Staging basically means de-personalizing a home so that a buyer's attention can gravitate to the house itself rather than to what's in it. For that reason, some agents also refer to it as "blanding."
Clutter, the sheer overabundance of stuff, is the No. 1 issue, agents and decorators said.
"Clutter is without a doubt the biggest problem," said Mary Sullivan, an interior decorator who stages properties for real estate agent Carol Greco of Long & Foster in Annandale. "It is just unbelievable how much stuff people have. I've been on projects where clothing took up a whole bedroom of the house. I saw one house with racks of new clothes in the bedroom with the tags still on them. What that says to a buyer is, 'I don't have enough closet space in this house.' "
Sullivan said homeowners with children often have the most clutter. "The houses with kids will be completely covered with toys," she said. "It's a phenomenon. The stuff is everywhere. There won't be a room in the house that's not full of toys."
Besides toys and clothes, agents say homeowners also often have too much furniture, picture frames, knick-knacks and collections.
"I like to use the 50 percent rule," said Becky Vogel, a marketing professional who recently started staging properties for real estate agent Sitrin. "Remove 50 percent of the stuff in your house. That means extra furniture, toys, photos, collections, stuff off the kitchen counters, magazines, newspapers, books lying around, pictures on the fridge. You want a crisp, clean look."
Schwarz said she likes to de-clutter in odd, low numbers. "Instead of 50 things on an end table," she said, "let's reduce it to three, or maybe five. On a fireplace mantel, let's have two candlesticks and one little ivy plant. On a coffee table, let's put only three pieces."
Lisa Baker, who recently sold her three-bedroom home in Gaithersburg, said she "de-cluttered in a major way" on the advice of her agent before putting her home on the market in August. "We gave a lot of stuff to Goodwill. We threw a lot of stuff away. And we put a lot of stuff into storage. Storage isn't that expensive for a couple of months."
Sometimes furniture should be added to make a large room cozier, or nicer furniture put in to replace worn, dated pieces. Many agents keep a small stock of furniture, lamps, shower curtains, and other pieces that can be added to homes if needed -- and they work with retailers who do short-term furniture rentals.
The next step is taking a cold hard look at the floors in your home. Carpeting, at the least, should be professionally cleaned, agents advise. If the carpet is old, worn or soiled, it's worth it to have it replaced, they said.
Agents also advise re-finishing hardwood floors that need it, or at least having them cleaned and re-waxed. Because hardwood floors are so popular with buyers these days, agents say it may be worth it to pull up any old carpeting that is covering hardwood and to use an area rug instead.
Baker re-carpeted her house, because the carpet was old and worn, and also replaced her vinyl kitchen floor with a new laminate floor. She advises home sellers on a budget who are contemplating replacing flooring to shop for bargains.
"We saved 10 to 20 percent on the cost by buying stuff that was going out of stock," she said.
Baker suggested that sellers also tell the retailers they are working with that they are selling their home, because many stores "know the neutral color palettes needed to show a home for sale."
