CityView Magazine

48 | May/June 2015 Photography by Michelle Bir BY COURTNEY PHILLIPS W hen it's time to sell a home in a unique, competitive and active mar- ket like Fayetteville, sellers look for every opportunity to increase marketability. From small apartments to large homes, furnished or unfurnished, modest budget to extravagant, one thing is certain: It pays to stage a home for selling. "Staging," is the work of arranging home furnishings to be most aesthetically pleasing for potential buyers and highlight the best features of a home. Recently, staging has become common vernacular among owners, not just real estate agents. us the process is quickly becoming an industry standard. Due to the popularity What every homeowner should know about staging The Rewards of Rearranging of home improvement television, acces- sible do-it-yourself online tutorials and motivating photo-sharing websites like Pinterest and Houzz, homeowners are more prone to address factors that affect the salability and profitability of their home…especially when it's time to sell. Staging the Occupied Home If a home is occupied while on the market, long-time homeowners can find it difficult to pinpoint areas that need to be edited or updated. Anne Monje, owner of Anne Monje Designs in Haymount, has been in the business of staging local homes for the past 20 years. In that time, Monje has overcome outdated décor, scant square footage, budgetary restrictions and clutter to help sellers attract buyers. While her services run the gamut of interior design, Monje is an expert in staging the occupied home and her pro- cess is simple, but creative. In the early years of Monje's busi- ness, customers would contact her aer their home had been on the market un- successfully for a length of time. Now, it is most common for clients to seek out her services before their home goes on the market. "I can't really pinpoint the timeframe, but in the past five years or so, it seems as though people are much more aware of the benefits of staging and I've had a higher volume of calls," said Monje. When she receives a call from a cli- ent, Monje visits the home for a com- plimentary consultation. Once she de- velops a plan of attack, the owners have two options. ey can take her advice and proceed down a do-it-yourself path, for which she only charges a consulta- tion fee. If they opt to let her work her magic, she can have the home market- ready in about two weeks. Monje works diligently within a homeowner's budget by using their ex- isting furniture and décor. "I am very aware that I am being called in so that cli- ents can sell their homes, not sink more money into it," she said. If homeowners are skeptical of the return they expect to see from staging, a survey by the Na- tional Association of Realtors shows that if an owner invests one to three percent Anne Monje, owner of Anne Monje Designs in Haymount, has been in the business of staging local homes for the past 20 years. feature

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