visit her Web site at www.thehomestagingsource.com.

Published: April 1, 2010

01 Apr 2010, 11:00:00