If you’ve ever doubted the power of home staging to get a property ready for sale, this post will change your mind.
The home at 7128 Helsem Bend is 3,768 square feet in the Hillcrest Forest neighborhood and was absolutely brimming with art, collections, furniture, and accessories. When the owner decided to sell, his Realtor called Karen Eubank to stage the space.
“The challenge was, this house was filled with gorgeous items and when I walked through it, I was paying attention to those things,” Eubank said. “When a buyer is looking at an object and not the house, that’s a problem—we needed to edit the things that were a distraction so buyers would be looking at the view, the woodwork, the things they are going to buy.”
A home stager is an expert on creating an environment that highlights a house’s best features, shows off the function and flow of rooms, and maximizes its sale potential.
“To me, staging is a marketing tool for a Realtor and a seller because if you can go on the market with your best face forward, you’re going to get more offers and a wider variety of offers,” Eubank said. “If you go on a blind date, are you go on with no makeup, jeans and a t-shirt because you’ve got a great personality? That’s not presenting yourself in a way that someone will pay attention to you and it’s the same with a house. Staging is about making your house as beautiful as it was when you fell in love with it and bought it.”
When Eubank arrived, her first task was crating and storing the art and the many collections in the house.
“Even with everything edited, I still had a great amount of beautiful things to work with,” she said. “I rehung artwork and rearranged things, painted rooms, and did some repair on faux finishes.”
In the living room, pictured above, a massive iron gate divided the living and dining rooms.
“That iron gate was beautiful, but it was what I was looking at, not the incredible woodwork of the room,” she said. “When you’re selling, you don’t want to block the view in a big room like that—it’s a major selling feature of the home, and nothing should impede that view.”
To make sure buyers saw the gorgeous view, Eubank removed the window screens and had the windows washed. She also had the carpets cleaned and made sure every surface showed off its best use.
“You want to show function and you want to give it a little style, as well,” she said.
In the master bedroom, Eubank updated the wall color and bedding, as well as editing the furniture selection.
“Originally there was a sofa at the end of the bed, and lamps fitted on the wall,” she said. “I had those removed and I brought that side table in from another room. I added to the bedding with a bedskirt and pillows to make it more inviting.”
Staging is a way for a seller to make more money with a home’s sale, Eubank said.
“To not offer a client staging, it’s not offering them the opportunity to gain more money and a faster sale,” she said. “Anybody can afford a consultation—it’s about $250 and the stager will tell you what to do. Why would you not want to make money?”
When people are considering staging, Eubank advises them to consider how much it will cost them if the home doesn’t sell quickly.
“Look at your carrying costs—what does it cost per month to own that house? You have the mortgage, yard maintenance, pool man, insurance, and utilities,” she said. “When you add all that up and look at your price range and how long things are staying on the market, staging makes a lot of financial sense.”
This home is listed by Sandra Melmed with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Dallas/Park Cities for $875,000.
