Game Strategy: Stage home before selling

When preparing to sell their home, Todd and Mandy Fordham turned to a new page in the playbook. The NFL player's home was staged by students learning to tackle any problems that might delay a sale or reduce the price.

A trend in larger metropolitan areas, staging is gaining momentum in Jacksonville. Staging is a method that ensures a home is sold fast and for top dollar.

"Statistics tell the story," said Becky Harmon, ASID designer and president of Transformations, a school of interior re-design and real estate staging. "A staged home can sell in half the time and as much as 10 percent can be added to the selling price."

With 16 years of design experience, Harmon discovered her skills translated to staging. Because of an increasing demand for staging, she is now training others to stage homes.

"It's exciting," Harmon said. "Realtors are taking a more proactive approach in today's competitive market and home staging consultants can earn $75 per hour. Now, training and certification is available in Jacksonville on an ongoing basis."

The Fordham home was one of six homes in Queen's Harbour Yacht & Country Club, where Harmon and her students worked from July 10 to July 14. All projects, ranging from entire homes to single rooms, gave the students hands-on experience so they could execute what they learned in class sessions each morning.

Located at the intersection of Hodges and Atlantic boulevards, Queen's Harbour offers a clubhouse, golf and a freshwater yacht basin. Homes are priced from $570,000 and up.

"Work in these luxury homes serves as ideal practice for their future work as certified staging consultants," Harmon said. "Frankly, the Fordham home was already very pretty. But, staging is different than designing."

BEFORE PHOTO: Here is a photo of the room before the Fordham family photo (left to right: Todd, Caden, Cooper, Mandy and Carter) was removed.

Harmon explained that an interior designer strives to make a room reflect the owner's style and taste. A stager does just the opposite. A stager will depersonalize a room. Often personal photos or collections are removed so they don't distract prospective buyers. 

"Buyers must be able to admire the architectural features of the home, instead of the owner's belongings," Harmon said.

For example, hanging above the Fordham's mantle was a large family photo.

"I love that photo of the boys," Mandy Fordham said. "But, during the staging process, I could imagine that people would look at Carter, Caden and Cooper, instead of noticing the selling points like the hardwood floors, custom molding or the golf and water view."

Soon the Fordham's will list their 3,200-square-foot home with five bedrooms and four bathrooms.

"When we first bought this house, we couldn't guess how quickly we'd outgrow it," Fordham said. "During football season we travel a lot, but we're building another home in Jacksonville. We feel a strong connection here."

Todd Fordham is a 6-foot-3, 310-pound offensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers. He began his NFL career with the Jaguars in 1997.

Students believe the Fordham home is ready for kick-off.  

"It looks twice as big and more inviting," said staging student Amy Graham. "We didn't buy anything new. As a team we went in and moved items from room to room until we were happy with the balance of scale and color."

Graham had previous experience with staging. After five months of showing her home without a single offer, she turned her listing over to Tami Keener, broker associate for RE/MAX Unlimited. Keener asked Harmon to stage it.

"I couldn't believe it," Graham said. "My house was on the market for five months. And it sold in four days after it was staged."

"Becky [Harmon] has staged many homes I've sold in Queen's Harbour," Keener said. "I think staging is crucial. A home has to be perfect from the start, because we only have one shot to make a good first impression."

The staging results were inspiring. Graham was determined to master staging techniques and begin a new career offering strong earning power and a flexible schedule for her family.

She enrolled in Harmon's class to learn how to arrange furniture to make rooms appear more spacious, how to use color and other tricks of the trade. In addition, each student was certified and received information about starting and marketing their own business.

For more information about classes, call Becky Harmon at (904) 945-0093, visit transform-us.com or e-mail her at becky-harmon@comcast.net.