|
|
|
|
|
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Enterprise |
|
|
Home worked: 'Staging' companies put a fresh face on houses for sale By Mike Melanson, Enterprise correspondentArmed with boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap and markers, Blair Hamaty, Annmarie Tanner and about 20 other "stagers" transformed 31 Penny Lane in Easton from a home into a commodity. Hamaty and Tanner, who own Setting the Space, a "staging" company with offices in Easton and Kingston, claim they can save a seller more than $10,000 in price reductions in exchange for about $1,500 to $3,500 in home upgrades. "You have 30 seconds to make your first impression when you walk into your home," Tanner said. Setting the Stage is one of a number of businesses that spruce up houses so they can sell at a higher price, or do work the homeowners would rather not tackle themselves. Brockton-based Go Curb Appeal is another one. Co-owners John DeYoung, 43, and Paul Devine, 45, both of Brockton, started the company last year. It offers an array of services, such as power washing, walkway and staircase work, driveway resealing, fence repair, landscaping and trim painting. "Our company keeps homeowners from spending $2,000 to $4,000 on different contractors to do these jobs," DeYoung said recently. "We're a one-stop contractor." Setting the Stage applies floor design, color and other aesthetic techniques to make houses sell faster and for more money, the owners said. "In any market, it doesn't have to be a slow market, you need to make your home different," Hamaty said. "For Massachusetts, this is definitely a cutting-edge business. If you go out to California, people who put their house on the market call their Realtor and their stager at the exact same time." Accredited by Stagedhomes.com, an international staging company founded in 1972 by Barb Schwarz in Bellevue, Wash., Hamaty and Tanner say their craft is methodical, creative and effective. "We're selling the idea that they can see themselves in this beautiful home," Tanner said. "The way you live in your home and the way you sell your home are two different things." Hamaty, who sold furniture, and Tanner, who sells real estate, started Setting the Space in December after completing classes sanctioned by Stagedhomes.com. A Setting the Space team accomplishes results by "depersonalizing" and "de-cluttering." "For us, it's methodical. We'll go from room to room to room," Hamaty said. "We actually move the furniture around five times. We'll just take the furniture and start rearranging it, rearranging it, rearranging it, until we find the right spot for it." "Every room in the home is selling, so every room will be touched," Tanner said. At Go Curb Appeal, DeYoung handles the advertising, which consists of a Web site, brochures and word of mouth. He said he gets half his business from real estate agents. He and Devine, friends since the 1980s, hope to hire more employees during the busy summer months. They would eventually like to franchise the business, after a few years of profits. Diane Matthews, of Premier Partners Realtor in Easton, said the work of "stagers" does make a difference. "It's about presentation. This is a product. It's a commodity," Matthews said. "Many sellers think, 'If I have a clean house, if it's relatively neat, clean and orderly, that's my best foot forward.' Unfortunately, it's not (enough)." Material from The Patriot Ledger was used in this story. |
|
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Enterprise, 60 Main St., P.O. Box 1450, Brockton, MA 02303-1450 |
